7-21-2006
Another Front Row Start for Howard in Milwaukee,
Klein third and Camara fourth
MILWUKEE, Wis. (July 21) – Jay Howard led the trio of Sam Schmidt Motorsports drivers in qualifying Friday at the Milwaukee Mile, qualifying second for Saturday’s 100-lap Indy Pro Series race.
Howard has three other front row starts this year – he was pole qualifier for the season-opening Homestead race and qualified second at the Indianapolis oval event in May. He also qualified second last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway prior to going on to post his first IPS race win of 2006.
Howard, the 2005 U.S. Formula Ford Zetec champion is the current IPS points leader, with 243 points to 207 for Bobby Wilson. Teammate Jonathan Klein currently is third with 203 points.
Jamie Camara survived a scare in the run up to his first qualifying lap Friday at the Milwaukee Mile, the sliding sideways coming out of Turn 4 at the start of his qualifying run, but recovered to post the fourth-fastest speed. Camara, who qualified on the pole last year in Milwaukee and finished fifth in his rookie Indy Pro season, will start on the outside of the second row.
Klein posted the third fastest speed in qualifying, the third top-three qualifying effort for the 19-year-old college student this season in eight events. Klein also has five top-five results so far this season, highlighted by third-place finishes last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Saturday’s 100-lap race is scheduled to start at 3:40 p.m. (EDT) with tape-delayed television coverage on ESPN2 airing Thursday, July 27, at 2 p.m. (EDT).
Jay Howard, #7 Lucas Oils/Isilon Dallara/Firestone
Qualified 2nd at 146.094 mph, 25.0113 seconds, his fourth front-row start of 2006
“No dramas today in practice or qualifying, we’ve been steadily making progress. I had to wait on the car just a little bit in the middle of each corner before I could get back on the power, and that probably was the difference between Wade [Cunningham] and us. We qualified second last week and won [at Nashville], so I’m hoping that trend continues.”
Jonathan Klein, #27 Klein Tools/Turn-Key Forging & Design Dallara/Firestone
Qualified 3rd at 145.454 mph, 25.1197 seconds
“I thought that was a pretty good run, we had a good car all day today. Now our job is to focus on getting a good race car for tomorrow. We want to be able to take it to [pole qualifier] Wade [Cunningham] right from the start of the race and go on from there.”
Jamie Camara, #11 Neo Quimica Dallara/Firestone
Qualified 4th at 144.868 mph, 25.2230 seconds
“I’m a bit disappointed, the qualifying run was not at all what we expected. When I finished my warm up laps and was about to take the green flag, the car was very loose [oversteered] in Turn 4. I thought I was going to crash. I stayed off the way and adjusted the [cockpit-controlled anti-roll] bars so the second lap was better. But I think we would have had a much faster qualifying speed without the problem.”
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