Chaves, Baron score Belardi 1-2

Gabby Chaves and Alex Baron had perhaps the worst start you could have to a race when the Belardi Auto Racing teammates touched in the first turn during yesterday’s Indy Lights race at Barber Motorsports Park, but the pair rebounded in the biggest way you can by scoring a one-two finish with Chaves the victor over Baron with yesterday’s winner, Zach Veach in third.

Chaves led from pole position at the start and Baron slotted into second, passing Veach in the first turn. Veach’s car wasn’t set up perfectly for the dry and that hurt his chances in the race.

“Personally, I felt the rain was going to come a little earlier so I opted for us to go to a wet setup to start the race with. Looking back, I just think that was a little bit of the wrong way to go,” Veach said.

He also had to hold off yesterday’s second place finisher Luiz Razia, who finished fourth. But Veach couldn’t catch second place finisher Alex Baron, who had suffered from the flu earlier in the weekend. He felt a lot better with himself and the car after the race.

“I feel a lot more confident than I was at the first two weekends. I had a few issues with handling the car, it’s pretty tricky to drive but at the same time really fun,” Baron said.

Alex Baron, Belardi Auto Racing

Photo by: Covy Moore

The race started early because of a threat of rain at the track, and with the temperature hovering in the mid ‘70s, the cars were turning faster times than they were in Saturday’s race.