Home Baseball Hockey Football Racing Basketball Events Privacy

1997 - Firestone/Dayton Indy Lights - Race Summary

Indy Lights

Email: iinfo@roadtoindy.net
Website: https://www.indycar.com/indynxt

The 2022 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires was the final season that the series would be called Indy Lights.. From 2023 onwards the Indy Lights would be rebranded to Indy NXT and sponsored by Firestone.

On September 24, 2021, it was announced that Penske Entertainment, the owner of INDYCAR, would take over promotion of the series from Andersen Promotions.. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company would continue sponsoring the series, as Goodyear acquired Cooper Tire in 2021. Branding would remain as Cooper Tires. Then On June 22, 2022, it was announced that Firestone will become the sole tire supplier for Indy Lights starting in 2023, replacing Cooper Tires, returning to the series for the first time since 2013.

For 2023 the series was rebranded to Indy NXT Series by Firestone. Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires was formerly known as the CART American Racing Series (1986-1990), Firestone / Dayton Indy Lights (1991-2001), Infiniti / Indy Pro Series (2002-2007) and the Firestone Indy Lights Series (2008-2013). Indy Lights is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program of racing series leading up to the IndyCar Series.

The Indy Lights champion is awarded a $1M scholarship toward the IndyCar Series, and guaranteed three races including the Indianapolis 500.

Indy NXT Series Champions

Indy NXT Series by Year

1997 - Firestone/Dayton Indy Lights

A listing of races during the year including the winner, track location and race name. To access specific race information follow the race date link.


Date Winning Driver Race Name Track
1997-2-3 Dave Empringham 1 Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex
1997-13-4 Helio Castroneves 2 Long Beach Street Circuit
1997-27-4 Cristiano da Matta 3 Nazareth Speedway
1997-18-5 Helio Castroneves Dixie Crystals Grand Prix Hutchinson Island Road Race Course
1997-24-5 Lee Bentham 5 Gateway International Raceway
1997-1-6 Clint Mears 6 Milwaukee Mile
1997-8-6 Tony Kanaan 7 The Raceway at Belle Isle
1997-22-6 Hideki Noda 8 Portland Intenational Raceway
1997-20-7 Helio Castroneves 9 Exhibition Place
1997-3-8 Tony Kanaan 10 Circuit de Trois-Rivieres
1997-31-8 Cristiano da Matta 11 Pacific Place
1997-7-9 Cristiano da Matta 12 Laguna Seca Raceway
1997-27-9 Clint Mears 13 California Speedway