SBRS: Ashley Freiberg Lime Rock summary

ASHLEY FREIBERG EXTENDS SKIP BARBER SERIES POINT LEAD
18-year-old Female Racer Scores Two Feature Wins at Lime Rock

LAKEVILLE, Conn. (Aug. 10, 2010) -- Ashley Freiberg extended her point lead in the Skip Barber Summer Series last weekend on the 1.54-mile road circuit at Lime Rock Park following two feature victories. Freiberg, the first woman to win a Barber Series championship earlier this year by taking the Southern Regional title, captured her sixth and seventh Summer Series wins last Friday and Saturday in the 15-lap events. Freiberg, 18, has seven wins in ten starts with six races remaining in the Summer Series tour.

The Homer Glen, Ill., racer now holds a 25-point lead in the Summer Series point standings with the next Barber event set for August 28-29 at Grattan Raceway Park in Belding, Michigan, 25 miles northeast of Grand Rapids.

In addition to her two wins at Lime Rock last weekend, Freiberg also collected second and fourth place finishes in two other Summer Series events. The Barber weekend followed Freiberg's impressive fifth place in the Star Mazda Series race at Joliet, Ill., on July 31-Aug. 1.

"I felt confident coming to the Lime Rock weekend," said Freiberg, who won her first Barber National Series race last month in New Jersey. "After competing in the Star Mazda Series, I felt very confident stepping back into Skip Barber. I have a bad habit of my eyes not looking far ahead enough, but the faster car definitely forced me to 'look up' and process a broader picture of things. It felt like things were in slow motion, and I was able to think through each move I made much more efficiently."

Freiberg has put in a busy racing schedule in 2010.

She started off the 2010 racing campaign by winning the Southern Regional crown in the winter and spring, then drove in the BFGoodrich Barber National Series and the Barber Summer Series simultaneously with a Star Mazda race mixed in.

Freiberg has now won 14 main events in Barber competition in 2010.

"Since I graduated from Lockport High in December, I have concentrated on my racing career," said Ashley, who also participated in a Mercedes Benz driving promotion with Olympic and X Games women champions this winter. "It has been a busy year but I feel I am working hard and learning very quickly. I have been much more competitive this year. That is important for a young driver."

Freiberg has concentrated on winning a second regional title in the same year and battling for the Barber National Series championship as well.

"The competition is very tough throughout the Barber series, whether it is the regional or national series," Freiberg admits. "The Barber competition brings in drivers from around the world, not just North America. So you drive against a lot of great young talent. As I look at all of the drivers who have come through the Skip Barber system, I hope to be mentioned in that group in the future."

Freiberg returns to the Barber National Series on August 20 at Road America as part of the American Le Mans Series weekend. She was victorious in her last National Series race last month.

"I have finished well at Road America in the National Series before (with a third last year)," said Ashley. "It is such a great track. But the race will be a big drafting exercise on those long straightaways. You have to be smart and plan a strategy for Road America. That is my goal when I go back there."

-source: afPR