This Labor Day weekend marks the final rounds for all three Road to Indy series and all three championships will be awarded at Watkins Glen International. Six drivers across the three series have a shot at winning a championship.
Indy Lights
The Indy Lights championship is all but settled. Kyle Kaiser will win the 2017 Indy Lights championship simply by starting this weekend's season finale from Watkins Glen. The Californian holds a 31-point lead over Belardi Auto Racing's Santiago Urrutia with 33 points left on the table. Should 14 cars enter for the season finale, Kaiser would be guaranteed seven points simply by taking the green flag.
Kaiser would be the fourth American to win the Indy Lights championship since the establishment of the Road to Indy system in 2010. He would also be the second Juncos Racing driver to win the Indy Lights title in the last three years after Spencer Pigot won the title in 2015. Kaiser has won three races this season. He won the second race of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend and he swept the weekend at Toronto. He has eight podium finishes from 15 races, 11 top five finish and 13 top ten finishes. Kaiser finished fourth in last year's Watkins Glen race.
Four drivers will be fighting for second in Indy Lights. Urrutia's Gateway victory was his second of the season, second in three races and put him in sole possession of second in the championship on 285 points. Urrutia has six podium finishes from the last eight races. He finished 12th in last year's Indy Lights race at Watkins Glen after starting on pole position after a left front tire failure.
The Uruguayan is eight points clear of Andretti Steinbrenner Racing's Colton Herta. Herta picked up his sixth podium of the season at Gateway. He won two of the first four races and finished on the podium in three of the first four races. Carlin's Matheus Leist trails Urrutia by 25 points. Leist has finished tenth or worst in four of the last five races after winning three of the four races before that and having six consecutive top five finishes. Leist's teammate Zachary Claman DeMelo is a point behind the Brazilian. DeMelo has finished in the top six in eight of the previous nine races.
Nico Jamin, at best, could finish fourth in the championship. He is currently sixth after he retired from the Gateway race. Aaron Telitz sits 13 points behind Jamin and 24 points ahead of Neil Alberico. Shelby Blackstock and Juan Piedrahita round out the top ten on 198 points and 195 points respectively. One point separate Andretti Autosport teammates Dalton Kellett and Ryan Norman and Kellett is six points outside the top ten. Nicolas Dapero is coming off his first career Indy Lights top five finish and he has 174 points. Garth Rickards rounds out the top fourteen on 139 points.
The Indy Lights season finale will take place at 10:50 a.m. ET on Sunday September 3rd.
Pro Mazda
It is a two-horse race in Pro Mazda and two points separate the two title contenders entering the doubleheader from Watkins Glen.
Juncos Racing's Victor Franzoni enters with 287 points while Cape Motorsports' Anthony Martin sits on 285 points. Through ten races, both drivers have won five races but Franzoni has finished second in every race Martin has won while Martin has four runner-up finishes and he finished fourth in the second race during the Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend. Martin has won six pole positions while Franzoni has three pole positions. Franzoni has five fastest laps to Martin's four and Martin has led the most laps in six races this season to Franzoni's four.
Franzoni could become the first Juncos Racing driver to take the Pro Mazda championship since Spencer Pigot in 2014 and the third Juncos Racing driver to win the title overall, as Conor Daly won the 2010 title with Juncos. Cape Motorsports has never won the Pro Mazda championship but a Cape Motorsports driver has finished runner-up in Pro Mazda twice with Scott Hargrove in 2014 and Neil Alberico in 2015.
TJ Fischer has finished fourth in the last three races and he is five points ahead of his Team Pelfrey teammate Carlos Cunha. Cunha has three consecutive third-place finishes. Fischer's best finish was second in the second race of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend. Nikita Lastochkin makes it three consecutive Team Pelfrey cars in the championship with the Russian trailing Fischer by 20 points.
The first race of the Pro Mazda weekend will be Saturday September 2nd at 11:30 a.m. ET and the final race of the season will be held at 7:55 a.m. ET on Sunday September 3rd.
U.S. F2000
Just like Indy Lights and Pro Mazda, two drivers are fighting for the title in U.S. F2000 and the series has one race remaining.
Oliver Askew leads the championship with 325 points, 13 points ahead of Pabst Racing Services Rinus VeeKay. Askew has won seven of 13 races this season while VeeKay has only won twice but the Dutchman has eight consecutive podium finishes, 11 total and his worst finish this season was sixth in the first race of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend, his only finish outside the top five this season. Askew has ten podium finishes this season but he has finished outside the top ten on two occasions and he was docked ten points after his victory at Mid-Ohio for jumping the start.
Askew has won seven pole positions this season while VeeKay has only one pole position. Askew has seven fastest laps while VeeKay has achieved fastest lap twice and Askew has led the most laps seven times while VeeKay's two occasions of leading the most laps were his two victories at Road America.
Askew can clinch the U.S. F2000 championship with a third-place finish. If VeeKay finishes second at Watkins Glen, all Askew would need to lock up the championship is a sixth-place finish. Cape Motorsports has won five consecutive U.S. F2000 championships while Pabst Racing Services is going for its first championship in the series.
The rest of the top five in U.S. F2000 championship is pretty much set. Parker Thompson cannot be caught in third as the Canadian has 264 points. Thompson has won three of the last four races and he finished second in the other race during that stretch. Kaylen Frederick sits on 221 points in fourth and Frederick has five podium finishes this season. Calvin Ming round out the top five on 185 points and the winner of the season opener from St. Petersburg, Robert Megennis, is sixth on 162 points.
The U.S. F2000 season finale will take place at 1:15 p.m. ET on Saturday September 2nd.
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