Lloyd beats Cunningham in Iowa
It was the Englishman's sixth win in eight starts this season and the eighth of his Indy Pro Series career, setting a record for career wins. Cunningham finished second with rookie Hideki Mutoh finishing third.
Results :
1. (2) Alex Lloyd, 115, Running $32,500
2. (1) Wade Cunningham, 115, Running $26,000
3. (8) Hideki Mutoh, 115, Running $20,000
4. (12) Ryan Justice, 115, Running $16,400
5. (13) Robbie Pecorari, 115, Running $15,900
6. (9) Logan Gomez, 115, Running $15,400
7. (19) Al Unser III, 115, Running $14,900
8. (21) Marc Williams, 115, Running $14,400
9. (11) Bobby Wilson, 115, Running $13,900
10. (20) Ben Petter, 115, Running $13,400
11. (22) Ken Losch, 115, Running $12,400
12. (6) Mike Potekhen, 114, Running $11,400
13. (4) Joey Scarallo, 114, Running $10,400
14. (14) Andrew Prendeville, 114, Running $10,000
15. (16) Tom Wieringa, 113, Running $9,500
16. (18) Chris Festa, 112, Running $9,000
17. (17) Brad Jaeger, 96, Pits $8,500
18. (10) Jonathan Klein, 93, Contact $8,000
19. (7) Stephen Simpson, 92, Contact $5,000
20. (3) Sean Guthrie, 79, Contact $4,000
21. (5) Jaime Camara, 43, Handling $3,000
22. (15) Jon Brownson, 5, Contact $2,000
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 115.707 mph
Time of race: 53:18.7234
Margin of victory: 0.3927 of a second
Cautions: 4 caution flags for 32 laps
Lead changes: 1 among 2 drivers
Lap leaders: Cunningham 1-105, Lloyd 106-115.
Point standings: Lloyd 390, Mutoh 271, Wilson 229, Camara 185, Potekhen 183, Festa 181, Cunningham 177, Pecorari 162, Klein 157, Gomez 150.
IOWA 100 POST-RACE QUOTES:
ALEX LLOYD (No. 7 Lucas Oil / Isilon Systems/ SSM, winner Iowa 100): "This is great. With 10 laps to go I was so pumped up. I knew this was the time if we were going to win the race, this was the time to get it done. Up until then I had been patient and I thought there might be a gap going into turn 1 but I didn't want to show that too soon knowing that he could defend that. I left it until the very last minute and saw it as my chance, got it down there and he gave me just enough room. We had a very good race. It was an unbelievable race and once we got in the lead the car was just great. Great thanks to the entire team and Lucas Oil. Everyone did a stunning job all weekend. We were second on the grid and second throughout practices but that didn't matter we got it done."
WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc., finished second): "We did a very good job today in traffic. I built a lot of gaps that way but the cautions caused us to lose that advantage. I was very happy to have a second."
HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 55 Panther Racing, finished third): "Thank you very much. We are very proud of our race today. The car was very good and I was passing cars on the track so that was good news for us. After the restart I slowed down a bit so I was a little disappointed at the end. If it stayed green I thought I could pass more."
RYAN JUSTICE (No. 38 Lifelock/Lucas/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished fourth): "It was sort of a difficult day for us. We had to start 12th after we didn't qualify where we wanted to, but we made the car the best we could for the race and hoped to do better. But, I had a tough time going to sleep last night after we qualified. I was really frustrated. It was tough to pass out there because everyone was just running flat out and the only difference is what help you get in the draft. We got a little help when a couple of the front cars went out, but it was great to give Sam Schmidt Motorsports a good finish. The track is just awesome – it was flat out, close and really good racing for us and the fans. The front two kind of checked out, but the rest of us were just nose to tail most of the way and it was a lot of fun."
ROBBIE PECORARI (No. 13 Cabo Wabo Tequilla, finished fifth): "This was just great. We struggled a little with our speed earlier during practice and qualifying, but we made some changes that helped – and we gained some from some of the incidents that happened ahead of us. I didn't like to see that, but we came out fifth, so it was a great weekend for us. This track is just awesome. It's a shorter track than we're used to running, but the racing was fast and close. That's just great for the fans and great for the series."
***
Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, Indy Racing League director of medical services, Indy Pro Series drivers Jonathan Klein, Stephen Simpson and Jon Brownson have been checked and released from the infield care center. They are all cleared to drive. Sean Guthrie sustained a displaced fracture of his left foot. He will be re-evaluated prior to the races at Watkins Glen to determine his driving status.
JONATHAN KLEIN (No. 2 TMR Xtreme Coil Drilling): "I had a car spin right in front of me and I ran out of real estate. That's how it goes sometimes. It's unfortunate because even though we don't have the package to race up front, but we are a solid Top 10 car. This hurts our championship run. We weren't going for the win because no one is going to catch Lloyd and that is just the way it is. We certainly are racing for second. So we will regroup for the next race."
STEPHEN SIMPSON (No. 24 Kenn Hardley Racing): "The race was going really well for us up to that point. During the prior incident I think I warmed up the front tires a bit more than the rear tires. Going into Turn 3 the front end was just a bit more gripped up and the back came around on me."
SEAN GUTHRIE (No. 4 Car Crafters Guthrie Racing Special): "The car was so good all weekend, and we were running with the leaders the entire race before the accident. It's just a shame for our whole team – once again, a fantastic team effort. For some reason, I didn't have the straightline speed the other guys in front of me had. We were coming up to lapped traffic and I had to back out a bit, and then the car stepped out on me and I ended up hitting the inside wall pretty hard. I don't know if we would have stayed in the top three, but we had a top-five car for sure. My left foot has a slight fracture and my knees are pretty banged up. I'm not sure if we'll make it back for Watkins Glen. It would be too bad if I had to miss that race as I ran really well there last year. I want to thank my whole team for the great job they did this weekend – I'm sorry that we don't have the results to show for it."