Saavedra wins follow-the-leader IndyLights parade
It was the third career Firestone Indy Lights victory and first of the season for Saavedra, who gave Bryan Herta Autosport its second Firestone Indy Lights victory. Championship points leader J.K. Vernay of Sam Schmidt Motorsports finished 1.36 seconds back and Adrian Campos Jr. posted a career-best fourth in the No. 22 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling car.
Results
1. (1) Sebastian Saavedra, 115, Running
2. (2) Martin Plowman, 115, Running
3. (3) J.K. Vernay, 115, Running
4. (5) Adrian Campos Jr, 115, Running
5. (9) James Hinchcliffe, 115, Running
6. (7) Philip Major, 115, Running
7. (4) Stefan Wilson, 115, Running
8. (8) Pippa Mann, 115, Running
9. (12) Dan Clarke, 114, Running
10. (11) Rodrigo Barbosa, 112, Running
11. (6) Gustavo Yacaman, 88, Contact
12. (10) Brandon Wagner, 47, Mechanical
13. (13) Charlie Kimball, 0, Contact
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 00:46:10.0471
Winners average speed: 133.614
Margin of victory: .4820 of a second
Cautions: 2 for 15 laps
Lead changes: None
Lap Leaders: Saavedra 1 – 115
Point Standings: Vernay 192, Kimball 169, Hinchcliffe 164, Saavedra 160, Plowman 160, Wilson 128, Major 118, Yacaman 106, Campos 98, Mann 98.
Quotes
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 29 William Rast/Bryan Herta Autosport, Winner of AvoidtheStork.com 100): "The No. 29 car was amazing. I'm very glad everything worked out this way. You couldn't imagine how good this car was. Those last 10 laps were crazy. I wanted to make the right decisions and not risk crashing. I saw these guys were coming fast, but we pulled through and I'm very happy. This victory tastes even sweeter after those last 10 laps.
MARTIN PLOWMAN (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers/KEP Printing, finished second): "It was one of the most intense races I have had in my life. I had a really good start and then J.K. Vernay got a jump on me in Turn 1. I was able to then hold him off and get back to second. For the first 30 or 40 laps it was just between me and Sebastian, we were pulling away from the field. Then the yellow flag came out and that was a very unfortunate time because that was when I was going to start putting the pressure on him to get the lead. Toward the end, Vernay was putting a lot of pressure on me and Sebastian was creeping away. Vernay was on my tail for the last restart, but I had a good one and got a decent lead on him. Sebastian got in traffic and I thought it may be my day, but at the end I just couldn't catch him. It was a great day for us and great for the points."
J.K. VERNAY (No. 7 Lucas Oil/ CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished third): I started P2 and I was able to stay in my position until the yellow flag. My restart was pretty good, but didn't keep me there. I have a lot to learn, but I feel it was a really good performance. Another podium is good for the championship. It was a good weekend, the car was great and the team did a wonderful job. I have to be focused moving into the next race. A track like Watkins Glen can be difficult especially since I don't know the track. We won at St. Pete and Barber and I am confident we could do it again.
ADRIAN CAMPOS JR. (No. 22 TMR – Xtreme Coil Drilling, finished fourth): "The car was awesome. I was flat until the last corner. I'm learning so much here on ovals. For my second race, finishing fourth isn't bad. We're improving and getting closer to the front every race. I'm happy. I did a good job on the restart and overtook two guys. I'm just so happy and grateful to the team."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 2 TMR – Xtreme Coil Drilling, finished fifth): "We had a really fast car, we proved that in qualifying by having the fast first lap but then we had a little bit of a fuel issue that left us starting ninth. I knew it was going to be a tough race trying to get up there. Our car was really good on the bottom. We could run low all day long. Some of these guys could only run half a car length off the line. We probably passed more cars than anyone else in that race. They guys in the front sort of held station. We were on the move there and then spent so many laps stuck behind Stefan Wilson. I knew we had a faster car but credit to him, he didn't make a mistake."