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| May 27, 2012 News |
| Star Mazda: De Phillippi Wins Back-to-Back Night Before the 500 Races |
 | Connor De Phillippi made it two-for-two at Lucas Oil Raceway with his second Night Before the 500 win
(Photo: Star Mazda Championship - Eric McCombs) |
Californian Connor De Phillippi made it back-to-back Night Before the 500 wins on Saturday night (May 26) in Indiana, leading the charge of three top young American open wheel racers in Round Five of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear.
Starting from the PEAK pole, De Phillippi led the entire way in his No. 2 Juncos Racing/ModSpace Racing/One24 Mazda.
Finishing secnd was last year's Star Mazda Rookie of the Year, and winner of two of the three oval races on the schedule, Nazareth, Pa., native Sage Karam in the No. 88 Andretti Autosport/Comfort Revolution Mazda.
Claiming the final spot on the podium was one of the youngest drivers in the field, Zach Veach of Stockdale, Ohio, driver of the No. 77 Andretti Autosport/K12.com/Zakoski Data Backup Mazda. Each finished where they qualified... which says little about how fast and competitive this race actually was.
This is De Phillippi's second win from the PEAK pole so far this season, including his building on victory in the season-opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.... but still leaves him second in the points championship, albeit only by 12 points, behind Jack Hawksworth, who has also win two races and finished eight in Round Five. Karam has now scored two second place finish of the season, benefiting from the points shuffle, as he moves up from seventh to sixth. The third place finish is Veach's first podium finish of the season, and jumps him up the championship ladder from 12th to ninth.
"Our plan was to build a lead over four or five laps and then control the pace of the race, which, even with two short yellows and two re-starts, is what we did," said De Phillippi. "This is probably my favorite victory so far because when we came here for the series test on May 5, we were about three-tenths off the pace. So we went back to the shop and went to work and figured it out as a team, and this is absolutely a victory not just for me but for the entire Juncos Racing organization. And what we achieved here really provides a good foundation, both operationally and mentally, for the next race on the schedule, the one-mile oval at Iowa Speedway."
Rounding out the top-five were Martin Scuncio, who started seventh in the No. 22 Juncos Racing/Pullman Bus Mazda and moved up to finish fourth. Finnish racer Petri Suvanto, who won the USF2000 race here last year and went on to win the championship, along with the Mazda Road to Indy scholarship that is funding his 2012 Star Mazda campaign, started fifth and finished fifth... all the more remarkable for missing the three-hour test session on Friday as his team chased 'electrical gremlins' in his No. 81 Team Pelfrey/Mazda Road to Indy/RKM Building Mazda.
It would be remiss not to mention the efforts of Gustavo Menezes, who qualified an uncharacteristic 11th in his No. 83 Team Pelfrey/TrueCar.com Mazda and raced through the field to finish sixth.
The Star Mazda Championship cars all carry two Replay XD1080 cameras to provide exciting driver POV footage for races that are broadcast tape-delayed during the Mazda Motorsports Hour on Discovery's Velocity Channel. Round Five at the Night Before the 500 will air on Monday, June 18 and Saturday, June 23 at 12 Noon ET.
Round Six of the 2012 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear - a race that Sage Karam won last year - takes place at the Indy Grand Prix of Iowa on the 1.0-mile Iowa Speedway on June 22-23.
The top-three will be posted following every session on the EFCN Facebook page, EFCN Twitter page, and EFCN Insider Twitter page.
Star Mazda Championship
Round 5 - Race Results
May 26, 2012
Lucas Oil Raceway - Clermont, Indiana
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Diff. | Fast Time| 1. | Connor De Phillippi | Juncos Racing | - | 20.420 | | 2. | Sage Karam | Andretti Autosport | 1.737 | 20.691 | | 3. | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | 3.463 | 20.806 | | 4. | Martin Scuncio | Juncos Racing | 4.664 | 20.850 | | 5. | Petri Suvanto | Team Pelfrey | 6.052 | 20.863 | | 6. | Gustavo Menezes | Team Pelfrey | 7.859 | 21.076 | | 7. | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | 8.557 | 21.130 | | 8. | Juan Piedrahita | JDC MotorSports | 12.129 | 20.948 | | 9. | Gabby Chaves | JDC MotorSports | 1 Lap | 21.044 | | 10. | Diego Ferreira | Juncos Racing | 1 Lap | 21.085 | | 11. | Carlos Linares | Linares Racing | 2 Laps | 21.496 | | 12. | Andre Mendez | Team GDT | 2 Laps | 21.534 | | 13. | Camilo Schmidt | Linares Racing | 3 Laps | 21.824 | | 14. | Bruno Palli | Juncos Racing | 21 Laps | 21.039 | | 15. | Ashley Freiberg | JDC MotorSports | 24 Laps | 21.722 | | 16. | Zack Myer | AIM Autosport | 70 Laps | 21.407 | |
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