“Don’t stop believing.” Those were the words on the side of Ryan Norman’s No. 48 Journey Mazda as he crossed the start/finish line taking the checkered flag at Gateway Motorsports park on Saturday Afternoon.
Indy Lights: Ryan Norman finds victory lane for first time ever
Norman, sponsored by the famous American rock band, had to persevere and overtake Colton Herta, who still held the lead with five laps to go. Though, Norman was faster on the front straight-away and in the first two turns. He used the advantage to pass Herta and earn his first career Indy Lights win.
Herta crossed the line in second and finished ahead of points leader Pato O’Ward, meaning he would trim his points deficit down. Though Herta is still 25 points behind, and with two races to go he will have to race flawlessly to earn the points championship.
The Indy Lights series has two races scheduled for next weekend to wrap up it’s season at Portland International Raceway. As the track is a road course, the winner of the race will only earn 30 points as opposed to the 45 a driver earns when they win at an oval track in the series.
If Herta had held on for just five more laps, his deficit in the points would be just 18 between himself and O’Ward. However, Herta will try to overcome O’Ward’s lead when the series heads to PIR next week.
The first race of the weekend will take place on Saturday at 5:50 p.m. ET while the second will fly the green flag on Sunday at 12:55 p.m. ET. Both races will be streamed live on IndyCar.com.
Indy Lights Series points
After Gateway Motorsports Park
1. Pato O’Ward 428 | –
2. Colton Herta 403 | -25
3. Santi Urrutia 354 | -74
4. Ryan Norman 314 | -114
5. Victor Franzoni 302 | -126
6. Aaron Telitz 274 | -152
7. Dalton Kellett 271 | -157
8. Shelby Blackstock 42 | -386
9. Neil Alberico 31 | -397
10. Alfonso Celis Jr. 27 | -401
11. Davey Hamilton Jr. 21 | -407
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