Miller Takes Third Victory at the Glen

Chris Miller made it the perfect day by setting fast lap and cruising to his third win of the season at Watkins Glen for JDC MotorSports. The race that saw multiple caution flags ended three laps early under red flag conditions, with Phil Lombardi finishing second just inches ahead of Remy Audette, who was missing a front wing.

“It was a great race, and for the championship it is even more important given where the other guys finished," said Miller in post race tech inspection. “I have to thank Miller Milling, JDC and John Church for all their support. Remy (Audette) got close to me on a few restarts but was busy trying to keep Matt (McDonough) behind him so I was able to stretch my lead."

Miller takes over the points lead over Audette and Inge, who falls considerably back to third. Inge was running in the top three until an incident with Audette cost him his front wing and he went a lap down as St. Clair Motorsports raced to repair the car. “I got runover by Audette on the back straight," commented Inge. “He came down on me; I don't think he even knew I was there."

Just three laps in the race went yellow as a safety crews had to retrieve a stranded Chris Gumprecht. The track didn't stay green for long following that as a multiple car incident on the back straight triggered by John Dole losing his brakes needed some significant cleanup.

“There were cars everywhere," commented Colin Alexander, who was an unfortunate participant in the multiple car incident. “Cars were into the tires, Dole was airborne, and I went into the busstop and just got hit."

At the second restart, Miller was able to escape as Matt McDonough, driving the Piper chassis and Remy Audette contested second place as they traded it back and forth multiple times.

On lap 10 McDonough spun in turn nine, with nowhere to go Audette clipped him, ripping off his front wing and bending his steering.

“Matt (McDonough) spun in front of me I had nowhere to go. I tried not to hit him but clipped him with the front wing," said Audette, who ended up finishing the lap without a front wing and bent steering for third place points.

Al Guibord, Jr. avoided the stranded Piper but Camadella and Scarallo weren't far behind and with nowhere to go, Scarallo hit the #11 of McDonough, bringing out the red flag and ending the race due to the course blockage.

Jonathan Scarallo shared his view of the incident: “Matt (McDonough) just spun in front of us and I was all over Camadella. There were no yellow flags or anything and I had nowhere to go."

Phil Lombardi capitalized from the incident and came home in second. “That was an eventful race," Lombardi said. “It was hard to get into a rhythm with all those cautions. I appreciate Remy (Audette) giving me so much room when we were running side by side. I knew he had lost his wing and from there it was just a drag race down the straight. We had a fourth or fifth place car and came home second; it's good to see some luck go my way."

Al Guibord, Jr. came home in fourth position. “That was a crazy race, all of us from second to fifth place were dicing, we were probably in a different position every lap," commented Guibord, Jr.

Chris Camadella was another recipient of the incidents and took the Masters Class victory, rounding out the top five.

Masters Class drivers Keith McCrone, Jeff McCusker, Bob Wright, Tom Fatur and Dwight Rider were rewarded for staying out of trouble, rounding out the top ten behind the lead group.

Benjamin Searcy was not able to make the start of the race as heavy damage from a qualifying incident could not be repaired in time.

Qualifying for race two at Watkins Glen gets underway tomorrow, Saturday, July 4th, at 11:30, with the second race of the weekend following on Sunday around 11:00. Stay tuned to www.F2000ChampionshipSeries.com for the latest.

Results:

Pos No. Name Laps Total Tm Diff Gap
1 85 Chris Miller 11 29:03.811
2 3 Phil Lombardi 11 29:09.585 +5.774 +5.774
3 21 Remy Audette 11 29:10.839 +7.028 +1.254
4 95 Al Guibord, Jr. 11 29:11.014 +7.203 +0.175
5 4 Chris Camadella/M 11 29:11.030 +7.219 +0.016
6 5 Keith McCrone/M 11 29:15.351 +11.540 +4.321
7 25 Jeff McCusker/M 11 29:16.631 +12.820 +1.280
8 90 Robert Wright/M 11 29:18.564 +14.753 +1.933
9 70 Tom Fatur/M 11 29:19.233 +15.422 +0.669
10 60 Dwight Rider/M 11 29:19.629 +15.818 +0.396
11 26 Fabio Orsolon 11 29:19.939 +16.128 +0.310
12 27 Craig Clawson/M 11 29:20.089 +16.278 +0.150
13 89 Rob Nicholas 11 29:21.640 +17.829 +1.551
14 96 Alejandro Munoz 11 29:22.073 +18.262 +0.433
15 28 Ardie Greenameyer 11 29:27.524 +23.713 +5.451
16 56 Mike Mazziotti/M 11 29:28.220 +24.409 +0.696
17 80 Bobby Caldwell 11 29:28.286 +24.475 +0.066
18 83 Charles Finelli/M 11 29:28.459 +24.648 +0.173
19 20 Caitlin Johnston 11 29:32.879 +29.068 +4.420
20 17 Ty Hunter 11 29:34.352 +30.541 +1.473
21 51 Dan Denison/M 11 29:43.494 +39.683 +9.142
22 94 Blake Teeter 11 29:43.528 +39.717 +0.034
23 15 Mark Felsen 11 29:49.690 +45.879 +6.162
24 11 Matt McDonough 10 27:10.768 1 Lap 1 Lap
25 22 Jonathon Scarello 10 27:15.603 +4.835 +4.835
26 8 Mark Defer/M 9 25:37.831 2 Laps 1 Lap
DNF 7 Brent Gilkes/M 4 11:22.854 7 Laps 5 Laps
DNF 08 John Dole/M 4 11:22.946 +0.092 +0.092
DNF 12 Colin Alexander 4 11:23.663 +0.809 +0.717
DNF 02 Matthew Inge 4 28:14.453 +16:51.599 +16:50.790
DNF 97 Chris Gumprecht 0 5.552 11 Laps 4 Laps
DNS 10 Benjamin Searcy 0 -.—
DNS 47 Scott Gesford 0 -.—