PALMETTO, Fla. – The 2020 schedule for the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires has been announced by Andersen Promotions.
All three levels of the ladder system – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – will compete at prominent venues throughout North America and Canada with all events in support of the NTT IndyCar Series, offering scholarships and awards valued at more than $2.7 million.
Oliver Askew, who will capture his third Road to Indy scholarship – a guaranteed three-race program in the NTT IndyCar Series including the Indianapolis 500 – with the Indy Lights title when he takes the green flag for the final two races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 21-22, exemplifies the success of the program with his swift rise through the ranks, going from karts to IndyCar in four years.
“My preparation for IndyCar could not have been done better anywhere else other than the Road to Indy, for reasons both on and off the track,” said Askew. “From USF2000 to Indy Pro 2000 to Indy Lights, the steps work in perfect harmony with about a five mile per hour average lap speed between the three steps. From tire management, to set up evolution and engineering, to track knowledge, most of the experiences I have come across through the RTI I will eventually call upon while competing in IndyCar. I have also found it crucially important to continually show my face and compete in front of IndyCar team owners and personnel.”
Following a successful revitalization of the entire Road to Indy with new chassis introductions over the course of the past few years, Andersen Promotions has also announced extensions on all equipment packages to assist with team budgets. The Indy Lights Dallara IL-15 will remain in competition for at least three more seasons through 2022, and the Indy Pro 2000 Tatuus PM-18 and USF2000 USF-17 through at least 2024.
With official series test days shifting to event weekends, race and series test budgets – not including private team testing – are expected to range from $275,000 to $325,000 (USD) in USF2000, $475,000 to $550,000 in Indy Pro 2000 and $850,000 to $950,000 in Indy Lights.
As a prelude to the 2019 season, Andersen Promotions will host the ninth annual Chris Griffis Memorial Road to Indy Open Test at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix Circuit on Oct. 19-20.
In addition to two days of testing for Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000, the outing will comprise additional value-added elements as part of the Road to Indy’s traditional Summit program – an educational driver development component of the three ladder series.
Summit activities will take place on Friday, Oct. 18, and will include a visit to the headquarters of Ed Carpenter Racing; a tour of NTT IndyCar and Indy Lights chassis manufacturer Dallara, including its high-performance simulator; a presentation/demonstration by Jim Leo of PitFit Training, the industry leader in driver performance training; an evening outing/reception at Sarah Fisher’s Speedway Indoor Karting; and training opportunities with Darren Manning’s iAdvance Motorsports Simulator.
Spring Training will once again be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway’s 2.210-mile road course located in Homestead, Fla., on March 7-9. Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 with share the track on Saturday and Sunday (March 7-8) with Indy Lights having a dedicated test day on March 9.
Additional activities will include a comprehensive competition presentation and media training as a continuation of the Summit program.
“I am very happy with our calendar for next season,” said Dan Andersen, Owner and CEO of Andersen Promotions. “We’ve managed to eliminate the large break we have had in April with a return to Barber Motorsports Park for Indy Lights and the addition of Circuit of The Americas for Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000. Now all three series are racing monthly from March through September.
“Juggling our test days to coincide with race events will aid teams with their budgets while providing valuable additional track time over our 2019 schedule. We’ve also extended the life of our three chassis across the board to provide additional cost savings to our teams.
“As we head to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for our season finale for all three series in conjunction with IndyCar, we’ve enjoyed a tremendous year so far. The level of competition has been outstanding with two championship titles still up for grabs. We have welcomed several new teams to our paddock including Abel Motorsports, HMD Motorsports, Jay Howard Driver Development, Legacy Autosport, Miller Vinatieri Motorsports and Pserra Racing. We have additional teams looking to join our Road to Indy family and several of our established teams looking to expand their programs to other levels of the ladder system. We’re looking forward to another great season in 2020 in developing the future stars of IndyCar.”
Click below to see the full schedules for all three Road to Indy divisions.