Top three drivers in Indy Lights points placed on probation - MotorSportsTalk

The good news for Ed Jones, Dean Stoneman and Santiago Urrutia in this year’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires is that they’ve become the three most likely protagonists in the battle for the championship, with one of them a strong candidate to win the title and secure the Mazda advancement scholarship into the Verizon IndyCar Series that comes with it.

The bad news is that aggression has more than occasionally shown through in their driving habits in the opening nine races this season, with each of the three driving more aggressively than normal in at least one of the two Indy Lights races this past weekend at Road America.

Stoneman and Urrutia were both issued five second time penalties added to the end of their race times on Saturday for hitting another competitor on track. Then on Sunday, Jones was the aggressor, as he drove Stoneman off the road on the run up to Turn 6.

For their actions, all three drivers have been placed on probation through the end of the season, which is essentially a big warning from the series to say clean your act up or you’ll suffer more serious sanctions.

Jones has 213 points with Stoneman second on 194 and Urrutia third on 189.

Here’s the release from the series out today:

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Three drivers today were placed on probation by Race Director Tony Cotman following Rounds 8 and 9 of Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires competition at Road America this past weekend.

Dean Stoneman of Andretti Autosport, Santiago Urrutia of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports w/ Curb-Agajanian and Ed Jones of Carlin have been placed on probation through the end of the 2016 season for misconduct leading up to and including the Road America event. If Stoneman, Urrutia and/or Jones are involved in any additional incidents including unsportsmanlike conduct and dangerous or over aggressive driving as determined by the Race Director, they will be penalized with the loss of a minimum of 10 championship points.

“The notices issued do not preclude a driver from racing hard, but serve as a reminder on how to race over the final eight rounds of the championship,” said Cotman.

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross