Askew Dominates COTA Indy Lights

It was a one-man-show. Rookie Oliver Askew, the 22-year-old racer for Andretti Autosport, totally dominated the Indy Lights competition at the Circuit of the Americas.  This was the inaugural running of Indy Lights and IndyCar at the circuit. 

Askew won races 1 and 2 with his fastest time of less than 40 minutes, took the pole position in each of the qualifying races, and finished with the fastest laps in each of the practice sessions.  Askew’s fastest lap was 107.040 mph

Askew sits atop the Indy Lights standings with 98 points after second stop in the season.  Rinus VeeKay is second with 92 points.  Indy Lights features 18 races in at 10 venues, with doubleheader rounds at eight stops. 

Indy Lights is the scholarship-based driver development program for future IndyCar competitors. The program produced the last five champions of the Indianapolis 500, and included 25 of the 33 starters last year’s race. 

Indy Lights cars are state-of-the-art, single-seat, open-wheel with an Indy car-style chassis manufactured by Dallara Automobili.  The cars include an Advanced Engine Research (AER) 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 engine producing 450 HP.  All cars are outfitted with Cooper Tires.