INDY PRO SERIES 2008 PREVIEW
Series, but the increased prize fund has
really added to the depth,” he says. “In
2006, my first year in the series, the
fields weren’t huge, but the momentum
was building, and we had a big growth
surge last season. With the bigger purses,
good drivers who didn’t have endless
amounts of sponsorship money could
take home maybe two or three hundred
thousand bucks to put into their
programs, and that’s not too far off being
half of a realistic budget.”
Bailey agrees, noting: “If you average a
10th-place finish throughout the year –
and if you do that, you probably aren’t
destined to finish top of the heap – you
will still pick up another $160-170,000.
That’s got to be useful.”
Another useful incentive is the scheme
implemented by Indy Racing League
president Brian Barnhart that gives an
IndyCar Series team five extra days of
testing if they partner with an Indy Pro
“ A great thing
about the series is
that you need to
run well on ovals
and road courses”
Series squad. The good news for the upand-comers
is that half of that testing
must be with “junior” at the wheel. It’s a
great way to evaluate new talent, as well
as gain valuable extra track time, and it’s
one that teams such as Panther Racing,
Andretti Green Racing and Ganassi Racing
have all been quick to take advantage of.
A HAND FROM ABOVE
The Indy Pro Series is attracting
serious attention from the top tier now
Getting a driver from the Indy Pro Series into
the IndyCar Series is a two-way process. A
strong season in the feeder series gives a boost
from below, but he or she isn’t going to
complete the climb up unless there’s a helping
hand from above, too.
The fact that three drivers – Jay Howard, Alex
Lloyd (right) and Hideki Mutoh – have made it
to their destination championship is a huge
endorsement for the Indy Pro Series; but
executive director Roger Bailey knows that it’s
something that can only happen because the
IndyCar Series teams are willing to open their
doors to what are still relatively unproven talents.
70 INDYCAR SERIES 2008 FAN GUIDE
ALEX LLOYD
(From top)
Richard Antinucci,
Raphael Matos
and Bobby Wilson
are just three of
the potential
champions in a
talented field
“It’s terrific for the series,” he says, “but it
has taken seven years of building credibility
and momentum to get to this position. We
always used to hear the stories that you could
only make the jump if you had family ties to
the teams: ‘If it wasn’t forTony George, Ed
Carpenter wouldn’t be there; If it wasn’t for A.J.
Foyt, A.J IV wouldn’t be there,’ etc.
“What people don’t do is look back. If you
remember where we were with the American
Racing Series and Indy Lights in the ’80s, until
Roger Penske took Paul Tracy into the top level
in ’91, nobody wanted to hear about it. We
were just another series lost in the wilderness.
When Penske took Tracy, it became OK to be
interested in Indy Lights. After that, people
started to look at it as a genuine pool of talent,
and started bringing in guys like Tony Kanaan
and Helio Castroneves.
IMS Photo Paul Webb/LAT
IMS Photo
Paul Webb/LAT
“That direct link with the IndyCar Series
teams is another example of why this
series is the place to go,” says Lloyd.
“The big teams are already involved, and
open-wheel reunification will make it
even stronger. Now there’s only one major
open-wheel series, things are more clear
for a driver who’s thinking, ‘What’s the
best way to get there?’”
Bailey has a very clear vision for the
future: “Our goal now is to make the
series better, not bigger. Initially your
goal is always, ‘How many cars can I
get?’ With reunification, we can really
start to promote the talent we have and
bring in more commercial sponsors.
Next year, we’ll be going to Indianapolis
and Long Beach, so that’s got to be very
appealing to any potential sponsors.
“I think reunification is going to have
a more far-reaching effect than just
two series coming together. It will trickle all
the way down, and that’s got to be good
news. People won’t have to question where
they should be. We’re looking strong now,
but I can’t wait to see what the Indy Pro
Series looks like in a couple of years!”
See more Indy Pro Series
INDYCAR.COM @
“If you look at the front of the grid in the
IndyCar Series, a lot of the top drivers came
through from Indy Lights. I believe we’re at
about that stage now with the Indy Pro Series.
It took Indy Lights seven years for it to reach
that level, and I’m excited that’s where the Indy
Pro Series is now.”
Paul Webb/LAT
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