Schmidt Drivers Get
1-2-3 Lineup For Finale
Gregg Gets Sixth
Pole, Camara, Festa are 2nd, 3rd
FONTANA, Calif. - In dominating fashion, Sam
Schmidt Motorsports took control of the top
three positions on the starting grid for
Sunday's California 100 Menards Infiniti Pro
Series race at California Speedway.
Travis Gregg, a Miami University graduate from
Camden, Ohio, put the #7 Lucas Oil Special Sam
Schmidt Motorsports entry first on the starting
grid, capturing his sixth pole with a time of
38.1293 seconds (188.831 MPH). Jaime Camara,
24, a Brazilian native living in Miami,
rebounded from technical issues in practice and
qualified the #1 CELG Sam Schmidt Motorsports
entry outside of Gregg on the front row with a
lap time of 38.2419 (188.275 MPH). With Gregg
and Camara lining up 1-2, Florida State
University student Chris Festa made his
qualifying attempt. Festa put the #19 SpacePak/CareCentric
Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry third with a lap
time of 38.3580 (187.705 MPH). P.J. Abbott, of
Grand Prairie, Tex., will start fourteenth in
the #11 American Red Cross Sam Schmidt
Motorsports entry.
Gregg, who is third in series points, is
enjoying the return to an oval track and his
chance to end his rookie season on a very high
note.
"The
wind made it a little challenging out there for
qualifying. The car is really good. People
keep asking me how many more poles I can win,
but it's not just me. The Sam Schmidt/Lucas Oil
guys put together awesome cars for me. A pole
award like today's isn't just for me, it's for
the team," said Gregg, obviously very proud of
the team effort that went into the on-track
performance.
Jaime Camara is fifth in points heading and
picked up a lot of speed from the early practice
session to qualifying.
"We
had a little technical trouble with the car in
the morning's practice, but we fixed the problem
in the second session. The car is good, it's
really fast. On my second qualifying lap I
tried something different but it didn't work.
We should be good for the race tomorrow," said
Camara.
Festa, the youngest of Sam Schmidt's rookie trio
is sixth in the series standings.
"We
are very happy with the car," said Festa. "We
got it where we want it for the race and it was
a very good qualifying effort for us. We made
some big improvements to the car and it should
be good for tomorrow's race. We're starting
1-2-3 again, and there's always some comfort in
lining up with teammates when you're heading to
the green flag."
Owner Sam Schmidt is hoping for a smooth race on
Sunday and is hopeful about his chances for a
1-2-3 finish.
"We
came to California with nothing to lose, so we
have a simple goal - win. Qualifying 1-2-3
obviously keeps us on-target," grinned Schmidt.
"We get another shot at a 1-2-3 finish, which
I'd love to see. As an owner, yeah, I'll admit,
it would thrill me to get that kind of finish,
but for the team, it would be a lot of momentum
to carry into the off-season. We'll see what we
can get tomorrow."
Sunday's 50-lap race begins at 1:15 p.m. (EDT),
and will be televised on a tape-delayed basis at
3 p.m. (EDT), on Thursday, October 20th
on ESPN2. This race is the final race of the
season.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
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