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2004 Infiniti Pro Series
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| series | Infiniti Pro Series |
| series_name | Infiniti Pro Series |
| year | 2004 |
| races | 12 |
| start_date | February 29 |
| end_date | October 16 |
| season_champ | BRA Thiago Medeiros |
| champ_team | USA Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| rookie_of_year | USA P. J. Chesson |
| previous | 2003 |
| next | 2005 |
The 2004 Menards IRL Infiniti Pro Series season was the third season of the series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 19th in Indy NXT combined history, as officially recognized by IndyCar. All teams used Dallara IL-02 chassis and Infiniti engines.
In his second year of Pro Series competition, Thiago Medeiros won the championship convincingly, giving Sam Schmidt Motorsports its first title. He won six wins, including the second running of the Freedom 100 from pole position, scored seven pole positions and led the most laps in all but two of the 12 races. Medeiros became champion by taking the green flag at the penultimate round in Chicagoland, and finished with a 134-point lead over Paul Dana, who scored his lone Infiniti Pro Series win at Milwaukee.
Despite joining the Infiniti Pro Series at the fourth round in Kansas, rookie P. J. Chesson rallied to a fourth place in the standings, including a three-win streak with newcomers Mo Nunn Racing, an effort instigated and managed by Nunn's wife Kathryn. Despite a penalty at the last round that demoted him behind Arie Luyendyk Jr. in the standings, Chesson won Rookie of the Year over Leonardo Maia by 25 points.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises and Panther Racing, the champions of the previous two editions, left the series, although Foyt entered a car for Jeff Simmons at the Freedom 100, finishing second behind Medeiros. Simmons and Marty Roth became the first drivers to contest the Indianapolis 500 and the Freedom 100 in the same year. Sinden Racing Service and Genoa Racing also left the series entirely, while the privateer effort by Matt Beardsley ceased to be after the Freedom 100. On the other hand, Roquin Motorsports re-expanded to a full time effort, Roth Racing, Racing Professionals and Bullet-Team Motorsports made their debut with partial seasons, apart from Mo Nunn joining the championship at the fourth round.
While the Freedom 100 attracted 17 competitors, the Infiniti Pro Series struggled with entries throughout much of 2004, especially during the summer stretch, with only nine cars and just three finishers at the Milwaukee round. Grid sizes improved over the last three races, with 15 drivers in each round. Only the top 3 drivers in the standings contested the full season, with two others missing one round. Former IndyCar drivers that competed during the season were Billy Roe, Jon Herb, Cory Witherill and Scott Mayer.
Team and driver chart
| Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Duesenberg Racing | 2 | USA Phil Giebler | 1–3, 11 | |||||||
| USA Alfred Unser | 4–10, 12 | |||||||||
| 22 | USA Ross Fonferko | 5 | ||||||||
| USA Phil Giebler | 7–9 | |||||||||
| USA P. J. Abbott | 12 | |||||||||
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | CAN Jesse Mason | 1–10 | |||||||
| CAN Marty Roth | 11 | |||||||||
| USA Ryan Hampton | 12 | |||||||||
| 33 | USA Tony Turco | 1 | ||||||||
| BRA Leonardo Maia | 2–12 | |||||||||
| Roth Racing | 4 | CAN Marty Roth | 1–3 | |||||||
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 5 | NED Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 1–7 | |||||||
| USA Travis Gregg | 8, 10, 12 | |||||||||
| JPN Shinji Kashima | 11 | |||||||||
| 11 | BRA Thiago Medeiros | All | ||||||||
| 64 | USA Brad Pollard | 4–6 | ||||||||
| USA Scott Mayer | 10, 12 | |||||||||
| USA P. J. Abbott | 11 | |||||||||
| date=October 15, 2004 | title=Teenager Partners With Herb For Race Entry | url=http://www.indyracing.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=3670 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041211200048/http://www.indyracing.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=3670 | archive-date=December 11, 2004 | access-date=October 3, 2023 | website=indyracing.com}} | 6 | USA Jon Herb | 3, 11–12 |
| Roquin Motorsports | 9 | USA Matt Beardsley | 9 | |||||||
| 10 | MEX Rolando Quintanilla | 1–5, 7–12 | ||||||||
| Beardsley Motorsports | 12 | USA Matt Beardsley | 1–3 | |||||||
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 14 | USA Jeff Simmons | 3 | |||||||
| date=May 16, 2004 | title=Fletcher Joins Field For Futaba Freedom 100 | url=http://www.indyracing.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=2756 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216070207/http://www.indyracing.com/pro/news/story.php?story_id=2756 | archive-date=December 16, 2004 | access-date=October 3, 2023 | website=indyracing.com}} | 21 | USA Taylor Fletcher | 3, 10–11 |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 24 | USA Brad Pollard | 1–3 | |||||||
| USA Jeff Simmons | 9–12 | |||||||||
| USA Billy Roe | 4–8 | |||||||||
| 42 | 2–3 | |||||||||
| AFS Racing | 25 | USA Jay Drake | 3 | |||||||
| NED Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 10–12 | |||||||||
| 27 | 8–9 | |||||||||
| USA Gary Peterson | 2–3, 7, 10–12 | |||||||||
| Mo Nunn Racing | 67 | USA James Chesson | 10–12 | |||||||
| 76 | USA P. J. Chesson | 4–12 | ||||||||
| Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports | 91 | USA Paul Dana | All | |||||||
| 92 | USA Cory Witherill | 3, 10 |
Schedule
The schedule for 2004 stayed at 12 rounds with minor date changes over 2003. Mirroring the IRL IndyCar Series, the series left Gateway International Raceway and visited the storied Milwaukee Mile, who had featured in the last season of the original Indy Lights championship in 2001. This would be the last all-oval season for the series, as the IRL-managed championship would introduce road course racing from 2005 onwards.
| Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 29 | Homestead-Miami 100 | Homestead–Miami Speedway | Homestead, Florida | |||||||||||||
| March 20 | Phoenix 100 | Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona | |||||||||||||
| May 22 | Futaba Freedom 100 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | |||||||||||||
| July 3 | Aventis Racing for Kids 100 | Kansas Speedway | Kansas City, Kansas | |||||||||||||
| July 17 | Cleanevent 100 | Nashville Superspeedway | Lebanon, Tennessee | |||||||||||||
| July 25 | Milwaukee 100 | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin | |||||||||||||
| August 1 | Paramount Health Insurance 100 | Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | |||||||||||||
| August 14 | Kentucky 100 | Kentucky Speedway | Sparta, Kentucky | |||||||||||||
| August 22 | Pikes Peak 100 | Pikes Peak International Raceway | Fountain, Colorado | |||||||||||||
| September 11 | Chicago 100 | Chicagoland Speedway | Joliet, Illinois | |||||||||||||
| October 2 | California 100 | California Speedway | Fontana, California | |||||||||||||
| October 16 | Texas 100 | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas |
Race results
| Round | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Race Winner | Driver | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead–Miami Speedway | USA Phil Giebler | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA Phil Giebler | Keith Duesenberg Racing | ||||||||||||||
| Phoenix International Raceway | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | ||||||||||||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | ||||||||||||||
| Kansas Speedway | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA Alfred Unser | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | ||||||||||||||
| Nashville Superspeedway | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA Paul Dana | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | ||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee Mile | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA Paul Dana | Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports | ||||||||||||||
| Michigan International Speedway | USA Alfred Unser | USA Alfred Unser | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA P. J. Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing | ||||||||||||||
| Kentucky Speedway | USA Travis Gregg | USA Phil Giebler | USA Travis Gregg | USA P. J. Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing | ||||||||||||||
| Pikes Peak International Raceway | USA Jeff Simmons | USA Paul Dana | USA Paul Dana | USA P. J. Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing | ||||||||||||||
| Chicagoland Speedway | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA Travis Gregg | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | ||||||||||||||
| California Speedway | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA James Chesson | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA James Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing | ||||||||||||||
| Texas Motor Speedway | BRA Thiago Medeiros | USA P. J. Chesson | BRA Thiago Medeiros | BRA Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
Championship standings
Drivers' Championship
; Scoring system
| Position | Points |
|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd |
| 50 | 40 |
- The driver who leads the most laps in a race is awarded two additional points.
| Pos | Driver | HOM | PHX | INDY | KAN | NSH | MIL | MIS | KEN | PIK | CHI | FON | TXS | Points | 1 | 513 | 2 | 379 | 3 | 330 | 4 | 317 | 5 | 292 | 6 | 283 | 7 | 264 | 8 | 252 | 9 | 215 | 10 | 164 | 11 | 152 | 12 | 150 | 13 | 112 | 14 | 95 | 15 | 89 | 16 | 88 | 17 | 79 | 18 | 67 | 19 | 52 | 20 | 48 | 21 | 41 | 22 | 38 | 23 | 32 | 24 | 32 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 17 | 27 | 16 | Pos | Driver | HOM | PHX | INDY | KAN | NSH | MIL | MIS | KEN | PIK | CHI | FON | TXS | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRA Thiago Medeiros | *2** | *1** | *1** | 1*1 | 1* | *6** | 2* | 6 | 3 | 1* | 9* | 1* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Paul Dana | 8 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | *2** | 8 | 12 | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NED Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 9 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA P. J. Chesson | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BRA Leonardo Maia | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CAN Jesse Mason | 3 | 4 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MEX Rolando Quintanilla | 6 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Alfred Unser | 3 | 5 | 3 | *3* | 11 | 6 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Phil Giebler | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Billy Roe | 9 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Brad Pollard | 5 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Jeff Simmons | 2 | 9 | 2 | 10 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Gary Peterson | 12 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Travis Gregg | 5* | 13 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Matt Beardsley | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CAN Marty Roth | 7 | 10 | 16 | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Jon Herb | 17 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Taylor Fletcher | 12 | 11 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA P. J. Abbott | 7 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Cory Witherill | 7 | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Scott Mayer | 12 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Tony Turco | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Jay Drake | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Ross Fonferko | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JPN Shinji Kashima | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| USA Ryan Hampton | 14 |
|
| Color | Result |
|---|---|
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | 4th & 5th place |
| Light Blue | 6th–10th place |
| Dark Blue | Finished |
| Purple | Did not finish |
| Red | Did not qualify |
| Brown | Withdrawn |
| Black | Disqualified |
| White | Did not start |
| Blank | Did not |
| Not competing |
| 1 | Qualifying cancelled |
|---|
- Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes. |} |}
Footnotes
References
References
- (2004-02-26). "IPS: Giebler signs with Duesenberg Racing for 2004".
- (June 30, 2004). "Unser Joins Forces With Keith Duesenberg Racing".
- (July 14, 2004). "Unser, Fonferko Join Forces With Duesenberg".
- (January 16, 2004). "Youngster In Line for Ride With Stewart Racing".
- (October 6, 2004). "Roth Points To Running Full Time In 2005 Season".
- Racecar. "Leo Maia Signs Menards Infiniti Pro Series Deal with Brian Stewart".
- (January 9, 2004). "Roth Racing Prepares to Roll in 2004".
- (2004-02-10). "Luyendyk Jr joins Schmidt for IPS.".
- (August 11, 2004). "Sprint Car Veteran Gregg Makes Series Debut".
- (October 1, 2004). "Daily Trackside Report - California Speedway".
- (January 8, 2004). "Medeiros to drive for Sam Schmidt Motorsports".
- "Xbox Indy Car Gets A Driver - XboxAddict News".
- (September 10, 2004). "Daily Trackside Report - Chicagoland Speedway".
- (October 15, 2004). "Teenager Partners With Herb For Race Entry".
- (February 28, 2004). "Roquins Keep It All In The Family".
- (February 24, 2004). "Beardsley Aims For Consistency In Races".
- (2004-05-06). "Foyt hires Simmons to run in Indy Infiniti race".
- (May 16, 2004). "Fletcher Joins Field For Futaba Freedom 100".
- (January 26, 2004). "Pollard Will Join Series Full Time".
- (September 29, 2004). "IPS News and notes: Simmons to Finish Season with Kenn Hardley Racing".
- (March 19, 2004). "Teammates Medeiros, Luyendyk Will Start 1-2".
- (April 23, 2004). "Drake Relishes His Laps On Historic Oval".
- (August 11, 2004). "Luyendyk Makes Move To AFS Racing".
- (2004-12-11). "Peterson's Passion Continues To Grow".
- (2004-06-17). "IPS: Mo Nunn Racing enters series".
- (2004-08-18). "Nunn doubles up in IPS".
- (December 18, 2003). "IRL news - Dana signs with Hemelgarn for IPS.".
- (2004-05-20). "IPS: Indianapolis: Cory Witherill to race in Freedom 100".
- (September 7, 2004). "Fast Facts - Chicagoland 100".
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