The Indy 500 News Bureau sent along the following dispatch on Henderson resident Sam Schmidt, who fielded four cars in the Firestone Indy Lights Series race Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
Team owner Sam Schmidt of Henderson had two drivers finish among the top five in the sixth running of the Firestone Freedom 100 Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Schmidt, who has won three of five previous 100s at the Speedway, saw Italian-born Richard Antinucci finish second and Brazilian Ana Beatriz finish fifth. They raced among the top five in the Firestone Indy Lights Series event on the famed 2.5-mile oval.
Team driver James Davison of Australia led the fourth lap, but had a tire go down after contact with another car in Turn 2 with 10 laps to go. Teammate Jon Brownson, Breckenridge, Colo., spun a Sam Schmidt entry in Turn 3, striking the wall and damaging the nosecone.
“Richard (Antinucci) did a great job,” Schmidt said. “He came from sixth, managed his tires all race and had a good shot at the leader at the end.”
Antinucci chased eventual winner Dillon Battistini of Panther Racing for the final six laps, but finished .2458-seconds short of the lead.
“We were conservative with the car and ran with a lot of downforce,” Antinucci said. “I could catch up with him in the tow but could not pass him.”
Antinucci’s runner-up finish propelled him into the series points lead by three points, 179-176, ahead of Battistini who was third in points when the race began.
“We would have liked to have had another win,” Schmidt said. “But we came away with the points lead, so it’s all good.”
Beatriz finished fifth for the second time this season, the highest finish ever in the series by a female driver.
“My car was good enough for a podium (top three) finish, unfortunately I had bad restarts,” she said. “The draft here is really big – good clean air to race in was hard to find.”
For Beatriz, racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a dream come true.
“This track is magic,” she said. “It was one of my dreams, and today I got it.”
Rookie Battistini recorded his second career victory in Saturday’s Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Wade Cunningham was third, his third top-three finish in four starts.
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