The Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires is a racecar driver development program, providing a scholarship-funded path to reach the IndyCar Series. and Indianapolis 500. Sanctioned by IndyCar, the Road to Indy is owned and managed by Andersen Promotions. On December 9, 2010 it was announced that Mazda would become the title sponsor of the program and provide scholarships for series champions to advance to the next rung of the ladder with all three series running on Cooper Tires. Since its launch in 2010, the Road to Indy ladder system has attracted competitors from around the globe. Drivers from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, Venezuela and Zimbabwe have been part of the grids, showcasing their talents at premier venues on a mix of road courses, temporary street circuits and ovals. Participating series :
One of the season highlights is the Indy 500 weekend, with Indy Lights competing in the Freedom 100 on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 racing at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis later that evening. No driver has won the championship and thus scholarship at every rung of the ladder on their way to Indycar. However, both Sage Karam and Matthew Brabham won scholarships from U.S. F2000 and made it to IndyCar. Karam, Brabham, Tristan Vautier, and Spencer Pigot have all won two scholarships on their way to IndyCar. In 2017, Josef Newgarden became the first Road to Indy graduate and scholarship winner to win the IndyCar Series championship.
Mazda Road to Indy Shootout
For 2017 a shootout race for up and coming talents was announced. The Road to Indy has several partnerships with other development series. In a knock-out format the drivers will compete for a $200,000.00 scholarship to race in the USF2000 series. Drivers from the following series can qualify to compete in the shootout: