Gregg
Finishes Third, Gains a Few More Points
Schmidt Motorsports Finishes 3rd, 6th
and 9th at Pikes Peak
FOUNTAIN, Col. -
Sam Schmidt Motorsports grabbed another pole position at the
one-mile oval known as Pikes Peak but finished just short of
the team's best finish on the one-mile circuits this
season. Travis Gregg led the team's efforts in Sunday's
Pikes Peak 100, starting from the pole and finishing third,
while Jeff Simmons collected the win.
Jaime Camara, a
Brazilian who now lives in Miami, Fla., started third and
slid out of the top five just as his car experienced some
engine troubles. Camara finished ninth in the #1 CELG/Goias
Sam Schmidt Motorsports and maintained third in the series
standings with 311 points.
Chris Festa
started sixth in the race. His looked strong in the
mid-section of the event but when the checkered flag finally
flew in the caution-free 100-lap race, Festa ended right
were he began, in sixth place. The finish gave him a
one-spot boost in the standings. The 19 year-old from
Atlanta, Ga., is now sixth in points with 274.
|
PIKES PEAK 100 RACE MENARDS
INFINITI PRO SERIES RESULTS |
| Pos |
No |
Driver
Name |
Best Time |
Best Speed |
Best Lap |
Total Laps |
| 1 |
24 |
Jeff
Simmons |
24.3760 |
147.686 |
5 |
100 |
| 2 |
9 |
Nick
Bussell |
24.8213 |
145.037 |
54 |
100 |
| 3 |
7 |
Travis
Gregg |
24.3340 |
147.941 |
4 |
100 |
| 4 |
42 |
Tom Wood |
24.7694 |
145.341 |
91 |
100 |
| 5 |
33 |
Wade
Cunningham |
24.5027 |
146.923 |
4 |
99 |
|
6 |
19 |
Chris Festa |
24.7582 |
145.406 |
10 |
99 |
| 7 |
4 |
Marty
Roth |
25.2517 |
142.565 |
22 |
80 |
| 8 |
20 |
Jay
Drake |
24.4380 |
147.312 |
7 |
78 |
| 9 |
1 |
Jaime
Camara |
24.6782 |
145.878 |
4 |
66 |
| 10 |
3 |
Arie
Luyendyk Jr. |
25.0477 |
143.726 |
3 |
49 |
| 11 |
6 |
Jon Herb |
-0.0001 |
0.000 |
0 |
0 |
Gregg's #7 Lucas
Oil Special/Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry looked very strong
in the early laps, but eventually the handling went away,
leaving the Camden, Ohio, driver third at the race's end.
"That was really
a long, hard race," said Gregg. "My car started out really
strong, but then it kind of developed a little bit of a
push. I worked with the bar and weight jacker to adjust the
car, and got it handling OK, but then when I needed to get
around lap traffic, I couldn't. The Lucas Oil car didn't
work well in traffic at all. As the race went on, the car
handled worse. I'm just glad we could hang on for a
top-three finish and pick up a couple of points in the
championship battle."
Festa, a student
at Florida State University, drove a smart race, picking up
a position in the championship standings.
"We knew going
into the race that we didn't have the kind of car we needed
for the 100-lap race," said Festa. "I really wanted to pick
up points and keep the #19 SpacePak/CareCentric car in good
track position throughout the race. The car was really
unpredictable in turns three and four, so I just really held
on. We did what we needed to do, we picked up a spot in the
points, and now we're off to a road race where I'm hoping to
get another podium finish."
Camara's day
ended early when he had some mechanical trouble with his
race car.
"We were loose
all through the race," said Camara. "I made every
adjustment I could make in the car and it didn't respond to
anything - it just stayed loose. I was trying to hang on
and then something with the engine let go. We were so good
in this morning's warmup, we were the only one's in the same
speeds as Simmons. It's pretty disappointing to have a car
like that before the race end up going so bad, but it's just
something that happens."
Sam Schmidt was
hoping to get a one-mile win this season, but quickly turned
his focus to the tracks left to be run.
"We're heading
into a stretch with two road courses and two oval races,"
said Schmidt. "We're going to have to stay clean on the
road courses and not give back too many of the points we've
picked up these last two weeks and we'll have to go for wins
in Chicago and Fontana. It's a really tight championship
battle this season. I wish we were in the lead, with a
comfortable spread over second, but this is really turning
out to be a great points battle."
Sunday's 100-lap
race will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on ESPN 2 at
3 p.m. (EDT), on Thursday, August 25th.
The next Menards
Infiniti Pro Series race is number eleven in the 14-race
season. The Sonoma 100 will be held on Sunday, August 28th
at Infineon Raceway, the 1.77-mile road course nestled in
the hills of wine country outside Sonoma, California.
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION: Williams Company of America, Inc. (704)
660-0796
;
