Mid-Ohio Indy Lights: Davison wins wet race 2
A wet course due to heavy rain immediately before the race led to numerous cars going off course throughout the 20-lap race.
Pole sitter Jonny Reid led the first 16 laps before he was passed by Mitch Cunningham. Cunningham led Laps 17-18 but spun off course with two laps to go. Reid was the leader when the white flag flew, but mistakenly headed to pit lane before taking the checkered. Davison, who started seventh, was the beneficiary and claimed his first career victory.
Wade Cunningham finished second, and Pablo Donoso finished third. Richard Antinucci finished 14th and took a one-point lead in the championship over Raphael Matos, who finished 18th.
Results Sunday of the Mid-Ohio 100 Race 2 Firestone Indy Lights event July 20 at the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any) and money earned:
1. (7) James Davison, 20, Running, $22,000
2. (12) Wade Cunningham, 20, Running, $17,000
3. (10) Pablo Donoso, 20, Running, $13,500
4. (17) Cyndie Allemann, 20, Running, $11,500
5. (14) Ana Beatriz, 20, Running, $11,000
6. (5) J.R. Hildebrand, 20, Running, $10,500
7. (13) Sean Guthrie, 20, Running, $10,000
8. (9) Andrew Prendeville, 20, Running, $9,500
9. (1) Jonny Reid, 20, Running, $9,250
10. (16) Brent Sherman, 20, Running, $9,000
11. (8) Arie Luyendyk Jr., 19, Running, $8,500
12. (15) Mitch Cunningham, 18, Contact, $8,000
13. (22) Robbie Pecorari, 18, Contact, $7,500
14. (2) Richard Antinucci, 18, Contact, $7,000
15. (21) Daniel Herrington, 18, Running $6,500
16. (20) Logan Gomez, 17, Contact, $6,000
17. (19) Mark Olson, 13, Contact, $5,750
18. (4) Raphael Matos, 12, Running, $6,500
19. (18) Dillon Battistini, 10, Contact, $5,500
20. (3) Franck Perera, 9, Contact, $6,000
21. (6) Jeff Simmons, 4, Contact, $3,000
22. (11) Bobby Wilson, 4, Contact, $2,500
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 64.706 mph
Time of race: 41:52.5298
Margin of victory: Under caution
Cautions: 5 caution flags for 10 laps
Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers
Lap leaders: Reid 1-16, M. Cunningham 17-18, Reid 19, Davison 20.
Point standings: Antinucci 376, Matos 375, Beatriz 332, Hildebrand 325, Luyendyk 316, Battistini 299, Simmons 278, Donoso 259, Gomez 251, Prendeville 247.
QUOTES
JAMES DAVISON (No. 11 Lifelock/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, first): “I was thinking, ‘Has he made a mistake? I’m pretty sure we haven’t taken the checkered flag, and we need to take it.’ I asked, ‘Have I just won this thing?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, you’re showing P1 on the timing.’ I had a very similar race to everyone. It was very chaotic. I went off down at Turn 4 at the end of the straight and went all the way down to the bottom of the gravel trap and somehow didn’t get beached. I dropped back to about 15th and I just said to my engineer, ‘Look, I’m just going to drive this thing, keep it on the track, and lay it on the line if I have to.’ You know, Jonny (Reid) took me out from second place at Nashville accidentally. If that's his way of saying, sorry, sort of helping me out, turning this season around that I've had, you know. We've been very strong at times, but literally zero luck. I mean, here we are. It's great."
WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 24 Natural Spring Alliance Motorsports, second): “I inherited a couple of positions today. I threw a lot away at the beginning. The conditions were very, very difficult. It was great coming back through the field. We had a very reasonable car, especially once the track started drying. We had more of a dry setup, only with the wets on it. I was fortunate to get to watch my brother’s (Mitch Cunningham) race because he was always about five positions in front. I watched him take the lead, and I was really happy for him. I didn’t see him spin off, and I didn’t see where he ended. I assumed he was far into the lead, but unfortunately he wasn’t. So he made that mistake and then Jonny (Reid) obviously just pulled into the pits thinking it was checkered flag. So I’m not sure which mistake was worse, Mitch’s or Jonny’s. Unfortunately neither of them were able to pick up a result. But for us, we're happy to pick up second. It was probably the slickest track I’ve ever driven on. Obviously the sealer they put on the concrete to keep the integrity of the track together is just terrible in the rain. But it was just a case of keeping ahead and going forward and trying not to make to many mistakes."
PABLO DONOSO (No. 22 TMR-Cristal-Xtreme Coil Drilling, third): “The team gave me a really good car when things were really wet. We were a bit loose, and I hit Cyndie (Allemann) pretty hard in the back, which made it worse. I don't know what happened then. She was waiting for me for one lap and put me in the grass. It was a crazy race. I don't know what Jonny Reid did, but I'm happy for our team. It's our first podium finish, and I'm happy for James Davison. He deserved this win."
CYNDIE ALLEMANN (No. 18 American Spirit, fourth): “The main thing to do was keep it on the track and avoid all the accidents. What was really difficult was so much spray on the backstraight that you couldn’t see where you had to brake, especially in the first half of the race. I’m happy because we’ve had so many problems the past few races. For my mind, it is good."
ANA BEATRIZ (No. 20 Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, fifth): “Everybody is fighting for the championship, so this is pretty good."
RICHARD ANTINUCCI (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): “I should have won it five times today, but I finished 14th. It’s just one of those crappy days. It was hard. There was a lot of movement all over the place. I spun off then recovered three places immediately, and then the yellow came out. Then, I went wide, went off, recovered, and gained back another three places. I got put off by (Pablo) Donoso the last time we were put off the track. A lapped car didn’t see us and crashed into us, which was pretty pathetic. As for the rest of the championship, we’re still in good shape. We’re going to go out and attack every race in the LUCAS OIL/LifeLock car."
JONNY REID (No. 9 Integra): “I am really disappointed. I just came into the pits; there is really no excuse for it. Basically, the yellow came out so I thought the race was over and it was the done. I have never had a race finish under yellow like that before, and it just caught me off. I wasn’t thinking. My radio wasn’t working, and I didn’t have any communication with the team, and that wasn’t helping. It wasn’t working the whole race. It got water in it after the torrential downpour. And what confused me as well was that the safety car came on in the back straight and then came off the track again, and I slowed down. I switched into first gear and started following it and I pulled off. I didn’t really know what to do, and I thought the other drivers were going to follow me and they didn’t. So I lost, and it is a huge disappointment. I feel a little bit embarrassed about it, but what can I do? It is going t o just make me more hungry for a win in the future."
RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc.): “It was very difficult out there today. I couldn’t see anything at the start. I lost a couple of spots because I just couldn’t see anything. Unfortunately I spun out and got hit by Bobby Wilson, and it broke the rear suspension on the AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing car."