The 2011 Indy Lights season was a season of

open wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

motor racing. It was the 26th season of the series and the tenth sanctioned by

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

, acting as the primary support series for the IZOD IndyCar Series. It began March 27, 2011 in St. Petersburg and ended on October 16 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and featured thirteen events: six on ovals, one on a permanent road course, and six on temporary street courses. The series was won by American driver Josef Newgarden, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Newgarden won the title by 94 points over team mate and fellow rookie Esteban Guerrieri of Argentina. The season featured the series' first non-IndyCar Series support race since the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Liberty Challenge (at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

) when it was the main event at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. It was Indy Lights' first event at Trois-Rivières since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. The series also race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time since

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and the new

Baltimore street circuit The Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT was an IndyCar Series and American Le Mans Series race for 3 years held on a street circuit in Baltimore, Maryland. The inaugural race was held September 4, 2011. ESPN said it was the best inaugural ...

in support of the IndyCars.

Team and driver chart

* All drivers will compete in Firestone Firehawk–shod, Dallara chassis.

Schedule

Race results

Race summaries

Round 1: Streets of St. Petersburg

*Sunday March 27, 2011 – 10:30 a.m. EDT *

Streets of St. Petersburg The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...

– St. Petersburg, Florida; Temporary street circuit, *Distance: 45 laps / *Race weather: , partly cloudy *Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 1:07.6903 sec, *Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 34 *Race Report:

Round 2: Barber Motorsports Park

*Sunday April 10, 2011 – 12:15 p.m. CDT (1:15 p.m. EDT) * Barber Motorsports Park – Birmingham, Alabama; Permanent road course, *Distance: 40 laps / *Race weather: , partly cloudy *Pole position winner: #22 Víctor García, 1:17.2793 sec, *Most laps led: #22 Víctor García, 40 *Race Report: Víctor García took the first victory of his open-wheel racing career after taking a flag-to-flag to victory despite pressure from

Stefan Wilson Stefan James Wilson (born 20 September 1989 in Sheffield, UK) is a British racing driver. He is the younger brother of the late Formula One and IndyCar Series driver Justin Wilson. He is also the winner of the 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award ...

for the majority of the race, seeing his lead twice dwindled by caution periods. Peter Dempsey took his second placing of third in as many races as he moved into second place in the championship standings. Championship leader Josef Newgarden held on to his championship lead despite having to make a pit-stop to replace a flat front tire, but recovered to finish in sixth position in the race. The race was punctuated by three caution periods, the first of which being on the first lap after Newgarden made contact with Esteban Guerrieri which sent Guerrieri into contact with team mate

Victor Carbone Victor Carbone (born September 13, 1992) is a Brazilian racing driver from São Paulo. After karting, Carbone participated in the Skip Barber National Championship in 2008 and finished 15th. In 2009 he drove in the F2000 Championship Series for A ...

, eliminating Guerrieri on the spot and Carbone in the pits. The other two periods were caused by drivers running off track; Gustavo Yacamán ran off-track on lap four, but managed to restart several laps down, but the other period caused by David Ostella, did not see Ostella restart.

Round 3: Long Beach 100

*Sunday April 17, 2011 – 11:05 a.m. PDT (2:05 p.m. EDT) *

Streets of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It ...

– Long Beach, California; Temporary street circuit, *Distance: 45 laps / ; reduced to 43 laps / due to 1-hour time limit *Race weather: , cloudy *Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 1:13.6957 sec, *Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 31 *Race Report: Conor Daly became the series' third different winner in the 2011 season, after taking advantage of a late-race mistake by team-mate and championship leader Josef Newgarden. After a waved off start to the race, Esteban Guerrieri in another Sam Schmidt car led the field from pole, but did not lead the race beyond that after being passed by Peter Dempsey at Turn 9. Dempsey held the lead until lap ten when he hit the wall at the same corner, knocking himself out of the race. Newgarden then picked up the lead from Guerrieri and Daly; Daly overhauling Guerrieri at the restart, and started to hunt down Newgarden. With a few minutes remaining, Newgarden's car hopped under the bumps, snatched a brake and ended up in the turn eight tire wall. Daly led the field under the caution to the timed ending of the race which curtailed the race two laps early. Guerrieri finished second ahead of

, who finished third despite a trip down an escape road.

Round 4: Firestone Freedom 100

*Friday May 27, 2011 – 12:30 p.m. EDT *

– Speedway, Indiana; Permanent racing facility, *Distance: 40 laps / *Race weather: , overcast *Pole position winner: #77 Bryan Clauson (qualifying cancelled; field set by owner points) *Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 30 *Race Report: Josef Newgarden took his second series victory, and with erstwhile championship leader Conor Daly not contesting the oval events of the championship, Newgarden assumed the championship lead. Newgarden's Sam Schmidt Motorsports team mate, Bryan Clauson dropped back from his début pole, with Newgarden and Víctor García each leading part of the first lap before Newgarden assumed it at the line.

, Anders Krohn and Esteban Guerrieri also led the race at stages prior to Newgarden taking the lead for good on lap 15. Krohn had undone his work to advance to the front by spinning under caution – after

's crash – which put him to the rear of the field, but pitted for new tires, and eventually made his way back up the field. The second caution period was caused by Gustavo Yacamán spinning into the wall and was eventually collected by Juan Pablo Garcia and James Winslow. Yacamán was transferred to Methodist Hospital with neck pain. After Peter Dempsey spun under the yellow,

Duarte Ferreira Duarte Ferreira (born 1 November 1992 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese-born Angolan racing driver, residing in Luanda. He began his career in karting in Belgium. He then progressed to Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium. In 2010 he competed in Formula ...

brought out the third caution a lap after the restart, spinning in Turn 2 and collected the car of Brandon Wagner, ending the race for both drivers. After a waved off restart, again one lap was run before a caution period was necessitated; Clauson, Krohn and Krohn's Belardi team mate Jorge Goncalvez went three-wide into Turn 1, with Goncalvez clipping the rear-left tire of Clauson's car. Krohn spun in avoidance, as Goncalvez went into the barrier on the outside of Turn 1, before impacting the inside wall halfway down the straight between Turns 1 and 2. The impact broke the car into two pieces with the tub going onto its side along the track before hitting the retaining wall in Turn 2 and righted what was left of the car. Goncalvez was also transferred to Methodist, but was said to be alert and awake. The debris from the crash prevented the race from returning to green – resulting in an end tally of 22 of the race's 40 laps running under caution – and Newgarden took victory ahead of team mate Guerrieri, Víctor García, Wilson and Clauson, with only 10 of the 18 cars that started the race running at the flag.

Round 5: David Hobbs 100

*Sunday June 19, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. CDT (2:00 p.m. EDT) * Milwaukee Mile – West Allis, Wisconsin; Permanent racing facility, *Distance: 100 laps / *Race weather: , overcast *Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 49.0454 sec, (2-lap) *Most laps led: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 100 *Race Report:

Round 6: Sukup 100

*Saturday June 25, 2011 – 5:40 p.m. CDT (6:40 p.m. EDT) * Iowa Speedway – Newton, Iowa; Permanent racing facility, *Distance: 115 laps / *Race weather: , overcast *Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 40.0332 sec, (2-lap) *Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 90 *Race Report:

Round 7: Toronto 100

*Sunday July 10, 2011 – 12:15 p.m. EDT *

Streets of Toronto Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, ...

– Toronto, Ontario; Temporary street circuit, *Distance: 50 laps / ; reduced to 49 laps / due to 1-hour time limit *Race weather: , cloudy *Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 1:02.9865 sec, *Most laps led: #5

, 29 *Race Report: Stefan Wilson took his first Indy Lights victory after capitalising on a mistake by pole-sitter Esteban Guerrieri, and led the race for its final 29 laps after Guerrieri had led the first 20. Wilson led home an Andretti Autosport 1–2 after his new team-mate Peter Dempsey finished second, after close battling with both Gustavo Yacamán and championship leader Josef Newgarden. Newgarden would later make contact with Dempsey's car, and had to pit, resulting in an eighth place finish. Yacamán ended up completing the podium ahead of Guerrieri and Anders Krohn. Four of the 13-car grid failed to reach the finish of the race, all due to contact.

Round 8: Edmonton Twin 100s

*Saturday July 23, 2011 – 2:00 p.m.

MDT MDT may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Medtronic, an Irish medical technology company * Minnesota Dance Theatre, a dance school and company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States * MDT Armor Corporation, an American military equipme ...

(4:00 p.m. EDT) & Sunday July 24, 2011 – 10:20 a.m. MDT (12:20 p.m. EDT) *

Edmonton City Centre Airport Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), also called Blatchford Field as well as Edmonton Municipal Airport, was an airport within the city of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada. It was bordered by Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway to the south, ...

– Edmonton, Alberta; Temporary airport course, *Distance: 2 races of 40 laps / ; Race 1 reduced to 36 laps / due to 1-hour time limit *Race weather: , cloudy (Race 1); , cloudy (Race 2) *Pole position winner: #11 Josef Newgarden, 1:22.7721 sec, (Race 1, qualifying); 1:22.9337 sec, (Race 2, fastest lap of Race 1) *Most laps led: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 36 (Race 1); #11 Josef Newgarden, 27 (Race 2) *Race Report: Esteban Guerrieri took his second victory of the season, after leading every lap of the race to move closer to his team-mate and championship leader Josef Newgarden. Newgarden had started the race from pole position, but a move by Guerrieri at Turn 5 allowed him to take the lead just before the opening caution of the race, caused by series rookie

Tyler Dueck Tyler Dueck (born December 17, 1986) is a Canadian racing driver from Abbotsford, British Columbia. Dueck came up through karting and the Jim Russell Racing School. He finished fourth in Formula Russell in 2006 and made two Skip Barber National ...

running into the back of David Ostella, and the field concertinaed, with Daniel Morad,

Daniel Herrington Daniel Herrington (born July 12, 1986) is an American racing driver from Baltimore, Maryland. Herrington began his professional racing career in Formula BMW USA in 2004 with a partial schedule. He competed full-time in 2005 for Jensen Motorspor ...

and

also involved, with Dueck, Ostella and Morad all out on the spot. Third place went to another series rookie, with Oliver Webb finishing ahead of Wilson with Bruno Andrade just ahead of Gustavo Yacamán to complete the top five placing. The race's only other retirees came as a result of an incident between

and Peter Dempsey. Dempsey tried to take Carbone into Turn 1 on lap 28, with the two drivers interlocking wheels on the corner exit, sending both drivers into the wall. Carbone's car launched Dempsey's car upside-down, but Dempsey emerged without injury. Newgarden comfortably won race two after slight contact with Guerrieri, which left Guerrieri down the order. Wilson and Dempsey completed the podium.

Round 9: Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières

*Sunday August 7, 2011 – 1:30 p.m. EDT * Circuit Trois-Rivières – Trois-Rivières, Quebec; Temporary street circuit, *Distance: 60 laps / ; reduced to 58 laps / due to rain *Race weather: , cloudy *Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 57.4541 sec, *Most laps led: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 58 *Race Report:

Round 10: New Hampshire 100

*Sunday August 14, 2011 – 1:15 p.m. EDT * New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, New Hampshire; Permanent racing facility, *Distance: 100 laps / *Race weather: , overcast *Pole position winner: #11 Josef Newgarden, 49.4908 sec, (2-lap) *Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 100 *Race Report: Josef Newgarden became the first driver since

Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros (born July 24, 1982 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian racing driver. After racing in Formula Three Sudamericana from 1999 to 2002, finishing 3rd in 2001 and 4th in 2002, he came to the United States in 2003 to race in the Infiniti P ...

in 2004 to lap the entire field en route to winning an Indy Lights race, further extending his championship points lead.

Round 11: Streets of Baltimore

*Sunday September 4, 2011 – 12:15 p.m. EDT *

Streets of Baltimore "Streets of Baltimore" is a heavily covered country song written by Tompall Glaser and Harlan Howard in 1966. Although Glaser co-wrote the song, his group, Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers, were not the first to record the song. Bobby Bare re ...

–

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland; Temporary street circuit, *Distance: 35 laps / *Race weather: , scattered clouds *Pole position winner: #77 Conor Daly, 1:27.8114 sec, *Most laps led: #77 Conor Daly, 22 *Race Report:

Round 12: Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 100

*Sunday October 2, 2011 – 12:30 p.m. EDT *

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Before 2008 J ...

– Sparta, Kentucky; Permanent racing facility, *Distance: 67 laps / *Race weather: , partly cloudy *Pole position winner: #5

, 55.5988 sec, (2-lap) *Most laps led: #5 Stefan Wilson, 47 *Race Report:

Round 13: Las Vegas 100

*Sunday October 16, 2011 – 9:45 a.m. PDT (12:45 p.m. EDT) * Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nevada; Permanent racing facility, *Distance: 67 laps / *Race weather: , clear skies *Pole position winner: #3

, 57.9685 sec, (2-lap) *Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 63 *Race Report:

Driver standings

* Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

References

External links

Indy Lights Series website
{{Road to Indy Indy Lights seasons Indy Lights Indy Lights