Two
Cars Still in Top Three in Points
Schmidt Motorsports finishes 5, 8, 10 at Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE, Wisc.
- Sam Schmidt Motorsports' Brazilian driver Jaime Camara
started today's Milwaukee 100 from the pole position and
collected the team's highest finish position of the day by
placing fifth. Travis Gregg finished eighth and Chris Festa
took 10th.
For the first
time this season, Camara, a resident of Miami, Fla., started
on the front row without teammate Travis Gregg next to him.
Out of his five starts on the front row, three on the pole,
today was the first race where Camara had no teammate next
to him, or even behind him. Wade Cunningham and Jeff
Simmons led a pack of cars around the #1 CELG/Goias Sam
Schmidt Motorsports car of Camara on lap one, putting Camara
back to fifth, just ahead of teammate Festa who pulled to
sixth on the opening lap. Camara finished fifth, moving to
second in the points chase with 265 points.
After a quick,
early caution, Camara and Festa had worked into the top
five, running fourth and fifth. Festa, 19, of Atlanta, Ga.,
brought out the second caution of the race when his #19
SpacePak/CareCentric Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry slid into
the outside wall in turn two. Festa's 10th-place
finish dropped him to sixth in the championship race with
224 points.
|
MILWAUKEE 100 RACE MENARDS INFINITI PRO SERIES RESULTS |
| Pos |
No |
Driver Name |
Best Time |
Best Speed |
Best Lap |
Total Laps |
| 1 |
24 |
Jeff
Simmons |
27.7762 |
131.551 |
2 |
100 |
| 2 |
33 |
Wade
Cunningham |
27.8998 |
130.969 |
96 |
100 |
| 3 |
9 |
Nick
Bussell |
27.8075 |
131.403 |
21 |
100 |
| 4 |
6 |
Jon Herb |
27.7357 |
131.744 |
87 |
100 |
| 5 |
1 |
Jaime
Camara |
27.8656 |
131.129 |
20 |
100 |
| 6 |
20 |
Jay
Drake |
27.6847 |
131.986 |
22 |
100 |
| 7 |
3 |
Arie
Luyendyk Jr. |
28.2606 |
129.297 |
3 |
98 |
| 8 |
7 |
Travis
Gregg |
28.5867 |
127.822 |
3 |
98 |
| 9 |
4 |
Marty
Roth |
28.6861 |
127.379 |
84 |
96 |
|
10 |
19 |
Chris Festa |
27.7584 |
131.636 |
22 |
63 |
| 11 |
11 |
Scott
Mayer |
29.4154 |
124.221 |
4 |
4 |
Gregg had his
hands full throughout the 100-lap race fighting a very loose
race car that had fuel pressure issues, and, at one point he
lost communication with his spotter while in a thick pack of
traffic. Gregg started the race 11th after a
crash in practice prevented him from making a qualifying
attempt. The Camden, Ohio, native fought the heat and wind
to finish eighth. Gregg is now third in the championship
battle with 261 points.
Wade Cunningham
maintained the Menards Infiniti Pro Series points lead,
while Jeff Simmons collected the victory in today's
Milwaukee 100.
Camara had the
team's highest finish, taking the checkered flag in fifth
place after starting on the pole.
"They warned us
before the race that the wind and heat would make our cars
loose, and they were right," said Camara. "At the start of
the race, I was really trying to save my tires and just be
patient. I was working with my weight jacker and my bar all
race, the car just got very loose at the end of the race and
I wasn't able to hold on to third. We are very excited
about taking the CELG race car to Kentucky. Sam had good
success there last year and we are looking forward to the
race."
Festa, a student
at Florida State University, had a decent car this week, but
finished 10th after an accident on lap 64.
"We changed a
motor after qualifying and it really helped our car. Our car
was pretty good, I just started getting loose as the heat
built up on the track and in the tires. I guess I was
trying a little too hard to work different lines with the
car and work the throttle - I ended up backing the SpacePak/CareCentric
race car into the outside wall. I'm fine and the car's not
hurt too bad. We'll be ready to go at Kentucky," Festa
said.
Gregg, who fell
to third in the points race, recovered from a crash in
Saturday's practice to finish eighth.
"The car felt
good in practice yesterday, but it just didn't work today.
The track was really hot and the wind was blowing the cars
around. I had my hands full with the Lucas Oil race car.
I'm happy we're still in the top three in points heading
into a race where Sam's guys have had a lot of success,"
said Gregg.
Sam Schmidt, a
racer to the core, hasn't lost a bit of his competitive fire
moving from the driver's seat to the owner's seat. He wants
to win every race, so this trip to Milwaukee won't go down
as one of his favorites.
"We got beat by
the other teams today," said Schmidt. "We didn't have our
setups where they needed to be to handle the wind and the
heat in today's race conditions and it moved us to the
passenger seat this weekend. We managed to use some
patience to keep Jaime and Travis in the top three in
points. We'll get back to the shop and talk about this
weekend and get ready for Kentucky. I don't like days like
today, but I guess we have to have one every once in a
while. We'll be ready to go for race nine at Kentucky, no
question."
Sunday's 100-lap
race will be televised on a tape-delayed basis at 3 p.m.
(EDT), on July 28th on ESPN2.
The next Menards
Infiniti Pro Series race is number nine in the 12-race
season. The Courier-Journal 100 will be held on Saturday,
August 13th at Kentucky Speedway, the 1.5-mile oval located
just a short drive from Cincinnati, Ohio.
-30-
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION: Williams Company of America, Inc. (704)
660-0796
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