Star Mazda - Menezes P9, Horto P6, Calderon P5

Sonoma, August 28, 2011: Throughout today's late afternoon race, Californian rookie Gustavo Menezes participated in what was probably the best on-track battle of the day. The 16-year-old started in second position-his best career qualifying result-but lost the position at the start to Team Pelfrey's Connor De Phillippi. Menezes then found himself in a Team Pelfrey sandwich where he fought with the fourth place No. 81 car of Nick Andries for the majority of the race. Despite Andries' constant threats, Menezes never wavered, lost focus, or willingly gave up his third place. Unfortunately, an especially hard-fought battle near the end of the race turned into a collision that Menezes got the worse half of; he spun out and fell back, ultimately finishing the race in ninth as Andries went on to finish on the podium.

Gustavo Menezes on the race: "I learned a lot this weekend-you can really learn a lot fighting for positions! I had a decent start, but (Connor) De Phillippi had a really good start and got by me. I stayed in third, but I knew I didn't have the consistent speed to stay there. When (Nick) Andries caught up with me, that's when the battle started. He challenged me really hard and tried several moves on me. We had one of the most amazing races together, and I was happy to battle with him, even though it was difficult. In the end, I had pulled a little gap over him, but he caught me, and unfortunately we made contact. I got the bad part of it. That's racing, though. I fell back pretty far after that but did what I could and finished ninth. It's only a few days until Baltimore now, so it doesn't give me too much time to be bummed out! I'm happy with today overall and happy we showed our speed. Now we just need to stay fast for 45 minutes! I am looking forward to Baltimore now."

Championship contender J.V. Horto experienced nearly the same fate as his teammate; the Brazilian racer started this afternoon's race in fourth but lost the position on the first lap to Nick Andries. From there, Horto focused on regaining fourth and going on to grab a podium finish, but a battle with Andries at the midway point in the race left Horto spinning on the course and falling back to eighth position. Horto was able to improve as many as two positions throughout the remainder of the 45-minute event, leaving him with a sixth place finish and a big hit in the championship points.

J.V. Horto on the race: "All the practices went really well, and I was hoping to get a win or at least a podium in the race today. That's what we needed to do to stay in the championship hunt. It's going to be really hard to catch up with Tristan (Vautier) now. The track changed a lot in the race and was pretty slow. I lost fourth position on the first lap, caught back up to (Nick) Andries, and tried to pass him. Unfortunately, it didn't happen, and when I was trying to avoid contact with him, I spun. After that, I just focused on finishing as well as I could. I am looking forward to Baltimore now. It will be everybody's first time there, so we will really be able to see what we can do."

For Tatiana Calderon, this race was about driving smoothly and consistently, and therefore, collecting as many championship points as she could. That's not to say the 18-year-old was not aggressive; she challenged other drivers who wanted to take away her position and only moved up during the race. In fact, Calderon took a shot at the No. 88 car of Sage Karam on the last turn of the race and almost finished in fourth position, but she was unable to hold on to the pass, resulting in a fifth place finish. The result matched Calderon's second-best finish of the season (fifth at Iowa Speedway), showcasing her natural ability as a road course racer.

Tatiana Calderon on the race: "It was a crazy race for me. The track changed so much in the race, and the grip of the car was so different than in other sessions. It was hard to save the tires, which is usually what I'm best at. At the end of the race, you have to push as hard as you can, and that's what I did. I got close to Sage (Karam), but I didn't quite make it past him. I'm still learning, but I love this track and love road courses. We still have two races to go, and I am looking forward to getting to Baltimore next weekend. The team has done a great job all year, and we are going to keep pushing for the rest of the season."