Good Morning from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca where we were treated to a spectacular sunrise.
Sunrise over Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this morning (photo by Steve Wittich)
Today’s schedule features the final three Mazda Road To Indy races of the season.
- 11:40am-12:20pm — Pro Mazda Race
- 2:40pm-3:40pm — Indy Lights Race
- 4pm – 4:40pm – USF2000 Race
The series are racing for a total of $2.3 million in Mazda season-ending awards including three advancement scholarships for the series champions. Two of the prize winners were decided yesterday.
Nico Jamin claimed a $381,000 total scholarship for winning the Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda championship
Santiago Urrutia claimed a $590,300 scholarship for winning the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire championship
However, the biggest award has yet to be decided. On of the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship contenders, Spencer Pigot, Jack Harvey or Ed Jones, will walk away with a $1,000,000 scholarship that includes a guaranteed chance to qualify for the 100th Indianapolis 500 among a three race Verizon IndyCar Series package.
Coming into the weekend it was Harvey who held a slight six point championship edge, but Pigot broke a ten race Mazda Raceway run (dating back to 1992) that saw Indy Lights race winners come from the front row, when he won from inside the second row. Pigot’s fifth win of the year combined with Harvey’s fifth place finish give the Rising Star Racing sponsored pilot an eight point lead heading into this afternoon’s 38 lap (or 60 minute) finale.
TSO can’t emphasize enough much pressure is on these drivers and teams. Winning the scholarship can be the beginning of a long Indy Car career and falling just short could very well spell the end of a driver’s open wheel dreams.
The tension has been high since the teams and drivers arrived at the iconic circuit on Thursday, and the intensity has been amped up hour-after-hour.
The hardware for winning the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire championship (photo by Steve Wittich)
The easiest championship scenarios are as follows.
Pigot:
- if he finishes first or second he wins the championship
- if he finishes third and Harvey does not score any bonus points he wins the championship
- if he finishes fourth he could win the championship if Harvey finishes second or worse
- if he finishes fifth he could win the championship if Harvey finishes second or worse
- if he finishes sixth he could win the championship if Harvey finishes third or worse
- if he finishes seventh he could win the championship if Harvey finishes third or worse
- if he finishes eighth he could win the championship if Harvey finishes fourth or worse
- if he finishes ninth he could win the championship if Harvey finishes fourth or worse
- if he finishes 10th he could win the championship if Harvey finishes fourth or worse
- if he finishes 11th he could win the championship if Harvey finishes fifth or worse
- if he finishes 12th he could win the championship if Harvey finishes fifth or worse
- if he finishes 13th he could win the championship if Harvey finishes sixth or worse
Harvey:
- if he wins and Pigot finishes fourth or worse
- if he wins and scores more bonus points (than Pigot) and Pigot finishes third
- if he finishes second he could win the championship if Pigot finishes fourth or worse
- if he finishes third he could win the championship if Pigot finishes seventh or worse
- if he finishes fourth he could win the championship if Pigot finishes tenth or worse
- if he finishes fifth he could win the championship if Pigot finishes twelfth or worse
Jones:
if he wins, he needs Pigot to finish 10th or worse and Harvey to finish fifth or worse.
Indy Lights starting line-up:
- Max Chilton
- Spencer Pigot
- Kyle Kaiser
- Jack Harvey
- Ed Jones
- Sean Rayhall
- Felix Serralles
- Shelby Blackstock
- RC Enerson
- Juan Piedrahita
- Scott Anderson
- Ethan Ringel
- Heamin Choi
Pro Mazda starting line-up:
- Santiago Urrutia
- Garett Grist
- Neil Alberico
- Will Owen
- Timothe Buret
- Florian Latorre
- Jose Gutierrez
- Weiron Tan
- Dalton Kellett
- Daniel Burkett
- Victor Franzoni
- Kyle Connery
- Raoul Owens
- Pato O’Ward
- Parker Nicklin
- Michael Johnson
- Alessandro Latif
- Bobby Eberle
- Jay Horak
USF2000 starting line up:
- Nico Jamin
- Aaron Telitz
- Jake Eidson
- Anthony Martin
- Luke Gabin
- Nikita Lastochkin
- Ayla Agren
- Garth Rickards
- Peter Portante
- Keyvan Andres Soori
- Parker Thompson
- Yufeng Luo
- Robert Alon
- Max Hanratty
- James Dayson