Chicago: Roger Yasukawa race notes

Another podium for Yasukawa, second place finish secures Hylton Motorsports sweep.

It was another consistent weekend for Yasukawa, a skill he uses to chip away at the 2002 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship. He ran in the top-five throughout the weekend and set the fastest time of the weekend in warm-up this morning, giving him the fastest combined time for the event. Yasukawa started the race fifth but worked the traffic demonstrating his skill and consistency as he passed his way through the field. He made his final pass for position on lap 35 when he overtook Michael Valiente for second.

The rest of the afternoon was spent maneuvering his way through lapped traffic and giving it his best to hunt down his teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay for the lead. He was not able to catch the leader, but he did bring home a very solid and impressive second place finish in less than optimal race conditions. With soaring temperatures, the Hylton Motorsports crew feared the stability of the car set-up and tire conditions, but Yasukawa took good care of his car to make sure he would collect as many points as possible in his hunt for the championship. Today marked Yasukawa's third podium finish (he won in Milwaukee and finished third at Laguna Seca), and his sixth top-ten result. He has finished in the top-ten in every race he has competed in (he did not race in Mexico). Yasukawa's result secured Hylton Motorsports' first ever front row sweep, they have scored podium finishes in 14 of the last 18 events.

Yasukawa on the race:

"I did not get as good a start as I would of liked to, but I made up for it through the first part of the race," said Yasukawa. "I got by Michael (Valiante) and set my sights on Ryan (Hunter-Reay), but he was just running too fast for me to catch. We are right in the thick of the points chase even though we missed the first race of the season. I can't be disappointed with how things have gone up to this point for sure."

<pre> Roger Yasukawa, #9 Autobacs/u.s. print/Toyota/Swift

EVENT                           RESULTS     TIME            SPEED Mph
Saturday Practice 1:            4th         27.320           135.593
Saturday Practice 2:            5th         27.324           135.601
Warm-Up:                        1st         26.902           137.700
Combined (After Warm-Up):       1st         26.902           137.700
Qualifying:                     5th         27.373           135.330
Started:                        5th
Race:                           2nd
Best Lap:                       38          27.158          136.402
Highest Race Position:          2nd

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