IPS: Texas II: Arie Luyendyk Jr race notes

Arie Luyendyk Jr. closes out 2004 with third place in the IRL Infiniti Pro Series Championship.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. secured third in points with a fourth place finish in Saturday's race at the Texas Motor Speedway. Arie Luyendyk Jr.driving for AFS Racing, the Indianapolis based team owned by driver Gary Peterson, qualified third for the 100 mile event. From the drop of the green flag Luyendyk and the two Sam Schmidt cars of Thiago Medeirous and Travis Gregg broke away from the field and battled for most the race.

Al Unser joined the fight and it was a four way battle for the lead in the Texas finale. With just a few laps to go P.J. Chesson caused a yellow flag situation by throwing his head pad out of the car. He was later penalized 25 championship points by the officials and fined an undisclosed amount.

With a three lap shootout Luyendyk slipped back to fourth after slowing down because of a missed gear by second place Travis Gregg on lap 65 of 67. Luyendyk drove home to a fourth place finish netting his sixth top-five of the season.

"It was a bit frustrating not being able to get by Travis all race and then getting passed by Unser with 2 to go. I can't say enough about this team though, ever since I made the switch to AFS Racing they have given me a great car to race with, I've enjoyed working with Wilbur Bunce and the crew so much this second half of the season it's too bad the season is over. Qualifying was so important here and passing was very difficult. If we would have been out front like California I think we could have led the whole race, the car was that hooked up."

About the Championship: "I am thrilled to have finished third despite struggling so much in the middle of the season. The switch to AFS Racing kept me in the hunt for a top three position in the Championship. I've gone through ups and downs this season but I think it made me an even stronger driver, I'm ready to move up to the IRL"

I would like to thank all the sponsors that supported our program throughout the year such as:

AFS, Average Joe's Borla Exhausts, Cycle Country, DaCosta Companies, Dave and Andrea Robertson Racing, Harry Robertson Racing, Impact Helmets, J.Hubbard Racing, Kaenon Polarized Momo, Provimi Veal, Renovac, R&D Hubbard Racing. Spetro Communications, Widmaier Chiropractic.

-www.arieluyendyk.com