INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (September 10, 2016) – Third generation driver Davey Hamilton, Jr. made his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires debut on Saturday afternoon, finishing in the 14th position in the Impact Racing / Piloti Shoes / Kingdom Racing / Dahl Tug and Barge / Cocomo Natural McCormack Racing #34 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Hamilton finished one lap down in the 30 lap race after starting in the 15th position.
The 19 year-old King of the Wing Western Sprint Car Series champion and 2016 national series points leader made his debut start with an eye on a full 2017 campaign. He will compete again in Sunday's 50 minute finale which also serves as the championship race for the series.
"I'm glad it is a two race deal. Two races is great to be able to be here another day and probably improve tomorrow," Hamilton said. "Tomorrow should be a crazier race because it is the championship race. I think we'll be better tomorrow. Probably get same outcome as today with just being happy to finish. It is great to be here and I can't thank the McCormack crew and family enough for getting me here. We are a definitely a small team compared to everybody else and we don't have the resources but we'll get there."
Hamilton qualified 15th with a 1:21.047 second lap, a half second improvement over the second Friday practice and two seconds better than his initial Friday times.
He immediately jumped up to 14th after a spin in front of him and maintained 14th for much of the race. He moved as high as 13th on the second lap and ran briefly in P13 again near the halfway point of the race as well. His best lap of the race was a 1:20.8394 on his ninth lap of the race.
Hamilton began being overtaken by the leaders within the final laps of the race, including a close moment coming to the white flag when Garrett Grist jumped out of gear on the front stretch. Hamilton had jumped to the inside to let a trio of leaders by and narrowly snaked through for a three-wide moment.
"So I can tell you the last lap of the race was definitely the craziest lap of the race," Hamilton said. "Going under the bridge, the leaders were coming up behind me and a car in front of me came out of gear. We ended up going three wide and it was a tight fit and kind of hairy. I think it was a good experience to experience being close to other cars."
Hamilton and the McCormack Racing crew will focus on increased rear grip and more consistent lap times in tomorrow's second race of the weekend. The event is scheduled to go green at 1:10 p.m. and will be available on IndyLights.com or the Road To Indy App.
Davey Hamilton, Jr. and Jack McCormack are looking for additional funding to secure a full-time campaign for the 2017 season. McCormack Racing would like to run as many as two full time entries. For more information, contact Davey at (317) 236-9396 or marketing@daveyjr.com Jack McCormack at McCormack Racing can be contacted at (714) 293-7279.
You can learn more about Davey Hamilton, Jr. on Facebook and Twitter along with www.DaveyJr.com Visit McCormack Racing online at www.mccormackindycar.com
SATURDAY RACE RUN DOWN
McCormack Racing #34 IL-15
September 10, 2016 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, CA
Start: 15th | Finish: 14th. 29/30 laps completed
DAVEY HAMILTON, JR. QUOTES
"Yes it so it started off pretty stable for the first few laps then it got loose. We know what the problem is and we're going to adjust and get better tomorrow."
"I definitely laid back a little bit farther than everybody else (on the start). But I also knew going into turn one it was going to be crazy. Everybody kind of stayed clear and luckily I was able to miss a person instead of hitting him. Everything went good there. They are a lot more fun than the sprint car starts."
"It was tough for me to be able to keep my lap times consistent. Once I saw a leader come close to me I definitely wanted to let them by and not affect their race. There's some improvements I can make to be consistent when I'm alone and by myself out there. I def have a few things in mind for tomorrow. We'll just move on and learn from it."
"So I can tell you the last lap of the race was definitely the craziest lap of the race. Going under the bridge, the leaders were coming up behind me and a car in front of me came out of gear. We ended up going three wide and it was a tight fit and kind of hairy. I think it was a good experience to experience being close to other cars."
"I'm glad it is a two race deal. Two race is great to be able to be here another day and probably improve tomorrow. Tomorrow should be a crazier race because it is the championship race. I think we'll be better tomorrow. Probably get same outcome as today with just being happy to finish. It is great to be here and I can't thank the McCormack crew and family enough for getting me here. We are a definitely a small team compared to everybody else and we don't have the resources but we'll get there."
