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Team E’s Mitchell Ends Up Eighth In Kentucky Firestone Indy Lights Race

SPARTA, Ky., Oct. 3 - Team E Racing’s Rusty Mitchell did a masterful job to avoid getting caught up in a five-car accident at the start of Sunday’s Firestone Indy Lights race at Kentucky Speedway, and ended up finishing eighth to continue his record of never placing outside of the top 10 in an oval-track race.

Mitchell, of Midland, Texas, was forced to drop out of the 67-lap race with 35 laps complete due to a rare mechanical problem. The initial indications are it might have been a problem with the car’s ring and pinion or its clutch.

The car, which is sponsored by Motorola and Petro Communications, was very fast here. Mitchell set his fastest lap of the race on lap 19 with a time of 28.1102 seconds for the 1.48-mile oval, which is an average speed of 189.540 miles per hour. That was faster than the fastest lap set by the second-place finisher, Josef Newgarden, who became the series’ 2011 champion when he took the green flag. It was also faster than the fastest race lap of the fifth-place finisher, Bryan Clauson, who topped both of the practice sessions here on Saturday.

Five drivers didn’t complete a single lap. Jacob Wilson spun in Turn 2 on the first lap and Esteban Guerrieri, Gustavo Yacaman, David Ostella and Anders Krohn were caught up in the melee. Yacaman, who got airborne, started right beside Mitchell and Ostella started in the row right behind him.

“The wreck happened right in front of me,” Mitchell said afterwards. “Everyone’s tires were cold and the white Belardi car got a little low and it just came around on him. There was nowhere for the other cars to go and they got involved. I was fortunate that I was low enough that I was able to get around it.”

The ensuing yellow took 14 laps, but the rest of the race went non-stop.

“I don’t know if it [the mechanical problem] was the ring and pinion or the clutch, but we had a mechanical issue,” Mitchell continued. “It started after the caution;

probably about three or four laps at speed. It made the car very unstable and I didn’t want to add a crash to it, so I brought it in.

“Under the heavy fuel load the car felt good and we were fast,” he added. “I felt I could pass some of the cars ahead of me if I just timed it right to get around them. It was just an unfortunate and frustrating way to finish the weekend.

“I want to thank everyone at Team E Racing,” he said. “The guys have worked so hard; it just hasn’t paid off yet like we want it to. I also want to thank Motorola and Petro Communications for everything they do for us.”

“If I’m not mistaken this is our first mechanical DNF as a team,” noted Neil Enerson, who owns the Tampa Bay, Fla.-based team. “It happens sometimes with high-performance parts. It’s all part of racing.”

Mitchell qualified ninth on Saturday with laps of 28.2367 and 28.1812 seconds for a combined average speed of 188.876 mph. He was fifth in the first practice session Saturday morning with a time of 27.8259 (191.476 mph), and ended up 12th in the second practice session with a time of 28.0366 (190.037 mph). The weather was unusually cold for the area on both Saturday and Sunday. The temperature at the start of the race was only 53 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stefan Wilson won the race, which was broadcast live on Versus, over Newgarden and Jorge Goncalvez.

The next event is in just 13 days when the season finale is held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 16.

“I’ve never been to Las Vegas Speedway, but I’m looking forward to it,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell made a special visit to see Racing for Corey’s guests who were enjoying a day at the track on Saturday. Founded in 1999, Racing for Corey is a program designed to bring together the sport of auto racing and kids diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses, in the hopes of inspiring them to stay strong and to hold on to their dreams. Its Web site is at RacingForCorey.org.

More series news and live timing and scoring can be found on indycar.com/fil.

Additional information can be found on the team’s Web site at TeamERacing.com and Mitchell’s Web site at RustyMitchellRacing.com. Updates can also be found on Team E Racing’s Facebook page.