Tag: Firestone Indy Lights

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) development driver Kyle O’Gara, a Roncalli High School Senior, announced today in front of his classmates on the south side of Indianapolis that he would be taking them all with him to Coors Lite Carb Day for the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 on May 24.

O’Gara, 18, will make his Firestone Indy Lights debut at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway through a partnership between SFH Racing Development and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM), a team that has won seven of 10 total runnings of the Firestone Freedom 100 at IMS and six of the last 11 series championships.

“It’s a dream come true for me to be racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” O’Gara said. “Sam Schmidt has proven over and over that his team knows how to put together a car that can win in Firestone Indy Lights competition, and I’m excited to be apart of that and learn as much as possible.”

While O’Gara has spent a good portion of his high school career traveling for his race schedule, he has always worked closely with Roncalli High School to ensure he maintained a 4.0 GPA. To show support for Roncalli, the left side of O’Gara’s helmet for the Firestone Freedom 100 will be painted in Roncalli colors and carry the red “R,” while the right side will feature the orange, white and green Irish paint scheme he has carried since he was eight years old.

One of O’Gara’s Freedom 100 sponsors, SportEvents.com, is providing all Roncalli High School students and faculty with tickets to the Freedom 100.

“It’s going to be so cool to see my school out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, especially since a lot of them might not typically go,” O’Gara said.“

The O’Gara family has been involved in racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for more than 35 years in various capacities from mechanics and crew chiefs to engineers, race strategists and team owners. Kyle O’Gara will be the first O’Gara to race at the famous track however, excluding his famous sister-in-law Sarah Fisher.

“It will be very rewarding to watch Kyle drive over the yard of bricks after knowing and working with him for so long,” Fisher said. “Being part of most of his racing efforts to date, it's been exciting to see him moving up the ladder. This rung will be the most fun so far, knowing what his next steps could be. I'm tremendously proud of him and look forward to standing on the grid with him at Indianapolis.”

In October of 2012 O’Gara successfully completed his Firestone Indy Lights rookie test with Fan Force United at Kentucky Speedway. He will test with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at Auto Club Speedway in April and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in early May.

O’Gara’s Freedom 100 effort will be backed by Direct Supply and local Indianapolis companies Indiana Members Credit Union, Rotondo Weirich Enterprises Inc., Peterman Heating & Cooling, SportsEvents.com, Business Art & Designs and Indy Trading Post. A primary sponsorship announcement for O’Gara’s car is expected in the coming weeks.

Practice and qualifying for the Firestone Freedom 100 begins on May 23. The 11th running of the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will take place on May 24.

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (SFHR) development driver Kyle O’Gara took a big step in his career at Kentucky Speedway on October 18 when he strapped into a Firestone Indy Lights car for the first time.

At 17 years old, O’Gara turned just under 100 laps on the 1.5-mile tri-oval to pass his rookie orientation test for the Firestone Indy Lights series.

“I was a little nervous but it was just another step in the right direction for my career,” O’Gara said. “Getting used to using the clutch coming out of the pits and shifting was a big learning curve since I’m used to driving midgets which stay in one gear.”

O’Gara drove a car prepared by Fan Force United/ SFHR Development, with assistance from sponsors Service Central, SFHR Development, IUPUI and RW Motorsports.

SFHR IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden was on hand with open wheel veterans Sarah Fisher and Tyce Carlson to lend guidance.

“It was great to be part of a big day for Kyle,” Sarah Fisher said. “From a coaching standpoint, he was consistent. He got right to the driving line and continued to bring the speed up to a level that his engineer Mike Colliver was impressed with.”

Mike Colliver, who served as an engineering consultant for the test, noted O’Gara’s consistency during the test.

“Kyle settled right in and did exactly what we asked of him,” Colliver said. “He gave great feedback. We were able to do a lot of short runs to make changes on the car so he could see how it adapted to the changes. If he didn’t get up to speed as quickly as he did I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

O’Gara’s quickest lap was just under 189 mph, which would have put him in the top-ten for qualifying at the last Firestone Indy Lights race at Kentucky Speedway.

O’Gara felt right at home driving at Kentucky Speedway, the site of Sarah Fisher’s first IndyCar pole and SFHR’s first IZOD IndyCar Series win.

“It meant a lot to me for my first open wheel test in a rear engine car to be at Kentucky Speedway,” O’Gara said. “It’s a track I’ve always dreamed of driving at and it has a lot of great memories for SFHR.”

In 2013, O’Gara and SFHR Development are working toward a partial oval schedule in Firestone Indy Lights in addition to a mixed USF2000 and USAC schedule.