Racing: Top 5 most exciting support series

Indy Lights

The penultimate step on the Road to Indy ladder may be one of its most exciting. The Indy Lights Series Presented by Cooper Tires is the final step drivers often take before racing in the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500. And while car counts may be low, the excitement is high for a series that often puts on a top-notch show around Indianapolis and other circuits around America.

The Indy Lights series began under CART sanctioning and continued that way for a while after the open-wheel split. But when Champ Car moved their development focus to Formula Atlantic, the Indy Racing League picked up the slack by creating the Indy Pro Series. That series would eventually morph into today’s Indy Lights Series following unification in 2008.

Today, under the auspices of Andersen Promotions, the Indy Lights Series is the top support series for American open-wheel racing. Gone are the days of standalone races for the division, with the sole focus on creating opportunities for young drivers to advance into the Indy 500. A sizable scholarship is also a big promotional tool for the series as well, but the teams have not fully bought into the series still.

The future of Indy Lights will depend on team buy-in and continued funding for drivers. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Andretti Autosport have proven to be the most committed of the IndyCar teams to the series, but soon Indy Lights teams like Juncos Racing could also join the larger series grid full-time. Be sure to catch the Indy Lights Series, seen on tape delay on NBCSN.