2002 Infiniti Pro Series

Last updated
2002 Infiniti Pro Series season
IRL Infiniti Pro Series
Season
Races7
Start dateJuly 7
End dateSeptember 14
Awards
Drivers' champion Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV
Teams' champion A. J. Foyt Enterprises
←  2001 (Indy Lights)
2003  →

The 2002 IRL Infiniti Pro Series was the first season of the series, which served as the first official developmental series to the Indy Racing League. The Infiniti Pro Series is considered a direct continuation of the original CART-owned Indy Lights series, which ran for 16 years between 1986 and 2001. While the formation of the Pro Series was independent, CART announced shortly after that Indy Lights would fold after the 2001 season. The Pro Series would later adopt the Indy Lights name in 2008 when IndyCar bought the intellectual property from CART, before being renamed into Indy NXT in 2023.

Contents

The Infiniti Pro Series was first announced on September 1, 2001, with the aim to streamline the path into IRL competition and provide a training ground for aspiring drivers, especially as competitors from the USAC ranks were having a harder time transitioning directly into the IRL in previous years. The season started in the summer of 2002, with a reduced all-oval seven race schedule over two months towards an extended calendar in 2003. [1]

The series had a target budget of $800.000 per season and car, with a spec Dallara IL-02 chassis and an engine package provided by Infiniti. British builder TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) developed a 3.5 L version of the V8 engine used in the Infiniti Q45, which produced 420 horsepower (310 kW).

A. J. Foyt IV, the youngest driver in the field, was the inaugural champion in a car owned by his legendary grandfather A. J. Foyt. As of 2023, Foyt IV still holds the record as the youngest Indy NXT champion of all time dating back to 1986, at 18 years and three months of age. Foyt IV won four of the seven races, including the inaugural event at Kansas, and was crowned at the final race in Texas against the American-born Dutch driver Arie Luyendyk Jr. The son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk had four second-place finishes, but no wins, finishing behind Cory Witherill at Nashville, Ryan Hampton at Gateway and Aaron Fike at Chicagoland.

Former IRL drivers Cory Witherill, Ronnie Johncox and Dave Steele took part in the championship, as well as full-time IRL teams A. J. Foyt Enterprises, Kelley Racing, Hemelgarn Racing and Sam Schmidt Motorsports, although Kelley withdrew from the championship after actor-turned-driver Jason Priestley was seriously injured in a warm-up crash at Kentucky Speedway. The series had 12 cars at its first round, and the field was up to 16 drivers for the events at Michigan and Kentucky. Eight drivers took part in every round, with three others contesting all but one event.

Team and driver chart

TeamNo.DriversRounds
Sinden Racing Service [2] 2 Flag of the United States.svg Ed Carpenter [3] All
Brian Stewart Racing [4] 3 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Marty Roth [5] 1–4, 6–7
Luyendyk Racing [6] 5 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Arie Luyendyk Jr. [6] All
Kelley Racing [7] 7 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jason Priestley [7] 1–4
REV 1 Racing [8] 8 Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Johncox [8] All
Sam Schmidt Motorsports [9] 9 Flag of the United States.svg Jeff Tillman [10] 3
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tom Wood [11] 4, 6–7
Flag of the United States.svg Curtis Francois [12] 5
99 Flag of the United States.svg G. J. Mennen [9] All
Roquin Motorsports [13] 11 Flag of Mexico.svg Rolando Quintanilla [14] 2–7
Beardsley Motorsports [15] 12 Flag of the United States.svg Matt Beardsley [15] 2–5, 7
A. J. Foyt Enterprises [16] 14 Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV [16] All
Automatic Fire Sprinklers [17] 27 Flag of the United States.svg Gary Peterson [17] All
Conti-Genoa-Frost Racing [18] 34 Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hampton [19] 3–7
Bowes Seal Fast Racing [20] 37 Flag of the United States.svg Mike Koss [20] 1–4, 6–7
Flag of New Zealand.svg Matthew Halliday [9] 5
381
43 Flag of the United States.svg Dave Steele [21] 3
Flag of the United States.svg Tony Turco [11] 4–6
Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports [22] 91 Flag of the United States.svg Aaron Fike [23] All
92 Flag of the United States.svg Cory Witherill [24] All

Schedule

The initial schedule for the Infiniti Pro Series was announced on February 2, 2002. [25] Competition started halfway through the Indy Racing League season, which the Infiniti Pro Series accompanied at all of its final seven events, with all events being held on ovals. Kansas, Gateway and Texas had all been featured in the last season of Indy Lights competition, which had last visited Michigan in 2000, while Nashville, Kentucky and Chicagoland held an open-wheel feeder series race for the first time.

Rd.DateRace nameTrackLocation
1July 7 Kansas 100 Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas
2July 20 Nashville 100 Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee
3July 28 Michigan 100 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
4August 11 Kentucky 100 Kentucky Speedway Sparta, Kentucky
5August 25 St. Louis 100 Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois
6September 8 Chicago 100 Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, Illinois
7September 14 BG Products 100 Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas

Race results

RoundRace Pole position Fastest lap Most laps ledRace Winner
DriverTeam
1 Kansas Speedway Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of the Netherlands.svg Arie Luyendyk Jr. Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV A. J. Foyt Enterprises
2 Nashville Superspeedway Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Johncox Flag of the United States.svg Aaron Fike Flag of the United States.svg Cory Witherill Flag of the United States.svg Cory Witherill Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports
3 Michigan International Speedway Flag of the Netherlands.svg Arie Luyendyk Jr. Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jason Priestley Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV A. J. Foyt Enterprises
4 Kentucky Speedway Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of the United States.svg Cory Witherill Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV A. J. Foyt Enterprises
5 Gateway International Raceway Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hampton Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hampton Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hampton Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hampton Conti-Genoa-Frost Racing
6 Chicagoland Speedway Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of the United States.svg Gary Peterson Flag of the Netherlands.svg Arie Luyendyk Jr. Flag of the United States.svg Aaron Fike Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports
7 Texas Motor Speedway Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tom Wood Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV A. J. Foyt Enterprises

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th  11th  12th  13th  14th  15th  16th 
Points50403532302826242220191817161514
PosDriver KAN NSH MIS KEN GAT CHI TXS Points
1 Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Foyt IV 1*41*1*961*290
2 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Arie Luyendyk Jr. 1022622*7236
3 Flag of the United States.svg Ed Carpenter 5532375226
4 Flag of the United States.svg Cory Witherill 31*15311132213
5 Flag of the United States.svg Aaron Fike 11341414112186
6 Flag of the United States.svg Ronnie Johncox 91254858180
7 Flag of the United States.svg Gary Peterson 7DNS1081084163
8 Flag of the United States.svg G. J. Mennen 88915499161
9 Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Hampton 7121*143147
10 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Marty Roth 691113410138
11 Flag of Mexico.svg Rolando Quintanilla 116761014137
12 Flag of the United States.svg Mike Koss 41016111111123
13 Flag of the United States.svg Matt Beardsley 71451213107
14 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jason Priestley 2613DNS99
15 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tom Wood 103683
16 Flag of the United States.svg Tony Turco 9131257
17 Flag of New Zealand.svg Matthew Halliday 12744
18 Flag of the United States.svg Curtis Francois 530
19 Flag of the United States.svg Dave Steele 824
20 Flag of the United States.svg Jeff Tillman 1218
PosDriver KAN NSH MIS KEN GAT CHI TXS Points
ColorResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
Green4th & 5th place
Light Blue6th–10th place
Dark BlueFinished
(Outside Top 10)
PurpleDid not finish
RedDid not qualify
(DNQ)
BrownWithdrawn
(Wth)
BlackDisqualified
(DSQ)
WhiteDid not start
(DNS)
BlankDid not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing


In-line notation
Bold Pole position
ItalicsRan fastest race lap
*Led most race laps
(2 points)
  • Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

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References

  1. ↑ "Infiniti Pro Series launch transcript". Crash. 2001-09-01. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  2. ↑ "Sinden to contest Infiniti Pro Series". Crash.net. January 16, 2002.
  3. ↑ "Sinden sign Carpenter for Pro Series assault". Crash.net. January 26, 2002.
  4. ↑ "Brian Stewart Racing moves to Infiniti Pro Series". Autoweek.com. February 12, 2002.
  5. ↑ "Roth teams with Stewart in Infiniti Pro Series". Crash.net. April 2, 2002.
  6. 1 2 "Luyendyk Jr. to compete in IRL Infiniti Pro Series". Autoweek.com. May 6, 2002.
  7. 1 2 "Priestley, Kelley Racing enter Infiniti series". Crash.net. April 17, 2002.
  8. 1 2 "Johncox enters IPS as owner/driver". Crash.net. June 29, 2002.
  9. 1 2 3 "Drivers looking forward to Infiniti Pro tests". Crash.net. June 21, 2002.
  10. ↑ "Jeff Tillman, Budweiser, enter Infiniti Pro Series". Autoweek.com. July 25, 2002.
  11. 1 2 "Wood, Turco To Make Infiniti Pro Series Debuts". Infiniti Pro Series. August 8, 2002. Archived from the original on August 18, 2002.
  12. ↑ "Francois to make IPS debut at Gateway". Crash.net. August 21, 2002.
  13. ↑ "Roquin to field cars in Infiniti Pro Series". Crash.net. February 12, 2002.
  14. ↑ "Nashville: Pre-race quotes". Motorsport.com. July 15, 2002.
  15. 1 2 "Beardsley to compete in Infiniti Pro Series". Crash.net. July 16, 2002.
  16. 1 2 "AJ Foyt IV to race in Infiniti Pro Series". Crash.net. May 29, 2002.
  17. 1 2 "Owner/driver Peterson joins Infiniti Pro Series". Crash.net. June 18, 2002.
  18. ↑ "Genoa places order for Infiniti Pro Series car". Crash.net. December 19, 2001.
  19. ↑ "Hampton to make IPS debut at Michigan". Crash.net. July 26, 2002.
  20. 1 2 "Bowes Seal Fast Racing To Enter Infiniti Pro Series". Infiniti Pro Series. April 12, 2002. Archived from the original on February 24, 2003.
  21. ↑ "Michigan Indy 400 Notes - Friday, July 26". Indy Racing League. July 26, 2002. Archived from the original on August 16, 2002.
  22. ↑ "Hemelgarn announces Infiniti Pro series team". Crash.net. November 30, 2001.
  23. ↑ "Hemelgarn/Johnson Motorsports name Fike 2002 driver". Motorsport.com. March 15, 2002.
  24. ↑ "Cory Witherill signs with Hemelgarn/Johnson Motorsports". Motorsport.com. March 23, 2002.
  25. ↑ "Seven races for Infiniti Pro Series". Crash. 2002-02-02. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
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