IRL: CHAMPCAR/CART: Andretti, Ray and Setzer Win

Skip Barber alumni were everywhere this weekend, or maybe it just seemed that way. And those who weren’t winning races were at least finishing in contention. Skip Barber grads Michael Andretti, Greg Ray and Dennis Setzer won their respective contests and were part of a successful weekend in which Skip Barber trained drivers dominated top-10 placement. In fact, over one-third of top-10 finishers from five different major professional races had benefited from Skip Barber tutelage.

At Sunday’s Molson Indy in Toronto, Michael Andretti advanced two critical positions in each of his pit stops and motored to his sixth win on the Canadian temporary street course. The victory moved him within two points of the lead in the CART FedEx Championship Series. Kenny Brack, the 1994 Pro Series Champ, finished in 10th place.

In Indy Racing Northern Lights Series news, Greg Ray was awesome over the weekend, finally taking advantage of pole position to win the Midas 500 Classic at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in flag-to-flag fashion. Ray has had a great deal of success in qualifying lately but hasn’t seen a checkered flag since last season. Skip Barber alumni Robby McGehee and Robbie Buhl battled to the end, finishing fourth and sixth respectively.

At Nazareth Speedway, Skip Barber grad Dennis Setzer won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, despite having suffered a cracked shoulder blade the previous weekend. Setzer won from the 19th position, the farthest back any victor has started on the field. All of his wins, five total, have been in Dodge trucks. Other Skip Barber trained drivers had strong results; Steve Grissom in fourth, Jack Sprague in fifth, Jimmy Hensley finished sixth and Mike Wallace tenth. Also at Nazareth, Kyle Petty (5th) and Randy LaJoie (8th) were top-10 finishers in the Busch Series EconoLodge 200 that ran on Sunday.

In Toyota Atlantics, half of the Top-10 were Skip Barber trained. Five drivers finished near the front, including William Langhorne, who had the best result of the Skip Barber trained with a fourth place showing. Rocky Moran Jr., Alex Gurney, Mike Conte, and Rino Mastronardi took the flag as a 4-car train in the 7th through 10th positions. Four of the five racers are Barber Dodge Pro Series veterans.

- Andrew Torres