9 cars take the green flag at the FRL's 2019 running of the Indy 200
Qualifying went well for race favorite Andrew Steppat, qualifying his number 001 Chevy powered car on the pole. But there wasn't much daylight between his top time and the rest of the field. At the drop of the green flag, the racing got interesting quick. Ghabe Stouffer, in his Willis and Associates RBR car turned into the grass in Turn 1, causing him to wash up the track in front of several cars behind him. This sent Elijah Maestri in the #14 One-off MBR entry into the wall hard, along with the #9 of Tim Adkins and #47 of Tony Tyree. Travis Billingsley missed the qualifying session and started in the back. He was able to pick his way around the carnage but quickly lost contact with the lead pack of cars.
Racing between the four strongest cars was close and fun
At the front, Ethan Maestri pressed hard into Turn 3 and came alongside Drew Dilbeck. Drew had to check-up trying to race Andrew into the corner. He lost momentum alowing the #3 MBR Honda alongside him, the change in aero and a bump in his side-pod sent the car skidding high into the shoot between Turns 3 & 4. Nicholas Hargrove got caught out in the action and both he and Drew hit the outside wall hard.
Drew Dilbeck and Nicholas Hargrove get collected between Turns 3 & 4
This effectively left Ethan and Andrew to duke it out for the overall win. Nick and Drew rejoined the track alongside the front runners and a four car duel unfolded for the next 35 laps. On lap 39, Elijah Maestri had tagged the wall for the third time and was slowly limping toward the pits in Turn 1. This caught Nick by suprise just as he turned in low to make a pass on Drew. Nick ran into the back of Eli and the resulting crash collected Drew and Andrew Steppat, effectively ending his run at a third straight Indy victory. The lucky dog of the night went to Ethan Maestri who kept the #3 Laws Whiskey House Honda out of trouble for the rest of the race and won the FRL's Indy 200 by nearly 2 full laps over second place Andrew Steppat.
Travis Billingsley had a very good chance at the podium in third, but a late race run into the wall ended that opportunity, handing Drew Dilbeck the third place position. Tony Tyree would capitalize on Travis' misfortune and would snatch P4. Travis would cross the line P5. Nick Hargrove had an extremely fast race car but only managed P6 on the night. Tim Adkins brought the #9 PNC Bank car across in seventh. Ghabe Stouffer had a quiet night after the Turn 1 incident, finishing P8. Elijah Maestri retired from the event early, P9 overall.
