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 race strategist and former race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series and is the strategist for the #27 Andretti Autosport in the same 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 and former strategist of IndyCar driver Colton Herta.
Andretti Global, formerly known as Andretti Autosport, is an American motorsports organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, Indy NXT, Formula E, Extreme E, and joint entries in IMSA and the Australian Supercars Championship. The team was founded as Forsythe/Green Racing by Gerald Forsythe and Barry Green in 1993, and was known for most of its formative years as Team Green under the control of Green and his brother Kim, competing in the CART Indy Car World Series. 1991 CART champion Michael Andretti purchased a stake in the team in 2002, renaming it to Andretti Green Racing and switching to the Indy Racing League for the 2003 season. From 2009 through 2023, the team was known as Andretti Autosport, with Andretti in full control of the team. Following a restructuring during the 2023 season, the team rebranded to Andretti Global in deference to the team's new parent company, formed in 2022 by Andretti and businessman Dan Towriss to pursue a Formula One entry.
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.
The Curb Agajanian Performance Group is an American motorsports team, currently competing as a co-entrant in IndyCar and IMSA. It is owned by record executive Mike Curb and racing personality Cary Agajanian; son of the late J. C. Agajanian, a race promoter and race car owner. It has fielded an IndyCar entry or co-entry in various races since 2001. Curb also was involved with NASCAR in both the Xfinity Series and Sprint Cup Series, owning Curb Racing from 1984 to 2011. Curb had several business partners in the NASCAR operation over the years, including Agajanian from 1998 to 2006.
Alex Stewart Lloyd is a former British motor racing driver. Lloyd struggled with funding throughout his career, but went on to win the 2007 Indy Lights Championship and finished fourth in the 2010 Indianapolis 500. He was known by the nickname "Pink Lloyd."
Wade Grant Cunningham is a racing driver from Auckland, New Zealand who competed in the IndyCar Series from 2011 to 2012.
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.
The Jimmy Bryan Memorial 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, competing as Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team due to sponsorship, is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The team operates the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 Dallara-Chevrolet entries for Pato O'Ward, Nolan Siegel, and Alexander Rossi respectively.
James Winslow is a British professional car racing driver who races at Le Mans 24 Hours. A ten-time Motorsport champion member of the British Racing Drivers' Club, he competes in Europe, Australia & Asia in Le Mans LMP & GT cars. He represented Great Britain in A1 Grand Prix the World Cup of Motorsport. Awarded the Royal Humane Award in 2007 by Queen Elizabeth II, for saving the life of a fellow driver trapped in his burning race car, he gained international attention and many bravery awards followed before featuring in the BBC's 'Accidental Heroes' TV Series. He currently holds the record for the most Formula 3 open-wheeler wins after a tally of 86 victories, and ranked in the Top 10 'Most Victories of all time' listings for British drivers.
The 2008 IRL Firestone Indy Lights Series, formerly the Indy Pro Series, was the seventh season of the developmental open-wheel racing series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 23rd in Indy NXT combined history.
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.
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.
