RICHARD ANTINUCCI QUALIFIES IN THE TOP 5 AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI FOR FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS OPENER

THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN POSTS BEST SPEED AMONG SAM SCHMIDT MOTORSPORTS DRIVERS AT SOUTH FLORIDA SPEEDWAY.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

HOMESTEAD, FL. — 23 cars took the track yesterday evening at Homestead-Miami oval for the first Firestone Indy Lights qualifying. Richard Antinucci was the eight to make a qualifying run in his group, setting the mark at 185.993 mph (299.326 kph). After all was said and done the effort proved good enough for a Top 5 spot, and today the San Diego-based driver will make his debut on an oval track event starting from the inside of third row, next to the second best Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver, Brazilian Ana Beatriz. Another Brazilian, Raphael Matos, who had been very quick in pre-season testing wound up on top of the speed charts. The Andretti Green/AFS driver basically grabbed the pole position courtesy of an impressive and unsurpassed initial lap which took only 28.4906 seconds to complete.

Antinucci raised his game in qualifying compared to his practice effort, where he concentrated mainly on race set-up. His best lap in the warmer morning and afternoon sessions was worth an 11th place (28.9874, average speed 184.425 mph). The #7 red and white Dallara has picked a spot in front of several experienced oval-track racers, therefore the Rome-born driver was feeling fairly confident of a strong points finish in today's race: “To be honest I don’t know what to expect really given that it’s my first oval race, and the first race of the championship for everyone. Taking into account that this is the strongest Firestone Indy Lights field ever starting in the Top 5 is far from bad. During my attempt I even managed to post the 3rd quickest time in Lap 1. I think that a front row spot was within our reach. Today I will just focus on doing my best, and start off the year with a pretty decent points haul.”

1. Raphael Matos average speed 186.899 mph (300,784 kph)
2. Dillon Battistini 186.541
3. Sean Guthrie 186.089
4. Andrew Prendeville 186.054
5. Richard Antinucci 185.993
6. Ana Beatriz 185.802
7. James Davison 185.786
8. Bobby Wilson 185.776
9. Wade Cunningham 185.480
10. Pablo Donoso 185.312
11. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 185.158
12. Cyndie Allemann 185.043
13. Brent Sherman 184.786
14. Logan Gomez 184.769
15. Chris Festa 184.254
16. Micky Gilbert 184.114
17. Nathan Freke 184.015
18. Al Unser III 183.581
19. Jake Slotten 183.480
20. Jon Brownson 182.923
21. Juan Manuel Polar 181.117
22. Tom Wieringa No Speed
23. J.R. Hildebrand No Speed