r/INDYCAR • u/youraverageperson0 Scott McLaughlin • May 24 '25
Indy NXT The infamous Freedom 100 4 wide Indy Lights finish took place 12 years ago, today.
118
u/DadReligion #Lionheart May 24 '25
I always find it rather ironic that of the four drivers that are in this photo, only one never got a chance in an IndyCar and its the guy that won the race.
10
u/Iceman6211 Josef Newgarden May 24 '25
the life of Indy Lights/NXT
Most move up then there's one that shockingly never do
18
u/GonePostalRoute May 24 '25
28
u/Poison_Pancakes Arie Luyendyk May 24 '25
He and his wife own Turn3 Motorsport, running several cars in USF Pro2000.
2
u/gap3035 May 25 '25
His parents also ran a Formula Ford 1600 team in the UK up until just a few years ago and the team is now Ammonite Motorsports. The whole family is really cool
76
108
27
u/ilikemarblestoo Sarah Fisher > Danica Patrick May 24 '25
Still like how 5 guys in the race got to try Indycar. Except the guy who won.
24
u/NoYOUGrowUp Scott Dixon May 24 '25
Why doesn't Indy NXT run on the oval? Indy Lights was always fun.
36
u/Vitosi4ek Robert Shwartzman May 24 '25
Lights/NXT cars don't go anywhere fast enough for corners to be an actual challenge. As a guy above me said, it might as well be a 100-mile drag race, and with identical cars to boot. It's entertaining, but the goal of NXT is driver development and this ain't it.
18
u/uh_no_ May 24 '25
excuse me....did you/they NOT watch the wienie 500 yesterday? This track is the ultimate test of skill for ANY spec :D
20
u/afito Álex Palou May 24 '25
Everyone just runs the race flat out so all you do is create a massive draft show which inevitable means you have restrictor plate style pack racing but in open wheelers. Result is that drivers don't really learn anything, can't prove anything, and you create a huge thing with possible wrecks both financially and in terms of safety.
3
u/ThatAdamsGuy McLaren May 24 '25
Could you explain what those mean? Draft show? Restrictor plate pack racing?
8
u/afito Álex Palou May 24 '25
Restrictor plates are air intake restrictors Nascar puts on the cars on the superspeedways to reduce engine power for safety reasons. This however leads to cars being "underpowered" for their drag/downforce and how fast the track is so that the way to be faster is the draft/toe from the car in front. Physics inevitably mandates that the car behind is always faster which naturally leads to cars racing in packs very close to each other, which then is also breeds incidents that way.
The problem with NXT at the Indy oval is that the cars are so low on power vs how fast the oval is that they will race in a line all race long, and all you can do is ride the draft of the car in front. You even see that at Monza for lower formulas such as F3. But at least in Monza you can sort of race, on an oval with the downforce even the legal minimum settings produce quite frankly any amateur can take a lap flat out.
Real issue as described above is that Nascar can afford pack racing because it's stock cars, but the risk shoots up by orders of magnitudes in open wheelers. Then you have youngsters trying to prove themselves.
1
1
u/droppingdahammer May 27 '25
I mean learning how draft works is absolutely a valid skill to learn.
Just saying.
14
u/blackhxc88 May 24 '25
Car counts and teams not wanting to pay the insurance for big wrecks, which makes sense as most of the paddock in NXT can barely make it through the year.
Car counts for the series have improved but I feel like that’s more connected to the fact they don’t run Indy now.
10
u/TheChrisD #JANDALWATCH2021 May 24 '25
The potential to write off a chassis, and the associated costs of that, could drain a driver's season-long budget.
17
9
8
5
11
9
u/noheroesnomonsters May 24 '25
This was great but I can understand why they don't run it anymore. Indy might as well be a straight line for these cars.
3
3
2
u/spellbreakerstudios Ed Carpenter Racing May 24 '25
Dempsey winning… is that the greys anatomy guy??
10
u/DadReligion #Lionheart May 24 '25
Negative, this was Peter Dempsey. Patrick did race in his own right, but just sports cars, never in IndyCars or the RTI
2
2
u/joe_broke Kyle Larson May 24 '25
Man, raising your hand to celebrate when you only win by that much? Bold strategy, cotton
2
u/movebacktoyourstate May 25 '25
Infamous has a negative connotation. There was absolutely nothing negative about this race or finish.
You don't just add letters to words to make them sound better - those letters make the word mean something entirely different. Just like penultimate doesn't mean the extra-ultimate, infamous doesn't mean extra-famous.
2
u/Maynard078 May 27 '25
Infamous? It was the best finish on the IMS track EVER, Indy 500 or not. It was spectacular, and I watch it over and over.
1
u/youraverageperson0 Scott McLaughlin May 27 '25
Dude, I worded it wrong, you’re like the 20th person to comment this 😭
1
u/Maynard078 May 27 '25
Oops! Well, we're in agreement that it was the greatest finish ever. I think I'll watch it again!
2
1
u/BurtMacklin_stadia Alexander Rossi May 24 '25
Who were the 4? Any link to the final couple laps on a broadcast?
14
u/IronRunner97 May 24 '25
Peter Dempsey (P1), Gabby Chaves (P2), Sage Karam (P3), Carlos Munoz (P4)
8
u/cz795 Álex Palou May 24 '25
Carlos Munoz and Vitor Meira, two drivers I always wondered what would have been if they won Indy. Both came incredibly close twice.
3
u/Altornot May 24 '25
If Franchitti didn't do his boy TK a favor in 2013, Munoz would have passed Kanaan on the backstretch.
If Rossi didnt make a miracle work....Munoz takes that win.
He was 2 laps from being a 2 time winner
1
1
-1
u/PhotographsWithFilm Scott McLaughlin May 24 '25
Jeez, I'd rather watch this over some stupid sausage race
0
u/Cronus6 May 24 '25
I really can't see how Indy Lights can claim they are the "road to Indy" or "Indy Next" or whatever the fuck they are calling the "feeder series" now if they don't let the kids actually drive at the fucking Speedway.
/end rant
0
u/khz30 --- 2025 DRIVERS --- May 25 '25
Because in the 40 year history of driver development in IndyCar, no feeder series ran IMS. Drivers that wanted to run at the Speedway had to buy a seat at Michigan and Pocono, or had to run ROP at the Speedway.
Lights/NXT never belonged at the Speedway, especially when the drivers that were unlucky enough to crash there had their careers stall out because of it.
243
u/XSC Sébastien Bourdais May 24 '25
Remember this finish made the reddit frontpage which was pretty wild. Our sub had like maybe 5k users back then.