Chris Griffis Memorial Test

The Chris Griffis Memorial Test is a two-day test event for Road to Indy racing series. The testing is conducted after the regular season. The test is used by teams to test new drivers as well as for the organization to test new cars for the following season.

Chris Griffis

Chris Griffis (11 May 1966 – 12 September 2011) was a former team manager for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Griffis started his career at Patrick Racing, working with Gordon Johncock, Emerson Fittipaldi among others. In 1990, Griffis joined Chip Ganassi Racing before moving to King Racing in 1993 and later joining Panther Racing in 2002. At Panther Racing, Griffis was the crew chief of Mark Taylor winning the 2003 Indy Lights title.[1]

Griffis collapsed and died after a basketball game. He was survived by his wife Mari and daughters (Clair and Sophia). Griffis was buried in Akron, Indiana.[2]

Fastest times

Year	Indy Lights / Indy NXT	Indy Pro 2000 / USF Pro 2000	USF2000
2011	Peter Dempsey (1:20.6546)[3]	Jack Hawksworth (1:25.431)[4]	Scott Hargrove (1:29.6937)[3]
2012	Zach Veach (1:19.2209)[5]	Spencer Pigot (1:24.859)[6]	Matthew Di Leo (1:27.623)[7]
2013	Alexandre Baron (1:15.726)[8]	Alfonso Celis Jr. (1:20.490)[9]	Aaron Telitz (1:23.283)[10]
2014	Spencer Pigot (1:19.8039)[11]	Patricio O'Ward (1:23.6525)[12]	Nico Jamin (1:26.3304)[13]
2015	Kyle Kaiser (1:54.2235)[14]	Patricio O'Ward (2:04.7677)[15]	Nikita Lastochkin (2:09.5454)[16]
2016	Garett Grist (1:14.7396)[17]	Victor Franzoni (1:22.6179)[18]	Neil Verhagen (1:24.8661)[19]
2017	Nico Jamin (1:25.7173)[20]	Oliver Askew (1:29.8142)[21]	Darren Keane (1:25.1424)[22]
2018	Ryan Norman (1:14.9283)	Darren Keane (1:19.2971)	Hunter McElrea (1:24.5064)
2019	Rinus VeeKay (1:15.4790)	Hunter McElrea (1:19.4553)	Christian Rasmussen (1:24.9311)
2021	Benjamin Pedersen (1:25.4619)	Louis Foster (1:30.4354)	Jagger Jones (1:35.4672)
2022	Danial Frost (1:16.2526)	Jack William Miller (1:21.9745)	Simon Sikes (1:25.8876)
2023	Louis Foster (1:14.8432)	Simon Sikes (1:21.8032)	Hudson Schwartz (1:25.8372)
2024	Myles Rowe (1:15.1848)

Track

Period	Track	Layout	Length
2011–2012	Indianapolis Motor Speedway		2.5134 miles
2013	Barber Motorsports Park		2.38 miles
2014–2019, 2021–present	Indianapolis Motor Speedway		2.439 miles

Drivers who tested but not raced

The below table contains drivers who tested during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in Indy Lights, USF Pro 2000 or USF2000 but not competed in any of the classes.

Year	Series	Driver	Team
2012	USF2000	Joe Ruch[23]	Afterburner Autosport
		Yukio Duzanowski[23]	Belardi Auto Racing
		Nick Neri[23]
		Michael Adams[23]	JAY Motorsports
		Kevin Aabol[23]	JDC MotorSports
		Antti Buri[23]
		Tristan Viidas[23]	Pabst Racing Services
	Star Mazda	Jose Carlos Sandoval[6]	JDC MotorSports
		Renan Guerra[6]	Juncos Racing
		Andre Solano[6]	Team GDT
		Luca Orlandi[6]	Team Pelfrey
		Chris Yano[6]
	Indy Lights	Nick McBride[24]	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
2014	USF2000	Jordan Bernloehr[13]	Afterburner Autosport
		Christian Ross[13]
	Indy Lights	Parker Kligerman[11]	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2015	USF2000	Chase Owen[16]	Afterburner Autosport
		Cameron Hill[16]	JDC MotorSports
		Chase Pelletier[16]	Team Pelfrey
		Max Mallinen[16]	SWAN Motorsports
	Pro Mazda	Henrique Baptista[15]	Team Pelfrey
2016	USF2000	Leandro Wolther[19]	ArmsUp Motorsports
		Ryan Norberg[19]	JDC MotorSports
		Hugo de Sadeleer[19]	Pabst Racing
		Neil Verhagen[19]
	Indy Lights	Richard Gonda[17]	Andretti Autosport
2017	USF2000	Zoey Edenholm	BN Racing
		Elliott Finlayson
		Justin Gordon	Exclusive Autosport
		Jaden Conwright	Team BENIK
	Pro Mazda	Leonard Hoogenboom	BN Racing
2018	USF2000	Tyler O'Connor	Cape Motorsports
		Ryan Bjerke	DEForce Racing
		Logan Cusson	Pabst Racing
2019	USF2000	TJ Thompson	HMD Motorsports
		Alexander Koreiba	Jay Howard Driver Development
		Jonathan Kotyk	Legacy Autosport
		Rick Bouthoorn	Pabst Racing
		Harry Voigt	Team E Jay Racing
	IP2000	Raoul Hyman	Exclusive Autosport
	Indy Lights	Egor Orudzhev	Andretti Autosport
2021	USF2000	TJ Thompson	Jay Howard Driver Development
	IP2000	Arias Deukmedjian	Deuk Spine Racing
		Alexander Koreiba	Jay Howard Driver Development
		Nicholas Rivers
		Blake Upton	Turn 3 Motorsport
2022	USF2000	Jason Pribyl	Turn 3 Motorsport
		Matthew Rees	VRD Racing
	USFP2000	Callum Voisin	Jay Howard Driver Development
		Raoul Hyman	TJ Speed Motorsports
2023	USF2000	Michael Boyiadzis	Jay Howard Driver Development
		Jason Pribyl	Pabst Racing
		Connor Roberts	Team Roberts
2024	USF2000	Jeshua Alianell	DEForce Racing
		Gabriel Cahan	Exclusive Autosport
		Brad Majman	Jay Howard Driver Development
		Caleb Gafrarar	Pabst Racing
		Cooper Shipman	VRD Racing
		Mayer Deonarine
		Teddy Musella
		Christian Cameron
	USFP2000	Miles Bromley	TJ Speed Motorsports
		Ariel Elkin
		Sebastian Manson
		Leandro Juncos	Turn 3 Motorsport
		Joseph Loake
		Titus Sherlock
	Indy NXT	Alexander Koreiba	Juncos Hollinger Racing

References

1. "Sam Schmidt Motorsports Indy Lights Team Manager Chris Griffis Dies". Motor Authority. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
2. "Christopher A. Griffis". IndyStar. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
3. "Drivers at test looking to impress". IndyCar. Archived from the original on 1 November 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
4. "2011 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear Official Series Test". Pro Mazda. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
5. "Mazda Road to Indy Open Test - Indy Lights" (PDF). IndyCar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
6. "2012 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear Official Series Test Session". Pro Mazda. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
7. "2012 IMS MRTI Test USF2000 Thursday Final Practice" (PDF). USF2000. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
8. "Frenchman Alex Baron Leads the Way for Belardi in Testing". Indy Lights. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
9. "Mexican Teenager Alfonso Celis Tops Test Times for Juncos Racing". Pro Mazda. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
10. "USF2000: Rookie Telitz Tops USF2000 Times for Afterburner Autosport". More Front Wing. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
11. "9/14/2014 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT PRACTICE 3". Indy Lights. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
12. "9/14/2014 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT PRACTICE 3". Pro Mazda. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
13. "9/14/2014 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT PRACTICE 3". USF2000. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
14. "11/21/2015 CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS TEST SESSION 3". Indy Lights. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
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17. "10/9/2016 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT TEST SESSION 8". Indy Lights. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
18. "10/9/2016 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT TEST SESSION 5". Pro Mazda. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
19. "10/9/2016 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT TEST SESSION 5". USF2000. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
20. "10/21/2017 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT TEST SESSION 2". Indy Lights. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
21. "10/22/2017 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT TEST SESSION 5". Pro Mazda. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
22. "10/22/2017 INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT TEST SESSION 5". USF2000. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
23. "USF2000 Graduates Shine in Star Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights". USF2000. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
24. "Indy Lights entrants" (PDF). IndyCar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2017.