Future looks bleak for Indy Lights series
CART's Indy Lights championship could go out of business at the end of this year following opposition from a rival Indy Racing League series

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway owns the rights to the Lights name and CART Indy Lights president Roger Bailey says his series may be unable to meet the criteria it must adhere to if it is to continue using the name.
Meanwhile Indianapolis president Tony George is thought to be close to launching his own IRL Lights series which will include two races at the brickyard, one on the oval during the month of May, and the other on the road course on Saturday of the United States Grand Prix weekend. George's series is expected to use Dallara chassis and 3.0-litre Judd V8 engines, while Bailey has been unable to reach new agreements for either chassis or engines beyond the end of this year.
"Until the rope's put around your neck, there's always hope," Bailey said. "But we're certainly on death row."
Bailey has been very critical of CART in recent weeks and places the blame for the failure of his series squarely at CART's door. CART bought the Indy Lights series in 1998 and also owns the Toyota Atlantic championship but both series have suffered dwindling fields in the past two years. At Milwaukee this weekend there are only twelve Lights entries and fifteen Atlantic cars. The Lights series has fallen from a high of twenty-eight cars in 1997 to eighteen or fewer last year and has had 10 starters at some of this year's early-season races.
At the same time the series is struggling for media exposure and any Lights team owner has a story to tell about how impossible it is to sell domestic sponsorship for the series.
"Our position is self-inflicted," Bailey said. "We've only got management to blame for where we're at. CART has done nothing to assist our position."
Bailey believes CART intends to ditch Indy Lights and focus on running just one support series, that being Toyota Atlantic. He said: "Midway through last year when Bobby was CEO he decided there should be only one support series and - based on I don't know what - he threw his hat in the ring with Toyota Atlantic."
According to Bailey, a letter from Rahal outlining the plans to go with one series was circulated last winter, causing some existing Lights team owners to discontunue their operations.
"It was a confidential letter," said Bailey, "and how the hell it got into the hands of some of the people it got into, I have no idea, but it did. People were convinced that at the end of the 2001 season Lights was going away and Atlantic was going to be the only support series."
CART spokesman Ron Richards denied Bailey's charge but admitted CART had no timetable for a new Lights chassis-engine package.
"I'm in charge of making the thing work but I've been given no authority to do it," Bailey countered. "I'm sitting here like a pimple on a pig's bum."

Castroneves leads rain-affected free practice
Qualifying: Wash-out in Milwaukee

Latest news
Laser Tools Racing continues in BTCC with Hill
The Laser Tools Racing name that was carried to British Touring Car Championship titles in 2020 and 2021 will continue in the series after all with Jake Hill.
McLaren to share F1 reserve driver Schumacher with Mercedes
Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver Mick Schumacher will be also made available as a stand-in to McLaren, the Woking team has announced.
NASCAR Next Gen car gets safety upgrades for 2023 season
NASCAR unveiled some changes to the Next Gen car for the 2023 season, with most enhancing its safety aspects.
O’Ward optimistic about Rossi and that McLaren IndyCar DNFs can be reduced
Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward says he’s confident that Alexander Rossi will be a strong addition to the line-up and that the team has gotten on top of its mechanical woes.
The 2022 Autosport Awards winner using Esports as a launchpad
A trail blazed in Esports has inspired a revamp of the annual prize that aims to discover the best young engineering talent. Autosport met Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future winner Michael Preston
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
Nyck de Vries’s Italian GP exploits weren’t the first post-eleventh-hour call-up in motorsport history, and won’t be the last either. Here are some offbeat tales from the past
Porsche’s hopeful Le Mans future meets its illustrious past
Rising sportscar star Adam Smalley had to pinch himself when offered the chance to drive the car that won the world’s most famous enduro in 1987
Why romanticism isn't the key factor in Lola’s racing return
The iconic Lola name is being relaunched after it was taken over by new ownership. Part of that reboot is a planned return to racing, though the exact details of this are still to be finalised - though its new owner does have a desire to bring the brand back to the Le Mans 24 Hours. But romanticism doesn't appear to be the driving force behind this renewed project...
Rating the best drivers of the century so far
Autosport's Top 50 feature has been a staple of the magazine for the past two decades since its first appearance in 2002. Here are the drivers that have featured most prevalently during that time
The best motorsport moments of 2021
Motorsport produced one of its greatest years of all-time in 2021 despite a backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 challenges and an ever-changing racing landscape. Through the non-stop action Autosport has collected the finest moments from the past 12 months to highlight the incredible drama and joy motorsport generates
The racing comeback artists who resurrected long-dormant careers
Making it in motorsport can be tough, and sometimes drivers move elsewhere before their best chance arrives. Here are some of those who made it back
The hidden racing gem attracting ex-F1 heroes
It’s rarely mentioned when it comes to assessing the best national contests, but the Brazilian Stock Car series that reaches its climax this weekend has an ever-growing appeal. Its expanding roster of ex-Formula 1 names has helped to draw in new fans, but it's the closeness of competition that keeps them watching
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.