AFS AGR Teammate Arie Luyendyk Jr Collects First Win in Chicago
Champ Chase Ends with Antinucci Crash on Lap 25
by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com
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Beatriz (L), Luyendyk Jr and Matos. Photo:
ShawnPayneIRL |
Like a bright-red and yellow-stripe fairytale come true, AFS Andretti Green Racing's Arie Luyendyk Jr won his first-ever race in the Indy Racing League after his teammate Raphael Matos clinched the series championship when contender Richard Antinucci of Sam Schmidt Motorsports hit the wall and retired from contention.
Starting his sixty-second race, a record for any driver in the Firestone Indy Lights series, Arie Jr pulled ahead of then-leader Matos on Lap 66 of 67 when the field restarted for the fourth and last time over the 1.5 mile oval at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday (September 7th).
From there Luyendyk held off a charging Ana 'Bia' Beatriz in the No. 20 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Healthy Choice Dallara to reach the checkered flag first as Matos came home third, followed by Panther Racing's Bobby Wilson and Beatriz' teammate James Davison.
"It was perfect," Arie Jr said afterwards. "This is a dream scenario: me winning the race and Rafa (Matos) winning the championship. It's more than words can describe."
"Green, white, checkered is always nerve-wracking. We got a good restart, thank God, and Rafa and I worked beautifully today. Ana (Beatriz) was definitely a tough competitor. She was the one I was worried about."
"My Firestone tires held up beautifully," he finished. "It was amazing. The car was so consistent from Lap 1 to the end. I made a lot of adjustments in the car. AGR/AFS, Targus, my sponsor, everyone helped out. It was just a beautiful weekend."
The win compliments the eight career second-place finishes Luyendyk Jr owns, and put the icing on the cake of the team's first-ever Indy Lights championship.
Beatriz' second-place in the race secured her place of third in the championship standings on 449 points, twenty-one points to the better of Luyendyk Jr, who in turn bested RLR Andersen's J R Hildebrand by 19 points for fourth.
"It was really hard to pass the AFS guys," Bia said, "because they were really, really fast."
"They were working together, which was really tough. I tried to stay behind them. When Arie (Luyendyk Jr.) made his move, I was able to stay with him and get that second position."
"It was very good, finishing on the podium in second place. I am very grateful to Healthy Choice and all of the people who have helped me throughout the season. I believe we're going to stay in the Firestone Indy Lights for one more year and fight for the championship from the beginning of the season."
"I am stronger and have more experience right now, and I'm hopeful that we can do well."
The podium finish was Bia's sixth of the 2008 season, including her precedent-making Indy Lights win at Nashville SuperSpeedway.
Championship Battle Ends In Lap 25 CrackUp
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2008 Indy Lights Champion Raphael Matos. Photo:
RonMcQueeneyIRL |
Matos finished the chase for the Firestone Firehawk Cup with 510 points whle Antinucci was classified twenty-first in the twenty-four car SunRich Gourmet 100 race field and accumulated a total of 478 points for the season.
"It was the best third-place finish of my life," said a smiley Rafa from aside Victory Lane. "We had a plan today for me to win the championship and Arie (Luyendyk Jr.) to win the race."
"Arie really deserved to win a race this year, and it worked perfectly for us. I'm very happy for him, and I'm really happy for the AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing team. They deserve this championship as much as I do. I told them not to drink the champagne before we finished the race."
A disappointed Antinucci put the Lap 25 incident that ended his race and season into perspective by reliving the moments before the accident.
"I need to see the video but the No. 4 car (of Guthrie Racing's Sean Guthrie) did not hold a consistent line throughout the corner," said Antinucci of the incident that sent him to the sidelines and runner-up for the year. "We were actually banging wheels up the straight."
"It's a bitter pill to swallow, losing it at the last round," he continued, "but, 'ifs' and 'buts' don't take you anywhere. We managed to finish second, and I had a great year overall. I have to thank my Lucas Oil LifeLock Sam Schmidt Motorsports group tremendously because they helped me."
"We had a chance. We led most of the year, but not when it counted unfortunately."
Race Recap
The 67-lap event got off to an uneven start with Hildebrand teammate Daniel Herrington spinning on the initial lap. Team Moore's Dillon Battistini damaged the left rear of his car in the ensuing melee, as 2005 Indy Lights champion Wade Cunningham stalled on the track in the Integra Motorsports No. 9 machine.
 Racing 3-wide at Chicagoland Speedway. Photo: JimHainesIRL
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A restart on Lap 8 was short-lived when Hildebrand spun in Turn 2 bringing out the yellow flag again.
A second restart put Matos in the front still on Lap 13, with Luyendyk Jr planted to the rear wing of the Dallara, Beatriz third and Wilson racing strongly in fourth.
On Lap 25 Sean Guthrie moved up-track slightly and touched, then touched again, the wheels of Antinucci sending the No. 7 championship contender into the outer wall and into retirement.
Matos, Luyendyk, Beatriz and Wilson separated from the pack to put on a two and three-car wide exhibition at near-190 mph speeds throughout the mid portion of the race without incident or much change in position.
The final restart on Lap 66 came after Michael Crawford Motorsports' Tom Dyer punctured a right rear tire and slowed on the track bound for the pits on Lap 63.
Luyendyk Jr smoothly slid beneath Matos to take the lead on the last lap, followed by Bia; then the No. 26 Targus Dallara sailed home unheaded for the victory.
Matos was credited with leading the most laps, sixty-six; while Brent Sherman in the second Panther car set race's fastest lap on Lap 36 at 193.530 mph.
Season Ends on High Note for Indy Lights Series
With the final race the 2008 Indy Lights season drops the curtain on its closest-ever championship chase and the most race-winners (ten in sixteen rounds) of a single season yet.
New team announcements have been flowing like water from an open tap before the campaign's end, giving credence to the suspicion that the 2009 FILS season could be greater still (as hard as that is to imagine) than the present one.
The stars of this year, Matos and Antinucci, are both likely headed for IndyCar in the near future; and the series' attention will shift to certain favorites Beatriz, Davison, Battistini, Luyendyk Jr, Hildebrand, Wilson and Herrington in 2009.
I think it was an awesome season for Indy Lights and Indy. Raphael Matos did a great job in continuing to show how talented he is and he deserves a ride next year in Indycar. I was really happy to see Bia in the Indy Lights. She is a great driver for sure and won't be no surprise if she wins the 2009 championship. Also, it was really nice for Arie win his first race. It was only a matter of time. He will be one of the contenders for next year championship for sure.
Posted by: lulums | September 09, 2008 at 09:51 PM