Dalton Kellett back in Indy Lights for second season with Andretti - MotorSportsTalk

Dalton Kellett will run another year with Andretti Autosport in the 2017 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season, and is the first confirmed driver back in the championship next year.

The 2017 season will be Kellett’s sixth overall in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires, having run in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in 2012 and 2013, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires in 2014 and 2015, and now having stepped up to Indy Lights this year.

The release is below:

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Twenty-three year old Dalton Kellett will change his Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires ‘Rookie’ status to ‘Veteran’ after signing an extension to remain in the No. 28 K-LINE Insulators USA, Inc. Mazda at Andretti Autosport for the team’s 2017 campaign. The re-signing of the Canadian marks the third consecutive year driving for the Andretti stable and second season running in the Indy Lights championship.

Kellett, who participated in a Verizon IndyCar Series test in early August, plans to use the next year to continue to grow and focus on his ultimate goal of driving an Indy car.

“Returning to Andretti Autosport for the 2017 Indy Lights season is a great opportunity, ” said Kellett. “This will mark my third season with Andretti and I am happy to continue that relationship. Thanks to the expertise and wealth of knowledge of the team, I have grown greatly as a driver over the last two years and look forward to continuing that progression. Working with Michael [Andretti] and the rest of the team is very enjoyable and I know their drive and commitment to success will enable us to field a competitive program. Returning to Indy Lights for a second season, I will have the advantage of the experience from my rookie season. I look forward to coming back to some familiar venues and using that experience to my benefit.”

Michael Andretti, CEO and team owner of Andretti Autosport, is excited to keep Kellett in his Mazda Road to Indy roster.

“Dalton has showed a tremendous amount of work ethic and growth over the past year competing in our Indy Lights program.” Andretti said, “he has worked well along side his teammates to help evolve the team’s three-car effort and we are very pleased to continue working with him for the 2017 season. It is our goal to help develop our drivers and we are optimistic about the growth we will continue to see over the next year.”

The driver of the No. 28 K-LINE Insulators USA, Inc. Mazda finished third at this year’s Freedom 100 held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and currently sits 11th in championship standings. The Toronto-native has competed at all three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy Program, beginning his American open-wheel career in 2012 driving in the USF2000 championship. Prior to his time in the Mazda Road to Indy Program, Kellett began his resume competing in the Ontario Formula Ford Championship as well as multiple karting championships.

The Mazda Road to Indy program consists of three ladder series leading to the Verizon IndyCar Series. The Indy Lights series champion is award a scholarship to participate in three events on the subsequent year’s IndyCar schedule. The final two races of 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires competition will be held this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Northern California.

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