Panther Racing Driver Plays Tough Act to Follow in Newton
by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com
Panther Racing’s Hideki Mutoh bested Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ Alex Lloyd in the final practice leading up to this afternoon’s inaugural Iowa 100 at fan-friendly Iowa Speedway in little Newton, Iowa.
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Panther’s Hideki Mutoh at Iowa. Photo: SteveSnoddyIRL |
The winner of last week’s Liberty Challenge race one posted a time of 161.535 mph, two-tenths quicker than yesterday’s pole-winning speed of AFS Racing’s Wade Cunningham (161.306 mph) with a race set-up that looks to be the class of this twenty-one car field.
Lloyd’s speed of 161.013 mph was good for second-fastest, while Andretti/Green-AFS driver Jaime Camara came third with a posted speed of 160.532 mph. Cunningham’s lap of 160.392 mphs was fourth-best, and Stephen Simpson of Kenn Hardley Racing lapped fifth-fastest at 160.081 mph.
The attention now turns to the race itself, a 115-lap event that marks the furthest distance the Indy Pro Series drivers will tackle during the 2007 season. The winner takes home the beautifully-turned ten-inch Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 sterling cup symbolic of victory in this first-ever Indy Racing League event at the racetrack set in the rolling plains of central Iowa.
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