2009 Indy Lights
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The 2009
Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...
Firestone Indy Lights 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 ...
season began April 4 in
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...
, where it ran a double-header weekend in support to the season-opening
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
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 James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...
and his AGR-AFS Racing team-mate Sebastián Saavedra.


Drivers and teams

All drivers compete in Firestone-shod
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 ...
s.


Schedule

The season consisted of fifteen races, including a mix of ovals, temporary street circuits and road courses.


Race summaries


St. Pete 100 Race 1

* Saturday April 4, 2009 * Streets of St. Petersburg,
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...
* Race weather: , partly cloudy * Pole position winner: #26 J. R. Hildebrand 1:07.7704 sec, * Race Summary: The league instituted new qualifying rules for the road courses in 2009. First, the cars were broken into two groups due to the increase in the size of the field, the fastest driver in either session would start from the pole and the other drivers in his session would line up in the odd-numbered positions for the race in order of speed while the drivers from the slower session would line up in the even-numbered positions. In addition, the league abandoned its practice of using partially inverted finishing order from race 1 of a doubleheader to determine the grid for race 2. Instead a separate qualifying session was held for the second race (which actually occurred before the first race had been held). : J. R. Hildebrand opened up a lead as wide as 6 seconds during the first half of the race on his pursuers led by teammate Sebastián Saavedra and Junior Strous. On lap 18, a caution came out caused by Duncan Tappy spinning off-track and dragging debris onto the racing surface. On the restart, Hildebrand was unable to bring his car to full power due to an electrical issue and Strous was able to make the pass in turns 1 and 2 while making slight contact with Hildebrand's car. Jonathan Summerton was able to make his way past in a subsequent corner. However, Summerton was unable to challenge Strous for the victory, with Junior Strous capturing his first victory in his debut and the first major open wheel racing victory for team principal Paul Diatlovich (of
PDM Racing PDM Racing was a racing team in the IndyCar Series and USAC Silver Crown series owned by Paul Diatlovich. Almost always a low budget team and affectionately dubbed "Poor Dumb Mechanics" by Diatlovich, it was known to make the most out of mediocre ...
).


St. Pete 100 Race 2

* Sunday April 5, 2009 * Streets of St. Petersburg,
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...
* Race weather: , mostly cloudy * Pole position winner: #27 Sebastián Saavedra 1:07.2171 sec, * Race Summary: J. R. Hildebrand led the field through lap one but it was ordered that he had jumped the start and was sent back to third position and his teammate polesitter Sebastián Saavedra assumed the lead. On lap 13 the most spectacular incident occurred when Ali Jackson and Pippa Mann tangled in turn 8 resulting in Jackson's car being wedged under Mann's and Mann's rear wheels sitting several feet in the air as she gunned the throttle attempting to get going. Both cars were ultimately able to continue but Mann soon suffered suspension failure and fell out of the race. On a lap 27 restart, J. R. Hildebrand who was running second suffered the same electrical issues he had the day before. He swung wide to let Junior Strous through on the inside into turn 1, but Ana Beatriz who was running behind Strous also dove for the open real estate and made contact with Hildebrand, taking both cars out. On the ensuing restart on lap 33, Strous was able to pass Hildebrand's teammate Saavedra going into turn 1 for the lead as Ali Jackson and teammate Jesse Mason crashed behind them bringing out another caution. Strous held off Saavedra on the restart on lap 37 and drove to his second victory of the weekend, becoming the third Indy Lights driver to sweep the St. Pete doubleheader after
Raphael Matos Raphael Matos (born August 28, 1981) 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. He is sometimes also called Rafa Matos. Ca ...
(2006) and
Alex Lloyd Alexander Lloyd (Birth name, né Wasiliev; born 19 September 1974) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', ''Watching Angels Mend'', ''Distant Light (Alex Lloyd album), Distant Light'' and ''Alex Lloyd (al ...
(2007).


Long Beach 100

* Sunday April 19, 2009 * Streets of Long Beach,
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
* Race weather: , sunny * Pole position winner: #26 J. R. Hildebrand 1:15.2695 sec, * Race Summary:


Kansas Lottery 100

* Sunday April 26, 2009 *
Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway (formerly known as Kansas International Speedway in initial planning and construction stages) is a tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The track, since its inaugural season of ...
,
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
,
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
* Race weather: , Cloudy and Windy * Pole position winner: #11 Wade Cunningham, 58.3812 sec, (2-lap) * Race Summary: Due to the prospect of bad weather in the area, the race was moved up 2 hours to 10 AM local time. Heavy storms had moved through the area the previous night, leaving a "green" racetrack and gusty winds. The challenging conditions led to a number of major incidents in the race. The first occurred on lap 3 when Jesse Mason spun and was hit by Richard Philippe, both were uninjured. On the lap 9 restart Sebastián Saavedra was able to pass polesitter Wade Cunningham for the lead. The scariest incident of the day occurred on lap 15 when Ali Jackson hit the outside wall and Sergey Mokshantsev was unable to slow down due to a mechanical problem and ran into the back of Rodrigo Barbosa, flipping Mokshantsev's car upside down and into the wall. Despite the hard and unusual impact, Mokshantsev, as well as the other two drivers, was also uninjured. Saavedra was able to hold off the challenges of Cunningham until on lap 59, Dillon Battistini spun and collected Pippa Mann, who pierced Battistini's radiator, leaving a large amount of fluid on the track and resulting in the race ending under caution. Saavedra captured his first Indy Lights victory in his third start and his first on an oval.


Firestone Freedom 100

* Friday May 22, 2009 *
Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...
,
Speedway, Indiana Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 13,952 at the 2020 census, up from 11,812 in 2010. Speedway, which is an enclave of Indianapolis, is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. H ...
* Race weather: , Sunny * Pole position winner: #11 Wade Cunningham, 1:34.6485 sec, (2-lap) * Race Summary:


Husar's House of Fine Diamonds 100

* Sunday May 31, 2009 *
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 ...
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West Allis, Wisconsin West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Wis ...
* Race weather: , Partially cloudy * Pole position winner: #5 Mario Romancini, 49.4453 sec, (2-lap) * Race Summary: Mario Romancini led from the pole and was closely pursued by the AGR-AFS Racing cars of J. R. Hildebrand and Sebastián Saavedra. However, Saavedra got caught up in an incident where Jonathan Summerton spun and dropped to the back. He elected to save his tires during what ultimately became a long green-flag run. In the last few laps Saavedra was able to use his better handling car to work through the field and back up to third place. However, he was unable to pass his teammate or Romancini and Romancini captured his first Indy Lights victory leading every lap.


Miller Lite 100

* Saturday June 20, 2009 *
Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a oval short track in Newton, Iowa. Since its inaugural season of racing in 2006, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, including events sanctioned by NASCAR and IndyCar. NASCAR has owned the facility since 2013, wi ...
,
Newton, Iowa Newton is the county seat of, and most populous city in, Jasper County, Iowa, United States. Located east of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Newton is in Central Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the city population was 15,760 ...
* Race weather: * Pole position winner: #26 J. R. Hildebrand, 39.9348 sec, (2-lap) * Race Summary: After dueling early with J. R. Hildebrand, Wade Cunningham took the lead on lap 4 and controlled the majority of the race. The car of Sergey Mokshantsev slowed on the track on lap 5, prompting a caution to tow the car into the pits. Pippa Mann spun on lap 53 ending a long green flag run, which was soon followed by an incident between the cars of Andrew Prendeville and
Brandon Wagner Brandon Wagner (born April 3, 1987) is an American racing driver from Lafayette, Indiana. He is a graduate of Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School, Central Catholic High School and is currently enrolled at Purdue University. Beginning in ...
. Hildebrand, running second, was forced to serve a drive through penalty for blocking Daniel Herrington, which dropped him to ninth before recovering to finish second. No car was able to challenge Cunningham through much of the race, with the lead pack primarily running single-file. While running second Herrington spun but did not come into contact with the wall or another car, conceding second place to Ana Beatriz. Sebastián Saavedra, who had to pit at the start of the race due to a mechanical issue, ran with the lead pack despite being many laps down. His car got ahead of Cunningham's, but soon after began to impede Cunningham and cause him to lose much of his lead and Beatriz was able to overtake Cunningham. On the last lap of the race, a collision between
James Davison James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...
and Pippa Mann sealed Beatriz's victory by bringing out the caution. Mann's car was overturned in the accident, but she was unhurt in the incident.


Corning 100

* Saturday July 4, 2009 *
Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...
,
Watkins Glen, New York Watkins Glen is a village and census-designated place in and the county seat of Schuyler County, New York, Schuyler County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,829. Watkins Glen lies between the ...
* Race weather: , Partially cloudy * Pole position winner: #21
James Davison James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...
, 1:37.1780 sec, * Race Summary:
James Davison James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...
was able to keep Sebastián Saavedra who started alongside him behind at the start. On lap 8,
James Hinchcliffe James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship driving the No. 9 Lamborghini for Pfaff Motorsports. He is also a commentator for Fox Sports, FOX Sp ...
who was running fourth spun in turn 6, causing light damage to the car. On the lap 10 restart J. R. Hildebrand was able to pass his teammate Saavedra for second and on lap 14 took the lead from Davison. On lap 27, Wade Cunningham nosed into the tires at turn 13, leaving a one-lap shootout for the checkered flag. On the final lap, Felipe Guimarães and Charlie Kimball were able to pass Saavedra for 3rd and 4th respectively with Kimball and Saavedra banging wheels on the entrance to the "Bus Stop" chicane. Saavedra was penalized 30 seconds for the contact, dropping him from 5th to 18th in the race results.Lap Report – Final
IndyCar.com, July 4, 2009 Hildebrand became the second driver to win two races in the season (after Junior Strous) and extended his points lead to 58 points as virtually all of his closest pursuers had poor results.


Toronto 100

* Saturday July 11, 2009 * Streets of Toronto,
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
* Race weather: , damp, drying later * Pole position winner: #27 Sebastián Saavedra, 1:04.6068 sec, * Race Summary: Earlier in the day a heavy rainstorm passed through the area, drenching the track. However, by the start of the race the sun was coming out and the track began to dry. However, the league had declared the race a "wet race" and all cars were to start on rain tires. On the first lap, Mario Romancini ducked into the pits to switch to slick tires, a move that every car would eventually make, however most waited until laps 8 to 10 to make their stops. Indy Lights teams do not normally make
pit stop Pitstop may refer to: * Pit stop, in motor racing, when the car stops in the pits for fuel and other consumables to be renewed or replenished * ''Pit Stop'' (1969 film), a movie directed by Jack Hill * ''Pit Stop'' (2013 film), a movie directe ...
s and the cars had to be jacked up by a manually powered "quick jack" one half at a time. In addition each wheel nut is held in place by a retaining pin that must be removed and replaced when changing a wheel. This, along with the fact that many teams were not prepared to make pit stops meant that most stops were over 1 minute long. However, AGR-AFS Racing's two cars, J. R. Hildebrand and Sebastián Saavedra were able to pit much faster as, according to their team owner Gary Peterson, they do practice pit stops. Hildebrand left the pits with the lead however, Saavedra's car was much faster. Once a passing lane had dried enough to attempt a pass, Saavedra worked his way past on lap 18 and drove away for his second win of the season. The race had no caution flags or major incidents and only two cars retired from the race due to mechanical issues.


Grand Prix of Edmonton

* Saturday July 25, 2009 * Rexall Speedway,
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
* Race weather: * Pole position winner: #26 J. R. Hildebrand, 1:05.9065 sec, * Race Summary:


Kentucky 100

* Saturday August 1, 2009 *
Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is an inactive tri-oval intermediate speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) and ...
,
Sparta, Kentucky Sparta is a home rule-class city in Gallatin and Owen counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 231 at the 2010 census. Sparta is home to Kentucky Speedway. Geography Sparta is located in southwestern Gallatin County. The cen ...
* Race weather: , partly cloudy * Pole position winner: #26 J. R. Hildebrand (qualifying cancelled; field set by owner points) * Race Summary: * * Race finished under caution.


Mid-Ohio 100

* Sunday August 9, 2009 *
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar, IMSA WeatherTech Sportsc ...
,
Lexington, Ohio Lexington is a village (United States)#Ohio, village along the Clear Fork River in Troy Township, Richland County, Ohio, Troy Township and Washington Township, Richland County, Ohio, Washington Township in Richland County, Ohio, Richland County ...
* Race weather: , hazy * Pole position winner: #21
James Davison James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...
, 1:14.8673 sec, * Race Summary:


Carneros 100

* Sunday August 23, 2009 *
Infineon Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...
,
Sonoma, California Sonoma () is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma' ...
* Race weather: , overcast * Pole position winner: #26 J. R. Hildebrand, 1:23.0361 sec, * Race Summary:


Chicagoland 100

* Saturday August 29, 2009 *
Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is an inactive tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Joliet, Illinois. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is currently own ...
,
Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...
* Race weather: , mostly cloudy * Pole position winner: #32
Brandon Wagner Brandon Wagner (born April 3, 1987) is an American racing driver from Lafayette, Indiana. He is a graduate of Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School, Central Catholic High School and is currently enrolled at Purdue University. Beginning in ...
, 57.6140 sec, (2-lap) * Race Summary: With his fifth-place finish, J. R. Hildebrand became the first American champion since 2002, when A. J. Foyt IV took the honours in the inaugural Infiniti Pro Series.


Homestead-Miami 100

* Friday October 9, 2009 * Homestead-Miami Speedway,
Homestead, Florida Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in the United States, U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and ...
* Race weather: , partially cloudy * Pole position winner: #21
James Davison James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...
, 57.6245 sec, (2-lap) * Race Summary:


Driver standings

* Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.


See also

*
2009 IndyCar Series season The 2009 IndyCar Series was the 14th season of the IndyCar Series. The 17-race season began on April 5, and its premier event, the 93rd Indianapolis 500 was held May 24. All races were broadcast on ABC or Versus in high-definition. It repre ...
*
2009 Atlantic Championship season The 2009 IMSA Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship season was the thirty-sixth Atlantic Championship, Atlantic Championship season. It was the first full season of the Championship under the sanctioning of the International Motor Sports Associatio ...


References


External links


Indy Lights Series website
{{Firestone Indy Lights Series Indy Lights seasons
Indy Lights 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 Roa ...
Indy Lights 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 Roa ...