Indy Lights: Jason Bright shines at Long Beach; Mears also strong
17 April 2000
JASON BRIGHT SHINES AT LONG BEACH
CASEY MEARS STRONG IN FIFTH PLACE FINISH
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 17, 2000) - - Jason Bright, of Gold
Coast, Australia, showed how poise, tact, and intelligence will win over
reckless abandon every time in scoring a second place finish in his Dayton
Indy Lights Championship debut at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach,
Sunday, April 16.
Meanwhile, teammate Casey Mears, of Bakersfield, Calif., gave the
finishing order a distinctly "Dorricott Racing" feel with a fifth place
finish in the Dorricott Racing/Sooner Trailer Lola.
Bright, who started third, craftily stalked polesitter Jonny Kane,
of Ireland, and outside pole winner Scott Dixon, of New Zealand, for the
first 34 of the scheduled 38 laps before opportunity knocked on lap 35.
Kane overshot turn one of the eight turn, 1.968-mile seaside street circuit
and slid into a runoff area. Dixon assumed the lead followed closely by
Bright. Three more cars including Mears passed Kane before he was able to
resume the race, dropping him to sixth place.
Dixon was able to build on more than a two-second cushion over
Bright during the remaining four laps and crossed the finish line
3.753-seconds ahead of Bright to capture his second career Indy Lights
victory. Brazilian Felipe Giaffone finished 1.172-seconds behind Bright to
clinch third place.
"Dorricott Racing gave me a great car," said Bright at the
post-race press conference. "It didn't miss a beat all weekend. I was a
little rusty on the re-starts and the rear of the car stepped out a few
times. Felipe (Giaffone) sneaked up on me a couple of times but I was able
to stretch out the gap and stay in front of him."
Mears started sixth in the 19-car grid and quietly held his
position as the field quickly spread out after the opening lap. The
unexpected calm of this race offered few opportunities for Mears to
challenge the front-runners but a couple of handling problems also affected
his "edge" on three race re-starts following caution periods.
"We had a big push yesterday and today," said Mears. "We knew going
into the race we'd have some push but we didn't know how much it would
affect the car. We didn't get much track time on Saturday because of motor
problems. The push turned out worse than we expected. Midway through the
race I was trying to burn off the rear tires to gain more balance. That
knocked my times down and the car got much quicker. I was starting to reel
in Jeff Simmons but then a yellow flag was issued. My rear tires were
burned off by then so I couldn't accelerate out of the hairpin (turn eight)
as quick as I needed on the re-start. Overall it was a good day. We earned
points and we're in the championship hunt as we head for our next race in
Milwaukee (Wis.)."
Dorricott Racing's "hard luck kid" of the weekend was first-year
Lights driver Townsend Bell, of Costa Mesa, Calif. Bell, who started 10th,
was running strong on a solid race set-up early in the race. Disaster
literally struck him from behind on lap seven in the form of French driver
Soheil Ayari.
Ayari, who was running 11th, misread his entry into turn six and
struck the left rear side Bell's DirecPC Lola to literally "punt" Bell out
of the race. Bell was able to avoid wall contact but the car stalled on the
back straight-away. Ayari continued to pit lane with minimal damage but
retired from the race nonetheless. Bell was unable to re-start the car and
was saddled with 17th place finish.
Bright earned 16 championship points for second place and trails
Dixon for the series lead, 20-16. Bright, however, assumed the lead for
Rookie-of-the-Year with a four point margin over Jeff Simmons, of East
Granby, Conn., 16-12. Mears earned 10 points and holds fifth place in the
championship.
Bright was also awarded two Dayton Daytona racing tires as the
Dayton Rookie Award recipient for being the highest finishing Indy Lights
rookie driver.