Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing driver improves championship position following ‘Night Before The 500’
REDLANDS, CA (May 29, 2014) – Progression continues for Mazda Road to Indy driver Neil Alberico as the Californian competed in his first oval event during his rookie season in the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The Allied Building Products Oval Challenge took place on May 24 at the Lucas Oil Raceway as part of the ‘Night Before The 500’ festivities surrounding the 98th Indianapolis 500. The Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing pilot took part in the seventh round of the championship series, placing sixth in the 90-lap feature race to help move into a tie for third in the point standings at the halfway point of the season.
Leading up to the event, Alberico ran in two test sessions to put his No. 2 Rising Star Racing/Arai/OMP Racing/J&M Trophies/Oakley/Bondurant School of High Performance Driving/SafeisFast/eFormulaCarNews.com entry among the front half of the order. Alberico did a total of 50 laps in the two practice sessions on Saturday afternoon, preparing for qualifying and the 90-lap race later that evening. His quickest lap was recorded in the first practice session (20.659), which put him fifth overall. The qualifying session to line up the 13-driver field followed, giving the Pro Mazda Championship drivers two laps of single-car track time on new Cooper tires. The combined time of the two circuits around the 5/8-mile oval set the grid, with Alberico ending up seventh in the order with a best lap of 20.542 seconds and a combined time of 41.019.
“We had a very clean two-lap qualifying run that put us seventh for the race,” reflected Alberico, on his weekend at the Lucas Oil Raceway. “It was not exactly where we wanted to be, however, we knew we had a long race to make up some positions to get to the front.”
When the race went green, Alberico enjoyed a strong run into turn one to gain a position as the field fought for everything they could. He settled into a groove at the tail of the lead group, and closed up on his challengers as the leader caught slower traffic. Despite the fact that he could close slightly midway through the race, his car was off ever so slightly. The level of competition in the Pro Mazda series is so high that parity in speed makes it extremely difficult to pass. As a result, Alberico would focus on maintaining his position through the end off the 90-lap run, which was run from start to finish with no caution periods to bunch the field back together.
“We got a great start initially, making our way to sixth and I began to gain on the leaders as our pack was catching traffic,” Alberico continued. “Getting around lapped traffic is the biggest factor around these tight ovals. And with some rookie drivers new to oval racing, it makes that task much for difficult to maneuver. The balance of the car was not ideal, as we made some changes to the car after qualifying to do our best to predict the cooler night-time conditions.”
That said, Alberico’s sixth-place finish helped to advance the Pro Mazda rookie into a tie for the third position in the overall championship standings. In seven races, the Californian has finished all of the events in the top-six, including two podium finishes at the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis earlier this month. Along with teammate Scott Hargrove, the Cape Motorsport with Wayne Taylor Racing squad is only three points out of first in the Team Championship standings. With two double-header weekends on the horizon (Houston and Mid-Ohio), the goal is to continue earning strong finishes and score that elusive first series victory.
“Overall, it was an awesome weekend as we moved up in the championship with half the season still left to go,” added Alberico. “I'd say the entire month of May was pretty good to us as a team. We still have this forward momentum going for us into the street race in Houston.”
Alberico will be at the upcoming Chevrolet IndyCar Dual in Detroit on Belle Isle Park in Michigan to support fellow Rising Star Racing athlete Josef Newgarden. On June 4-5, Alberico returns behind the wheel of his Pro Mazda machine during a Mazda Road to Indy test session at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Mansfield, Ohio. The season resumes on June 28-29 with Round Eight and Nine at the Reliant Park street circuit in Houston, Texas.