The 2004 Menards

IRL IRL may refer to: Arts and media * ''IRL'' (2013 film), a Swedish drama film about a high school student tormented by peers * IRL (2019 film), an American drama film about "the ups and downs of online dating and modern dating" * ''IRL'' (album), ...

Infiniti Pro Series Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road t ...

season was the third season of the series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 19th in Indy NXT combined history, as officially recognized by IndyCar. All teams used

Dallara Dallara Group S.r.l. is the largest multi-national Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Giampaolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' M ...

IL-02 chassis and

Infiniti (stylized in all caps) is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. The brand began on November 8, 1989, initially in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in the 201 ...

engines. In his second year of Pro Series competition, Thiago Medeiros won the championship convincingly, giving

Sam Schmidt Motorsports 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 (SSM). The team operates the N ...

its first title. He won six wins, including the second running of the

Freedom 100 The Freedom 100 was an automobile race held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, as part of the Indy NXT, Indy Lights. The event was a Card (sports)#Undercard, support race for the IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500, and ...

from pole position, scored seven pole positions and led the most laps in all but two of the 12 races. Medeiros became champion by taking the green flag at the penultimate round in

Chicagoland The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities ...

, and finished with a 134-point lead over

Paul Dana Paul Frederick Dana (; April 15, 1975 – March 26, 2006) was an American racing driver who competed in the IndyCar Series. Early life Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Dana graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. ...

, who scored his lone Infiniti Pro Series win at

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. Despite joining the Infiniti Pro Series at the fourth round in Kansas, rookie

P. J. Chesson Peter Lawrence Chesson Jr. (born December 9, 1978, in Far Hills, New Jersey) is an American race car driver who most recently competed in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Chesson drove go-karts and motorbikes while growing up on a horse far ...

rallied to a fourth place in the standings, including a three-win streak with newcomers

Mo Nunn Racing Mo or MO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mo, a girl in the ''Horrible Histories'' TV series * Mo, also known as Mortimer, in the novel '' Inkheart'' by Cornelia Funke * Mo, in the webcomic '' Jesus and Mo'' * Mo, the ...

, an effort instigated and managed by Nunn's wife Kathryn. Despite a penalty at the last round that demoted him behind

Arie Luyendyk Jr. Arie Luyendyk Jr. ( , ; born September 18, 1981) 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 ...

in the standings, Chesson won Rookie of the Year over Leonardo Maia by 25 points.

A. J. Foyt Enterprises A. J. Foyt Racing, officially and historically known as A. J. Foyt Enterprises, is an American racing team in the IndyCar Series and formerly NASCAR. It is owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, 1972 Daytona 500 winner, 1967 24 Hours of Le ...

and

Panther Racing Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series. Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500. Formation The team was ...

, the champions of the previous two editions, left the series, although Foyt entered a car for Jeff Simmons at the Freedom 100, finishing second behind Medeiros. Simmons and

Marty Roth Marty Roth (born December 15, 1958) is a Canadian former race car driver who last competed in 2008 in the IndyCar Series where he owned his own team, Roth Racing. Born in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Roth was a successful land developer in ...

became the first drivers to contest the Indianapolis 500 and the Freedom 100 in the same year. Sinden Racing Service and Genoa Racing also left the series entirely, while the privateer effort by Matt Beardsley ceased to be after the Freedom 100. On the other hand, Roquin Motorsports re-expanded to a full time effort,

Roth Racing Roth Racing was a race team owned by Canadian real estate magnate and racecar driver Marty Roth. It competed in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. 2004-2005 The team was founded in 2004 when Marty Roth purchased the Indy Pro Series equip ...

, Racing Professionals and Bullet-Team Motorsports made their debut with partial seasons, apart from Mo Nunn joining the championship at the fourth round. While the Freedom 100 attracted 17 competitors, the Infiniti Pro Series struggled with entries throughout much of 2004, especially during the summer stretch, with only nine cars and just three finishers at the Milwaukee round. Grid sizes improved over the last three races, with 15 drivers in each round. Only the top 3 drivers in the standings contested the full season, with two others missing one round. Former IndyCar drivers that competed during the season were

Billy Roe Billy Roe (born May 7, 1957 in Indianapolis, Indiana), is a former driver in the Indy Racing League. He raced in the 1997–1998 and 2000–2002 seasons with 16 career starts, including 2 at the Indianapolis 500. His best IRL finish was ...

Jon Herb Jon Allen Herb (born June 1, 1970) is an American former racecar owner, driver in the IndyCar Series, Indy Racing Leaguehttps://archive.today/20130201063259/http://raceday.racingone.com/driver.aspx?driverid=280&seriesID=3&subID=11 and Automobile ...

, Cory Witherill and Scott Mayer.

Team and driver chart

Schedule

The schedule for 2004 stayed at 12 rounds with minor date changes over 2003. Mirroring the IRL IndyCar Series, the series left

Gateway International Raceway Gateway Motorsports Park (currently known as World Wide Technology Raceway for sponsorship reasons) is a motor racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a oval that hosts the NASCAR Cu ...

and visited the storied

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectat ...

, who had featured in the last season of the original Indy Lights championship in 2001. This would be the last all-oval season for the series, as the IRL-managed championship would introduce road course racing from 2005 onwards.

Race results

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

; Scoring system * The driver who leads the most laps in a race is awarded two additional points.

Footnotes

References

{{Firestone Indy Lights Series Indy Lights seasons

Indy Pro Series Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road t ...