AFTER ROUND 15 JUST RUNNER-UP RICHARD ANTINUCCI AND POINTS LEADER RAPHAEL MATOS ARE LEFT CHASING THE FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS TITLE: THEIR DUEL WILL BE SETTLED IN 2 WEEKS AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY

THE BRAZILIAN POINTS LEADER HAS TINY 3-POINT LEAD AFTER CONTROVERSIAL OVERTAKING MOVE ON BAFFLED SAM SCHMIDT MOTORSPORTS DRIVER AT 2.303-MILE INFINEON RACEWAY ROAD COURSE

Sunday, August 24, 2008

SUNDAY'S NOTES
SONOMA, Ca. — A record 9 drivers have won this season, but going into the Firestone Indy Lights season finale only two drivers will be bidding for the title: San Diego's Richard Antinucci and Brazil's Raphael Matos. Sunday's end of the Infineon double-header was mainly quite uneventful, with Pablo Donoso winning his maiden race starting from pole on the reversed grid after his 8th place yesterday: the top 8 cars from the Carneros 100 were inverted on the grid for the Valley of the Moon 100. Saturday's Top 3 drivers — winner Franck Perera, Matos and Antinucci — were right where they started for most of the race, all bunched up across the Northern California 12-turn road course. Antinucci was three laps away from posting his 10th Top 5 finish of the season — and from retaking the points lead — when Matos, who had been right on the tail of the #7 Lucas Oil Lifelock Dallara from the green light, blatantly punted off Antinucci going into Turn 11 just after having cut the crtitical chicane on the inside. Perera, who had closely trailed the Brazilian until there, took profit of the dust-up going past both and picking up the 5th place, in front of Matos and Antinucci. Race control reviewed the shunt but no penalty was issued.

RICHARD'S TAKE
"I am pretty sure I would not have any problem to keep Matos at bay until the end if it had not been for a backmarker stalled at the hairpin. This has given him a chance to close in again, then in the backstraight he went to the outside and cut the track so he came out right behind by cutting the track. That's how he gained the advantage. I chose the inside from the beginning knowing that he was right on my tail and I would get passed. I can't bank on having the race review that later on, so I defended my position from the inside and he choose the outside and then back inside and just lifted me in the air and pushed me off. What left me baffled was that race control took the decision about this contact without having a look at video footage and on-board cameras, let alone telemetry. What I actually could not believe is that I've asked stewards Rick Mears and Tony Cotman if anything would have been different if I had posted a DNF after being punted off, instead of a 6th place finish, and they said yes. It seems that stability is not the priority for their officiating and moreover I would expect Tony Cotman — who officiated in Formula Atlantic where Matos won the 2007 title— to have plenty of first-hand knowledge of his driving tactics. I had never seen Sam Schmidt so upset after a race, I am not happy with that too but, it's not the end of my season, I am still confident for Chicagoland: three points behind, it's happened before, it's not what can scare the hell out of me."