2006 Indy Pro Series

February 2025 Indy Pro Series Indy Pro Series 2006 12 March 26 September 9 GBR Jay Howard 2005 2007 thumb|200x200px|Jay Howard (pictured in 2017) won his first and only Indy Pro Series Drivers' Championship by four points over Jonathan Klein. The 2006 Indy Pro Series was the 21st season of Indy Pro Series motor racing competition, the fifth season under Indy Racing League sanctioning, and the first season to be held under the "Indy Pro Series" moniker after Menards and Infiniti withdrew their title sponsorship of the series.Cavin Curt March 19, 2006 Growth Spurt?: The IRL attempts to breathe new life into its Pro series https://www.autoweek.com/news/a2063741/growth-spurt-irl-attempts-breathe-new-life-its-pro-series/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20250918221108/https://www.autoweek.com/news/a2063741/growth-spurt-irl-attempts-breathe-new-life-its-pro-series/ September 18, 2025 September 18, 2025 Autoweek.com The season featured twelve rounds between March 26 and September 9. The Drivers' Championship was won by rookie driver Jay Howard, his first and only championship in the Indy Pro Series. English rookie Howard, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports narrowly won the championship by four points over American rookie Jonathan Klein of Andretti Green Racing, in a four-way battle for the title at the last round in Chicagoland Speedway that included the defending series champion Wade Cunningham and Bobby Wilson. Following in the footsteps of Cunningham, Howard prevailed through sheer consistency rather than outright brilliance, with seven podium finishes and two wins at Nashville and Kentucky. All of his wins and pole positions came at oval events, which only comprised half of the schedule. 2006-09-09 Howard Captures First Career IRL Indy Pro Series Championship at Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway https://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/Articles/2006/09/Howard-Captures-First-Career-IRL-Indy-Pro-Series-Championship-At-Chicagoland-Speedway.aspx dead 2019-02-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20190214115623/https://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/Articles/2006/09/Howard-Captures-First-Career-IRL-Indy-Pro-Series-Championship-At-Chicagoland-Speedway.aspx 2019-02-14 Klein didn't manage to win a race, and only led a handful of laps during the year, but six podium finishes over the last seven races kept him in contention until the end. Cunningham, driving for Brian Stewart Racing, was also in contention at the final round despite missing the doubleheader at St. Petersburg due to an appendix removal. 2006-01-04 IPS: St. Pete: Friday practice notes Motorsport.com https://www.motorsport.com/indylights/news/ips-st-pete-friday-practice-notes-2008-03-27/213502/ dead 2019-02-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20190214002651/https://www.motorsport.com/indylights/news/ips-st-pete-friday-practice-notes-2008-03-27/213502/ 2019-02-14 Cunningham won three races, including the first of his three Freedom 100 victories, scored four pole positions and led the most laps in seven of the 10 races he contested, but couldn't overcome the 93-point deficit to Howard after St. Petersburg and fell 11 points short. Besides, his win over at Chicagoland over Klein allowed Howard to win the championship. An early crash took Bobby Wilson out of contention, finishing fourth in the standings with a win at Watkins Glen. Seven different drivers won a race during the year, including Jeff Simmons, who left the series as the points leader after three races to drive in IndyCar, and rookie Alex Lloyd, with two road course wins at Indianapolis and Sonoma. Lloyd would miss three races due to funding issues, and finished seventh in points. Two competitors from the Atlantic Championship made successful cameos during the year, with Brazilian rookie Raphael Matos sweeping the race weekend at St. Petersburg and Graham Rahal getting the pole position at the Liberty Challenge to finish second behind Lloyd, coming two laps short of winning in his only Indy Pro Series start.Racecar.com https://www.racecar.com/News/14208/Motorsport/IRL-Lloyd-beats-heat-Rahal- 2019-02-13 IRL Lloyd beats heat & Rahal .. 2006-07-03 Vision Racing disbanded their Indy Pro Series programme after one year, but the series was bolstered by an increase of price money and a host of new teams, led by the expansion of the Andretti Green Racing programme and the debut of Cheever Racing and Guthrie Racing. Other teams that expanded to a full-time effort were Michael Crawford Racing, AFS Racing and Dave McMillan Racing, although the latter scaled back during the year. The series had 16 to 18 cars at most of his rounds, with 19 starters at the Freedom 100, but only 11 at Milwaukee and 14 at the Sonoma races. 41 different drivers competed during the year, tying the all-time record from 1996 at the time, but only six drivers started all twelve races, with three others missing two or less events. Former Indy 500 starters Jon Herb and Tyce Carlson competed at the Freedom 100. Drivers and teams The following drivers and teams took part in the 2006 Indy Pro Series. All teams competed with Dallara IPS chassis,March 31, 2006 Indy Pro Series https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2006/03/31/indy-pro-series/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20250918213619/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2006/03/31/indy-pro-series/ September 18, 2025 September 18, 2025 Tampa Bay Times Tom Walkinshaw Racing-modified Infiniti engines,RADICALS & INDY LIGHTS https://www.raceschool.com/cars-tracks/radicals-indy-lights dead https://web.archive.org/web/20220706191254/https://www.raceschool.com/cars-tracks/radicals-indy-lights July 6, 2022 September 18, 2025 RaceSchool.com and Firestone tires.April 2, 2006 Stats: 2006 Race Results http://www.indycar.com/pro/stats/full_race_results.php?event_date=2006-04-02&statYear=2006 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20060514212241/http://www.indycar.com/pro/stats/full_race_results.php?event_date=2006-04-02&statYear=2006 May 14, 2006 September 18, 2025 IndyCar TeamNo. Car numberDriversRounds Brian Stewart Racing 1 NZL Wade Cunningham 1, 4–12 USA Geoff Dodge 2–3 33 1, 4, 7 3 CAN Brett Van Blankers 1–9 NZL Daniel Gaunt 10–11 AUS Veronica McCann 12 Dave McMillan Racing 2 NZL Matthew Hamilton 1–5 USA C. R. Crews 12 22 CAN Éric Paradis 6 Roth Racing 4 CAN Marty Roth 1–3 Guthrie Racing 4 USA Phil Giebler 4 USA Logan Gomez 6 USA C. R. Crews 9 USA Micky Gilbert 10–11 USA Tom Wieringa 12 USA Sean Guthrie 5 41 4, 7, 9, 12 USA Travis Gregg 1 BRA Raphael Matos 2–3, 5–6 GBR Scott Mansell 10–11 Racing Professionals 6 USA Jon Herb 1–6 Sam Schmidt Motorsports 7 GBR Jay Howard All 38 USA Ryan Justice 10–11 77 USA Travis Gregg 9 JPN Akihira Okamoto 12 Michael Crawford Motorsports 8 USA Mishael Abbott 1, 4–5 USA Rocco DeSimone 2–3 USA C. R. Crews 6 GBR Scott Mansell 7 USA P. J. Abbott 8, 10–11 USA Ben Petter 9, 12 9 USA Bobby Wilson 1–3 USA Tom Wieringa 4 USA C. R. Crews 5 GBR Scott Mansell 6 USA Travis Gregg 7 USA Michael Crawford 8 JPN Shinji Kashima 9–12 Andretti Green Racing 11 BRA Jaime Camara All 27 USA Jonathan Klein All Kenn Hardley Racing 24 USA Jeff Simmons 1–3 USA Bobby Wilson 4–12 42 CAN Tom Wood 4, 7–9, 12 USA Phil Giebler 5 USA Graham Rahal 6 AFS Racing 25 NED Arie Luyendyk Jr. 1–3, 5, 7, 12 USA Tyce Carlson 4 USA Phil Giebler 6 26 GBR Alex Lloyd 2–7, 9–12 BRA Thiago Medeiros 8 Cheever Racing 51 USA Chris Festa 1–7, 9, 12BRA Hoover Orsi8 52 USA Nick Bussell All Part Sourcing International 76 USA James Chesson 4, 7 USA Mike Potekhen 6, 9–12 Source:Infiniti / Indy Pro Series standings for 2006 https://www.racing-reference.info/standings/2006/IL live https://web.archive.org/web/20211027151827/https://www.racing-reference.info/standings/2006/IL/ October 27, 2021 September 18, 2025 Racing-Reference.info Team drivers Two teams entered Indy Pro Series competition in 2006. Schedule The schedule downsized from 14 to 12 races, as the series moved to a 50-50 proportion on ovals and road courses in terms of races. Three ovals were dropped, as Phoenix, Pikes Peak and Fontana were removed after their IndyCar events were discontinued, along with Texas Motor Speedway. In turn, the races at St. Petersburg and Sonoma were turned into doubleheaders, the first of their kind in the combined history of Indy Lights. Homestead-Miami continued as the venue for the season opener, while Chicagoland inherited the season finale slot from California Speedway. Rd.DateRace nameTrackLocation1March 26Miami 100white O silver Homestead–Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2April 1–2Grand Prix of St. Petersburglightblue R silver Streets of St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg, Florida34May 26Freedom 100white O silver Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana5June 4Corning 100lightblue R silver Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen, New York6July 1Liberty Challengelightblue R silver Indianapolis Motor Speedway road courseSpeedway, Indiana7July 15Sun Belt Rentals 100white O silver Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, Tennessee8July 22Milwaukee 100white O silver Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin9August 13Kentucky 100white O silver Kentucky SpeedwaySparta, Kentucky10August 26–27Carneros 100lightblue R silver Infineon RacewaySonoma, California11Valley of the Moon 10012September 9Chicagoland 100white O silver Chicagoland SpeedwayJoliet, Illinois #FFFFFF Oval/Speedway O solid 1px #AAAAAAlightblue Road/Street course R solid 1px #AAAAAA Race results RoundRacePole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace WinnerDriverTeam1Homestead–Miami SpeedwayGBR Jay HowardUSA Jon HerbGBR Jay HowardUSA Jeff SimmonsKenn Hardley Racing2Streets of St. PetersburgBRA Raphael MatosBRA Raphael MatosBRA Raphael MatosBRA Raphael MatosGuthrie Racing3USA Chris FestaDouble Q In doubleheader weekends, no qualifying was held for Race 2. The grid was decided by the results of Race 1, with the top 6 finishers in reverse order, and no bonus point was awarded for pole position.BRA Raphael MatosBRA Raphael MatosBRA Raphael MatosGuthrie Racing4Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayNZL Wade CunninghamGBR Jay HowardNZL Wade CunninghamNZL Wade CunninghamBrian Stewart Racing5Watkins Glen InternationalUSA Bobby WilsonUSA Bobby WilsonNZL Wade CunninghamUSA Bobby WilsonKenn Hardley Racing6Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road CourseUSA Graham RahalGBR Alex LloydUSA Graham RahalGBR Alex LloydAFS Racing7Nashville SuperspeedwayNZL Wade CunninghamNZL Wade CunninghamNZL Wade CunninghamGBR Jay HowardSam Schmidt Motorsports8Milwaukee MileNZL Wade CunninghamNZL Wade CunninghamNZL Wade CunninghamBRA Jaime CamaraAndretti Green Racing9Kentucky SpeedwayUSA Jonathan KleinUSA Bobby WilsonNZL Wade CunninghamGBR Jay HowardSam Schmidt Motorsports10Infineon RacewayNZL Wade CunninghamGBR Alex LloydNZL Wade CunninghamNZL Wade CunninghamBrian Stewart Racing11USA Mike PotekhenDouble QNZL Wade CunninghamGBR Alex LloydGBR Alex LloydAFS Racing12Chicagoland SpeedwayGBR Jay HowardCAN Tom WoodNZL Wade CunninghamNZL Wade CunninghamBrian Stewart Racing Championship standings Drivers' Championship Scoring system Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th  11th  12th  13th  14th  15th  16th  17th  18th  19th Points50403532302826242220191817161514131211 The driver who starts on pole is awarded one point (except for Race 2 of doubleheader weekends) The driver who leads the most laps in a race is awarded two additional points. Pos Driver HMS STP INDY WGL IMS NAS MIL KTY SNM CHI Points 1 GBR Jay Howard yellow RY darkgray3*3226181711053 390 2 USA Jonathan Klein orange R darkgray1555653332432 386 3 NZL Wade Cunningham101*2*165*2*3*1*41* 379 4 USA Bobby Wilson orange R darkgray5867197475217 343 5 USA Nick Bussell2410101556563138 319 6 BRA Jaime Camara1112153413211471416 298 7 GBR Alex Lloyd orange R darkgray1035171DNS1621*4 294 8 USA Chris Festa1668i41415985 205 9 CAN Brett Van Blankers orange R darkgray89111471710815 179 10 BRA Raphael Matos orange R darkgray1*1*134 154 11 USA Jon Herb61391988 126 12 USA Jeff Simmons124 122 13 USA Mike Potekhen orange R darkgray111066i7 121 14 CAN Tom Wood949129 116 15 NLD Arie Luyendyk Jr.4DNS11116 105 16 NZL Matthew Hamilton orange R darkgray14771310 105 17 USA Geoff Dodge orange R darkgray71113812 104 18 USA Sean Guthrie orange R darkgray11168518 99 19 USA C. R. Crews orange R darkgray961113 86 20 GBR Scott Mansell orange R darkgray1414117 77 21 USA Phil Giebler1637 75 22 JPN Shinji Kashima orange R darkgray13121112 72 23 USA Travis Gregg12134 67 24 CAN Marty Roth91412 56 25 USA P. J. Abbott111312 54 26 USA Ryan Justice orange R darkgray88 48 26 USA Mishael Abbott131712 48 28 USA Graham Rahal orange R darkgray2* 43 29 USA Micky Gilbert orange R darkgray910 42 29 USA Ben Petter orange R darkgray910 42 31 NZL Daniel Gaunt orange R darkgray149 38 32 USA Tom Wieringa1215 33 33 USA Rocco DeSimone orange R darkgray1514 31 34 BRA Thiago Medeiros6 28 35 USA Michael Crawford orange R darkgray10 20 35 USA Logan Gomez orange R darkgray10 20 37 AUS Veronica McCann orange R darkgray11 19 37 USA James Chesson18DNS 19 39 CAN Éric Paradis orange R darkgray12 18 40 JPN Akihira Okamoto orange R darkgray14 16 41 USA Tyce Carlson15 15 BRA Hoover Orsi DNS Wth Pos Driver HMS STP INDY WGL IMS NAS MIL KTY SNM CHI Points Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue Finished(Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify(DNQ) Brown Withdrawn(Wth) Black Disqualified(DSQ) White Did not start(DNS) Blank Did notparticipate(DNP) Not competingIn-line notationBoldPole position(1 point)ItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps(2 points)iPartially-inverted fieldno bonus point awardedRookie of the YearRookie Ties in points broken bynumber of wins, or bestfinishes. Footnotes N References External links IndyCar official site Category:Indy Lights seasons Indy Pro Series