Joliet, IL (September 7, 2008) – It was quite a day for Andretti-Green Racing’s Indy Lights team as Raphael Matos won the Firestone Indy Lights championship with a third-place finish in the SunRichGourmet.com 100 at Chicagoland Speedway. Nevertheless, it was teammate Arie Luyendyk, Jr. who passed Matos on a last lap restart in turn one to take his first victory in the series. Matos led the 66 of 67 laps after starting from the pole.
The day started with only Richard Antinucci, as the Matos’ only challenger for the championship lying just three points behind. But, Antinucci finished 21st after contact with another car knocked him out of the race on Lap 26. “I need to see the video but the No. 4 (Sean Guthrie) car did not hold a consistent line throughout the corner. We were actually banging wheels up the straight. I think he and his teammate were going through the world final championships on Lap 12. I was just trying to hold on to the philosophy of being cool and hanging back. If you look at where (Logan) Gomez is right now and we were working together, I don’t know if the other car had dipped or something. I think I had moved up to sixth on that pass, that double pass. I was on the outside, I had the momentum and I had the tow to pass him. We banged wheels on the straight, which shocked me. I think he wiggled, washed out and washed up and clipped my rear tire.” (About the championship) “It’s a bitter pill to swallow, losing it at the last round. But, ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ don’t take you anywhere. So there’s no point.
The opening race started off on an off-note as four-time race winner Dillon Battistini spun and collected former series champion Wade Cunningham after Daniel Herrington spun between turns one and two, Panther Racing’s Brent Sherman was also involved. All escaped injury.
After restart number two, J.R. Hildebrand significantly narrowed his RLR Andersen Racing Dallara after slamming into the turn two wall. He was uninjured.
After the restart, the field got racy and the crowd was able to see some great racing action with two and three-wide racing the norm. It was Matos, Luyendyk, Ana Beatriz and Bobby Wilson breaking away from the field.
The lead pack of four usually tucked in behind each other with Wilson and Beatriz taking looks to try and get by the two AGR entries however it appeared they were too strong. With five laps to go a ten car pack really got dicey as the group dipped and dived trying to find an advantage. Their luck ran out as two cars touched gathered it up however rookie, Tom Dyer spun but didn’t hit anyone or anything. Thus, the one-lap shootout, Luyendyk was thrilled with the outcome, “It was perfect. This is a dream scenario – me winning the race and Rafa (Matos) winning the championship. It’s more than words can describe. Green, white, checkered is always nerve-wracking. We got a good restart, thank God, and Rafa and I worked beautifully today. Ana (Beatriz) was definitely a tough competitor. She was the one I was worried about. My Firestone tires held up beautifully, it was amazing. The car was so consistent from Lap 1 to the end. I made a lot of adjustments in the car. AGR/AFS, Targus, my sponsor, everyone helped out. It was just a beautiful weekend.”
Ana Beatriz finished second, .0817 of a second behind Luyendyk, and ended up third in the championship. She tried but could not get by either AFS sponsored AGR entry, “It was really hard to pass the AFS guys, they were really, really fast. They were working together, which was really tough. I tried to stay behind them. When Arie (Luyendyk Jr.) made his move, I was able to stay with him and get that second position. It was very good, finishing on the podium in second place. I am very grateful to Healthy Choice and all of the people who have helped me throughout the season. I believe we’re going to stay in the Firestone Indy Lights for one more year and fight for the championship from the beginning of the season. I am stronger and have more experience right now, and I’m hopeful that we can do well.”
Bobby Wilson’s first run with Panther Racing resulted in a fourth place finish, “have to give it to the guys; they’re a well-oiled machine at Panther Racing. Their attention to detail is impeccable, and they gave me a good car to run up front. I started 12th and kept working forward and working forward.”
Two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk was a proud father in victory lane, “It’s been a long time coming. He’s had a lot of opportunities and chances before where he’s missed out on them. There have been ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ but finally he got the job done, so it’s awesome. Last year there were a couple races he did, one-offs, and that was not the way to go. I knew that this year with a team like Andretti Green that he could show what he can do. It’s been a great year. Obviously his knee has bothered him and cost him a lot of points, but it’s still been a great year. I am happy for him more than I am happy for me. I am a big supporter of his and he doesn’t have to do this for me because I’m not a ‘pusher’ dad. Especially this year with the good people he had around him all I did was watch the race from pit lane.”
Results of the SunRichGourmet.com 100 Firestone Indy Lights event 9/7/08 ; at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway, order of finish, starting position, driver, laps completed & reason out (if any) and money earned: 1. (3) Arie Luyendyk Jr., 67, Running $32,500 2. (2) Ana Beatriz, 67, Running $26,000 3. (1) Raphael Matos, 67, Running $20,000 4. (12) Bobby Wilson, 67, Running $17,000 5. (6) James Davison, 67, Running $16,000 6. (8) Jonathan Klein, 67, Running $15,500 7. (14) Robbie Pecorari, 67, Running $15,000 8. (10) Logan Gomez, 67, Running $14,500 9. (4) Mike Potekhen, 67, Running $14,000 10. (5) Daniel Herrington, 67, Running $13,500 11. (15) Jonny Reid, 67, Running $12,500 12. (17) Micky Gilbert, 67, Running $11,500 13. (16) Pablo Donoso, 67, Running $10,500 14. (23) Cyndie Allemann, 67, Running $10,000 15. (20) Brandon Wagner, 67, Running $9,500 16. (21) Christina Orr, 66, Running $9,000 17. (22) Sean Guthrie, 66, Running $9,500 18. (24) Tom Wieringa, 66, Running $10,500 19. (11) Brent Sherman, 66, Running $6,000 20. (18) Tom Dyer, 63, Running $4,500 21. (9) Richard Antinucci, 25, Contact $3,500 22. (19) J.R. Hildebrand, 7, Contact $3,000 23. (7) Dillon Battistini, 0, Contact $3,500
24. (13) Wade Cunningham, 0, Contact $1,000
Race Statistics Winner’s average speed: 130.622 mph Time of race: 46:46.7364 Margin of victory: 0.0817 of a second Cautions: 4 caution flags for 19 laps Lead changes: 1 among 2 drivers
Lap leaders: Matos 1-66, Luyendyk 67.
Point standings: Matos 510, Antinucci 478, Beatriz 449,
Luyendyk 428, Hildebrand 409, Battistini 385, Donoso 360,
Gomez 358, Davison 333, Guthrie 322.
Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.
IndyCar SeriesSteve Zautke