Kester 3G Experiences Variety of Events at Utah Grand Prix

Tooele, May 17, 2009 Round three of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear headed underway this weekend during the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Taylor Hacquard ran strong in the #15 Wolfe Auto Group car on Saturday, claiming a tenth place qualifying position and heading into the race with a solid car. Unfortunately for Taylor, his race was compromised when he got caught up in a first lap incident, causing him to drop back to a 13th place finish.

Kristy Kester battled with the rest of the 33-car field in her #48 Texas World Speedway machine on the same tires she used for qualifying earlier in the day. She found speed and positions for several laps in the middle of the race, but struggled to maintain the ground she had gained, despite her efforts.

The #24 Texas World Speedway car of J.C. Kester witnessed a little more action than predicted when who was believed to be the #71 AIM Autosport car of David Ostella unexpectedly drove up over the rear of J.C.’s car in a turn 7 incident. J.C. was able to continue the race with a mechanically able car, but a damaged engine cover caused problems during the remainder of the race for the young Texan.

Chris Cumming in the #16 Inviro Medical car seemed to have his second first-place Expert Series finish of the season set for the majority of the race until an unforeseen mechanical problem occurred. Chris was running in the top half of the field until a suspension piece broke in the car, forcing him to pull off the track and park the car, ending his race.

Taylor Hacquard, #15

Taylor on the race: “I started in a great place. On the first lap, I got tangled up in a mess turning into turn 5 which made me fall back a few positions. I did develop some push in the car, but it changed into a little bit of an oversteer later. I did manage to get up back up a few positions, though. Overall, we had a good finish, but it wasn’t where we thought we could have finished this race.”

Kristy Kester, #48

Kristy on the race: “I was the only driver in the field that started the race on old tires which put me at a disadvantage right away. I had a few good laps on the tires in the middle of the race, but they went off very quickly after that, and I wasn’t able to gain back any ground. Other than that, it was a really clean race for me which was good.”

J.C. Kester, #24

J.C. on the race: “I’m not really sure what happened, but on lap two, turn 7, a car suddenly appeared on top of me. My car was still drivable, but the accident basically turned my engine cover into a parachute for the rest of the race which hurt me. It seems like I haven’t been able to catch a break just yet this season, but we’re thrashing on it now to go to testing.”

Chris Cumming, #16

Chris on the race: “I’m disappointed because we had a great race going and a great car. I believe I was even up to 11th position at one point. Out of nowhere, a suspension piece broke in a corner, and I had to pull off the track. Thankfully, I didn’t hit anything, but it’s too bad because I was totally in control of the Expert Class race at that point. I want to thank the team for all their efforts this weekend.”

Kester Racing with Team 3G will continue its 2009 season next month at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ. The recently built track will host the first double-header race weekend of the season providing an exciting and challenging event for rounds four and five of the Star Mazda Championship.