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This weekend one driver will win a prize worth over $1million.
The winner of the 2021 Indy Lights Championship, either Kyle Kirkwood or David Malukas, will earn a seat for three IndyCar races in 2022 including the Indianapolis 500, and the duo, along with guaranteed third-place finisher Linus Lundqvist, will all get an IndyCar test at Indianapolis following the season’s end.
International viewers can watch all the drama from the 2021 season finale unfold this weekend on The Race’s YouTube channel as two races at Mid-Ohio decide the championship.
It’s been a rejuvenating year for Indy Lights, which was the only series on the Road to Indy ladder system that didn’t run in 2020 because of the pandemic and its small grid size. With the addition of a halo and at least 11 cars on the grid at every race and in most cases more, there’s certainly some momentum.
There’s also anticipation, with the news that in 2022 Penske Entertainment will take over the running of the Indy Lights championship from Andersen Promotions. Andersen will continue to run the Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 championships and the new USF Juniors rung on the Road to Indy ladder.
However before thoughts switch to how the championship evolves moving forward and if a plan to bring more IndyCar teams into Indy Lights can be actioned, the 2021 title needs to be settled.
Indy Lights points ahead of the finale
1 Kirkwood 488
2 Malukas 473
Kirkwood was always expected to do well given his record – he has more wins across the three Road to Indy series than any driver in history and a win percentage over 60% – and his Andretti team has won the last two Lights championships.
However, Malukas and the HMD team supported by his father’s trucking business have really come to the fore following the pandemic. HMD took some engineers from rival Juncos and it was able to test and perfect its own car through the pandemic and emerged at the start of 2021 as a real leading contender, winning five of the first six races.
Things have swung a bit since then, though.
Kirkwood and Malukas have won the last 15 races between them, with Kirkwood winning eight of them and the last three in a row including a dominant Laguna Seca double performance.
Perhaps the biggest factor in that run is that Kirkwood won both Mid-Ohio races, a venue he and the Andretti team have performed well at in the past, and which hosts this weekend’s finale.
Alarmingly for Malukas, Kirkwood’s won his last seven races over a three-year span at the venue, while Andretti has also won the last seven there, a streak going back to 2017 when Santiago Urrutia beat Colton Herta to the win.
In 2021, Kirkwood has the advantage as he looks to become the first driver to win all three Road to Indy series in his rookie years. He leads by 16 points, and a score of 49 from the weekend would guarantee him the title regardless of what Malukas does.
There’s a bonus point for pole position and a bonus point for the driver who leads the highest number of laps.
It’s 30 points for a win, 25 for second, 22 for third, 19 for fourth and 17 for fifth. Sixth is awarded 15 and from every position onwards one less point is awarded down to 19th where you’d score two, but there won’t be that many cars on the grid.
There are only 12 cars expected, which means Kirkwood only has to start both races to score a minimum of 18 points, so Malukas needs to outscore Kirkwood by 34.
After his win at Laguna Seca, Kirkwood said that “this was one weekend where there were so many uncertainties coming in, and it turned out to be our best weekend of the entire season”.
However, he added: “But there’s no sense of relief or confidence regarding the championship.
“HMD was fast toward the end of the weekend there [at Mid-Ohio] earlier this year and it’s another track where passing is tough so qualifying will be everything.
“I expect HMD to keep catching up quickly and I know they’ll keep after it.”
It was Malukas’s birthday this week and he’ll be desperate to end the season with the momentum of the title. His HMD team will also want a first teams’ title, and is leading those standings at the moment.
Both drivers have a role to play in the IndyCar silly season, too. Malukas may bring backing but has earned his chance next season even if his destination is unclear, while Kirkwood looks set to be beaten to the fourth Andretti seat by team-mate Devlin DeFrancesco.
The Dale Coyne team would be an obvious alternative landing spot as Kirkwood races for the Vasser Sullivan team – which co-enters one of Coyne’s IndyCars – in IMSA, but he’s also in the frame for an Andretti Formula E seat. This weekend will go a long way to deciding his future.
One thing’s for sure, this weekend we’ll witness history being made and two future IndyCar contenders in the making.
You can watch the first race of this weekend’s Indy Lights finale on Saturday at 5.30pm BST (12.30pm ET) and the second race on Sunday at 4.30pm BST (11.30am ET).
