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Three new venues on 2013 Indy Lights schedule
Edited: Oct 18, 2012, 5:00 PM
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INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, October 18, 2012) - Firestone Indy Lights announced today a 12-race schedule for its 2013 season, featuring a diverse line up of ovals, road and street circuits, designed to prepare drivers for the for the next step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder - the IZOD IndyCar Series.
Start: Tristan Vautier, Sam Schmidt Motorsports leads the field
Photo by: Eric Gilbert
New additions to the schedule for 2013 are the historic 2.5-mile oval at Pocono Raceway, the 1.7-mile, 10-turn temporary street course at Reliant Park in Houston and the series' return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, its first race at the 2.258-mile natural terrain road course since 2010.
"Our goal is to create a schedule that will challenge our up-and-coming drivers while preparing them for the diversity of the IZOD IndyCar Series," said Tony George Jr., director, Firestone Indy Lights. "For the 2013 season, we are adding one new oval, road course and temporary street circuit, which only enhances the strength of our schedule. To be crowned champion and earn the $1 million Mazda Road to Indy scholarship to the IZOD IndyCar Series, a driver must master each discipline on the circuit in order to maximize points opportunities."
The season will open March 23-24 on the streets of St. Petersburg and the season finale will once again be hosted at Auto Club Speedway, Oct. 18-19. Nine venues that hosted Firestone Indy Lights races in 2012 return and all event weekends will be run in conjunction with the IZOD IndyCar Series and complemented by other series in the Mazda Road to Indy.
George added: "We feel it's important to create opportunities to expose the talents of our Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy drivers alongside the IZOD IndyCar Series. We want to showcase the strength of our ladder system and there is no better way to do that than to run at the tracks where the IZOD IndyCar Series competes."
The first oval of the season will be the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, two days before the Indianapolis 500. In total, five ovals appear on the 2013 Firestone Indy Lights schedule.
All Firestone Indy Lights races will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network, with dates and times to be announced soon.
2013 Firestone Indy Lights Schedule
Date Track City Venue March 23-24 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Fla. 1.8-mile street course April 6-7 Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Ala. 2.38-mile road course April 20-21 Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, Calif. 1.968-mile street course May 24 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis 2.5-mile oval June 14-15 The Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wis. 1-mile oval June 22-23 Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa .875-mile oval July 6-7 Pocono International Raceway Long Pond, Pa. 2.5-mile oval July 12-13 Streets of Toronto Toronto 1.75-mile street course Aug. 3-4 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 2.258-mile road course Aug. 31-Sept. 1 Streets of Baltimore Baltimore 2.04-mile street course Oct. 5-6 Reliant Park Houston 1.7-mile street course Oct. 18-19 Auto Club Speedway Fontana, Calif. 2-mile oval
Schedule subject to change
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