Garcia leads Indy Lights race flag-to-flag
The winner Victor Garcia |
Rhonda McCole/AR1.com |
Pole sitter Victor Garcia led all 40 laps to win the Firestone Indy Lights race at Barber Motorsports Park.
Driving the No. 22 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, he led Andretti Autosport driver Stefan Wilson across the finish line by 0.3125 of a second. Peter Dempsey finished third and Jorge Goncalvez, who started 14th, was fourth.
Results Sunday of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Firestone Indy Lights event on the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Victor Garcia, 40, Running
2. (3) Stefan Wilson, 40, Running
3. (8) Peter Dempsey, 40, Running
4. (13) Jorge Goncalvez, 40, Running
5. (10) Mikael Grenier, 40, Running
6. (7) Josef Newgarden, 40, Running
7. (15) Duarte Ferreira, 40, Running
8. (14) Juan Pablo Garcia, 40, Running
9. (5) Anders Krohn, 40, Running
10. (12) James Winslow, 40, Running
11. (4) Conor Daly, 39, Running
12. (6) Gustavo Yacaman, 37, Running
13. (11) David Ostella, 16, Mechanical
14. (9) Victor Carbone, 1, Contact
15. (2) Esteban Guerrieri, 0, Contact
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 91.832
Time of Race: 01:00:06.5806
Margin of victory: .3125 of a second
Cautions: 3 for 7 laps
Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Garcia 1 – 40
Point Standings: Newgarden 80, Dempsey 70, V. Garcia 68, Daly 59, Grenier 56, Wilson 54, Krohn 52, Goncalvez 51, Ferreira 50, Ostella 49.
POST-RACE QUOTES:
VICTOR GARCIA (No. 22 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling, race winner): "It was an awesome day. I kept seeing Stefan behind me and I knew we were going to have a debate. I knew if I didn't make a mistake, that I could win. This track is very difficult to pass on and I saw that Stefan was trying to overtake. I kept pushing, pushing and pushing and I am very happy that I didn't make a mistake at the end. Thanks to my crew, Firestone and my family. This is a great win for Team Moore after the season-opener in St. Petersburg. It is an interesting week because in St. Pete I crashed with Stefan and today we finished first and second. I am looking forward to taking this momentum to Long Beach."
STEFAN WILSON (No. 5 Andretti Autosport, finished second): "I am very happy and this was a great day for the #5 Andretti Autosport car. We qualified third and it was only three-hundredths of a second from catching Victor Garcia for the pole. Since qualifying was so close, I knew it was going to be a tough race. I tried all day and pushed 100 percent the whole way. They kept with me and pushed as hard as I did, we just came up a little bit short today. Next time, I am going to focus on qualifying and start up higher in the grid and set my pace in the race. Congratulations to Victor Garcia on the win today. I want to thank my team and all of my family."
PETER DEMPSEY (No. 36 Pulse/O2 Racing Technology): "This was a great finish after being so sick all week prior to today. I knew it was going to be a difficult race for me, but I had to keep my nose clean and bring the car home without getting into trouble. You never know where you can end up but it feels great to be on the podium. I want to thank the 02 Racing for all of their hard work and my sponsor Pulse."