AFS Racing is a professional racing team participating in the IndyCar Series and previously the Firestone Indy Lights series. It is owned by Gary Peterson, the founder of Automatic Fire Sprinklers for which it is named, and is based in Huntington Beach, California.
The team was founded with the creation of the Infiniti Pro Series (now Indy Lights) in 2002. At that time the team's only driver was Peterson himself and he finished seventh in points with a best finish of fourth. In 2003 Peterson was joined by G. J. Mennen who made 7 starts and finished 13th in points. Peterson finished 10th. In 2004, Peterson only drove part-time but the team ran a second car for Arie Luyendyk Jr. for the final five races of the season after he left Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Luyendyk finished third in points. The team also fielded a car for sprint car racer Jay Drake in the Freedom 100 and he finished fourth. In 2005, the team ran only a partial schedule, fielding a car for Luyendyk in three races and Rocky Moran Jr. in the Freedom 100. In 2006 Alex Lloyd finished 7th in the team's primary entry while Luyendyk drove in four races and Thiago Medeiros, Phil Giebler, and Tyce Carlson all drove in one race each for the team. Lloyd captured the team's first two wins that season with victories in the Freedom 100 and the second Infineon Raceway race.
In 2007 the team formed a partnership with Andretti Green Racing and fielded cars full-time for Jaime Camara and Wade Cunningham. The partnership was often referred to as AGR-AFS Racing Cunningham finished third in points with a win at Watkins Glen International while Camara finished sixth in points. In 2008 the team fielded full-time entries for reigning Atlantic Championship champion Raphael Matos and Arie Luyendyk Jr. Matos won three races on his way to the series championship while Luyendyk finished fourth in points and captured his first series win in the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway. 2009 saw the team field entries for J. R. Hildebrand and Sebastián Saavedra. Hildebrand captured AGR-AFS's second consecutive championship on the back of four race wins while Saavedra won twice and finished third in points, winning Rookie of the Year honors. The team's 2010 drivers were Martin Plowman and Charlie Kimball. Plowman captured a win at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and finished third in points while Kimball failed to win and got fourth.
The team first entered the IndyCar Series in 2009 by fielding a car in conjunction with Andretti Green Racing at Infineon Raceway for Franck Montagny. In 2010 the partnership participated in two road course races with driver Adam Carroll, finishing 16th and 19th.
In 2011 the team has separated from Andretti and is now on its own. It began the 2011 season only operating in the IndyCar Series with a single part-time entry driven by Raphael Matos. [1] After failing to qualify for the 2011 Indianapolis 500, Matos and the team parted ways. They signed former AFS Indy Lights driver Martin Plowman to a three race deal in association with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, AFS's former Indy Lights rival. [2] Hideki Mutoh was signed to drive the team's car at Twin Ring Motegi. Wade Cunningham, who earlier in the season debuted driving an in-house Schmidt Motorsports car, will drive in the season's final two oval races for the team. AFS Racing fielded a car in conjunction with Andretti Autosport at the 2012 Indianapolis 500 which was driven by Sebastián Saavedra. Unfortunately, Saavedra crashed and finished 26th. AFS Racing and Saavedra returned to race at Infineon Raceway for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, where Saavedra finished 15th.
AFS spent the 2013 season away from IndyCar. It returned in 2014, this time partnered with KV Racing Technology, with a full-season entry for Saavedra.
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Bryan John Herta is an American former race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series. His team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon and the 2016 Indianapolis 500 with driver Alexander Rossi. He is the father of IndyCar Series driver Colton Herta.
Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy NXT, IMSA, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti United and a stake in the Extreme E team, Andretti United. It is headed and owned by former CART series champion Michael Andretti.
Arie Luyendyk Jr. is a Dutch-American auto racing driver, television personality, and son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk. He has competed mostly in North America where his father lives and made his career. Luyendyk is best known for competing in the Indy Lights Series where he finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Championship over a number of years. He was named a test-driver in A1 Grand Prix alongside Jeroen Bleekemolen for A1 Team The Netherlands starting the 2007–08 season.
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Alex Stewart Lloyd is a British former motor racing driver. He was close friends with multiple Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton during his karting and early career.
Wade Grant Cunningham is a racing driver from Auckland, New Zealand who competed in the Firestone Indy Lights Series.
Raphael Matos is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He was the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series champion and the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion. He lives in Miami.
James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, his first year driving for Schmidt Peterson, he suffered life-threatening blood loss when he was impaled in a crash when his suspension failed while practicing for the Indianapolis 500. He would recover and win the pole position for the following year's race. In 2016, he appeared on season 23 of the ABC series Dancing with the Stars, finishing in second place. He's often called by his nicknames Hinch and Hinchtown.
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The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was an IndyCar Series race held at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, United States. USAC moved the fall race and added a spring race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 1964. The race became a CART event in 1979, and joined the Indy Racing League in 1996. It was held continuously through 2005.
The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. After a series of partnerships and name changes, the team formed what was initially a joint entry with McLaren for the 2020 season known as Arrow McLaren SP. Schmidt and co-owner Ric Peterson would sell 75% of the team to McLaren following the 2021 season and remain on the team's board of governors, which is chaired by McLaren CEO Zak Brown. The team operates the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 Dallara-Chevrolet entries for Pato O'Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi, respectively.
The 2008 Indy Racing League Firestone Indy Lights Series season, formerly the Indy Pro Series, began on March 29, 2008, and consisted of 16 races. Due to the discontinuation of the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the series lost its Liberty Challenge double header typically held that weekend. The Liberty double header were replaced by the addition of a second race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and a return to the Kansas Speedway, where the series had not raced since 2004. All races were shown time-delayed on ESPN2. Live stream video was available on the IndyCar Lights Series website. It was announced on March 22, 2008, that Firestone signed on to be the title sponsor of the Indy Pro Series, and thus the series was retitled the Firestone Indy Lights, in reference to the old Indy Lights development series which ran under CART from 1986 to 2001.
The 2009 Indy Racing League Firestone Indy Lights season began April 4 in St. Petersburg, Florida, where it ran a double-header weekend in support to the season-opening IndyCar Series event. The schedule took place over 14 race weekends in support of the IndyCars, with 15 total races. Unlike the 2008 season, the St. Petersburg weekend will be the only double-header the series has announced. J. R. Hildebrand ended the season as champion for Andretti Green-AFS Racing, winning the championship by nearly 100 points ahead of Vision Racing's James Davison and his AGR-AFS Racing team-mate Sebastián Saavedra.
Martin Plowman is a British professional racing driver from Tamworth currently competing in the British GT Championship for Paddock Motorsport, which he co-founded with Kelvin Fletcher. In 2013, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class and was 2013 FIA WEC World Champion in the LMP2 class for drivers and teams.
Sebastián Saavedra is a Colombian racing driver from Bogotá. In 2014, he drove for KVSH Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series before being replaced by former GP2 Series driver Stefano Coletti.
The 2010 Indy Racing League Firestone Indy Lights season was the 25th Indy Lights season. It was contested over thirteen races beginning on March 28 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and ended on October 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Bryan Herta Autosport is an American auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and the Michelin Pilot Challenge. It is owned by former IndyCar driver Bryan Herta. The team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon.
The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 21st season of the IndyCar Series and the 105th season of American open wheel racing. It included the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Scott Dixon entered as the reigning Drivers' Champion, while Chevrolet entered the season as the reigning Manufacturer's Champion. Upon season's end, Simon Pagenaud was crowned Drivers' Champion, while Chevrolet retained the Manufacturer's Championship. Simon Pagenaud was the first European driver to win IndyCar Series driver's title since British driver Dario Franchitti in 2011 season.
The 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 22nd season of the Verizon IndyCar Series and the 106th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 101st Indianapolis 500 won by Takuma Sato. Josef Newgarden, the 2011 Indy Lights champion, in his sixth full-time season in the IndyCar Series, won the championship. It was Newgarden's first season as part of Team Penske, and he collected four wins, one pole position, and ten top-five finishes. It was Team Penske's 15th Indy car season championship, and third in four years.
The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 23rd season of the Verizon IndyCar Series and the 107th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 102nd Indianapolis 500, with Takuma Sato entering as the defending Indianapolis 500 winner. Josef Newgarden entered the season as the defending National Champion.
