Vernay goes flag-to-flag in Sonoma

J. K. Vernay
Bob Heathcote/AR1.com

Sam Schmidt Motorsports' ace J.K. Vernay started from pole and was never headed as he led the 40-lap Carneros 100 Indy Lights race from flag-to-flag Sunday at Infineon Raceway. Charlie Kimball was 2nd and James Hinchcliffe 3rd.

Vernay, in the No. 7 Lucas Oil machine, held off Hinchcliffe and later Kimball on two restarts and made it look easy, setting the fastest lap on the way. It was the 5th win of the year from the French rookie.

Vernay extended his point lead to 71 over James Hinchcliffe with just three oval races left on the schedule.

Vernay's hope is that he can win the title and then get a shot at IndyCar in 2011.

Results

Rank

No Name Laps Gap Diff Best Lap Time Comment
1 7 JK Vernay 40 –.—- –.—- 1:24.9443 Running
2 26 Charlie Kimball 40 3.4245 3.4245 1:25.0753 Running
3 2 James Hinchcliffe 40 7.1338 10.5583 1:25.4625 Running
4 10 Gustavo Yacaman 40 4.6532 15.2115 1:25.6106 Running
5 11 Pippa Mann 40 8.0484 23.2599 1:26.1898 Running
6 8 Juan Pablo Garcia 40 1.5842 24.8441 1:26.3855 Running
7 22 Adrian Campos Jr 40 1.2546 26.0987 1:25.8296 Running
8 36 David Martinez 40 3.5028 29.6015 1:26.5074 Running
9 28 Joel Miller 40 5.3659 34.9674 1:26.6739 Running
10 4 Giancarlo Vilarinho 40 1.9607 36.9281 1:26.9599 Running
11 49 Philip Major 40 0.5724 37.5005 1:26.7031 Running
12 18 Rodrigo Barbosa 40 4.0623 41.5628 1:26.6890 Running
13 40 Dan Clarke 37 3 laps 3 laps 1:25.4816 Mechanical
14 77 Alex Ellis 26 11 laps 14 laps 1:26.1586 Mechanical
15 29 Sebastian Saavedra 10 16 laps 30 laps 1:25.6381 Contact
16 27 Martin Plowman 6 4 laps 34 laps 1:26.3572 Contact

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 88.638
Time of Race: 1:02:21.4252
Margin of victory: 3.4245 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 5 laps
Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Vernay 1 – 40
Point Standings: Vernay 412, Hinchcliffe 341, Kimball 327, Plowman 320, Saavedra 284, Clarke 241, Wilson 234,Yacaman 234, Major 223, Campos 219.