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Camara Pulls Out Dramatic Victory For Andretti Green Racing In Indy Pro Series Thriller
Milwaukee, Wis (July 22, 2006) - The old saying “it’s never over until
it’s over” came into play perfectly during Saturday afternoon’s
Milwaukee 100 Indy Pro Series race, as Jaime Camara led just the final two
laps to steal the victory from Wade Cunningham.
To say Cunningham dominated a majority of the race would be an understatement
as he took the lead from the pole position and simply drove away from the
field, at one point building up a lead of more than five seconds over Camara
and 19 year-old Jonathan Klein. While comfortably out front,
Cunningham’s lap times began to trail off around lap 70, allowing Camara and
Klein to close every so slightly.
The lead had shrunk for Cunningham, driving for Brian Stewart Racing, down to
just over a second with ten laps to go.
The event’s only caution flag waved on lap 94 when Tom Wood’s wounded Indy
Pro Series machine came to rest against the inside wall on the backstretch.
The track and series safety teams quickly cleared the track, setting up a two
lap green flag sprint to the finish. Cunningham led the field down The
Mile’s quarter-mile backstretch as Camara and Klein closed to his rear
wing. As the green flag appeared and the call “green, green, green”
came over the radios, Camara and Klein rolled up behind the leader. Entering
turn one, both of the trailing drivers shot to the inside groove to draw
closer, as Cunningham appeared to have drifted wide.
“I hadn’t really scrubbed the tires enough I don’t think on the
(caution) laps, I had a lot of pickup on the front. I just missed turn
one and allowed Jaime to get under,” a dejected Cunningham said after the
race.
That miscue was all it took for Camara to power to the inside of Cunningham to
race through turns one and two and emerge with the lead down the backstretch.
Klein appeared to have the fastest car of the three, but Cunningham in the
last lap and a half was able to keep the young charger behind him.
“From 50 laps to the end of the race, my car on the beginning was pushing a
lot, but I think I did some adjustments with the weight jacker and the
bars,” Camara shared in victory lane.
“On the (lap 98) restart there, I went low on the track. I could
restart better than he did,” the winner declared. “(Wade) got a
little bit loose entering two and I opened up a nice gap on the back
straight. I knew the win was mine at that time.”
Indy Pro Series driver Bobby Wilson of Oconomowoc, Wis. ran a strong race for
Kenn Hardley Racing and walked away with a fourth place result in his
Milwaukee Mile debut. Last month, Wilson won the Watkins Glen round in
his first full season in the series.
"I actually ran a fairly conservative set-up for my first race on the
Mile, “Wilson explained afterwards. “The crew gave me a great car to work
with, and I tried to save my stuff for the end. I've got to be happy with
fourth place on my ‘home track’.”
Series veteran Chris Festa finished in fifth place. Mequon, Wis. driver
and team owner Michael Crawford crossed the line in tenth.
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