Dempsey secures second place finish at Mid-Ohio sports car course
Peter Dempsey maintained his fifth place spot in the championship as the points continue to tighten up among the highly competitive field.
Peter Dempsey
Michael C. Johnson
LEXINGTON, Ohio – Peter Dempsey held onto his starting position and secured a second place finish in today’s Mid-Ohio 100 road course race. Dempsey qualified on the front row for the 40-lap event yesterday but missed the pole position by just .1327 seconds. Gabby Chaves, who won the pole yesterday, claimed the race victory today.
Dempsey had a clean start to the race, and it wasn’t long before he and leader Gabby Chaves broke away from the rest of the field in a dual for the lead. In the second half of the race, Dempsey began to close the gap to Chaves with each passing lap, but when a caution came out with five laps to go, it halted the momentum the Freedom 100 winner had been building. The race was restarted with three laps remaining, and unfortunately for Dempsey, the opportunity never came to make the pass for the win.“First of all, I’d like to congratulate Gabby [Chaves] on his first win of the season,” said Dempsey. “He has worked hard all year for this and deserved the win today. Overall, I’m very happy to have another second place finish. I think it really shows that my team and I are building a good relationship, and our consistency is coming at the right time in the championship.
“I certainly felt we had a car capable of winning, and I think starting second is what lost the race for us, especially around a track like Mid-Ohio. I’d like to thank my team, Belardi Auto Racing, and my three crew guys for a great weekend. I’d especially like to thank my engineer, Lou D’Agostino, for the hard work we did this weekend. Also, I’d like to give a special thank you to Tommy Byrne who certainly helped me get up to speed at the Mid-Ohio track. I’m very grateful to have him help me out.
“Now we are going to turn our focus to Baltimore. We’ve closed up the championship gap, but we know it’s not going to be an easy task to win it. We will just keep taking it one race at a time. I can’t wait to get to the streets of Baltimore in a few weeks!”
Today’s result was Dempsey’s third second place finish of the season. The Irishman also maintained his fifth place spot in the championship as the points continue to tighten up among the highly competitive field.
Peter Dempsey
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