The 2013 Indy Lights season was a season of open wheel motor racing . It was the 28th season of the series and the twelfth sanctioned by IndyCar , acting as the primary support series for the IZOD IndyCar Series . It began March 24, 2013 in St. Petersburg .[ 1]
Rookie Sage Karam won the championship, the eighth rookie to win the series title.[ 2] Karam clinched the championship in the final race over rookie teammate Gabby Chaves . Second-year driver Carlos Muñoz won a series-high four races but was forced to settle for third in the championship. Peter Dempsey captured the Freedom 100 in a spectacular four-wide finish in what was the closest finish in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history.
In June, it was announced that the series would be promoted by Andersen Promotions beginning in 2014 .[ 3] INDYCAR sanctioning will remain. In August it was announced that Cooper Tire would replace Firestone as the official tire of the series in 2014.[ 4]
Team and driver chart
edit
IndyCar announced the 2013 Indy Lights schedule on October 18, 2012. It joined all IndyCar Series weekends in North America except Detroit, Texas and Sonoma.
Rnd
Date
Race Name
Track
Location
1
March 23–24
St. Petersburg 100
Streets of St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, Florida
2
April 6–7
Legacy Indy Lights 100
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
3
April 20–21
Long Beach 100
Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach, California
4
May 24
Firestone Freedom 100
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speedway, Indiana
5
June 14–15
Milwaukee Race
Milwaukee Mile
West Allis, Wisconsin
6
June 22–23
Iowa Speedway 100
Iowa Speedway
Newton, Iowa
7
July 6–7
Pocono Race
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
8
July 12–13
Grand Prix of Toronto
Exhibition Place
Toronto
9
August 3–4
Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
10
August 31 – September 1
Grand Prix of Baltimore
Streets of Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland
11
October 5–6
Grand Prix of Houston
Reliant Park
Houston, Texas
12
October 18–19
Lefty's Kids Club 100
Auto Club Speedway
Fontana, California
Oval/Speedway
Street/Temporary Circuit
Road Course
Points system
Position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Points
50
40
35
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
19
18
Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
Color
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
2nd place
Bronze
3rd place
Green
4th & 5th place
Light Blue
6th–10th place
Dark Blue
Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple
Did not finish
Red
Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown
Withdrawn (Wth)
Black
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Blank
Did not participate (DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold
Pole position (1 point)
Italics
Ran fastest race lap
*
Led most race laps (2 points)
1
Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded
Rookie of the Year
Rookie
^ "Twelve races, two new venues for 2013" . Firestone Indy Lights . IndyCar . October 18, 2012. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved October 31, 2012 .
^ Lewandowski, Dave (October 19, 2013). "Karam secures title; Munoz wins fourth race" . IndyCar . Retrieved October 19, 2013 .
^ Andersen Promotions to take over Indy Lights , Racer , June 20, 2013, Retrieved 2013-10-22
^ Cooper Tires Named Official Tire Of New Indy Lights Series Archived 2017-09-14 at the Wayback Machine , Performance Racing Industry , August 22, 2013, Retrieved 2013-10-22
^ "Chaves graduates for '13 to championship team" . Firestone Indy Lights . IndyCar . February 14, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013 .
^ Glendenning, Mark. Sage Karam joins Sam Schmidt Indy Lights line-up , Autosport , March 8, 2013, Retrieved 2013-03-08
^ SFHR Development Driver Kyle O’Gara to Run Firestone Freedom 100 thru Partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports , http://sfhracing.com , March 27, 2013, Retrieved 2013-03-27.
^ a b "Star Mazda Champ Jack Hawksworth to Join Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2013" . Retrieved December 7, 2012 .
^ Guerra, Kate. Garcia joins race-winning Team Moore for '13 season , IndyCar , January 10, 2013, Retrieved 2013-01-10
^ Veach moves up to Firestone Indy Lights with Andretti , IndyCar.com , December 3, 2012, Retrieved December 3, 2012
^ Andretti retains Muñoz, will contest Indy 500 Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine , IndyCar.com , October 22, 2012, Retrieved November 2, 2012
^ Third Time is the Charm for Goncalvez Who Reunites with Belardi Auto Racing for 2013 , constantcontact.com , February 27, 2013,
^ Peter Dempsey earns full season chance with Belardi , racer.com , October 11, 2012, Retrieved November 2, 2012
^ Di Leo to Make Debut on Streets of Long Beach Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine , eFormulaCarNews , April 16, 2013, Retrieved 2013-04-16
^ Series champ Hawksworth ready for next challenge Archived 2012-11-04 at the Wayback Machine , IndyCar.com , October 30, 2012, Retrieved November 2, 2012