# 2005 Infiniti Pro Series

The 2005 Menards Infiniti Pro Series was the fourth season of the series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 20th in Indy NXT combined history, as officially recognized by IndyCar. All teams used Dallara IL-02 chassis and Infiniti engines, a combination that was raced for the first time on road courses.
In a consistent, and almost winless, rookie year, Wade Cunningham became the champion by scoring his only win of the year in the final round at California Speedway. Driving for the storied Brian Stewart Racing, Cunningham led the championship from the sixth round, despite not scoring a win or a pole position in the first 12 races. At the end of the year, he had a total of 10 podium finishes, seven of those in second place.
Jeff Simmons returned to the series full-time, and recovered from a bad first half of the season to score four wins. He repeated his second place finish in the standings from 2003 by beating Travis Gregg, who scored a field-record six pole positions and won three races with defending champions Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Jaime Camara, also driving for Schmidt, won the Freedom 100 from pole position ahead of Cunningham, adding another win at Nashville to finish fifth behind fellow rookie Nick Bussell.
With the introduction of road course racing in the IRL IndyCar Series, the Infiniti Pro Series followed suit with four road course races, including his first race outside of the IndyCar bill, the Liberty Challenge held at the Indianapolis road course during the controversial U. S. Grand Prix weekend. Driving a partial schedule, 18-year old Marco Andretti set the standard at the road course races with three wins, being only beaten by Simmons at Watkins Glen. These results, along with a podium finish at Kentucky, were enough to finish 10th in the standings before his IndyCar promotion.
Five years after Team Green left Indy Lights, Andretti Green Racing entered the Infiniti Pro Series for the first time at selected rounds. Newly formed IndyCar team Vision Racing also entered the series, while Roth Racing and Racing Professionals went on to contest the full season. Genoa Racing returned and J. L. West Motorsports also entered from the beginning with both teams downsizing halfway through the year, while Michael Crawford Motorsports also debuted with a partial schedule. On the other hand, Mo Nunn Racing's Pro Series operation was disbanded along with the main team, and both Keith Duesenberg Racing and Roquin Motorsports left the series.
The series had at least 11 drivers at each round, with 15 competitors at Phoenix and 18 drivers in the Freedom 100. Eight drivers competed in every race, plus Jay Drake at all but one race. At Chicagoland, Sarah McCune became the first woman in series history to score a pole, this being the only start of her career. Marty Roth competed again in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Freedom 100, where he was one of three starters with previous IndyCar experience along with Simmons and Jon Herb, the winner at Phoenix earlier in the year.

## Team and driver chart

| Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 1 | Jaime Camara | All |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 7 | Travis Gregg | All |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 8 | Sarah McCune | 12 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 11 | Tom Wood | 4 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 11 | P. J. Abbott | 5, 14 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 11 | Rocco DeSimone | 13 |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 19 | Chris Festa | All |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | Alfred Unser | 1–4 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 5–10 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | Bobby Wilson | 11–14 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 33 | Wade Cunningham | All |
| Roth Racing | 4 | Marty Roth | All |
| AFS Racing | 5 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 2–3 |
| AFS Racing | 25 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 14 |
| AFS Racing | 27 | G. J. Mennen | 2 |
| AFS Racing | 27 | Rocky Moran Jr. | 4 |
| AFS Racing | 27 | Geoff Dodge | 14 |
| Racing Professionals | 6 | Jon Herb | All |
| Vision Racing | 9 | Ed Carpenter | 6 |
| Vision Racing | 9 | Nick Bussell | 7–14 |
| Vision Racing | 20 | Jay Drake | 1–12, 14 |
| Vision Racing | 20 | Phil Giebler | 13 |
| Michael Crawford Motorsports | 11 | Scott Mayer | 2, 8, 11–12 |
| J. L. West Motorsports | 21 | Nick Bussell | 1–6 |
| Dave McMillan Racing | 22 | Scott Mansell | 11, 13 |
| Bullet-Team Motorsports | 23 | Taylor Fletcher | 4, 14 |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 24 | Jeff Simmons | All |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 42 | Germán Quiroga | 4 |
| Kenn Hardley Racing | 42 | Tom Wood | 7, 10 |
| Andretti Green Racing | 26 | Marco Andretti | 3–4, 6, 9, 11, 13 |
| Genoa Racing | 36 | P. J. Chesson | 1–3 |
| Genoa Racing | 36 | Imran Husain | 4 |
| Genoa Racing | 36 | Larry Connor | 6, 13 |
| Hemelgarn Racing | 42 | Mishael Abbott | 1 |
| Hemelgarn Racing | 91 | Mishael Abbott | 2, 4, 6 |
| Hemelgarn Racing | 91 | Jerry Coons Jr. | 7 |
| American Revolution Racing | 77 | Cole Carter | 4 |

## Schedule

The Infiniti Pro Series accompanied the new IndyCar road course events at St. Petersburg, Sonoma and Watkins Glen, while also adding a fourth road course event in Indianapolis as part of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix bill. The oval races at Kansas and Michigan were removed from the schedule, which grew from 12 events to 14. The Texas date was moved to June after the fall event was discontinued by IndyCar, with California Speedway serving as the venue for the season finale.
| Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location |
| 1 | March 6 | Homestead-Miami 100 | O Homestead–Miami Speedway | Homestead, Florida |
| 2 | March 19 | Phoenix 100 | O Phoenix International Raceway | Avondale, Arizona |
| 3 | April 3 | Grand Prix of St. Petersburg | R Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 4 | May 27 | Futaba Freedom 100 | O Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana |
| 5 | June 11 | Firestone 100 | O Texas Motor Speedway | Fort Worth, Texas |
| 6 | June 18 | Liberty Challenge | R Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course | Speedway, Indiana |
| 7 | July 16 | Cleanevent 100 | O Nashville Superspeedway | Lebanon, Tennessee |
| 8 | July 24 | Milwaukee 100 | O Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 9 | August 13 | Bluegrass 100 | O Kentucky Speedway | Sparta, Kentucky |
| 10 | August 21 | Pikes Peak 100 | O Pikes Peak International Raceway | Fountain, Colorado |
| 11 | August 28 | Sonoma 100 | R Infineon Raceway | Sonoma, California |
| 12 | September 11 | Chicagoland 100 | O Chicagoland Speedway | Joliet, Illinois |
| 13 | September 25 | Corning 100 | R Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, New York |
| 14 | October 16 | California 100 | O California Speedway | Fontana, California |

## 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 | Travis Gregg | Wade Cunningham | Travis Gregg | Travis Gregg | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 2 | Phoenix International Raceway | Travis Gregg | Chris Festa | Jon Herb | Jon Herb | Racing Professionals |
| 3 | Streets of St. Petersburg | Marco Andretti | Wade Cunningham | Marco Andretti | Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing |
| 4 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Jaime Camara | Jon Herb | Jaime Camara | Jaime Camara | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 5 | Texas Motor Speedway | Travis Gregg | Nick Bussell | Travis Gregg | Travis Gregg | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 6 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course | Marco Andretti | Marco Andretti | Marco Andretti | Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing |
| 7 | Nashville Superspeedway | Jaime Camara | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | Jaime Camara | Jaime Camara | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 8 | Milwaukee Mile | Jaime Camara | Jay Drake | Wade Cunningham | Jeff Simmons | Kenn Hardley Racing |
| 9 | Kentucky Speedway | Travis Gregg | Jay Drake | Travis Gregg | Travis Gregg | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 10 | Pikes Peak International Raceway | Travis Gregg | Travis Gregg | Jeff Simmons | Jeff Simmons | Kenn Hardley Racing |
| 11 | Infineon Raceway | Marco Andretti | Jeff Simmons | Marco Andretti | Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing |
| 12 | Chicagoland Speedway | Sarah McCune | Jon Herb | Jeff Simmons | Jeff Simmons | Kenn Hardley Racing |
| 13 | Watkins Glen International | Wade Cunningham | Wade Cunningham | Marco Andretti | Jeff Simmons | Kenn Hardley Racing |
| 14 | California Speedway | Travis Gregg | Jeff Simmons | Wade Cunningham | Wade Cunningham | Brian Stewart Racing |

## 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 starts on pole is awarded one point.
* The driver who leads the most laps in a race is awarded two additional points.
| Pos | Driver | HOM | PHX | STP | INDY | TXS | IMS | NSH | MIL | KEN | PIK | SON | CHI | WGL | FON | Points |
| 1 | Wade Cunningham RY | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2* | 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 1* | 504 |
| 2 | Jeff Simmons | 9 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1* | 3 | 1* | 1 | 2 | 474 |
| 3 | Travis Gregg R | 1* | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1* | 7 | 10 | 8 | 1* | 3 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 462 |
| 4 | Nick Bussell R | 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 430 |
| 5 | Jaime Camara R | 2 | 11 | 13 | 1* | 9 | 5 | 1* | 5 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 403 |
| 6 | Chris Festa | 10 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 387 |
| 7 | Jon Herb | 3 | 1* | 11 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 364 |
| 8 | Marty Roth | 7 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 355 |
| 9 | Jay Drake R | 5 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 7 | | 12 | 341 |
| 10 | Marco Andretti R | | | 1* | 16 | | 1* | | | 3 | | 1* | | 2* | | 250 |
| 11 | Arie Luyendyk Jr. | | 4 | 5 | | 10 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | | | | 6 | 228 |
| 12 | Alfred Unser | 12 | 8 | 4 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | 106 |
| 13 | Mishael Abbott R | 8 | 9 | | 11 | | 12 | | | | | | | | | 83 |
| 14 | Bobby Wilson R | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 82 |
| 15 | Scott Mayer R | | 7 | | | | | | 11 | | | 13 | 12 | | | 80 |
| 16 | Tom Wood | | | | 12 | | | 12 | | | 4 | | | | | 68 |
| 17 | P. J. Chesson | 11 | 14 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | 61 |
| 18 | P. J. Abbott R | | | | | 11 | | | | | | | | | 8 | 43 |
| 19 | Taylor Fletcher | | | | 9 | | | | | | | | | | 11 | 41 |
| 20 | Larry Connor R | | | | | | 14 | | | | | | | 8 | | 40 |
| 21 | Scott Mansell R | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | | 14 | | 36 |
| 22 | Phil Giebler | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | | 28 |
| 23 | Sarah McCune R | | | | | | | | | | | | 9 | | | 23 |
| 24 | Jerry Coons Jr. R | | | | | | | 9 | | | | | | | | 22 |
| 25 | Germán Quiroga R | | | | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | 20 |
| 26 | Ed Carpenter | | | | | | 11 | | | | | | | | | 19 |
| 27 | Rocco DeSimone R | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | | 17 |
| 28 | Imran Husain R | | | | 14 | | | | | | | | | | | 16 |
| 29 | Geoff Dodge R | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 14 | 16 |
| 30 | G. J. Mennen | | 15 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 15 |
| 31 | Rocky Moran Jr. | | | | 17 | | | | | | | | | | | 13 |
| 32 | Cole Carter R | | | | 18 | | | | | | | | | | | 12 |
| Pos | Driver | HOM | PHX | STP | INDY | TXS | IMS | NSH | MIL | KEN | PIK | SON | CHI | WGL | FON | 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 (1 point) |
| Italics | Ran fastest race lap |
| * | Led most race laps (2 points) |
| $^1$ | Qualifying cancelled |

## Footnotes

* ↑ 15 point deduction for reckless and overly-aggressive driving at California