Cunningham Wins Exciting Kentucky 100 Indy Lights Race

Sparta, KY (August 1, 2009) – Wade Cunningham driving the Lucas Oil-Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry held off Sebastian Saavedra and Ana Beatriz to win the Kentucky 100 at the Kentucky Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon. This is Cunningham’s second win this season and seventh time in Firestone Indy Lights history. The 100th race in series history saw many packs of car dicing in and out of traffic with Cunningham, Saavedra and others all fighting for the top spot.

However a late yellow for a spin spoiled what could’ve been an exciting finish. Cunningham is the series leader in laps led, increasing that total to 716. Saavedra, who finished second, closed to 40 points of series leader J.R. Hildebrand whose car stalled on the pace lap. Saavedra recorded his third consecutive top-five finish and seventh of the season. Ana Beatriz posted her fifth top-five finish of the season with third place. Confusion on the final white/green flag caused some cars to go and others not, thus the caution came out right away freezing the field.

Cunningham remarked after the race, “It was a difficult race, even when I was in the lead those last 25-28 laps. Sebastian had a very strong car, and the car behind him dropped into a taller gear, which, that’s how I got him but I knew he was going to be able to make a run. He was pushing his car in a way that maybe he may have damaged his front tires, because he wasn’t as strong as strong the last 10 laps as he was before, and I was able to take advantage of that.”

Saavedra added, “I’m very happy. We scored some very important points for us. The car was great. The whole AGR/AFS Racing team did an incredible job. We were just doing as planned, trying to be side-by-side with Wade (Cunningham) at the start-finish, but that yellow flag just made everything impossible. We’re still in the same position in the points for the championship and I’m looking forward to Mid-Ohio.”

Beatriz said, “We got speed on the straight and I was able to overtake for first position, but I couldn’t hold it. It seems like the other cars just had more power at the exit of corners, and that’s why we lost it. But we had a top 10, passed a lot of people, got a podium and I think it was a great day. I couldn’t be happier for (my team).” (What happened on that caution?): “My spotter called green, so I went go, go, go and I pushed the throttle, and actually Wade went fast too. I saw the yellow flag and the white flag, it was really confusing, I thought it was yellow.”

Steve Zautke

Steve Zautke, a Milwaukee, WI native, was raised in the sport of auto racing. His father, Bill, was a movie photographer that shot racing footage at tracks such as the Milwaukee Mile and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1960’s and 1970’s Steve’s first professional job in racing was as an Emergency Medical Technician at tracks such as Angell Park and Hales Corners Speedway (1988-1991). Steve has also worked for the Milwaukee Mile as videographer, in media relations and historian (1993-2011). Steve also has worked as a reporter for Racing Information Systems (RIS) and has written features for ‘Vintage Oval Racing’ and ‘Victory Lane’ magazines. Most recently, Steve has written a book on Road America for Arcadia Publishing. ( http://www.amazon.com/Road-America-Nascar-Library-Collection/dp/1467111457 ) Steve co-hosts “Sparky’s Final Inspection” a motorsports-based radio show with hosts, Steve “Sparky” Fifer and “NASCAR Girl” Summer Santana on Sports Radio 1250AM in Milwaukee and is also available on the internet at www.Sportradio1250.com. A member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Steve follows all types of racing from the dirt tracks to Formula One.

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