56 cars hit the Road To Indy trail at Barber this weekend

For weekend timetable, click here

Indy Lights

David Malukas, HMD Motorsports

Photo by: Road To Indy

Following the 2020 hiatus for the Indy Lights series, IndyCar’s primary support series returns with 13 cars this weekend, and for the first time they'll run with a halo-type cockpit protection device.

Andretti Autosport, which won the previous two championships courtesy of Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew, returns with four cars the line-up headed by 2019 Indy Pro 2000 champion and 2018 USF2000 champion Kyle Kirkwood.

Michael Andretti’s squad can expect strong opposition from Juncos Racing, whose line-up includes reigning IP2000 champ Sting Ray Robb, and Global Racing Group with HMD, who topped the final test at Barber, thanks to David Malukas, Linus Lundqvist and Benjamin Pedersen. Lundqvist won the 2018 British Formula 3 title and the 2020 Formula Regional Americas championship.

Also noteworthy is the return of Carlin Racing which back in 2016 scooped the Lights title with Ed Jones.

Coverage can be found on Peacock Premium in the U.S., on REV TV in Canada and internationally via live streaming on the Road to Indy TV App and at RoadToIndy.TV and indylights.com.

2021 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires

Indy Pro 2000

Manuel Sulaiman, Juncos Racing

Photo by: Road To Indy

Juncos Racing has produced the champion IP2000 driver in three of the last four seasons, but faces stern opposition from Pabst Racing, DEForce Racing, newcomer Jay Howard Driver Development, and RP Motorsport USA which won the series in 2019 with Kyle Kirkwood.

Manuel Sulaiman, who won twice during a solid rookie campaign in 2020, topped the timing charts for Juncos following two days of testing last week just ahead of 2020 USF2000 champion Christian Rasmussen of JHDD. Also watch fellow rookie Kyffin Simpson (Juncos) who grabbed the opening three Formula Regional Americas races of the season last month in Georgia.

Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) is returning after winning the 2020 season finale, as is Artem Petrov who won two races last year and has joined Exclusive Autosport. Petrov’s teammate is Braden Eves, the 2019 USF2000 champion whose race-winning campaign in 2020 was curtailed by a heavy crash at Indianapolis.

Reece Gold of Juncos Racing finished third in last year’s USF2000 championship, and should be worth watching for along with RP Motorsport USA’s Enzo Fittipaldi and Enaam Ahmed.

Global live streaming can be found on the Road to Indy TV App and at RoadToIndy.TV and indypro2000.com.

Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires

USF2000

Prescott Campbell, DE Force Racing

Photo by: Road To Indy

As has been the case for the last several years, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship is deep in talent, and in Spring Training the top 16, representing seven different teams, were covered by less than a second. Christian Brooks (Exclusive Autosport) narrowly headed his fellow Californians Prescott Campbell and Nolan Siegel, both from DEForce Racing.

Brooks, Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) and Michael d’Orlando (Cape Motorsports) are the only drivers in the field with a USF2000 victory to their credit. Brooks and Porto achieved their maiden wins during last year’s series finale at St. Petersburg, while d’Orlando, who is the top returning driver after finishing fourth in the 2020 title chase, earned his laurels at Mid-Ohio.

Other potential front-runners include series veterans Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport), and fellow Team USA Scholarship winner Simon Sikes who did not attend the Spring Training test but has already shown well in winter testing for the Legacy Autosport team.

Well over half of the field will be comprised of USF2000 rookies, the fastest of whom was 16-year-old Jace Denmark of Pabst Racing.

The Road to Indy TV App, RoadToIndy.TV and usf2000.com will feature live streaming coverage of USF2000 on-track activity.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship