Indy Lights notes: Juncos leads oval test, Chilton digs ovals, Piedrahita confirmed

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There have been several Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires bits of news over the last week. Here were the recaps of road course testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway (day one, day two), but oval testing followed on Thursday.

JUNCOS LEADS OVAL TESTING

Juncos Racing led a tightly packed timesheets in the Indy Lights’ first official oval test day on the HMS 1.5-mile oval, converted to its normal layout rather than the road course. Nine tenths of a second covered the 11-car field, even as the teams experimented with different setups.

Kyle Kaiser and Spencer Pigot – Juncos’ pair of rookies – led the combined lap times with Kaiser posting a best lap of 188.851 mph.

“The team continues to demonstrate their ability to adapt to this new car,” Kaiser said. “It’s still early and there is a lot of work ahead, but we are making steady progress. It was my first time driving on an oval at this speed and the team gave me the perfect car to make the transition seamless. I’m looking forward to NOLA in a few weeks to continue our development.”

Times are linked here.

CHILTON, CARLIN WELCOMED – AND THEY DIG OVALS

Max Chilton’s presence at the test this week was something of a big deal. The former Marussia F1 driver is a relative big fish in a small pond in the Lights field, and with he and Carlin Racing present, it adds two further degrees of legitimacy to the championship.

Chilton spoke highly of the experience and posted a couple tweets from his opening oval experience.

Team boss Trevor Carlin praised the American culture after a successful first week of testing for both Chilton and the team’s first confirmed driver, Ed Jones.

SCHMIDT PRAISES ANDERSON AFTER HIS FIRST SPM TEST

Scott Anderson missed the Palm Beach test while news of his deal with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was yet to be confirmed. But Homestead marked his first week on board, and his presence solidified SPM’s effort for 2015.

“Testing is even more productive now that to our Indy Lights team is solidified,” SPM co-owner Sam Schmidt said. “Scott Anderson completing our driver lineup is helpful because he can contribute and adds another voice to the equation. We’ve put the pieces of the puzzle in place, which now allows us to focus on racing.”

PIEDRAHITA OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED

Belardi Auto Racing confirmed Juan Piedrahita last week as second driver alongside Felix Serralles. The Colombian raced with SPM in 2014, and also has past experience on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder in both Pro Mazda and USF2000.

“I’m very grateful that Brian Belardi has given me this opportunity, and it looks like I have some big shoes to fill, those of my friend, Gabby Chaves,” Piedrahita said. “In regards to the new Dallara, I can’t wait to drive it. The new car is very similar to the DW12 and it will help us in preparation for the next step.”

Piedrahita tested on both the road course and oval last week, although 2012 Indy Lights champion Tristan Vautier filled in for a day on the second day on the road course to help evaluate the team’s progress. While Piedrahita is a veteran, Serralles will be a rookie in 2015.

IndyCar Power Rankings: Pato O’Ward moves to the top entering Texas Motor Speedway

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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17th after qualifying 14th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):


NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)