Conor Daly converted his pole position start to a victory in today's Round 3 of the 2010 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. This is Daly's second win in a row from the pole this season driving the No. 22 Juncos Racing entry; he dominated Round 2 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and heads into Round 4 next weekend at O'Reilly Raceway Park and the 125-lap 'Night Before the 500' with both team momentum and a solid lead in the championship points battle.
Scandinavian racer Anders Krohn drove a strong race to his first podium of the season with a second-place finish in the No. 47 Andersen Racing entry. Rounding out the top three was young Quebec racer Mikael Grenier, also with his first podium of the season in the No. 17 Andersen Racing car. The top-finishing Master Series (drivers 45 and older) was Gerry Kraut, of North Oaks, Minnesota, who drove his No. 55 JDC Motorsports entry to a strong finish in 10th overall. The top-finishing Expert Series (drivers aged 30-44) was Texan J.W. Roberts, who finished 13th overall in the 18-car field.
"There was a bit of drama at the start when a couple of cars had contact in Turn 2 and Tristan Vautier in the No. 38 got by me and led the first half of the race," observed Daly, who graduated from his Indianapolis high school on May 14. "I was saving my car a bit and trying to make sure I had something for him at the end of the race, but fortunately I didn't have to wait that long. He dropped a wheel off at the top of the Corkscrew and it bent his right rear suspension so he had to pit for repairs. That spared me having to make a banzai move in the closing laps and I'm happy with how the race worked out for us. We were the quickest in testing, on the pole and won the race; that's a pretty good weekend at the track. And I'm excited about my first race in front of a home-town crowd of friends, fans and sponsors next weekend at O'Reilly Raceway Park."
Rounding out the top-5 with outstanding drives were Californian Connor De Phillippi who finished fourth, and Mexico City racer Juan Piedrahita.
Daly leads with 127 points, followed by Krohn with 107, Grenier with 101 and De Phillippi with 95. The Star Mazda Championship awards 44 points for a win and awards points down to 15th place. This was Round 3 of a 13-race season.