Atlantic
Road America: Polestar Racing race notes
Sciuto Finishes 8th in Road America Atlantic Thriller Bessette's race ends early due to contact Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (September 24, 2006) -- In a thrilling conclusion to the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic season in which both title contenders failed ...
Edited: Dec 11, 2006, 4:20 AM
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Sciuto Finishes 8th in Road America Atlantic Thriller
Bessette's race ends early due to contact
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (September 24, 2006) -- In a thrilling conclusion to the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic season in which both title contenders failed to finish, Polestar Racing Group's Alan Sciuto (#12 Sealy/PKV Racing/The RoomStore of Phoenix/W.S. Deans) came home eighth after running as high as fifth, to finish the season eighth overall and the fifth-highest rookie. Teammate Antoine Bessette (#21 The RoomStore of Phoenix), in one-race return to the Polestar team this weekend, fell victim to contact with another driver on lap four of the 18-lap season finale.
"We were just too far down on speed on the straights," said Sciuto, who began today's race from 11th on the starting grid. "We trimmed the car out as much as we could, but we had a tough time keeping up. It was a fun race, with a lot of passing and close racing, but it would have been great to finish in the top five. The guys really did a super job all season and I want to thank the entire team for everything."
"This wasn't how we wanted our race to go today," said Bessette, who was credited with the 21st finishing position. "I'm not sure who it was, but I was hit from behind coming into Turn 12. It pushed me off into the sand and ended our day. We made up a couple of spots at the start and probably would have finished near Alan. But, that's just how it goes sometimes. It was great to be back with Polestar this weekend and appreciate all of the work the team did for me."
Jonathan Bomarito captured his first career Champ Car Atlantic victory today, and was followed by Rafael Matos and Andreas Wirth. Although he failed to finish today, Simon Pagenaud clinched the 2006 championship crown after title contender Graham Rahal was sidelined by mechanical problems.
Bessette, 24, captured two victories, four podiums and one pole while driving the entire Atlantic season with Polestar last year. He finished outside of the top five in just three events, went on to finish fourth overall, placed third in the 2005 Atlantic Rookie-of-the-Year championship, and received the Gilles Villeneuve award by the Atlantic series.
Orange, California - native Sciuto, 18, was recognized as North America's top shifter kart racer in 2004 prior to competing in three Atlantic races last year. He qualified seventh in his series debut in San Jose, then the following week in Denver led both rounds of qualifying to capture his first career Atlantic pole position and establish himself as the youngest-ever Atlantic pole winner at just 17 years of age.
-credit: polestar racing
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