NEWS: Andersen Promotions is rebranding it's 3 steps of the Road to Indy ladder system with new names for what has gone by USF Juniors, USF2000 & Indy Pro 2000.
Together, they'll be known as the "USF Pro Championships" w/ the series going by USF Juniors, USF2000 & USF Pro 2000.
Scholarships for those 3 steps will continue as-is & both USF2000 & USF Pro 2000 will continue to use IndyCar for race control, timing & scoring & the AMR safety team. USF Juniors will use the AMR safety team, with its race control and timing and scoring provided by USAC.
Dan Andersen: "With INDYCAR taking over the operation of Indy Lights this year, the Road to Indy designation really doesn’t work moving forward...We intend to further develop the full USF Pro Championships as the only real place for talented young drivers on the open-wheel path.”
Also, from the release: "The decision came as INDYCAR, which assumed operations of Indy Lights in 2022, reassesses its overall branding with dual management of the ladder steps between INDYCAR and Andersen Promotions and, for 2023, different tire partners."
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Good morning. Sounds as if we’ll get the next major @IndyCar Silly Season nugget this morning.
I’m not privy to Jimmie’s plans but after talking this over with several folks in recent days, I think one plan makes a ton of sense, when you consider Jimmie’s desire to scale back 👇🏼
-IndyCar ovals-only
-Endurance races with IMSA
-Le Man’s with Garage 56
Let me lay it out for you:
The schedule pans out to roughly 1 event per month, evenly spread across most of the year. Little to no bunching up, no lulls. Just consistent action but not as much
It looks like this…
-January: The Roar, followed by Daytona 24 Hours
-March: Sebring 12 Hours
-April: Texas IndyCar race
-May: Indy 500
-June: Le Mans & Watkins Glen (IMSA)
-July: Iowa IndyCar doubleheader
-August: IndyCar at WWT Raceway
-October: Petit Le Mans (IMSA)
A quick 🧵 regarding a question I’d gotten later from folks about Penske Entertainment, Indy Lights & how the prize pool has changed both for the champ & the series moving forward… 👇🏼
The important part: Linus Lundqvist, the 2022 champ, received a $500k check from Penske Ent. for winning this year’s title.
A year ago, Kyle Kirkwood received a prize totaling $1.2 million combined from Andersen Promotions & PEC.
That’s obviously a massive drop. Why is that? 👇🏼
Before PEC entirely took over Indy Lights, IndyCar had typically provided $500k in prizes & Andersen contributed various amounts - either the same or a little more & that included cash & other various prizes (tires, testing, etc.) to help the total prize for the victor hit $1M+.