Watkins Glen: Antinucci beats Matos in Race 2

Richard Antinucci held off Race 1 winner Raphael Matos Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen to take his second win of the season and his fourth in the series. They led Ana Beatriz, Logan Gomez and Pablo Donoso in the second Indy Lights race of the day. 16 of 21 drivers finished on the lead lap, and everyone who competed in the race this morning was able to make repairs to their cars and compete in the second race of the double-header.

Beatriz took the lead from third place at the start, but there were problems for Jonny Reid and Franck Perera back in the field. Beatriz led the lap four restart as James Davison went off track in Turn 1. Richard Antinucci passed Logan Gomez for second, followed by Raphael Matos and Pablo Donoso. Dillon Battistini spun off track in Turn 1, stalling. Bobby Wilson was involved as well, and he found himself with body damage. The caution came out and Wilson came into the pits for assistance.

The race restarted on Lap 9, and Antinucci took the opportunity to pass Beatriz for the lead and started to pull away. Raphael Matos passed Beatriz for second position a few laps later, but he had his work cut out for him as Antinucci had a three second lead.

On Lap 19, Cyndie Allemann made heavy contact with the barrier in Turn 10, bringing out a full course caution and closing the gap between Antinucci and Matos. Allemann was not injured, and she fell to 17th position. The final restart came on Lap 23, and Antinucci was able to pull away from Matos and Beatriz. Daniel Herrington spun on the next lap, but the race continued under green. Antinucci continued to lead as Matos could never close the gap. He went on to take his second win of the season for Sam Schmidt, followed by Matos and team mate Beatriz.

Results of Race 2:

1 Richard Antinucci (7)
2 Raphael Matos (27)
3 Ana Beatriz (20)
4 Logan Gomez (23)
5 Pablo Donoso (22)
6 Jeff Simmons (2)
7 Arie Luyendyk Jr. (26)
8 Matt Lee (54)
9 JR Hildebrand (25)
10 Sean Guthrie (4)
11 James Davison (11)
12 Mitch Cunningham (33)
13 Andrew Prendeville
14 Brent Sherman (16)
15 Daniel Herrington
16 Mark Olson (8)
17 Franck Perera (55)
18 Cyndie Allemann (18)
19 Bobby Wilson (17)
20 Dillon Battistini
21 Jonny Reid (9)

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