Preview: Firestone Indy Lights Series

By Mar 21, 2013, 12:00 PM EDT
0 Comments

The Firestone Indy Lights Series, the final step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder, is already at a crossroads in terms of public opinion and reaction before it’s even raced its first event of 2013.

A scant nine cars, tied for the fewest in the series’ history since its new incarnation as the Infiniti Pro Series in 2002 (Milwaukee, 2004) are entered for the opening round of the 2013 season. The biggest issue the series dealt with in the offseason was the announced delay of its new car, projected to debut in 2014, that would replace the current Dallara chassis used since this series started in 2002.

No doubt the future of the series will be discussed as the year goes on, and what can be done to improve its feasibility (costs and car, mainly). Still, to the series’ credit, at least half if not two-thirds of the drivers entered have a legitimate chance at winning a race this year.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports – long the standard-bearer in Indy Lights having won the last three titles and a total of six – enter with three rookies in their cars. None are slouches as they are the top three finishers from the 2012 Star Mazda Series, champion Jack Hawksworth, runner-up Gabby Chaves and American Sage Karam.

And the other stat SPM has going for them is that each of their champions the last three years – JK Vernay, Josef Newgarden and Tristan Vautier – has won on debut in St. Petersburg to kick off their championship charge. The challenge for any of SPM’s three this year is to keep the streak alive.

Andretti Autosport boasts the only driver with a prior Indy Lights win in the field – Colombian Carlos Munoz in his second season. Munoz won twice a year ago and represents Andretti’s best chance of wresting the title back from Schmidt’s squad. Rookie Zach Veach steps up from Star Mazda and could score a win if the cards fall right, but will probably need until the second half of the season to truly establish himself.

Belardi Auto Racing and Team Moore field two cars apiece, but of that quartet only Peter Dempsey (Belardi) seems a likely winner. One of the series’ fastest and most aggressive drivers, the Irishman finally has a proper full-season effort after two stop-start seasons. The other trio (Jorge Goncalvez, Belardi and Moore’s Juan Pablo Garcia and Ethan Ringel) are unlikely to challenge the top runners.

The first round of the Firestone Indy Lights Series season airs Sunday at 11:00 a.m. EST on the NBC Sports Network.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
0 Comments

Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”