Race 1
Harvey started on the pole for Race 1 and held off a determined challenge from teammate and fifth-place starter RC Enerson, who tried to go around the outside of Turn 1 but only managed to end up in the grass and back in tenth position. The Carlin Racing duo of Ed Jones and Max Chilton both had terrible starts and were shuffled back, but thanks to some calamity in Turn 7, Jones and Chilton were able to claim third and fourth.
That calamity involved a Belardi Auto Racing sandwich with Kyle Kaiser in the middle. Kaiser was squeezed by both Belardi cars on his inside and outside, resulting in the trio making contact, with Kaiser and Juan Piedrahita retiring and Felix Serralles managing to soldier on with a penalty before later retiring. Enerson would also take advantage of the situation to move back up the order, eventually finishing in fifth. Once the opening laps were sorted, Harvey controlled the gap to Rayhall and led the field to the checkered flag, with Jones, Chilton, and Enerson comprising the top five. Points leader Spencer Pigot would endure a nightmare day and manage only seventh.
Race 2
After the relatively calm proceedings of Race 1, the action in Race 2 was present throughout much of the race. Jones started on the pole for Race 2 with Rayhall alongside, and Chilton and Harvey on Row 2. At the start the Carlin duo again were unable to get away quickly, which allowed Rayhall to hold heading into Turn 1. Harvey was alongside Rayhall as the field went into Turn 1 but unable to make the move stick, while Jones recovered to third and was on Harvey’s outside in Turn 2. The two made contact, with Jones spinning but thankfully incurring no damage and able to carry on at the tail end of the field. The major benefactor of the shemozzle was Serralles, who catapulted himself from ninth to third thanks to some crafty maneuvers.
The field was relatively settled for the first few laps before Pigot, still enduring an abysmal weekend after claiming the championship points lead by sweeping the Barber Motorsports Park round, made contact with Ethan Ringel in Turn 1. Pigot would sustain suspension damage and stop in the gravel in Turn 3, bringing out the full-course caution. When the green flag flew, Rayhall led the field into Turn 1 with heavy pressure again from Harvey. This allowed Serralles to take advantage and swing by Harvey and claim second.
Meanwhile, on the next lap Enerson would make a move on Kaiser to claim fourth. On Lap 13, Harvey challenged Serralles for second and made the move stick with a little bump-and-run in Turn 1, which also allowed Enerson to take advantage of the unsettled Serralles and move into third. The next lap Serralles, clearly rattled from losing second and third in one turn, tried to dive bomb Enerson in Turn 1, but spun and fell to last in the running order. Behind the frontrunners, Jones and Chilton were on the move. Jones passed Piedrahita for sixth, while several laps later Chilton was able to overtake Kaiser for fourth. The next lap Jones would also storm past Kaiser with a little contact on the way by, putting both Carlin cars back into the top five.
At the front, Rayhall was slowly being reeled in by Harvey, but appeared to be conserving his Cooper Tires in a quest to claim his—and his rookie team’s—first victory. On the final lap, Harvey slowed as his car struggled to pick up the last bit of fuel in the tank, dropping him from second to fifth and putting Enerson in second and Chilton on the podium. It is quite the story for Rayhall and 8Star Motorsports. Rayhall, who struggled to find funding to run the season and only made his first start at Barber two weeks ago, would have never expected to find victory lane so soon. Same, too, for 8Star, who missed several races after they were unable to find the sponsorship to carry on with Scott Hargrove after he started the first two rounds of the championship for the orange-liveried team. Now, both team and driver have won and hope to continue for the remainder of the season.
The Indy Lights field will return to IMS in two weeks for the Freedom 100, which takes place as part of the Carb Day activities at the Speedway.
Indy Lights Race 1 Results
1. Jack Harvey
2. Sean Rayhall
3. Ed Jones
4. Max Chilton
5. RC Enerson
6. Scott Anderson
7. Spencer Pigot
8. Shelby Blackstock
9. Felix Serralles
10. Ethan Ringel
11. Juan Piedrahita
12. Kyle Kaiser
Indy Lights Race 2 Results
1. Sean Rayhall
2. RC Enerson
3. Max Chilton
4. Ed Jones
5. Jack Harvey
6. Kyle Kaiser
7. Juan Piedrahita
8. Shelby Blackstock
9. Scott Anderson
10. Ethan Ringel
11. Felix Serralles
12. Spencer Pigot
Indy Lights
