DALY DOES A HAT TRICK WITH THIRD STAR MAZDA VICTORY IN A ROW IN 'NIGHT BEFORE THE 500' AT O'REILLY RACEWAY PARK


By Star Mazda

May 29, 2010

star mazda conor daly win 3O'Reilly Raceway Park / Saturday, May 29 – Starting from the outside of the front row on the .626-mile O'Reilly Raceway Park oval, Conor Daly jumped into the lead on Lap 1 and led the entire race by a substantial margin to score his third Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear victory in a row driving the #22 Juncos Racing / INDECK / The College Network / Merchant Services Ltd. / Tom Lange Co. Mazda.  His race was a picture-perfect demonstration of a rising open-wheel star hitting his stride, never putting a wheel wrong, and bringing the crowd charging into Victory Lane as he completed his final lap.  Finishing second was pole-sitter Mikael Grenier of Quebec City in the #17 Andersen Racing / Slow Cow / April Super Flow / NAPA Auto Parts / HS Telecom / Desharnais Mazda, followed by Brazilian racer Joao Victor Horto in his #18 Team Apex / Wabash Capital Investments Mazda.  Texan Rusty Mitchell, driving the #66 Mitchell Motorsports / Motorola / Petro Comm Mazda, qualified 5th and finished 4th after a mistake-free race.

"It wasn't as easy at it looked, but O'Reilly Raceway Park has done a lot for my career tonight," said Indianapolis native Daly, who graudated from his local high school on May 14.  "Anybody who thinks driving open wheel cars in an oval race has no idea what they are talking about.  Its so easy to make a mistake, and so difficult not to make one.  The Juncos Racing team has been doing a phenominal job and giving me great cars.  I love ovals and the next race on June 19 with the IndyCar series is Iowa Speedway.  I qualified 8th there last year and finished 2nd after an epic battle with Peter Dempsey, who is now working with the Juncos team and helping me with my season.  I'm fortunate, like Rick Mears said, to 'be in the right place at the right time with the right people and equipment.'  I like this feeling of winning, and I'm going to do my very best to keep on doing it."

        Some drama was added to the race when four cars who qualified well were penalized and moved back on the starting grid due to 'technical infractions' discovered in post-race inspections.  The principal victims of this situation were French racer Tristan Vautier, who was moved back from the sharp end of the grid to 11th, and then worked his way back up to 6th driving the #38 Andersen Racing / Moulin TP / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda.  Also Scandinavian racer Anders 'The Viking' Krohn who was dropped to 10th on the grid and finished 5th in his #47 Andersen Racing / Norse Cutting & Abandonment / Trallfa / Colosseum Mazda.  The heartbreak story of the race was young Venezuelan racer Carlos Linares who stunned the big guns by setting the fastest time in Friday practice, but qualified his repaired car 8th on the grid only to find the wall in Turn 3 on Lap 25 for the race's single full-course yellow after looking very racy in the early stages.

Pos

No.

Name

Laps

Avg. Speed

Sponsor

1

22

Conor Daly

122

105.744

INDECK, The College Network, Merchant Services Ltd.,

Tom Lang Co.

2

17

Mikael Grenier

122

105.614

Slow Cow, April Super Flow, NAPA Auto Parts,

HS Telecom, Desharnais

3

18

Joao Horto

122

105.526

Wabash Capital Investments

4

66

Rusty Mitchell

122

105.457

Motorola, Petro Comm.

5

47

Anders Krohn

121

104.829

Norse Cutting and Abandonment, Trallfa Industries,

Colosseum

6

38

Tristan Vautier

121

104.698

Moulin TP, Cecibon, Circuit du Laquais, Fontanel

7

11

Connor De Phillippi

121

104.564

Mazdaspeed Motorsports, Skip Barber

8

16

David Ostella

120

103.925

GP Global Precast

9

19

Caio Lara

120

103.770

MLD/ATW/Molecule

10

9

Jorge Goncalvez

115

106.388

Wabash Capital Investments

11

25

Tatiana Calderon

48

94.882

Kia Motors

12

20

Carlos Linares

25

80.331

IND

13

85

Chris Miller

1

73.728

Miller Milling, Red Line Oil

 

As a result of his third victory in a row, Conor Daly expands his lead in the championship points battle to 29 over Mikael Grenier (171 vs 142).  Anders Krohn is a close third with 139 points, followed by Joao Horto (128) and a tie for 5th with both Tristan Vautier and MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder Scholarship Winner Connor De Phillippi (#11 JDC Motorsports / MAZDASPEED Motorsports / Skip Barber Mazda) at 124.  It should be noted that the Star Mazda Championship awards 44 points for a win, and awards points down through 15th place, so with nine races remaining in the 2010 season, the championship battle is still wide open.

The next race, Round 5 of the 2010 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, takes place on June 19, with the IZOD IndyCar series at Iowa Speedway.  Conor Daly's driver coach, Peter Dempsey, won that race last year, with Daly finishing 2nd.  Returning drivers with experience on the Iowa Speedway's 1-mile oval include David Ostella (#16 AIM Autosport / GP Global Precast Mazda) who finished 3rd, Rusty Mitchell who finished 4th, Anders Krohn who finished 6th, Brazilian Caio Lara (#19 JDC Motorsports / MLD / ATW Mazda) who finished 9th  and Jorge Goncalvez (#9 Team Apex / Wabash Capital Investments Mazda) who completed only two laps and finished 21st

 

About Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear

For 2010, the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will feature an 11-weekend, 13-race schedule, most on major race weekends with American Le Mans and the Indy Racing League. Rising stars from around the world will compete for prizes valued at $1.5 million and benefit from two driver development programs, including the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder and the Indy Racing League's 'Road to Indy' program.  Series alumni include Indy Car stars Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal and Raphael Matos, rising NASCAR drivers Michael McDowell, Scott Speed and Colin Braun and prototype racers Dane Cameron and Guy Cosmo.  Drivers 16 and older are welcome to compete and the Star Mazda Championship also features Expert (30 to 44) and Master (45 and older) classes for more mature racers. The Star Mazda Championship features standing starts, wheel-to-wheel racing at 150 mph and budgets a fraction of other top open-wheel ladder series. For more information on the Star Mazda Championship please visit www.starmazda.com.  Selected Star Mazda Championship races are broadcast on HDnet and syndicated through a variety of international, national and regional networks.  Information on the TV schedule can be found at www.MazdaRacing.tv.  Additional information, including search links and affiliates, can be found at the 'TV Information' link on the Series web site.

________________________________

For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and its drivers, as well as the Mazda Motorsports ladder system, please visit www.starmazda.com and www.mazdausa.com.   For information, interviews and photos, contact Star Mazda Communications Director Peter Frey at (818) 398-5733 or StarMazdaPR@aol.com. 

________________________________

On any given weekend, there are more Mazdas on the road-race tracks of America than any other brand of vehicle.  At the track, you’ll see MX-5 Miata, RX-8, MAZDA3, MAZDA6, RX-7 and other vintage Mazda models competing, because every Mazda has the Soul of a Sports Car. 

For more information on the various Mazda spec series, visit:

www.usf2000.com                  www.skipbarber.com              www.mx-5cup.com

Dean Case / Communications Officer / MAZDASPEED Motorsports

(310) 318-4582 / E-mail: MAZDASPEED@MazdaUSA.com

 

Keywords: star mazda, conor daly

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