# 2004 Infiniti Pro Series

The 2004 Menards IRL Infiniti Pro Series season was the third season of the series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 19th in Indy NXT combined history, as officially recognized by IndyCar. All teams used Dallara IL-02 chassis and Infiniti engines.
In his second year of Pro Series competition, Thiago Medeiros won the championship convincingly, giving Sam Schmidt Motorsports its first title. He won six wins, including the second running of the Freedom 100 from pole position, scored seven pole positions and led the most laps in all but two of the 12 races. Medeiros became champion by taking the green flag at the penultimate round in Chicagoland, and finished with a 134-point lead over Paul Dana, who scored his lone Infiniti Pro Series win at Milwaukee.
Despite joining the Infiniti Pro Series at the fourth round in Kansas, rookie P. J. Chesson rallied to a fourth place in the standings, including a three-win streak with newcomers Mo Nunn Racing, an effort instigated and managed by Nunn's wife Kathryn. Despite a penalty at the last round that demoted him behind Arie Luyendyk Jr. in the standings, Chesson won Rookie of the Year over Leonardo Maia by 25 points.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises and Panther Racing, the champions of the previous two editions, left the series, although Foyt entered a car for Jeff Simmons at the Freedom 100, finishing second behind Medeiros. Simmons and Marty Roth became the first drivers to contest the Indianapolis 500 and the Freedom 100 in the same year. Sinden Racing Service and Genoa Racing also left the series entirely, while the privateer effort by Matt Beardsley ceased to be after the Freedom 100. On the other hand, Roquin Motorsports re-expanded to a full time effort, Roth Racing, Racing Professionals and Bullet-Team Motorsports made their debut with partial seasons, apart from Mo Nunn joining the championship at the fourth round.
While the Freedom 100 attracted 17 competitors, the Infiniti Pro Series struggled with entries throughout much of 2004, especially during the summer stretch, with only nine cars and just three finishers at the Milwaukee round. Grid sizes improved over the last three races, with 15 drivers in each round. Only the top 3 drivers in the standings contested the full season, with two others missing one round. Former IndyCar drivers that competed during the season were Billy Roe, Jon Herb, Cory Witherill and Scott Mayer.

## Team and driver chart

| Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
| Keith Duesenberg Racing | 2 | Phil Giebler | 1–3, 11 |
| Keith Duesenberg Racing | 2 | Alfred Unser | 4–10, 12 |
| Keith Duesenberg Racing | 22 | Ross Fonferko | 5 |
| Keith Duesenberg Racing | 22 | Phil Giebler | 7–9 |
| Keith Duesenberg Racing | 22 | P. J. Abbott | 12 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | Jesse Mason | 1–10 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | Marty Roth | 11 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | Ryan Hampton | 12 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 33 | Tony Turco | 1 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 33 | Leonardo Maia | 2–12 |
| Roth Racing | 4 | Marty Roth | 1–3 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 5 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 1–7 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 5 | Travis Gregg | 8, 10, 12 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 5 | Shinji Kashima | 11 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 11 | Thiago Medeiros | All |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 64 | Brad Pollard | 4–6 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 64 | Scott Mayer | 10, 12 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 64 | P. J. Abbott | 11 |
| Racing Professionals | 6 | Jon Herb | 3, 11–12 |
| Roquin Motorsports | 9 | Matt Beardsley | 9 |
| Roquin Motorsports | 10 | Rolando Quintanilla | 1–5, 7–12 |
| Beardsley Motorsports | 12 | Matt Beardsley | 1–3 |
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 14 | Jeff Simmons | 3 |
| Bullet-Team Motorsports | 21 | Taylor Fletcher | 3, 10–11 |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 24 | Brad Pollard | 1–3 |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 24 | Jeff Simmons | 9–12 |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 24 | Billy Roe | 4–8 |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 42 | Billy Roe | 2–3 |
| AFS Racing | 25 | Jay Drake | 3 |
| AFS Racing | 25 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 10–12 |
| AFS Racing | 27 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 8–9 |
| AFS Racing | 27 | Gary Peterson | 2–3, 7, 10–12 |
| Mo Nunn Racing | 67 | James Chesson | 10–12 |
| Mo Nunn Racing | 76 | P. J. Chesson | 4–12 |
| Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports | 91 | Paul Dana | All |
| Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports | 92 | Cory Witherill | 3, 10 |

## Schedule

The schedule for 2004 stayed at 12 rounds with minor date changes over 2003. Mirroring the IRL IndyCar Series, the series left Gateway International Raceway and visited the storied Milwaukee Mile, who had featured in the last season of the original Indy Lights championship in 2001. This would be the last all-oval season for the series, as the IRL-managed championship would introduce road course racing from 2005 onwards.
| Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location |
| 1 | February 29 | Homestead-Miami 100 | Homestead–Miami Speedway | Homestead, Florida |
| 2 | March 20 | Phoenix 100 | Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona |
| 3 | May 22 | Futaba Freedom 100 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana |
| 4 | July 3 | Aventis Racing for Kids 100 | Kansas Speedway | Kansas City, Kansas |
| 5 | July 17 | Cleanevent 100 | Nashville Superspeedway | Lebanon, Tennessee |
| 6 | July 25 | Milwaukee 100 | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 7 | August 1 | Paramount Health Insurance 100 | Michigan International Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan |
| 8 | August 14 | Kentucky 100 | Kentucky Speedway | Sparta, Kentucky |
| 9 | August 22 | Pikes Peak 100 | Pikes Peak International Raceway | Fountain, Colorado |
| 10 | September 11 | Chicago 100 | Chicagoland Speedway | Joliet, Illinois |
| 11 | October 2 | California 100 | California Speedway | Fontana, California |
| 12 | October 16 | Texas 100 | Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas |

## Race results

| Round | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Race Winner | Race Winner |
| Round | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Homestead–Miami Speedway | Phil Giebler | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Phil Giebler | Keith Duesenberg Racing |
| 2 | Phoenix International Raceway | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 3 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 4 | Kansas Speedway | Thiago Medeiros | Alfred Unser | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 5 | Nashville Superspeedway | Thiago Medeiros | Paul Dana | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 6 | Milwaukee Mile | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Paul Dana | Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports |
| 7 | Michigan International Speedway | Al Unser III | Alfred Unser | Thiago Medeiros | P. J. Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 8 | Kentucky Speedway | Travis Gregg | Phil Giebler | Travis Gregg | P. J. Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 9 | Pikes Peak International Raceway | Jeff Simmons | Paul Dana | Paul Dana | P. J. Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 10 | Chicagoland Speedway | Thiago Medeiros | Travis Gregg | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 11 | California Speedway | Thiago Medeiros | James Chesson | Thiago Medeiros | James Chesson | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 12 | Texas Motor Speedway | Thiago Medeiros | P. J. Chesson | Thiago Medeiros | Thiago Medeiros | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |

## Championship standings
### Drivers' Championship
#### Scoring system

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th |
| Points | 50 | 40 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 |
* The driver who leads the most laps in a race is awarded two additional points.
| Pos | Driver | HOM | PHX | INDY | KAN | NSH | MIL | MIS | KEN | PIK | CHI | FON | TXS | Points |
| 1 | Thiago Medeiros | 2* | 1* | 1* | 1*$^1$ | 1* | 6* | 2* | 6 | 3 | 1* | 9* | 1* | 513 |
| 2 | Paul Dana | 8 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2* | 8 | 12 | 11 | 379 |
| 3 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 9 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 330 |
| 4 | P. J. Chesson RY | | | | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 317 |
| 5 | Leonardo Maia R | | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 292 |
| 6 | Jesse Mason R | 3 | 4 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 9 | | | 283 |
| 7 | Rolando Quintanilla | 6 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 9 | | 11 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 264 |
| 8 | Alfred Unser R | | | | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 3 | | 3 | 252 |
| 9 | Phil Giebler R | 1 | 7 | 5 | | | | 5 | 10 | 8 | | 3 | | 215 |
| 10 | Billy Roe | | 9 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 9 | | | | | 164 |
| 11 | Brad Pollard R | 5 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 5 | | | | | | | 152 |
| 12 | Jeff Simmons | | | 2 | | | | | | 9 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 150 |
| 13 | Gary Peterson | | 12 | 13 | | | | 9 | | | 14 | 8 | 15 | 112 |
| 14 | James Chesson R | | | | | | | | | | 6 | 1 | 13 | 95 |
| 15 | Travis Gregg R | | | | | | | | 5* | | 13 | | 2 | 89 |
| 16 | Matt Beardsley | 10 | 8 | 8 | | | | | | 10 | | | | 88 |
| 17 | Marty Roth | 7 | 10 | 16 | | | | | | | | 11 | | 79 |
| 18 | Jon Herb R | | | 17 | | | | | | | | 6 | 7 | 67 |
| 19 | Taylor Fletcher R | | | 12 | | | | | | | 11 | 15 | | 52 |
| 20 | P. J. Abbott R | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | 9 | 48 |
| 21 | Cory Witherill | | | 7 | | | | | | | 15 | | | 41 |
| 22 | Scott Mayer R | | | | | | | | | | 12 | | 10 | 38 |
| 23 | Tony Turco | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | 32 |
| 24 | Jay Drake R | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | 32 |
| 25 | Ross Fonferko R | | | | | 7 | | | | | | | | 26 |
| 26 | Shinji Kashima R | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | | 17 |
| 27 | Ryan Hampton | | | | | | | | | | | | 14 | 16 |
| Pos | Driver | HOM | PHX | INDY | KAN | NSH | MIL | MIS | KEN | PIK | CHI | FON | TXS | Points |
| 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) |
| Blank | Not competing |
In-line notation :
| Bold | Pole position |
| Italics | Ran fastest race lap |
| * | Led most race laps (2 points) |
| $^1$ | Qualifying cancelled |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Qualifying for Kansas was cancelled due to rain. The grid was set by entrant points entering the race.
* ↑ 25 point deduction at Texas for causing a debris situation that produced a crash.