1997 Indy Lights season


The 1997 PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 13 races. Tony Kanaan edged out good friend and teammate Hélio Castro-Neves to the title by only four points.
This was the first season where all teams used 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 finishers, with 1 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.

Team and driver chart

The following drivers and teams competed in the series:
TeamDriversRound
Autosport Racing5

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.