Infineon: Antinucci wins race 2
Antinucci overtook leader Ryan Justice at the top of Turn 11 on Lap 19 for the first-year driver's second victory in nine road/street course events. Andrew Prendeville in the No. 5 RLR/Andersen Racing car finished third and Logan Gomez, driving the No. 23 Isilon Systems/Flacondos.net/SSM car, was fourth.
Results Sunday of the Valley of the Moon 100 Indy Pro Series event Aug. 26 at the 2.3-mile Infineon Raceway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money earned:
1. (7) Richard Antinucci, 30, Running $22,000
2. (1) Ryan Justice, 30, Running $17,000
3. (2) Andrew Prendeville, 30, Running $13,500
4. (3) Logan Gomez, 30, Running $11,000
5. (5) Stephen Simpson, 30, Running $10,500
6. (9) Jonathan Klein, 30, Running $10,000
7. (11) Matt Jaskol, 30, Running $9,750
8. (6) Mike Potekhen, 30, Running $9,500
9. (10) Brad Jaeger, 30, Running $9,000
10. (19) Hideki Mutoh, 30, Running $8,750
11. (16) Wade Cunningham, 30, Running $8,500
12. (14) Phil Giebler, 30, Running $8,000
13. (12) Sean Guthrie, 30, Running $7,750
14. (17) Bobby Wilson, 30, Running $7,500
15. (15) Ken Losch, 30, Running $7,000
16. (21) Micky Gilbert, 30, Running $6,500
17. (4) Jaime Camara, 26, Contact $6,000
18. (20) Steve Ablondi, 9, Handling $5,000
19. (13) Chris Festa, 8, Mechanical $4,000
20. (22) J.R. Hildebrand, 6, Driver Injury $3,000
21. (8) Alex Lloyd, 0, Did Not Start $2,000
22. (18) Robbie Pecorari, 0, Contact $1,250
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 97.770 mph
Time of race: 42:20.6464
Margin of victory: 1.7400 seconds C
autions: 0 caution flags for 0 laps
Lead changes: 1 among 2 drivers
Lap leaders: Justice 1-18, Antinucci 19-30.
Point standings: Lloyd 609, Mutoh 481, Cunningham 410, Camara 363, Wilson 361, Potekhen 349, Simpson 322, Gomez 318, Pecorari 309, Festa 302.
QUOTES
RICHARD ANTINUCCI (No. 51 Cheever Racing, winner Valley of the Moon 100): "Two out of the last three road course races, we've got to be proud of that. I got to thank the time we worked overnight and looked at the data. My engineer was so good and all the crew. I have to thank my uncle Eddie (Cheever) for giving me this chance. We had the best car out there today. In such a short span, five race weekends, we have the best road course car out there. I'm confident in saying that because I don't think I did anything special." (About passing in Turn 11): "We changed the gear last night, so we had better acceleration. That was one of the reasons I lost out on the start yesterday. We had a bit more torque, so I knew I could brake earlier and still get by."
EDDIE CHEEVER (Owner, Cheever Racing): "(Richard) is a very talented driver. He's old enough to know he has to build a group around him and he's done that. Every race he's gone to, he's gotten better and better. Everyone asks me if I've given him advice. He's one of those drivers you don't have to give any advice. Very impressive and I'm very proud. I think he has all the ability to make the jump, and one day he'll be in the Indy 500."
RYAN JUSTICE (No. 38 Lifelock/Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished second): "(Antinucci) was definitely quicker where he needed to be, and that's how he got past. Strategy-wise, I didn't want to let the third-place car catch us if I tried to battle (Antinucci) too long. I just let him go and tried to stay with him as best as I could. The crew did a fantastic job getting my car ready for today, helping me to find some speed, try and hold on to as many positions as we could."
ANDREW PRENDEVILLE (No. 5 RLR/Andersen Racing, finished third): "It was a good run. We're very happy with our first podium. The team's worked extremely hard this year. Usually some frustrating results, but this time we came on the podium. We're hoping to keep this moving into Chicago and the momentum into the off-season."
LOGAN GOMEZ (No. 23 Isilon Systems/Flacondos.net/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished fourth): "I'm pretty happy with the race, especially since it was my first time at this track. We started the weekend 15th in practice, qualified ninth and in the first race we finished sixth. We progressed more and more and we finished fourth today." (About racing at Infineon Raceway): "It's a great facility. I'm happy to be here. The weather's been great and I couldn't ask for much more except some better finishes. Next year, we'll be the car to beat."
STEPHEN SIMPSON (No. 24 Kenn Hardley Racing, finished fifth): "We started the race an hour earlier, so the track was a little cooler. I thought the conditions would be better. The track was about the same. I was hoping for a top-three finish, so I'm a little disappointed, but it was still a good weekend. We had some engine problems yesterday that we had to fix, so we couldn't try some of the things we wanted to. But it was a good weekend for us and a great series to run in."