Gregg, Festa Get
Schmidt Two More Top Fives
Sam Schmidt
Motorsports Ends Season 3rd, 4th, 8th and 10th
FONTANA, Calif. - For the third time the Sam
Schmidt Motorsports rookie drivers lined up
1-2-3 on the starting grid. Heading into the
race, expectations were so high, Jaime Camara,
Chris Festa and Travis Gregg jogged to their
cars following driver introductions. When the
checkered flag signaled the end of the
California 100 and the 2005 Menards Infiniti Pro
Series season, the Schmidt racers nabbed two
more top-five finishes and all cars were in the
top 10.
The
2005 series champion Wade Cunningham took the
victory, his first Menards Infiniti Pro Series
win.
Gregg led his teammates to the green flag, then
engaged in a race long battle with Cunningham
and Jeff Simmons. The two eventually teamed up
to pass Gregg for good in the closing laps.
Gregg finished third in the race, and third in
series points with 462. Chris Festa started
third and finished fourth after a battling very
hard all race long. Festa ended the year sixth
in points with 387. Jaime Camara started
outside on the front row and ended 10th
after pitting for a flattened tire. Camara
locked in fifth in points with 403. P.J.
Abbott, in his second race of the year in the
#11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry started 14th
and finished eighth.
Gregg, 27, of Camden, Ohio, enjoyed the racing
action.
"We
started good, but ended up a little short. It
was fun to battle with Wade (Cunningham) and
Jeff (Simmons) during the race. I thought we
had it on that last restart, but I just couldn't
keep up with their momentum when they went by
together. I didn't really feel alone out there
until the last eight laps. For the first 42
laps, I was pretty busy. It was pretty fun,"
Gregg said.
Festa, the Florida State University sophomore,
drove the #19 Sanitec/CareCentric Sam Schmidt
Motorsports entry with a lot of heart.
"We're disappointed we dropped to fourth after
starting third, but it was a hard race the
entire time. We're happy to maintain fourth
with the battle we were in," Festa said. "The
car was understeering a little which made it
unable to keep up with the front three. That's
the way it goes, sometimes you just don't have a
car that's fast enough, but we were able to end
the year better than we started. It was a good,
hard race."
|
CALIFORNIA 100 RACE
MENARDS INFINITI PRO SERIES RESULTS |
|
Pos |
No |
Driver Name |
Best Time |
Best Speed |
Best Lap |
Total Laps |
|
1 |
33 |
Wade Cunningham |
37.4736 |
192.135 |
46 |
50 |
|
2 |
24 |
Jeff Simmons |
37.4702 |
192.153 |
46 |
50 |
|
3 |
7 |
Travis Gregg |
37.5020 |
191.990 |
44 |
50 |
|
4 |
19 |
Chris Festa |
38.0968 |
188.992 |
28 |
50 |
|
5 |
9 |
Nick Bussell |
37.9860 |
189.544 |
43 |
50 |
|
6 |
25 |
Arie Luyendyk Jr. |
37.9291 |
189.828 |
29 |
50 |
|
7 |
4 |
Marty Roth |
37.9198 |
189.874 |
29 |
50 |
|
8 |
11 |
P.J. Abbott |
39.0741 |
184.265 |
15 |
49 |
|
9 |
6 |
Jon Herb |
37.9546 |
189.700 |
7 |
47 |
|
10 |
1 |
Jaime Camara |
37.9583 |
189.682 |
16 |
45 |
|
11 |
23 |
Taylor Fletcher |
38.1093 |
188.930 |
7 |
7 |
|
12 |
20 |
Jay Drake |
-0.0001 |
0.000 |
0 |
0 |
|
13 |
3 |
Bobby Wilson |
-0.0001 |
0.000 |
0 |
0 |
|
14 |
27 |
Geoff Dodge |
-0.0001 |
0.000 |
0 |
0 |
The
#1 CELG/Goias Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry
driven by Camara, 24, a Brazilian who now lives
in Miami, Fla., suffered a flat tire on lap 24.
He did a good enough save of his race car that
there was no caution for the near-wreck. Camara
lost five laps getting the tire repaired under
green flag.
"We
had a good car. I know Wade Cunningham, on the
second restart, he drove me below the white line
so I had to lift, I fall back to last. Then I
could come again, and then Jon Herb touched me.
I gotta check the replay to see what did he do
of or I did something. I don't think I did
something wrong because I was holding my line.
We touched, and I almost crashed. I was able to
save (the car from wrecking) but I got a flat
tire and all my tires were gone after that. I
couldn't do anything, just stay there and try to
finish the race. I'm glad I'm OK - I wish we
could've been part of the racing up front at the
finish," Camara said.
Sam
Schmidt was proud of the team's efforts.
"Obviously it's not the way we'd prefer to wrap
up the year. We qualified where we needed to
but we couldn't close the deal. Wade
(Cunningham) and Jeff (Simmons) were smart about
things and worked together. Unfortunately, we
didn't have anyone up there to help Travis
(Gregg) out at the time it counted," said
Schmidt.
"Finishing third and fourth with all three cars
in one piece is OK, just definitely wanted to
win the last race going into the winter, but we
didn't. I was disappointed, but having three
cars in the top six in points at the end of the
year is a positive thing - it was one of the
team goals that we were able to meet. It was a
good effort today, we just didn't end up with
the cars where we needed them so they could help
one another out at the end."
Sunday's 50-lap race will be televised on a
tape-delayed basis at 3 p.m. (EDT), on Thursday,
October 20th on ESPN2.
-30-
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION: Williams Company of
America, Inc. (704) 660-0796
;
