American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 8 | Página 30

take over the second spot on
the backstretch. More
importantly, a trend was
developing: Schatz used the
breaks in momentum from the
cautions to his advantage.
The race’s second caution on
the 13th lap again regrouped
the field; the top-three was
beginning to separate by halfsecond intervals before the
yellow flag waved. His strategy
of using cautions came into play
three laps later when it paired
him with Gravel. Gravel
defended his top spot on the
restart and more importantly in
turns one and two. However,
the following lap reopened the
door in Schatz’s favor. Schatz,
unable to get under Gravel the
first time, made a successful
move the second time around
before another caution on the
15th lap.
Halfway home, Gravel dipped
below Schatz in an attempt to

reclaim the lead. But, a strong
restart from Schatz made it an
ill-attempt. Gravel stayed on
pace with Schatz thereafter,
maintaining a sub-second
distance away from him. The
race’s final caution with nine
laps remaining gave Gravel
another opportunity to strike.
Gravel, taking the same
approach, tried to leverage his
racecar underneath Schatz’s in
turns three and four. However,
Schatz’s raw speed kept the
battle at bay; he led Gravel by
0.472 seconds with eight laps to
go. Within those laps, Platinum
driver Joey Saldana sealed the
deal for third. Saldana started
seventh in the feature.
“As the run went on, the more
and more [Schatz] slipped off
turn four,” said Gravel,
explaining his strategy. “The
bottom was definitely better
there later, but I just could not
keep up on the restarts. He just