2006 Indy Pro Series

The 2006 Indy Racing League Indy Pro Series was the fifth season of the developmental open-wheel racing series. It was the first season to include double-header races on road and street courses. The season began at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 26 and finished September 9 at Chicagoland Speedway.

2006 Indy Pro Series season
Indy Pro Series
Season
Races12
Start dateMarch 26
End dateSeptember 9
Awards
Drivers' champion Jay Howard
Teams' champion Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Rookie of the Year Jay Howard

English rookie Jay Howard, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports narrowly won the championship by four points over American rookie Jonathan Klein of Andretti Green Racing.[1] Defending series champion Wade Cunningham, driving for Brian Stewart Racing, finished third in points despite missing two races due to an appendix removal, with a better points per race ratio than Howard and Klein.[2] Rookie Alex Lloyd won two races, but missed three due to funding issues and finished seventh in points. Brazilian rookie Raphael Matos swept the race weekend at St. Petersburg, his first two series starts. Graham Rahal made his only Indy Pro Series start at the Liberty Challenge getting the pole position and coming close to winning the race.[3]

41 different drivers competed in a race but only six started all twelve races.

Drivers and teams

All teams competed in Firestone-shod Dallaras.

Team No. Drivers Rounds
Brian Stewart Racing 1 Wade Cunningham 1, 4–12
Geoff Dodge 2–3
33 1, 4, 7
3 Brett Van Blankers 1–9
Daniel Gaunt 10–11
Veronica McCann 12
Dave McMillan Racing 2 Matthew Hamilton 1–5
C. R. Crews 12
22 Éric Paradis 6
Roth Racing 4 Marty Roth 1–3
Guthrie Racing 4 Phil Giebler 4
Logan Gomez 6
C. R. Crews 9
Micky Gilbert 10–11
Tom Wieringa 12
Sean Guthrie 5
41 4, 7, 9, 12
Travis Gregg 1
Raphael Matos 2–3, 5–6
Scott Mansell 10–11
Matt Young Motorsports 6 Jon Herb 1–6
Sam Schmidt Motorsports 7 Jay Howard All
38 Ryan Justice 10–11
77 Travis Gregg 9
Akihira Okamoto 12
Michael Crawford Motorsports 8 Mishael Abbott 1, 4–5
Rocco DeSimone 2–3
C. R. Crews 6
Scott Mansell 7
P. J. Abbott 8, 10–11
Ben Petter 9, 12
9 Bobby Wilson 1–3
Tom Wieringa 4
C. R. Crews 5
Scott Mansell 6
Travis Gregg 7
Michael Crawford 8
Racer Kashima 9–12
Andretti Green Racing 11 Jaime Camara All
27 Jonathan Klein All
Kenn Hardley Racing 24 Jeff Simmons 1–3
Bobby Wilson 4–12
42 Tom Wood 4, 7–9, 12
Phil Giebler 5
Graham Rahal 6
AFS Racing 25 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 1–3, 5, 7, 12
Tyce Carlson 4
Phil Giebler 6
26 Alex Lloyd 2–7, 9–12
Thiago Medeiros 8
Cheever Racing 51 Chris Festa 1–7, 9, 12
52 Nick Bussell All
Part Sourcing International 76 James Chesson 4, 7
Mike Potekhen 6, 9–12

Race Summaries

Miami 100
  • Date: March 26
  • Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway
  • Time of Race: 36 Minutes 41 Second
  • Average Speed: 162.712 mph (261.860 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.0199 of a Second
  • Pole Winner: Jay Howard 186.589 mph (300.286 km/h)[4]

Top 5 Results

  1. Jeff Simmons
  2. Nick Bussell
  3. Jay Howard
  4. Arie Luyendyk Jr.
  5. Bobby Wilson

Streets of St. Petersburg 1
  • Date: April 1
  • Location: Streets of St. Petersburg
  • Time of Race: 52 Minutes
  • Average Speed: 83.055 mph (133.664 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.5075 of a sec.
  • Pole Winner: Raphael Matos 95.513 mph (153.713 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Raphael Matos
  2. Jeff Simmons
  3. Jay Howard
  4. Nick Bussell
  5. Jonathan Klein

Streets of St. Petersburg 2
  • Date: April 2
  • Location: Streets of St. Petersburg
  • Time of Race: 50 Minutes 32 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 85.316 mph (137.303 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 5.7206 Seconds
  • Pole Winner: Chris Festa[5]

Top 5 Results

  1. Raphael Matos
  2. Jay Howard
  3. Alex Lloyd
  4. Jeff Simmons
  5. Jonathan Klein

Freedom 100
  • Date: May 26
  • Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  • Time of Race: 32 Minutes 29 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 184.679 mph (297.212 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.6889 of a sec.
  • Pole Winner: Wade Cunningham 186.423 mph (300.019 km/h)[6]

Top 5 Results

  1. Wade Cunningham
  2. Jay Howard
  3. Jaime Camara
  4. Chris Festa
  5. Alex Lloyd

Corning 100
  • Date: June 4
  • Location: Watkins Glen International
  • Time of Race: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes, 23 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 77.555 mph (124.813 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 3.2795 seconds
  • Pole Winner: Bobby Wilson 107.135 mph (172.417 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Bobby Wilson
  2. Wade Cunningham
  3. Phil Giebler
  4. Jaime Camara
  5. Jonathan Klein

Liberty Challenge
  • Date: July 1
  • Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  • Time of Race: 35 Minutes 53 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 100.159 mph (161.190 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.666 of a Second
  • Pole Winner: Graham Rahal 109.580 mph (176.352 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Alex Lloyd
  2. Graham Rahal
  3. Jonathan Klein
  4. Raphael Matos
  5. Nick Bussell

Sun Belt Rentals 100
  • Date: July 15
  • Location: Nashville Superspeedway
  • Time of Race: 39 Minutes 57 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 150.332 mph (241.936 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 2.3705 Seconds
  • Pole Winner: Wade Cunningham 180.459 mph (290.421 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Jay Howard
  2. Jamie Camara
  3. Jonathan Klein
  4. Tom Wood
  5. Wade Cunningham

Milwaukee 100
  • Date: July 22
  • Location: The Milwaukee Mile
  • Time of Race: 46 Minutes 28 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 131.060 mph (210.921 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.6614 of a Second
  • Pole Winner: Wade Cunningham 147.783 mph (237.834 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Jamie Camara
  2. Wade Cunningham
  3. Jonathan Klein
  4. Bobby Wilson
  5. Nick Bussell

Kentucky 100
  • Date: August 13
  • Location: Kentucky Speedway
  • Time of Race: 37 Minutes 57 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 156.752 mph (252.268 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.0190 of a Second
  • Pole Winner: Jonathan Klein 189.392 mph (304.797 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Jay Howard
  2. Jonathan Klein
  3. Wade Cunningham
  4. Travis Gregg
  5. Sean Guthrie

Carneros 100
  • Date: August 26
  • Location: Infineon Raceway
  • Time of Race: 48 Minutes 32 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 85.278 mph (137.242 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.6108 of a Second
  • Pole Winner: Wade Cunningham 99.840 mph (160.677 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Wade Cunningham
  2. Alex Lloyd
  3. Nick Bussell
  4. Jonathan Klein
  5. Bobby Wilson

Valley of the Moon 100
  • Date: August 27
  • Location: Infineon Raceway
  • Time of Race: 49 Minutes 3 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 84.383 mph (135.801 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 6.2400 Seconds
  • Pole Winner: Mike Potekhen

Top 5 Results

  1. Alex Lloyd
  2. Bobby Wilson
  3. Jonathan Klein
  4. Wade Cunningham
  5. Jay Howard

Chicagoland 100
  • Date: September 9
  • Location: Chicagoland Speedway
  • Time of Race: 49 Minutes 9 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 124.305 mph (200.050 km/h)
  • Margin of Victory: 0.6097 of a Second
  • Pole Winner: Jay Howard 188.774 mph (303.802 km/h)

Top 5 Results

  1. Wade Cunningham
  2. Jonathan Klein
  3. Jay Howard
  4. Alex Lloyd
  5. Chris Festa

Driver standings
Pos Driver HMS
 STP
 INDY
 WGL
 IMS
 NAS
 MIL
 KTY
 SNM
 CHI
 Pts
1 Jay Howard 3 3 2 2 6 18 1 7 1 10 5 3 390
2 Jonathan Klein 15 5 5 6 5 3 3 3 2 4 3 2 386
3 Wade Cunningham 10 1 2 16 5 2 3 1 4 1 379
4 Bobby Wilson 5 8 6 7 1 9 7 4 7 5 2 17 343
5 Nick Bussell 2 4 10 10 15 5 6 5 6 3 13 8 319
6 Jaime Camara 11 12 13 3 4 13 2 1 14 7 14 16 298
7 Alex Lloyd 10 3 5 17 1 DNS 16 2 1 4 294
8 Chris Festa 16 6 8 4 14 15 9 8 5 205
9 Brett Van Blankers 8 9 11 14 7 17 10 8 15 179
10 Raphael Matos 1 1 13 4 154
11 Jon Herb 6 13 9 19 8 8 126
12 Jeff Simmons 1 2 4 122
13 Mike Potekhen 11 10 6 6 7 121
14 Tom Wood 9 4 9 12 9 116
15 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 4 DNS 11 11 6 105
16 Matthew Hamilton 14 7 7 13 10 105
17 Geoff Dodge 7 11 13 8 12 104
18 Sean Guthrie 11 16 8 5 18 99
19 C. R. Crews 9 6 11 13 86
20 Scott Mansell 14 14 11 7 77
21 Phil Giebler 16 3 7 75
22 Racer Kashima 13 12 11 12 72
23 Travis Gregg 12 13 4 67
24 Marty Roth 9 14 12 56
25 P. J. Abbott 11 13 12 54
26 Ryan Justice 8 8 48
26 Mishael Abbott 13 17 12 48
28 Graham Rahal 2 43
29 Micky Gilbert 9 10 42
29 Ben Petter 9 10 42
31 Daniel Gaunt 14 9 38
32 Tom Wieringa 12 15 33
33 Rocco DeSimone 15 14 31
34 Thiago Medeiros 6 28
35 Michael Crawford 10 20
35 Logan Gomez 10 20
37 Veronica McCann 11 19
37 James Chesson 18 DNS 19
39 Éric Paradis 12 18
40 Akihira Okamoto 14 16
41 Tyce Carlson 15 15
Pos Driver HMS
 STP
 INDY
 WGL
 IMS
 NAS
 MIL
 KTY
 SNM
 CHI
 Pts
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 not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
(1 point)
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
(2 points)
1 Qualifying cancelled
no bonus point awarded
Rookie of the Year
Rookie
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
Points 50 40 35 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
  • Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

References
  1. "Howard Captures First Career IRL Indy Pro Series Championship at Chicagoland Speedway". Chicagoland Speedway. 2006-09-09. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  2. "IPS: St. Pete: Friday practice notes". Motorsport.com. 2006-01-04. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  3. "IRL Lloyd beats heat & Rahal ." Racecar.com. 2006-07-03. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  4. "2006 Miami 100". Racing-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  5. "2006 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Race 2". Racing-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  6. "2006 Freedom 100". Racing-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
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