1996 Indy Lights season

February 2025 The 1996 PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 12 races. Canadian David Empringham captured three wins on his way to the championship.https://www.racing-reference.info/yeardet/1996/IL Standings This was the last season where all teams used the Lola T93/20-Buick spec car, which was replaced in the 1997 season by the Lola T97/20-Buick spec car. The scoring system was 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first 12 (twelve) finishers, with 1 (one) extra point given to the driver who took pole-position, and another extra point given to the driver who led most laps in the race. Indy Lights PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship 1996 12 March 3 September 8 CAN David Empringham 1995 1997 Team and driver chart The following drivers and teams competed in the series: TeamNo. Car numberDriversRound(s)Brian Stewart Racing2SWE Mattias Andersson1–2USA Nick Firestone4–9BRA Felipe Giaffone11–123BRA Gualter SallesAll61USA Jack MillerAllDorricott Racing31JPN Shigeaki HattoriAll32USA Jeff WardAllFRE Racing17BRA José Cordova1–2USA Peter Faucetta Jr.3RSA Jaki Scheckter5–7, 12USA Robbie Buhl9Forsythe Racing33CAN David EmpringhamAll66CAN Claude BourbonnaisAll99CAN Bertrand Godin9–12Genoa Racing24USA David DeSilvaAllIndy Regency Racing28JPN Hideki NodaAllLeading Edge Motorsports4BRA Felipe Giaffone1–8BRA José Giaffone10–12CAN Sohrab Amirsardari95623USA Mark HotchkisAll77MEX Rodolfo Lavín1–2, 4–12PacWest Lights10USA Bob Reid9USA Robby Unser1–2123–7, 9–12USA Casey Mears8Performance Racing9USA Andy Boss1–2USA David LaCroix11RaceCars88COL Diego Gumzán1BRA Paulo Carcasci2MEX Freddy van Beuren8–1289PAR Danny Candía1PAR Roque Aranda2–4BRA Maurício Slaviero7–9Summit Motorsports20USA Doug Boyer1–2, 4–6Tasman Motorsports37BRA Tony KanaanAll38ARG José Luís Di PalmaAll39BRA Hélio CastronevesAllTeam Green26USA Chris SimmonsAll27USA Greg RayAllTeam Leisy / McCormack34USA Harry Puterbaugh Jr.1, 3USA Shan Groff2, 1235SWE Niclas Jönsson2Team Medlin12USA Alex Padilla1–3, 5–12 Schedule Rd.DateTrackLocation1March 3transparent O silver Homestead-Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2April 14lightblue R silver Long Beach Street CircuitLong Beach, California3April 28transparent O silver Nazareth SpeedwayNazareth, Pennsylvania4May 25transparent O silver Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan5June 2transparent O silver Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin6June 9lightblue R silver The Raceway at Belle Isle ParkDetroit, Michigan7June 23lightblue R silver Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon8June 30lightblue R silver Cleveland Burke Lakefront AirportCleveland, Ohio9July 14lightblue R silver Exhibition PlaceToronto, Ontario10August 4lightblue R silver Circuit Trois-RivièresTrois-Rivières, Quebec11September 1lightblue R silver Streets of VancouverVancouver, British Columbia12September 8lightblue R silver Laguna Seca RacewayMonterey, California Race results RoundCircuitPole positionMost laps ledRace WinnerDriverTeam1USA Homestead-Miami SpeedwayCAN David EmpringhamCAN David EmpringhamCAN David EmpringhamForsythe Racing2USA Long Beach Street CircuitBRA Gualter SallesCAN David EmpringhamCAN David EmpringhamForsythe Racing3USA Nazareth SpeedwayCAN Claude BourbonnaisUSA David DeSilvaUSA David DeSilvaGenoa Racing4USA Michigan International SpeedwayCAN David EmpringhamCAN David EmpringhamCAN David EmpringhamForsythe Racing5USA Milwaukee MileUSA Mark HotchkisUSA Mark HotchkisUSA Mark HotchkisLeading Edge Motorsports6USA The Raceway at Belle Isle ParkCAN David EmpringhamBRA Tony KanaanBRA Tony KanaanTasman Motorsports7USA Portland International RacewayBRA Tony KanaanBRA Gualter SallesBRA Gualter SallesBrian Stewart Racing8USA Cleveland Burke Lakefront AirportUSA Mark HotchkisBRA Gualter SallesBRA Gualter SallesBrian Stewart Racing9CAN Exhibition PlaceUSA Jeff WardBRA Gualter SallesBRA Gualter SallesBrian Stewart Racing10CAN Circuit Trois-RivièresBRA Hélio CastronevesBRA Hélio CastronevesBRA Hélio CastronevesTasman Motorsports11CAN Streets of VancouverUSA Jeff WardBRA Tony KanaanCAN Claude BourbonnaisForsythe Racing12USA Laguna Seca RacewayBRA Tony KanaanBRA Tony KanaanBRA Tony KanaanTasman Motorsports Race summaries Homestead race Held March 3 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. David Empringham won the pole. Top Five Results David Empringham Chris Simmons Mark Hotchkis David DeSilva Jeff Ward Long Beach race Held April 14 at Long Beach, California Street Course. Gualter Salles won the pole. Top Five Results David Empringham Tony Kanaan Gualter Salles Hélio Castro-Neves Alex Padilla Nazareth race Held April 28 at Nazareth Speedway. Claude Bourbonnais won the pole. Top Five Results David DeSilva David Empringham Mark Hotchkis Chris Simmons Jeff Ward Michigan race Held May 25 at Michigan International Speedway. David Empringham won the pole. This was the Indy Lights series' first race on a high-banked speedway. Top Five Results David Empringham Mark Hotchkis Jeff Ward Robby Unser Hélio Castro-Neves Milwaukee race Held June 2 at The Milwaukee Mile. Mark Hotchkis won the pole. Top Five Results Mark Hotchkis Greg Ray David Empringham Gualter Salles Chris Simmons Detroit race Held June 9 at Belle Isle Raceway. David Empringham won the pole. Top Five Results Tony Kanaan Alex Padilla Claude Bourbonnais José Luis Di Palma Jaki Scheckter Portland race Held June 23 at Portland International Raceway. Tony Kanaan won the pole. Top Five Results Gualter Salles Alex Padilla David Empringham Claude Bourbonnais Tony Kanaan Cleveland race Held June 30 at Burke Lakefront Airport. Mark Hotchkis won the pole. Top Five Results Gualter Salles Claude Bourbonnais Hélio Castro-Neves Nick Firestone Hideki Noda Toronto race Held July 14 at Exhibition Place. Jeff Ward won the pole. Top Five Results Gualter Salles Claude Bourbonnais Hideki Noda Shigeaki Hattori Alex Padilla Trois-Rivières race Held August 4 at the Trois-Rivières, Quebec Street Circuit. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole. Top Five Results Hélio Castro-Neves Tony Kanaan Alex Padilla David Empringham Bertrand Godin Vancouver race Held September 1 at Pacific Place. Jeff Ward won the pole. Top Five Results Claude Bourbonnais Tony Kanaan Jeff Hotchkis Alex Padilla David Empringham Laguna Seca race Held September 8 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Tony Kanaan won the pole. Top Five Results Tony Kanaan Hélio Castro-Neves Claude Bourbonnais Alex Padilla Jeff Ward Championship standings Drivers' championship Scoring system Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th  11th  12th Points20161412108654321 The driver who qualifies on pole is awarded one additional point. An additional point is awarded to the driver who leads the most laps in a race. PosDriverHMSUSALBHUSANAZUSAMISUSAMILUSADETUSAPORUSACLEUSATORCANTROCANVANCANLAGUSAPoints1 CAN David Empringham 1* 1* 2 1* 3 21 3 21 6 4 5 61482 BRA Tony Kanaan 10 2 12 17 7 1* 5 19 24 2 2* 1*1133 BRA Gualter Salles 6 3 11 6 4 22 1* 1* 1* 15 21 191084 CAN Claude Bourbonnais Wth 7 16 18 8 3 4 2 2 20 1 31045 USA Mark Hotchkis 3 9 3 2 1* 9 10 18 9 19 3 71026 USA Alex Padilla 17 5 15 17 2 2 20 5 3 4 4907 BRA Hélio Castroneves DNS 4 17 5 11 17 8 3 23 1* 10 2848 USA David DeSilva 4 10 1* 7 19 6 12 16 15 7 18 9619 ARG José Luís Di Palma 15 6 6 8 14 4 11 7 8 11 6 135610 USA Chris Simmons 2 23 4 12 5 7 21 11 14 17 7 125411 USA Jeff Ward 5 8 5 3 DNS 11 17 13 20 16 20 55312 USA Greg Ray 7 11 18 15 2 8 6 10 16 6 17 164813 JPN Shigeaki Hattori 9 DNS 10 19 6 13 7 9 4 8 16 144214 JPN Hideki Noda 11 16 7 13 12 16 20 5 3 12 13 153415 USA Robby Unser 13 15 14 4 10 10 15 10 9 14 202516 CAN Bertrand Godin 7 5 11 102117 BRA Felipe Giaffone 14 24 13 10 9 18 16 6 22 82018 USA Nick Firestone 11 16 20 9 4 19 1819 RSA Jaki Scheckter 5 18 111220 USA Jack Miller 21 18 6 20 18 15 19 14 21 10 9 231221 PAR Roque Aranda 20 9 9 822 MEX Freddy van Beuren 12 12 13 8 17723 USA Doug Boyer 8 22 16 13 19 524 USA Casey Mears 8 525 USA Robbie Buhl 11 226 MEX Rodolfo Lavín 16 19 14 15 12 14 15 13 18 12 21227 USA Shan Groff 12 22128 BRA José Cordova 12 25 129 BRA Mauricio Slaviero 13 17 18 030 SWE Mattias Andersson 20 13 031 CAN Sohrab Amirsardari 14 17 032 BRA José Giaffone 14 19 18033 USA Andy Boss 19 14 034 USA David LaCroix 15 035 SWE Niclas Jönsson 17 036 COL Diego Guzmán 18 037 USA Peter Faucetta Jr. 19038 BRA Paulo Carcasci 21039 PAR Danny Candía 22040 USA Bob Reid 22041 USA Harry Puterbaugh Jr. 23 DNS0PosDriverHMSUSALBHUSANAZUSAMISUSAMILUSADETUSAPORUSACLEUSATORCANTROCANVANCANLAGUSAPointsColorResultGoldWinnerSilver2nd placeBronze3rd placeGreen4th & 5th placeLight Blue6th–10th placeDark BlueFinished (Outside Top 10)PurpleDid not finishRedDid not qualify (DNQ)BrownWithdrawn (Wth)BlackDisqualified (DSQ)WhiteDid not start (DNS)BlankDid not participate (DNP)Not competingIn-line notationBoldPole position(1 point)ItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps (2 points)1Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes. References Category:Indy Lights seasons Indy Lights Season, 1996 Indy Lights Indy Lights