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  • Marco Andretti Charges By Tony Kanaan To Win Iowa Corn Indy 250

    Marco Andretti Charges By Tony Kanaan To Win Iowa Corn Indy 250

    The final 50 laps of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer at Iowa Speedway would be a showstopper as it’d be Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan battling back and forth for the win.

    In the end, Andretti used one of his remaining overtake boosts to get by Kanaan with 19 to go and then used the other nine in the final 10 laps to secure it.

    [media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]”Never doubt these guys,” Andretti said after the race after scoring his first win since Sonoma in 2007. “We’re down a little bit on the big ovals, but when it comes down to the end, we’ll be alright. These guys in the pits got me back in front with the great pit stop. Great racing with TK – it was fun.”

    The second career win for Andretti marks the first win on an oval by an Andretti since 2000 when Michael Andretti won at Japan.

    After a caution on lap 186 for Takumo Sato getting in the wall, Andretti lined up side-by-side with Kanaan on the restart. The first restart with 60 to go was called off for Andretti jumping, but the second was good to go.

    The pair battled back and forth, trading the lead four times before Andretti secured the lead with a thrilling pass heading into turn one underneath Kanaan.

    “I had eyes in the back of my head and I made it difficult on him,” Andretti said. “No mercy at this point. I needed it.”

    Kanaan would get credited with second, keeping his string of solid runs going.

    “I told him if it wasn’t for the win, we were going to talk about it so fair enough,” Kanaan said afterwards of racing with Andretti. “If I was in his position, I would’ve done the same. It was a great battle. A fun race.”

    Meanwhile, it was Scott Dixon finishing third after starting 23rd on the field.

    “It was a great night for us,” Dixon said. “It’s a good finish. The car wasn’t that great. The guys in the pits did a helluva job. Its obviously a good points night for Dario and I. It was crazy back there early on, but there was some good, close racing near the end.”

    JR Hildebrand and Dario Franchitti would round out the top five. Ryan Briscoe would finish sixth, followed by Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and Danica Patrick.

    Throughout the night, a couple drivers took some hard hits, including Will Power, who backed it into the wall on lap 90. The incident came after substaining damage on pit road from contact with Charlie Kimball on lap 14.

    “It was definitely a hard hit,” Power said, after coming into Iowa tied for the points lead with Dario Franchitti. “The Verizon car was damaged after the incident in the pits and we just had a problem with the steering and it came around on me. It’s a tough result for us tonight. We’ll do our best to get it back next race.”

    Power would be evaluated and it’d be determined that he suffered a minor concussion. IndyCar officials said that before he can compete in Toronto in two weeks, he will need to be cleared.

    Other drivers taking hard hits would be Ana Beatriz and Mike Conway in a big wreck early on and Sebastian Saavedra (Lap 116), though everybody was checked out and released as being okay.

  • Josef Newgarden Scores Third Firestone Indy Lights Win of The Season at Iowa

    Josef Newgarden Scores Third Firestone Indy Lights Win of The Season at Iowa

    For the third time this year, it was Josef Newgarden going to victory lane as he took the victory in the Sukup 100 at Iowa Speedway.

    “We put a really good, strong car together for that race,” Newgarden, drove of the No. 11 Copart/Score Big/Robo-Pong/SSM car, said. “It felt so good I could go anywhere on the track, and that’s just a tribute to the team. I was so disappointed that we didn’t qualify a little bit better. At least we didn’t put ourselves too far back. We just came in with a conservative approach but still aggressive enough to get in the lead early on and just hold it all the way through.  Great job by the Sam Schmidt Motorsports guys and everyone else that supports us.”

    Newgarden was able to take the lead on lap 26 and never looked back as he scored the win, 5.4724 seconds over Gustavo Yacaman. The second place finish marks his best finish in his career.

    “For the (Lap 6) restart, I just didn’t have the pace to keep up with Esteban and Newgarden was attacking me so he was able to get by,” Yacaman said. “I stuck with Newgarden when he overtook Esteban, and he pulled me through. Then it basically was a battle for second with Bryan.

    “We’ve worked so hard and we’ve had a good car so many times, so it’s good to capitalize on the equipment Mark Moore has given me.”

    Meanwhile, it was Bryan Clauson finishing third for his best finish of the three starts that he’s made this year.

    “We didn’t give each other an inch and it was just good, hard racing,” Clauson said of racing with Yacaman.  “We just didn’t have quite a good enough car to slip underneath (Yacaman).  We were a little bit tight.  We just didn’t have enough to finish the corner on the outside.

    “It was a lot of fun. I threw everything I had at him, and I just didn’t have quite enough.  I spent the last 40 laps trying to get a run and doing something.  I tried high, I tried low, I tried diving under.  I tried throwing everything I could at him, but just never got quite the run I needed to beat him off the corner and take the spot.”

    With the victory, Newgarden expands his points lead from 13 to 46 over Esteban Guerrieri. Guerrieri finished in 12th place after having mechanical issues.

    Victor Garcia and Duarte Ferreira rounded out the top 10.

    “The team won this race last year (with Sebastian Saavedra), and I knew in coming here that we would have a good car,” Ferreira said. “The start was a little crazy but I was able to make up the positions that I lost. I want to thank everyone at BHA for the great job and my sponsors for supporting me.”

  • Sorenson wins at Road America

    Sorenson wins at Road America

    Reed Sorenson had enough fuel to make it to the finish line to win Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide race at Road America.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Justin Allgaier was leading when the final yellow flag came out on the final restart in the third attempt. But Allgaier ran out of fuel before making it to the finish line. Unable to keep pace lap speed, Allgaier surrendered the lead to Sorenson.

    At the same time, Ron Fellowes did not slow when the final yellow flag came out and passed both Sorenson and Allgaier before getting behind the pace car. Fellows appeared to have won the race until NASCAR reviewed the tapes a saw that Fellows did not slow when the caution light was displayed, giving Sorenson back the lead and the win.

    Unofficial Race Results
    Bucyrus 200, Road America
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/n2s/race.php?race=16
    =========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Points
    =========================================
    1 12 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 47
    2 5 7 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 0
    3 3 22 Jacques Villeneuve Dodge 0
    4 7 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 40
    5 25 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 40
    6 21 153 Andrew Ranger Dodge 0
    7 22 62 Michael Annett Toyota 37
    8 8 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36
    9 17 167 J.R. Fitzpatrick Ford 35
    10 23 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 34
    11 15 30 Ricky Carmichael Chevrolet 0
    12 1 18 Michael McDowell Toyota 0
    13 18 39 Josh Wise Ford 31
    14 26 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 30
    15 13 11 Brian Scott Toyota 30
    16 24 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 28
    17 32 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 27
    18 39 70 Dennis Setzer Dodge 26
    19 14 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 26
    20 9 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 24
    21 19 23 Alex Kennedy Dodge 0
    22 20 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 22
    23 2 33 Max Papis Chevrolet 0
    24 28 87 Kevin Conway Toyota 0
    25 41 52 Tim Schendel Chevrolet 19
    26 6 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 19
    27 29 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 17
    28 16 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 16
    29 42 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford 15
    30 30 141 Doug Harrington Ford 14
    31 11 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 13
    32 27 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 12
    33 4 60 Billy Johnson Ford 0
    34 10 164 Jason Bowles Toyota 0
    35 35 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 9
    36 33 175 Carl Long Ford 8
    37 40 40 Charles Lewandoski * Chevrolet 7
    38 31 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 6
    39 36 103 Scott Wimmer Dodge 5
    40 34 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet 4
    41 38 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet 0
    42 37 55 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 2
  • Jeff Gordon Ready to Put Sonoma 2010 in the Rearview Mirror

    Jeff Gordon Ready to Put Sonoma 2010 in the Rearview Mirror

    Once known as a road course king, Jeff Gordon was more a menace to his competitors during last season’s Toyota/SaveMart 350. He might have come home with a top five finish but it didn’t come without controversy or in a fashion he and many others would rather forget.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]“Disaster,” said Gordon Friday in Sonoma when asked about last year. Disaster because Gordon drove through the field, literally, and in the process angered many of his peers. They went home with wrecked cars and bad finishes as Gordon went home with a target on his back.

    “It was just one of those terrible days where I made a lot of mistakes,” said Gordon. “No doubt made a lot of people unhappy and been trying to move on from it ever since.”

    Gordon knocked fenders with Brian Vickers who then spun David Ragan. Later that same lap he drove down into turn 11 and drove through Martin Truex Jr. who spun and was later caught up in a wreck on a restart because of his track position. Truex wasn’t pleased and promised payback on Gordon, saying what goes around comes around.

    In turn 11 again a few laps later Gordon drove into the back of Elliott Sadler who hit Clint Bowyer and they both spun. His actions left broadcasters and fans wondering out loud, “What is Jeff doing?”

    Gordon’s final victim was Kurt Busch. Coming up the hill in turn two Gordon forced Busch off the pavement. When he attempted to get back on track it stacked the field up behind him, including Marcos Ambrose who was trying to gain back positions he lost after being placed seventh by NASCAR after his car didn’t refire under caution.

    Gordon drove with one eye over his shoulder for many weeks to come, expecting payback. Entering Sunday’s race he admits that he’s not sure if those drivers will remember a year ago but says he won’t be thinking about any of them.

    “I’ve tried to apologize to the ones that I really made mistakes with,” he said. “There were some racing incidents that went on that day too that were just racing and that you just move on and race one another however you race one another. I have to approach this race the same way I do any other race and just go out there and do everything I can to get the best finish I can. Not put too much effort into thinking about what those guys have planned or whatever.”

    Guys like Truex Jr. who will start next to Gordon on Sunday. The two qualified 13th and 14th respectively. Truex Jr. though said he won’t be focused on the past, instead he’s focused on getting the car to perform as well as last years and capitalizing.

    Busch, who starts 11th, might not be as nice. He had numerous run-ins with Hendrick Motorsports drivers last season and has no problem talking about it. He made sure everyone was well aware on Friday that the last two years at Sonoma a HMS driver ran him off track.

    “It was an off day for Jeff,” said Busch. “He apologized to a handful of guys afterwards and for some reason pinpointed me. I thought that was interesting. He drove straight through our right rear and we finished 32nd.”

    Yet, both Gordon and Busch acknowledged that there’s a different style of aggressiveness when it comes to Sonoma. One Gordon most likely won’t repeat anytime soon, at least not as he did last year. Whereas a rhythm can be found and executed on an oval, racing at Sonoma allows a driver to throw the car around and drive much harder into a corner.

    There’s also the added fact that NASCAR’s new car doesn’t damage as easily. Drivers are willing to take more chances, trade more paint and even lean on other drivers. Even if that means leaning a little too hard to where it doesn’t always work out for the other driver.

    While Gordon hopes he doesn’t end up in the position he put many a year ago, he knows that if those drivers see a chance to put a fender to the No. 24, they might take it.

    “I’m sure if they’re in a position to kind of get back what happened then I’m sure they will,” he said. “My goal this weekend is not to allowed myself to get in that position.”

  • Carl Edwards Pulling Out of Nationwide Race A Good Thing; My Picks For Sunday

    Carl Edwards Pulling Out of Nationwide Race A Good Thing; My Picks For Sunday

    Carl Edwards did what most diehard race car drivers just hate to do and that is to pull out of any event. Edwards, who was displeased with how his car has been running in both practice and qualifying for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 tomorrow, did just so. In 2009, Kyle Busch dominated in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, yet he struggled in the Sprint Cup Series and failed to make the Chase. If Kyle had pulled out of more Nationwide races to focus on his cup program, would it have made a serious dent in the championship picture?

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]Yes, I did lose a lot of respect for Edwards after the incidents with Brad Keselowski, but instances like this prove to all the fans of the sport that Carl is indeed a man that is dedicated to his job and will not leave his team in a pile of trouble. Edwards said, “In the end, this puts us in the best position with both teams to perform well, so I’m grateful to be able to make the change and I feel like we are doing the right thing.”

    I think we would all feel the same way. If I were in that position, I know for a fact that I would have to think really hard. Road course racing doesn’t appear too often during the NASCAR season and I love road courses, but does that love go too far? I would hate to leave my team in a state of confusion and I admire Carl for his action on this issue.

    Now, we have the race on Sunday. I think the two big favorites for this race have to be Marcos Ambrose and Kurt Busch. Ambrose wants redemption after last years gaffe. Kurt Busch has been taken out by both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon the past couple of seasons and his results from practice show that he is a true contender with his avg practice result of 2.3. Watch out for the 9 and the 22, but don’t forget about Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Juan Montoya.

  • Matty’s Picks – Vol. 7 – Infineon – June 26, 2011

    Matty’s Picks – Vol. 7 – Infineon – June 26, 2011

    Matty’s Picks
    Vol. 7 – Infineon – June 26, 2011

    Its time to go road racing for the first time in the 2011. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its next stop in Sonoma, California on Sunday for the first of two road courses on the 2011 Cup schedule.

    [media-credit name=”InfineonRaceway.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]California is home to the highest and lowest points in elevation in the Continental United States, and surprisingly both points are within 100 miles of one another. Mount Whitney in the Eastern Sierras measures 14,495 feet while Bad Water located in the hottest and driest place in the US, Death Valley, is 282 feet below sea level.

    Now, the debate still rambles on what is missing from The Chase. I am an extreme advocate for a road-course race to be ran during the last ten races of the season. Road-courses show a driver’s true talent with the constant shifting, breaking, right and left corners, and the overall toughness of a driver behind the wheel.

    Infineon makes the most sense for a race in The Chase just because of the weather there during Chase season. The other road course on the schedule, Watkins Glen International, happens to be my home track, and has been known to see snowfall during the last ten weeks of the NASCAR season. The only other option would be to add another road course like Barber Motorsports Park, Road Atlanta, or a true test the brand new Circuit of the Americas being built for next year’s US Grand Prix just outside of Austin. Nonetheless, to really make The Chase complete, a road-course must be added if for nothing else, another wild card race.

    Michigan Recap

    I won’t spend too much time on my recap of last week in this week’s picks because my picks last week were less than impressive. I scored no imaginary points last week for myself and my top finisher was shown 14th when the checkered flag flew Sunday afternoon. Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne both had a decent runs going very early, but fell out of the Top 10 in the running order by lap 50. The action picked back up by the mid-way point in the race, Harvick and Kahne battled each other for a Top 5 spot around lap 100. Kahne would eventually make it to fifth before his pitfall of the race came on lap 155 when he ran his car out of fuel. He would make it to pit road, but struggled getting his car fired and sat in his pit box for over a minute before his car finally started once again. Kahne would go on to finish one lap down in 28th, netting me zero points. Harvick lasted a bit longer towards the front, but would eventually hit the wall around lap 182, and bring his Chevy home 14th, also netting me zero points.

    Infineon Picks

    I’m a bit torn this week on defining what a Dark Horse is on a road course. I would like to say that it’s a guy that nobody sees coming, sort of like pole-sitter Joey Logano. I sure didn’t see him starting up front tomorrow when I started this column on Thursday Afternoon. Kudos to him for surprising everyone with the pole.

    For my Dark Horse pick this week I have to play a little track-position game and go with a guy that has not won on a road course. Clint Boyer does have two Top 5’s at Sonoma and also boasts an average finish of 12.6. Bowyer starts ninth on Sunday and was 14th quickest in practice on Friday. Starting up front at a road course can set the pace for the entire race, and Bowyer has given himself a spot in the Top 10 for Sunday.

    The Thunder from Down Under, Marcos Ambrose is my pick to win this Sunday at Infineon. He starts one position in front of Bowyer in eighth and has an astounding record on road courses. Ambrose has an average finish of 9.8 in all his starts on road courses, with four Top 5’s in just six starts. Ambrose was born to drive on road courses and is utterly familiar with left and right turns from his days of Supercar Racing in Australia. He’s got a great car and a great starting spot on Sunday, so watch for him to finish towards the front.

    Stay tuned for next week’s preview as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads back to Florida to go night racing once again at Daytona. Until next time…..you stay classy ROAD COURSE NATION.

  • Logano grabs the Toyota/Save Mart 350 pole at Infineon

    Logano grabs the Toyota/Save Mart 350 pole at Infineon

    Joey Logano captured the Coors Light pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway with a lap of 93.256 mph (76.821 secs), ending Kurt Busch’s streak of three consecutive poles.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”248″][/media-credit]This is Logano’s second career pole and is the youngest driver to score a road-course pole (21 years, 1 month). His first pole was at Bristol in March ‘10.

    Jamie McMurray qualified second, Paul Menard third, teammate Denny Hamlin fourth and Ryan Newman qualified fifth.

    Busch qualified 11th and the defending race winner Jimmie Johnson qualified 12th.

    Starting Lineup
    Toyota/Save Mart 350, Infineon Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=16
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 93.256 76.821
    2 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 93.223 76.848
    3 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 93.176 76.887
    4 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 93.081 76.965
    5 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 93.062 76.981
    6 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 92.936 77.085
    7 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 92.935 77.086
    8 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 92.918 77.1
    9 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 92.83 77.173
    10 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 92.72 77.265
    11 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 92.616 77.352
    12 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 92.561 77.398
    13 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 92.553 77.404
    14 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 92.545 77.411
    15 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 92.447 77.493
    16 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 92.439 77.5
    17 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 92.411 77.523
    18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 92.372 77.556
    19 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 92.348 77.576
    20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 92.184 77.714
    21 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 92.157 77.737
    22 16 Greg Biffle Ford 92.096 77.788
    23 99 Carl Edwards Ford 92.076 77.805
    24 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 92.022 77.851
    25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 91.987 77.881
    26 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 91.818 78.024
    27 13 Casey Mears Toyota 91.764 78.07
    28 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 91.751 78.081
    29 34 David Gilliland Ford 91.689 78.134
    30 51 Boris Said Chevrolet 91.603 78.207
    31 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 91.406 78.376
    32 0 David Reutimann Toyota 91.388 78.391
    33 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 91.315 78.454
    34 6 David Ragan Ford 91.255 78.505
    35 177 P.J. Jones Dodge 91.223 78.533
    36 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 91.214 78.541
    37 60 Mike Skinner Toyota 90.781 78.915
    38 66 David Mayhew Toyota 90.561 79.107
    39 32 Terry Labonte Ford 90.504 79.157
    40 181 Brian Simo Chevrolet 90.346 79.295
    41 71 Andy Lally* Ford 90.303 79.333
    42 37 Chris Cook Ford 90.285 79.349
    43 46 Andy Pilgrim Chevrolet 89.885 79.702
  • Max Papis Leads Final Nationwide Series Practice at Road America

    Max Papis Leads Final Nationwide Series Practice at Road America

    As the same as the first practice, it was another Nationwide Series practice with the charts dominated by the road course ringers.

    Max Papis, driving the No. 33 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Incorporated, was first at a speed of 108.991mph (133.707 seconds). Joe Gibbs Racing’s Michael McDowell (108.707mph) followed in second.

    Jacques Villeneuve, driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge for Pense Racing was third with a speed of 108.509 mph, followed by Ron Fellows, who is driving the No. 7 AER Manufacturing Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, in fourth (107.893).

    Series regular Steve Wallace rounded out the top five in fifth (107.853), followed by Andrew Ranger, Ricky Carmichael, Elliott Sadler, Brian Scott and Reed Sorenson.

    Series points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did not practice, nor did his teammate Billy Johnson, who led the first practice.

  • Takuma Sato gets first IRL pole at Iowa

    Takuma Sato gets first IRL pole at Iowa

    NEWTON, Ia. – KV Racing Technology’s Takuma Sato scored his first IZOD IndyCar Series pole at Iowa Speedway on Saturday for the Iowa Corn Indy 250. Sato clocked in at 35.6857 and took the pole from Tony Kannan, who had held the pole for a vast majority of the session.

    Sato’s previous best start was at Mid-Ohio, when he turned in the third fastest time in qualifying.

    “I want to say a big thank you to the whole team, the fans, the sponsors and everyone who has supported me,” Soato said after his qualifying run. “It is a fantastic achievement.  I knew we were going to be competitive because of last year and this morning I was truly comfortable in the car. I could feel where we needed to be with the setup for qualifying. Working so closely today with the three KVRT-Lotus drivers, working so closely with my engineers, we had a great answer. The mechanics also did a great job preparing the car. I am very pleased with today’s result.”

    Danica Patrick will start opposite of Sato on the front row after locking down the second place starting spot in qualifying.

    “It feels really good to have the GoDaddy car in position to be able to guard up front and have the opportunity for a solid race day,” Patrick said after recording a lap of 35.7184. “On short tracks like this it’s nice to start near the front because you can gain ground more quickly. If you start near the back of the field you could be a lap behind very quickly. I haven’t started on the front row in a long time so it’s a good feeling.”

    Rounding out the top-ten qualifiers was Kanaan, JR. Hildebrand, Will Power, Dario Franchitti, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mike Conway and Ryan Brisco.

    The IndyCar Series will race 250 laps under the lights at Iowa Speedway for the first time ever on Saturday.  The Iowa Corn Indy 250 will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will be televised on Versus and broadcast on the IMS Radio Network.

    The drivers will have 24 overtake assists, each lasting 10 seconds and with a minimum of eight seconds between pushes. Each assist will provide an extra 200 RPM, or about 10 horsepower.

     

  • Esteban Guerrieri Scores Second Indy Lights Pole in a Row at Iowa

    Esteban Guerrieri Scores Second Indy Lights Pole in a Row at Iowa

    For the second straight week in a row, Esteban Guerrieri will start from the pole as he won the Sonoco Pole Award for the Sukup 100.

    [media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”276″][/media-credit]”It is very important at this track to do the right thing in qualifying because it is difficult to overtake during the race,” Guerrieri said. “We are in really good shape for tomorrow and I am pleased to start in the front.

    “I was able to maximize the short amount of time I had on the track (one practice session), and that is basically what motorsports is in Europe. It is all about making the most of the little time you have on the track. I try to be accurate and visualize what my position on the track will be. This strategy has been working for me so far, but it wouldn’t work if I didn’t have a good car. I have to thank Sam Schmidt and the team because without them I couldn’t do it.”

    Last week at Milwaukee, Guerrieri transferred his pole start into his first ever Firestone Indy Lights victory. Guerrieri’s average speed of 160.787 mph puts Sam Schmidt Motorsports on the pole for the forth consecutive week.

    Gustavo Yacaman qualified second at a speed of 159.520 mph for his first front-row start.

    “It took me three years to get there, but I made it,” Yacaman said. “We were the second car out and that didn’t help us because the track was very dirty from the USAC Silver Crown and Midget cars. When I was out there I was able to work my bars and my weightjacker enough to get a good lap.

    “I think if we would have drawn something a little later we would have had a better run. I want to thank my team because this is my best qualifying attempt so far and this is the first time I am starting on the front row. I think we are looking good to run for pole position in the next few races. This is a really hard track to race on and I think we can get it done and hopefully get our first podium of the year and build momentum from there.”

    Bryan Clauson qualified in the third position (159.434), followed by Josef Newgarden and Duarte Ferreira.

    Victor Carbone qualified sixth, followed by Stefan Wilson and Brandon Wagner.

    The green flag for the Sukup 100 at Iowa is set to be drop at 6:30pm EST tomorrow and can be seen on VERSUS.