(continued)

At the start of the Saturday race, Brown started strong leading the field for 6 laps, after which he was passed by eventual winner, Scott Tucker (55).  Brown ran steadily in 2nd until the restart from a caution period when the left front wheel-bearing let loose and he was forced to pit, ending in an eventual DNF, his second for the season. 

On Sunday, Brown started the second race from 23rd due to his previous day’s DNF.  Brown was able to work his way up to 11th but got slapped with a one-minute penalty for avoidable contact when he banged wheels with Larry Bowman (98) putting him back to 16th where he finished race. 

It was a disappointing finish to a hopeful and exciting weekend.  “We didn’t score a lot of points which puts us 7th in the championship, but we’re going to be fighting hard to make up ground during the upcoming races.

The Infineon race also marked John Della Penna’s come back to racing after a 23-year hiatus.  In 1983, Infineon Raceway, formerly known as Sears Point is where Della Penna held the fastest lap record in the Formula Atlantic Series.  Della Penna ran well during practice sessions, setting a steady place in the middle of the pack, however was disappointed with a 23rd place starting position for the Saturday race. 

Della Penna had a good first half of the race where he eventually made his way from 23rd to 13th but then an unexpected spin off brought him back down to 23rd.  He was able to inch his way up to 18th place, where he finished the race. 

Sunday was fraught with some frustration as Della Penna started the race from 18th.  Although he was able to advance his position at the start and ran a consistent race, Della Penna spun five laps from the end of the race, which ended his hopes of a good finish. “It was great fun and the cars are great! I enjoyed the experience tremendously. It was a little disappointing not getting a better result, but in the end my lack of experience in these cars and no testing and practice caught up with me. Lets face it, it’s hard to come in cold and expect to beat these guys, they are pretty good at the frontend of the grid,” Della Penna said.

The next race is in Montreal Quebec, June 6-8.