Claman De Melo Returns to Scene of First Indy Lights Victory

De Melo at Indy

Dale Coyne Racing’s Zachary Claman De Melo is hoping to reproduce his Indy Lights Road America successes this weekend aboard his #19 Paysafe Indy car when the Verizon IndyCar Series heads to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for Round 10 of the 2018 season June 22 to 24.

Claman De Melo picked up his maiden Indy Lights victory in Race 2 of the Road America weekend last season after starting fourth and holds the Indy Lights race track record at the popular venue. In his three other starts at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit, he has a fourth, a fifth and a tenth-place finish.

“Road America is one of my favorite tracks on the schedule. I have great memories racing there as it’s where I won my first Indy Lights race last season and it’s a circuit I’ve always done well at," said Claman De Melo. “We’ve made some great progress so far this year but have not yet had the chance to show it with a good result aboard our #19 Paysafe car. Hopefully we can change that this weekend and give the #19 Dale Coyne Racing crew the top result that they deserve."

Despite a strong performance at the previous round at Texas Motor Speedway, the rookie was taken out of contention when fighting for sixth place on his way to a possible top five finish.

Claman De Melo will be able to turn his first laps aboard his Paysafe machine at Road America on Friday, June 22 when he takes to the track at Noon ET for the first of three practice sessions that weekend. Qualifying will take place on Saturday, June 23 at 4:00pm ET.

All practice sessions and qualifying will be streamed live on racecontrol.indycar.com with qualifying also being broadcast on tape delay on NBCSN on Saturday June 24 at 6:30pm ET.

The Kohler Grand Prix at Road America will be broadcast live on NBCSN from 12:30pm ET on Sunday, June 24. The race will also be broadcast live on the Advance Auto Parts IndyCar Radio Network, including SIRIUS/XM 209/214.