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Chicagoland Indy Pro Series: Local Rookie Edges The Champ

JOLIET, IL: An open wheel crash-fest turned into a
thriller at the end as Crown Point, Indiana’s Logan
Gomez capped his rookie season in the Indy Pro Series
with a spectacular photo finish victory over recently
crowned 2007 IPS champ Alex Lloyd. The victory margin
of 0.0005 seconds is the closest finish in the entire
history of the Indy Racing League!

As expected, Alex Lloyd continued his domination of
the IPS 2007 season by leading a total of 38 of 67
laps, but found himself in a wheel-to-wheel dual
during the final laps, as Gomez refused to be denied.

In victory lane, a surprisingly composed Logan Gomez
offered his thoughts following his first professional
victory:

“It feels great. Alex had a great run out there
as well as us. I think that Sam Schmidt Motorsports
was the class of the field today. It’s great to go out
with a win at the end of the year. I’m
looking forward next to running in the Indy Pro Series
possibly. You couldn’t ask for anything else. We
progressed from not finishing races at the beginning
of the year to winning a race at the end of the
year,so it’s just been a steady progression. Hopefully
we can start here next year.” (About running
side-by-side at the front of the pack): “That was my
first time, especially with Alex. I knew he’d race me
clean, and I did the favor back to him. To race
side-by-side with somebody like that who is going
places is really a great feeling. To beat him is even
better. It’s about as close as you can get a finish. I
couldn’t ask for much more out of this series.”

33 of the 67 race laps were run under the caution. The
most heart-stopping crash occurred on lap 43, as
Travis Gregg, charging from dead last starting
position to join the lead pack, pinched third-running
Wade Cunningham into the wall entering turn three.
Cunningham’s car executed a a frightening “blow-over”,
landing upside down hard. Amazingly, Cunningham was
out of the car and on his feet before help arrived.

Chicagoland 100 results:

1. (4) Logan Gomez, 67, Running $32,500
2. (1) Alex Lloyd, 67, Running $26,000
3. (7) Robbie Pecorari, 67, Running $20,000
4. (11) Bobby Wilson, 67, Running $16,400
5. (16) Mike Potekhen, 67, Running $15,900
6. (17) Sean Guthrie, 67, Running $15,400
7. (19) P.J. Abbott, 67, Running $14,900
8. (15) Jon Brownson, 67, Running $14,400
9. (18) Ken Losch, 67, Running $13,900
10. (14) Jimmy Kite, 67, Running $13,400
11. (21) Brad Jaeger, 67, Running $12,400
12. (10) Stephen Simpson, 65, Running $11,400
13. (12) Leilani Muenter, 55, Running $10,400
14. (3) Ben Petter, 49, Running $10,000
15. (8) Jonathan Klein, 45, Mechanical $9,500
16. (22) Travis Gregg, 43, Contact $9,000
17. (2) Wade Cunningham, 43, Contact $8,500
18. (13) Adam Andretti, 34, Contact $8,000
19. (6) Chris Festa, 13, Contact $5,000
20. (5) Jaime Camara, 13, Contact $4,000
21. (9) Andrew Prendeville, 4, Mechanical $3,000
22. (20) Tom Wieringa, 0, Did not start $2,000

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 108.764 mph
Time of race: 56:10.8201
Margin of victory: 0.0005 of a second
Cautions: 5 caution flags for 33 laps
Lead changes: 9 among 4 drivers
Lap leaders: Lloyd 1-7, Cunningham 8-12, Lloyd 13-14,
Cunningham 15, Lloyd 16, Klein 17, Lloyd 18-41, Gomez
42, Lloyd 43-46, Gomez 47-67.

Final point standings: Lloyd 652, Mutoh 481,
Cunningham 423, Wilson 393, Potekhen 379, Camara 373,
Gomez 368, Pecorari 344, Simpson 340, Festa 313.

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