Sunday,
May 31
PPG-DAYTON INDY LIGHTS CHAMPIONSHIPThe
Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.
MILWAUKEE RACE NOTES--
TWO MORE TOP-10s FOR MATTCO: The
first-year Mattco Raceworks team collected its second set
of top-10 finishes in today's 97-lap Indy Lights race at The
Milwaukee Mile, the fifth event on the 14-race Indy Lights
schedule. Rookie Tony Renna, 21, of DeLand, Fla., driving
the No. 77 Alco Capital Group/Nassi Group Lola, earned his
best result of the year with a fifth place finish, after starting
second on the 24-car grid. Mark Hotchkis, in the No. 78 Alco
Capital Group/Nassi Group Lola, started 17th and carved his
way into seventh place by the end of the event. Renna ran
fourth throughout out most of the race and engaged in a spirited
battle with pole-sitter Sergio Paese for third, before being
nipped at the finish line by Geoff Boss. The race was won
by Derek Higgins. Hotchkis, who struggled with the setup on
his Lola all weekend, finally dialed his car in about midway
through the race and at the end was consistently turning some
of the quickest laps in the field.
TONY RENNA: "I had a ton of fun
today. But it is so hard to pass, and what happens is you
get into traffic a little bit and you just lose that front
end and you just cannot get on the power like you want to.
It's tricky on these short ovals. It was my first real experience
of how you lose downforce in the corners. I think we were
faster than Paese and we had a good fight for third. Then
right at the end we got into traffic. Two cars were right
next to each other and just blocked up all the air going to
my front wing and the front end just washed out. Alone, the
car was great. I think the results this weekend are very indicative
that the team is coming together and getting better."
MARK HOTCHKIS: "I think we picked
up speed for two reasons. One was I altered my line to one
that the car liked better. In a tighter line there was great
grip and the car liked it. So I consistently tried to hit
it, which helped a lot. The other thing was, it was just a
matter of time. I was fighting understeer in the beginning
of the race and I knew that if I took care of the front tires
that eventually it would come around. I had to be so patient
and I hate to do that. I love to go out and attack right from
the green flag, but this weekend I had to wait for the car.
I had several great moments before it settled down."
MATT COHEN, MATTCO RACEWORKS
TEAM OWNER: "Tony and Mark did an awesome job. Tony did a
great job keeping his nose clean running up front. It's too
bad he just got nipped at the finish line, but at least it
was clean. I had a little discussion with Mark in the middle
of the race when it looked like the car was hooked up a little
better, and I told him to just go for it. Apparently he did,
because he was turning quickest laps at the end and picked
up a bunch of spots. I'm looking forward to doing some road
racing for a while. Hopefully, it won't be as hard on equipment.
Lola's been loving us lately."
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