2021 Indy Lights
# 2021 Indy Lights

The 2021 Indy Lights season was the 35th season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 19th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. After going into a hiatus in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season started on April 17 at Barber Motorsports Park and was held over 20 races spanning ten meetings.

## Series news

* On October 7, 2020, Indy Lights announced a series of changes for the 2021 season. The champion's scholarship increased to $1,250,000. The top-three finishers in the championship each earned an IndyCar Series test and all cars were now equipped with a titanium halo to increase driver safety.

## Team and driver chart

The following drivers and teams competed in the series.

| Team | No. | Drivers | Round(s) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Andretti Autosport | 27 | Robert Megennis | All |
| Andretti Autosport | 28 | Kyle Kirkwood | All |
| Andretti Autosport | 68 | Danial Frost | All |
| Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | 17 | Devlin DeFrancesco | All |
| Carlin | 5 | Alex Peroni | 1–14 |
| Carlin | 7 | Christian Bogle | All |
| Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports | 24 | Benjamin Pedersen | All |
| Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports | 26 | Linus Lundqvist | All |
| HMD Motorsports | 59 | Nikita Lastochkin | 1–12 |
| HMD Motorsports | 59 | Manuel Sulaimán | 15–20 |
| HMD Motorsports | 79 | David Malukas | All |
| Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger $Racing^1$ | 2 | Sting Ray Robb | All |
| Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger $Racing^1$ | 51 | Toby Sowery | 1–14 |
| Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger $Racing^1$ | 51 | Rasmus Lindh | 15–20 |
| Pserra Racing/AS Promotions | 11 | Antonio Serravalle | 1–14, 19–20 |

    $^1Juncos$ Racing were rebranded as Juncos Hollinger Racing in August 2021

## Schedule

The provisional 2021 race calendar was announced on October 21, 2020, with the final round to be announced at a later date. This last round was later confirmed to be at Barber Motorsports park, after the IndyCar series moved its season opener there. The calendar was the first since 2002 to not feature the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Toronto round originally scheduled was replaced by a standalone second weekend at Mid-Ohio in October.

| Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | April 17–18 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Barber Motorsports Park Presented by Cooper Tires | R Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 2 | April 17–18 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Barber Motorsports Park Presented by Cooper Tires | R Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 3 | April 24–25 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Foundation Building Materials | R Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 4 | April 24–25 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Andersen Interior Contracting | R Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 5 | May 14–15 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires | R Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course | Speedway, Indiana |
| 6 | May 14–15 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires | R Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course | Speedway, Indiana |
| 7 | June 12–13 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Detroit Presented by Cooper Tires | R The Raceway at Belle Isle Park | Detroit, Michigan |
| 8 | June 12–13 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Detroit Presented by Cooper Tires | R The Raceway at Belle Isle Park | Detroit, Michigan |
| 9 | June 19–20 | Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by AER | R Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
| 10 | June 19–20 | Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by AER | R Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
| 11 | July 3–4 | Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
| 12 | July 3–4 | Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
| 13 | August 20–21 | Cooper Tires Indy Lights Oval Challenge of St. Louis | O Gateway Motorsports Park | Madison, Illinois |
| 14 | August 20–21 | Cooper Tires Indy Lights Oval Challenge of St. Louis | O Gateway Motorsports Park | Madison, Illinois |
| 15 | September 11–12 | Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Portland | R Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon |
| 16 | September 11–12 | Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Portland | R Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon |
| 17 | September 18–19 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires | R WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California |
| 18 | September 18–19 | Indy Lights Grand Prix of Monterey Presented by Cooper Tires | R WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California |
| 19 | October 1–3 | VP Racing Fuels Champhionship Weekend Presented By Cooper Tires | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
| 20 | October 1–3 | VP Racing Fuels Champhionship Weekend Presented By Cooper Tires | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
| References: |||||

## Race results

| Round | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Race Winner | Race Winner |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Round | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Birmingham 1 | Linus Lundqvist | Toby Sowery | Linus Lundqvist | Linus Lundqvist | HMD Motorsports |
| 2 | Birmingham 2 | David Malukas | David Malukas | David Malukas | David Malukas | HMD Motorsports |
| 3 | St. Petersburg 1 | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 4 | St. Petersburg 2 | David Malukas | Kyle Kirkwood | David Malukas | David Malukas | HMD Motorsports |
| 5 | Indianapolis GP 1 | Linus Lundqvist | Linus Lundqvist | Linus Lundqvist | Linus Lundqvist | HMD Motorsports |
| 6 | Indianapolis GP 2 | David Malukas | Kyle Kirkwood | David Malukas | David Malukas | HMD Motorsports |
| 7 | Detroit 1 | Kyle Kirkwood | Linus Lundqvist | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 8 | Detroit 2 | Linus Lundqvist | David Malukas | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 9 | Road America 1 | Danial Frost | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 10 | Road America 2 | Danial Frost | Robert Megennis | David Malukas | David Malukas | HMD Motorsports |
| 11 | Mid-Ohio 1 | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 12 | Mid-Ohio 2 | Danial Frost | Danial Frost | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 13 | Gateway 1 | David Malukas | David Malukas | David Malukas | David Malukas | HMD Motorsports |
| 14 | Gateway 2 | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | David Malukas | HMD Motorsports |
| 15 | Portland 1 | David Malukas | Kyle Kirkwood | David Malukas | David Malukas | HMD Motorsports |
| 16 | Portland 2 | David Malukas | Benjamin Pedersen | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 17 | Laguna Seca 1 | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 18 | Laguna Seca 2 | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 19 | Mid-Ohio 3 | Kyle Kirkwood | Danial Frost | Kyle Kirkwood | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Autosport |
| 20 | Mid-Ohio 4 | David Malukas | David Malukas | Linus Lundqvist | Linus Lundqvist | HMD Motorsports |

## Championship standings

### Drivers' Championship

**Scoring system**

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Points (R) | 30 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Points (O) | 45 | 38 | 33 | 29 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 |

* The driver who qualified on pole was awarded one additional point.
* An additional point was awarded to the driver who led the most laps in a race.

| Pos | Driver | ALA | ALA | STP | STP | IMS | IMS | DET | DET | ROA | ROA | MOH1 | MOH1 | GAT | GAT | POR | POR | LAG | LAG | MOH2 | MOH2 | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kyle Kirkwood RY | 9 | 5 | 1* | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1* | 1* | 1* | 12 | 1* | 1* | 2 | 2* | 2 | 1* | 1* | 1* | 1* | 5 | 537 |
| 2 | David Malukas | 13 | 1* | 3 | 1* | 2 | 1* | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1* | 3 | 3 | 1* | 1 | 1* | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 524 |
| 3 | Linus Lundqvist R | 1* | 2 | 9 | 3 | 1* | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1* | 449 |
| 4 | Benjamin Pedersen R | 2 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 356 |
| 5 | Danial Frost R | 7 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 338 |
| 6 | Devlin DeFrancesco R | 3 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 326 |
| 7 | Robert Megennis | 6 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 319 |
| 8 | Sting Ray Robb R | 8 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 249 |
| 9 | Toby Sowery | 4 | 4 | 13 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 8 | | | | | | | 236 |
| 10 | Alex Peroni R | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | | 228 |
| 11 | Christian Bogle R | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 227 |
| 12 | Antonio Serravalle R | 12 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 12 | | | | | 11 | 12 | 175 |
| 13 | Nikita Lastochkin R | 11 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | | | | | | | | | 123 |
| 14 | Rasmus Lindh R | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 81 |
| 15 | Manuel Sulaimán R | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 75 |
| Pos | Driver | ALA | ALA | STP | STP | IMS | IMS | DET | DET | ROA | ROA | MOH1 | MOH1 | GAT | GAT | POR | POR | LAG | LAG | MOH2 | MOH2 | Points |
| Color | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | 4th & 5th place |
| Light Blue | 6th–10th place |
| Dark Blue | Finished (Outside Top 10) |
| Purple | Did not finish |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Brown | Withdrawn (Wth) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| Blank | Did not participate (DNP) |
| Blank | Not competing |

In-line notation :

| Bold | Pole position (1 point) |
| - | - |
| Italics | Ran fastest race lap |
| * | Led most race laps (1 point) |
| $^1$ | Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded |
| R | Rookie |
| RY | Rookie of the Year |

### Teams' championship

**Scoring system**

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th+ |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Points | 22 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |

* Single car teams received 3 bonus points as an equivalency to multi-car teams
* Only the best two results counted for teams fielding more than two entries

| Pos | Team | ALA | ALA | STP | STP | IMS | IMS | DET | DET | ROA | ROA | MOH1 | MOH1 | GAT | GAT | POR | POR | LAG | LAG | MOH2 | MOH2 | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | HMD Motorsports | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 665 |
| 1 | HMD Motorsports | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 665 |
| 2 | Andretti Autosport | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 622 |
| 2 | Andretti Autosport | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 622 |
| 3 | Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 324 |
| 3 | Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 324 |
| 4 | Carlin | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 249 |
| 4 | Carlin | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | 249 |
| 5 | Pserra Racing/AS Promotions | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | | | | | 7 | 8 | 118 |
| Pos | Team | ALA | ALA | STP | STP | IMS | IMS | DET | DET | ROA | ROA | MOH1 | MOH1 | GAT | GAT | POR | POR | LAG | LAG | MOH2 | MOH2 | Points |
