Milwaukee Mile Saturday Indy Pro Series and TOYOTA USAC Midget Classic 25 stories
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THE MILWAUKEE MILE A NEW ERA BEGINS CAMARA PULLS OUT DRAMATIC VICTORY FOR ANDRETTI GREEN RACING IN INDY PRO SERIES THRILLER Milwaukee, Wis (July 22, 2006) - The old saying "it's never over until it's over" came into play perfectly during Saturday afternoon's Milwaukee 100 Indy Pro Series race, as Jaime Camara led just the final two laps to steal the victory from Wade Cunningham. To say Cunningham dominated a majority of the race would be an understatement as he took the lead from the pole position and simply drove away from the field, at one point building up a lead of more than five seconds over Camara and 19 year-old Jonathan Klein. While comfortably out front, Cunningham's lap times began to trail off around lap 70, allowing Camara and Klein to close every so slightly. The lead had shrunk for Cunningham, driving for Brian Stewart Racing, down to just over a second with ten laps to go. The event's only caution flag waved on lap 94 when Tom Wood's wounded Indy Pro Series machine came to rest against the inside wall on the backstretch. The track and series safety teams quickly cleared the track, setting up a two lap green flag sprint to the finish. Cunningham led the field down The Mile's quarter-mile backstretch as Camara and Klein closed to his rear wing. As the green flag appeared and the call "green, green, green" came over the radios, Camara and Klein rolled up behind the leader. Entering turn one, both of the trailing drivers shot to the inside groove to draw closer, as Cunningham appeared to have drifted wide. "I hadn't really scrubbed the tires enough I don't think on the (caution) laps, I had a lot of pickup on the front. I just missed turn one and allowed Jaime to get under," a dejected Cunningham said after the race. That miscue was all it took for Camara to power to the inside of Cunningham to race through turns one and two and emerge with the lead down the backstretch. Klein appeared to have the fastest car of the three, but Cunningham in the last lap and a half was able to keep the young charger behind him. "From 50 laps to the end of the race, my car on the beginning was pushing a lot, but I think I did some adjustments with the weight jacker and the bars," Camara shared in victory lane. "On the (lap 98) restart there, I went low on the track. I could restart better than he did," the winner declared. "(Wade) got a little bit loose entering two and I opened up a nice gap on the back straight. I knew the win was mine at that time." Indy Pro Series driver Bobby Wilson of Oconomowoc, Wis. ran a strong race for Kenn Hardley Racing and walked away with a fourth place result in his Milwaukee Mile debut. Last month, Wilson won the Watkins Glen round in his first full season in the series. "I actually ran a fairly conservative set-up for my first race on the Mile, "Wilson explained afterwards. "The crew gave me a great car to work with, and I tried to save my stuff for the end. I've got to be happy with fourth place on my 'home track'." Series veteran Chris Festa finished in fifth place. Mequon, Wis. driver and team owner Michael Crawford crossed the line in tenth. SANTOS CONTINUES HOT STREAK, BLAZES TO TOYOTA USAC MIDGET CLASSIC 25 WIN Milwaukee, Wis. (July 21, 2006) Bobby Santos III out-dueled Billy Wease to score the victory in the TOYOTA USAC Midget Classic 25 Saturday afternoon at The Milwaukee Mile. It was his fourth victory in the ten USAC National Midget Series this season. New track record-holder Santos and Wease led the field to green, with Santos edging past to lead lap one. A quick spin involving David Byrne in turn two, quickly placed the field under the yellow flag. Wease was quick on his marks for the restart and he dove to the inside, taking command of the race from Santos, from Franklin, Mass., as racing resumed. Behind the lead duo, Dave Darland, Brad Loyet, and David Steele staged a duel of their own for third place while Jerry Coons Jr. and Cole Carter also sliced their way forward. The second and final caution flag of the event flew on lap six when Brad Kuhn slowed to a halt on the backstretch. Wease, of Noblesville, Ind., got a great jump on the ensuing restart, streaking away to a sizeable advantage over Santos as racing resumed. However, as the laps began to click away, Santos gradually reduced the distance between himself and the leader, drawing to Wease's rear bumper by lap ten. As Santos closed, Wease began to widen his line on the exit of the nine degree-banked turns. Santos looked inside on several occasions, with Wease holding the lead off the corners. looked the inside numerous times before lining up the pass with a dart to the inside of Wease heading into turn one on lap 11. Once out front, Santos extended his lead, racing uncontested over the final half to score the convincing win. "I knew I had a good car," Santos declared from victory lane. "25 laps is a long race and I knew I had to be patient. I took my time and waited until just the right time to pass before making my move." Wease settled for a second place finish while Darland turned back the challenges of Loyet to finish third. Steele rallied late for a fifth place finish ahead of Jerry Coons Jr and Cole Carter. Darren Hagen, Jay Drake, and Tom Hessert III completed the top ten finishers. Here's how they finished in the TOYOTA USAC Midget Classic 25: Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps 1 1 4 Bobby Santos Klatt Enterprises 25 2 2 80 Billy Wease Western Speed Racing 25 3 4 9 Dave Darland Nine Racing 25 4 7 05 Brad Loyet Loyet Motorsports 25 5 5 19 Dave Steele Nine Racing 25 6 10 11 Jerry Coons Jr. Wilke-Pak Racers 25 7 6 7 Cole Carter Carter Racing 25 8 11 97 Darren Hagen Keith Kunz Motorsports 25 9 14 67 Jay Drake Keith Kunz Motorsports 25 10 8 5 Tom Hessert Tom Hessert Motorsports 25 11 12 21 Levi Jones Tony Stewart Racing 25 12 9 22 Ron Gregory Irvin Motorsports 25 13 13 82 David Gough A&G Motorsports 25 14 3 37x Michael Lewis J.W. Mitchell Motorsports 25 15 17 88 Scott Thoman Steve Thoman 25 16 19 191 Ryan Durst Kasey Kahne Racing 25 17 22 57 Kevin Studley Kevin Studley 24 18 25 48 Steve Thinnes Steve Thinnes 24 19 21 36 James Anderson Anderson Motorsports 24 20 18 20b David Byrne Byrne Racing 14 21 19 33 Davey Ray Dave & Debbie Ray 13 22 16 74 Brad Kuhn Fred James 6 23 24 4x Terry Ahern Terry Ahern 5 24 15 20 Josh Wise Tony Stewart Racing 4 25 23 41 Joshua Lane Lane Charno Motorsports 3 Jim Tretow Director of Media & Communications The Milwaukee Mile 414.453.5761 x2222 jtretow@milwaukeemile.com