Miller Takes Third Victory at the Glen
“It was a great race, and for the championship it is even more important given where the other guys finished," said Miller in post race tech inspection. “I have to thank Miller Milling, JDC and John Church for all their support. Remy (Audette) got close to me on a few restarts but was busy trying to keep Matt (McDonough) behind him so I was able to stretch my lead."
Miller takes over the points lead over Audette and Inge, who falls considerably back to third. Inge was running in the top three until an incident with Audette cost him his front wing and he went a lap down as St. Clair Motorsports raced to repair the car. “I got runover by Audette on the back straight," commented Inge. “He came down on me; I don't think he even knew I was there."
Just three laps in the race went yellow as a safety crews had to retrieve a stranded Chris Gumprecht. The track didn't stay green for long following that as a multiple car incident on the back straight triggered by John Dole losing his brakes needed some significant cleanup.
“There were cars everywhere," commented Colin Alexander, who was an unfortunate participant in the multiple car incident. “Cars were into the tires, Dole was airborne, and I went into the busstop and just got hit."
At the second restart, Miller was able to escape as Matt McDonough, driving the Piper chassis and Remy Audette contested second place as they traded it back and forth multiple times.
On lap 10 McDonough spun in turn nine, with nowhere to go Audette clipped him, ripping off his front wing and bending his steering.
“Matt (McDonough) spun in front of me I had nowhere to go. I tried not to hit him but clipped him with the front wing," said Audette, who ended up finishing the lap without a front wing and bent steering for third place points.
Al Guibord, Jr. avoided the stranded Piper but Camadella and Scarallo weren't far behind and with nowhere to go, Scarallo hit the #11 of McDonough, bringing out the red flag and ending the race due to the course blockage.
Jonathan Scarallo shared his view of the incident: “Matt (McDonough) just spun in front of us and I was all over Camadella. There were no yellow flags or anything and I had nowhere to go."
Phil Lombardi capitalized from the incident and came home in second. “That was an eventful race," Lombardi said. “It was hard to get into a rhythm with all those cautions. I appreciate Remy (Audette) giving me so much room when we were running side by side. I knew he had lost his wing and from there it was just a drag race down the straight. We had a fourth or fifth place car and came home second; it's good to see some luck go my way."
Al Guibord, Jr. came home in fourth position. “That was a crazy race, all of us from second to fifth place were dicing, we were probably in a different position every lap," commented Guibord, Jr.
Chris Camadella was another recipient of the incidents and took the Masters Class victory, rounding out the top five.
Masters Class drivers Keith McCrone, Jeff McCusker, Bob Wright, Tom Fatur and Dwight Rider were rewarded for staying out of trouble, rounding out the top ten behind the lead group.
Benjamin Searcy was not able to make the start of the race as heavy damage from a qualifying incident could not be repaired in time.
Qualifying for race two at Watkins Glen gets underway tomorrow, Saturday, July 4th, at 11:30, with the second race of the weekend following on Sunday around 11:00. Stay tuned to www.F2000ChampionshipSeries.com for the latest.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Name | Laps | Total Tm | Diff | Gap |
| 1 | 85 | Chris Miller | 11 | 29:03.811 | – | – |
| 2 | 3 | Phil Lombardi | 11 | 29:09.585 | +5.774 | +5.774 |
| 3 | 21 | Remy Audette | 11 | 29:10.839 | +7.028 | +1.254 |
| 4 | 95 | Al Guibord, Jr. | 11 | 29:11.014 | +7.203 | +0.175 |
| 5 | 4 | Chris Camadella/M | 11 | 29:11.030 | +7.219 | +0.016 |
| 6 | 5 | Keith McCrone/M | 11 | 29:15.351 | +11.540 | +4.321 |
| 7 | 25 | Jeff McCusker/M | 11 | 29:16.631 | +12.820 | +1.280 |
| 8 | 90 | Robert Wright/M | 11 | 29:18.564 | +14.753 | +1.933 |
| 9 | 70 | Tom Fatur/M | 11 | 29:19.233 | +15.422 | +0.669 |
| 10 | 60 | Dwight Rider/M | 11 | 29:19.629 | +15.818 | +0.396 |
| 11 | 26 | Fabio Orsolon | 11 | 29:19.939 | +16.128 | +0.310 |
| 12 | 27 | Craig Clawson/M | 11 | 29:20.089 | +16.278 | +0.150 |
| 13 | 89 | Rob Nicholas | 11 | 29:21.640 | +17.829 | +1.551 |
| 14 | 96 | Alejandro Munoz | 11 | 29:22.073 | +18.262 | +0.433 |
| 15 | 28 | Ardie Greenameyer | 11 | 29:27.524 | +23.713 | +5.451 |
| 16 | 56 | Mike Mazziotti/M | 11 | 29:28.220 | +24.409 | +0.696 |
| 17 | 80 | Bobby Caldwell | 11 | 29:28.286 | +24.475 | +0.066 |
| 18 | 83 | Charles Finelli/M | 11 | 29:28.459 | +24.648 | +0.173 |
| 19 | 20 | Caitlin Johnston | 11 | 29:32.879 | +29.068 | +4.420 |
| 20 | 17 | Ty Hunter | 11 | 29:34.352 | +30.541 | +1.473 |
| 21 | 51 | Dan Denison/M | 11 | 29:43.494 | +39.683 | +9.142 |
| 22 | 94 | Blake Teeter | 11 | 29:43.528 | +39.717 | +0.034 |
| 23 | 15 | Mark Felsen | 11 | 29:49.690 | +45.879 | +6.162 |
| 24 | 11 | Matt McDonough | 10 | 27:10.768 | 1 Lap | 1 Lap |
| 25 | 22 | Jonathon Scarello | 10 | 27:15.603 | +4.835 | +4.835 |
| 26 | 8 | Mark Defer/M | 9 | 25:37.831 | 2 Laps | 1 Lap |
| DNF | 7 | Brent Gilkes/M | 4 | 11:22.854 | 7 Laps | 5 Laps |
| DNF | 08 | John Dole/M | 4 | 11:22.946 | +0.092 | +0.092 |
| DNF | 12 | Colin Alexander | 4 | 11:23.663 | +0.809 | +0.717 |
| DNF | 02 | Matthew Inge | 4 | 28:14.453 | +16:51.599 | +16:50.790 |
| DNF | 97 | Chris Gumprecht | 0 | 5.552 | 11 Laps | 4 Laps |
| DNS | 10 | Benjamin Searcy | 0 | -.— | – | – |
| DNS | 47 | Scott Gesford | 0 | -.— | – | – |