ALANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP RACE 2 - 2009
MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK

ATLANTICS AT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK

Big Money On The Line:
The 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda will feature a $1 million prize for the series champion and $50,000 to win this weekend’s race at Miller Motorsports Park. Second place in the championship standings is now worth $500,000, with $200,000 going to third place in the season standings. Last year’s champion, Markus Niemela, won $300,000 for taking the title.

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SIMONA DE SILVESTRO WINS IN UTAH

TOOELE VALLEY, UTAH (May 17, 2009) In the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship race, Simona De Silvestro had a perfect weekend, claiming her second series win after taking an historic first pole position on Saturday.

Driving the No. 78 Stargate Worlds/CME/FireSky/Cardinal Technologies/Maakoa machine, the 20-year-old Swiss racer sped into the lead as soon as the lights went out on the race's standing start and quickly checked out on the rest of the field. She led throughout the 50-minute, 31-lap race, winning by 11.7 seconds ahead of John Edwards. Frederic Vervisch, de Silvestro's teammate Frankie Muniz and Tonis Kasemets rounded out the top five.

It was De Silvestro's first series win since the 2008 season opener at Long Beach, where she became the second woman in series history to win a race behind Katherine Legge, who won three races in 2005. On Saturday, De Silvestro became the second woman in series history to win a pole position behind Danica Patrick, who took a pole position at Portland in 2004. De Silvestro became the first woman in series history to win a race after starting from the pole position.

"It feels awesome," said De Silvestro. "We had the perfect weekend. We led every session, we had pole, and I think we had fastest lap during the race. The car was really good. I just could drive every time the same lap time, and we kind of pulled away. I'm just really happy to have won my second race in the Atlantic series."

RACE RESULT TOOELE, UTAH, MAY 17, 2009

POS  NAME                  NO  TEAM                       LAPS
 1   Simona De Silvestro   78  Team Stargate Worlds         31
 2   John Edwards          36  Newman Wachs Racing          31
 3   Frederic Vervisch     17  Genoa Racing                 31
 4   Frankie Muniz         77  Team Stargate Worlds         31
 5   Tonis Kasemets        18  Genoa Racing                 31
 6   Jonathan Summerton    19  Genoa Racing                 31
 7   Max Lefevre            7  Condor Motorsports           31
 8   James Winslow          2  Jensen MotorSport            31
 9   Matt Lee              22  Jensen MotorSport            29
10   Michael Mallinen      71  Swan Racing                  29
11   Michael Nacol          3  Jensen MotorSport            29
12   Borja Garcia           6  Condor Motorsports     excluded

Time of Race: 51:25.717
Average Speed: 110.236 mph
Margin of Victory:  11.700 seconds
Lap leaders: De Silvestro   1-31.
Lead changes: None.

Top Combined Friday Practice Times
 1 Simona De Silvestro  No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:37.196, 112.894 mph.
 2 John Edwards         No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:37.578, 112.452 mph.
 3 Frederic Vervisch    No. 17 Genoa Racing, 1:37.578, 112.437 mph.
 4 Markus Niemela       No.  1 Newman Wachs Racing, 1:37.626, 112.396 mph.
 5 Jonathan Summerton   No. 19 Genoa Racing, 1:37.755, 112.248 mph.
 6 Borja Garcia         No.  6 Condor Motorsports, 1:38.156, 111.789 mph.
 7 Frankie Muniz        No. 77 Team Stargate Worlds, 1:38.167, 111.777 mph.
 8 Tonis Kasemets       No. 18 Genoa Racing, 1:38.676, 111.200 mph.
 9 Max Lefevre          No.  7 Condor Motorsports, 1:40.278, 109.424 mph.
10 James Winslow        No.  2 Jensen MotorSport, 1:41.275, 108.347 mph.
11 Michael Mallinen     No. 71 Swan Racing, 1:46.633, 102.902 mph.
12 Michael Nacol        No.  3 Jensen MotorSport, 1:47.131, 102.424 mph.