The Indy Racing League and Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT), have signed an agreement which sees the Firestone brand assume title sponsorship of the Indy Racing League's official development series and re-establish the series name as Firestone Indy Lights.

The change harkens back to the 11 seasons that BFNT served as title sponsor and exclusive tyre supplier to one of the most successful driver development series in American history. Firestone and Dayton brands headlined the Indy Lights Championships from 1991-2001.

Current IndyCar Series drivers Tony Kanaan, Oriol Servia, Scott Dixon and Townsend Bell are all past Indy Lights champions, not to mention current team owners Eric Bachelart and Robbie Buhl. In addition, Helio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon used Indy Lights as a seasoning steppingstone on their way to capturing Indianapolis 500 victory glory.

When the Indy Lights series disbanded after 2001, Firestone continued its strong support of young open-wheel talent by becoming the Official Tire for the Indy Pro Series which debuted in 2002. Aspiring drivers such as A.J. Foyt IV, Ed Carpenter, Jay Howard, Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh have parlayed that experience into IndyCar Series rides and successes.

"This is a fresh start driven by tradition," said Al Speyer, Executive Director of Motorssports, BFNT. "Our company has a long history of supporting the development of talent in the open-wheel ranks; this will be our 18th consecutive year doing so. With the unification of open-wheel racing, we thought it the perfect time to merge the excitement of the IRL's growing support series with the rich history of Firestone Indy Lights."

The multiyear agreement officially renames what has previously been the Indy Pro Series to Firestone Indy Lights. Drivers will continue to compete for the Firehawk Cup awarded to the champion. Firestone also maintains its status as Official Tire for Firestone Indy Lights, as well as the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. In addition, the Firestone Indy Lights event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 23 will be the Firestone Freedom 100.