A stalwart in the Mazda Road to Indy since the re-birth of USF2000 in 2010, Andretti Autosport is considering a change in its approach to the junior formulae that develop the next generation of talent for the Verizon IndyCar Series. After first downsizing their USF2000 squad following the 2013 season, now the championship-winning IndyCar squad is considering consolidating their efforts into a multi-car Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires team, according to a report on RACER.com.

In the first year of the new IL-15 era, Andretti campaigned a single full-season effort for Shelby Blackstock, with 2013 Pro Mazda champion Matthew Brabham taking part in a handful of races in a second entry. With inspiration from fellow IndyCar and Indy Lights entrant Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Andretti Autosport aims to put as many as four Indy Lights cars on-track in 2016.

"We're hoping to get to four; we have two drivers signed and announced with Shelby and Dalton, and we're thinking we'd rather do two more Lights cars than continue with two Pro Mazdas," Andretti Autosport COO JF Thormann told RACER’s Marshall Pruett. "We're seeing more need for Lights cars to increase the grid than the Pro Mazda grid.

“If we're at four cars, and Sam Schmidt's at four; right there you've got half the grid almost, and with the other teams, you start to see a pretty strong number come clear. Then you can make a case for having 15-17 cars, and Lights starts getting back to where it's strong again.

"We're looking at what Sam does in Lights with four cars at the top that connect closely to his IndyCar program, and I think that model has a lot of benefits. The Pro Mazda cars require just as much work as any other cars, so converting those to Lights cars wouldn't be a big change in resources. We're trying to get two more Lights cars, we're talking to a lot of drivers, and we think we can have a pretty formidable team with four drivers."

With the recent announcement of a new car on the way for USF2000 and Pro Mazda in 2016 and 2017, respectively, Andretti wants to sell their current crop of Pro Mazda cars while they can still get a reasonable return on their investment. While the news may come as a bit of a blow to Pro Mazda, the boost to the most visible of the Mazda Road to Indy series will be a boost to the ladder as a whole.

After a fantastically competitive 2015 season in Indy Lights, which saw every team save Andretti claim at least one win—including wins and a championship for Juncos Racing in their return to the series and wins for part-time entrant 8Star Motorsports—more competitive entries will only do the series good. Andretti struggled with their single-car entry for Blackstock for most of the season, with Blackstock claiming just one podium and only two further top-five finishes, leaving him to finish the season as the next-to-last full-time driver in the championship. Bringing race- and championship-winning Pro Mazda talent up to the Indy Lights level should give them a greater chance at returning to their winning ways in Indy Lights.