BHA/Vision Racing post-report

The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights series season concluded Friday evening on the 1.5-mile oval of Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Miami 100 where Vision Racing driver James Davison started from the pole position and led 30 laps, while Bryan Herta Autosport’s Daniel Herrington started ninth.

Overcoming ill-handling cars, Davison and Herrington both held on to finish in the fifth and 12th positions respectively and the results were just enough for both drivers to secure their championship point standing finishes of second and seventh.

For Davison, earning his third pole position of the season earlier today combined with his fifth place finish to give him just enough points to earn a second place finish in the championship for Vision Racing in just their second season of Indy Lights competition. In fact, Davison finished with 448 points and just two points more than his challenger and tonight’s second place race finisher, Sebastian Saavedra.

Including this today’s pole position and top-five finish, Davison had a very strong season driving the No. 21 People’s Liberation/Vision Racing Dallara/Firestone machine. In 2009 Davison scored one victory (Mid-Ohio), three pole positions (Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio and Homestead), has finished in the top-five in eight times, and has finished outside of the top-ten just one time.

Meanwhile, BHA’s first season was highlighted with Herrington’s first victory (Chicagoland), two top-five finishes and 11 more top-ten drives which also put them in the seventh spot in the championship point standings with 383 points.

BHA also celebrated two additional podium finishes and another top-five finish in the three races that they fielded a car for Felipe Guimarães in their debut season.

Friday evening, Herrington started the race from the ninth spot in the No. 28 Nature’s Pearl/BHA Dallara/Firestone and worked his way up to as high as seventh, but battled loose conditions and a push in the car to finish in the 12th position.

Race Results and Quotes:

Daniel Herrington – No. 28 Nature’s Pearl/BHA Dallara/Firestone

Finishing Position: 12th
Qualifying Position: 9th

On race:

“We didn’t end on a high note this year, unfortunately. After all of the work these guys have put in all year, it’s kind of tough to go out like this, but it is what it is. I think we’ll be showing up back here at Homestead to do a bunch of testing this off-season because the car was a real big handful today. It was all I could do to not hit anyone and/or the wall. So we’ll try and learn from this and move on and see what we can do for next year.”

James Davison – No. 21 People’s Liberation/Vision Racing Dallara/Firestone

Finishing Position: 5th 
Qualifying Position: 1st 

On race:

“What a fantastic race. We qualified the People’s Liberation car on pole, led a ton of laps and overcame a huge amount of pressure to get a good result. (Mario) Romancini was helping (JR) Hildebrand to get a run on me mid-way through the race and in the middle of turns one and two, my car snapped loose and it was about the closest thing to crashing as I could have imagined.”

” I just kind of tracked up and we touched in the middle of the turn and I had to correct the car again and lost a whole bunch of momentum and ended up dropping back to fifth. But ultimately, the main priority was to maintain second place in the points in our first season back to Indy Lights competition since 2005 and we did that. Really, it’s been a fantastic season and I’ve just got to thank the entire team for their efforts.”

Lauren George, Team Co-Owner – No. 21 People’s Liberation/Vision Racing Dallara/Firestone

On finishing second in the championship point standings:

“This year it was really just about getting the perfect group of people together in terms of team chemistry and I think James (Davison) was a big part of that. He knew that this was a ‘make or break’ year for him and his mission all year was to not leave any stone unturned I think that he lived up to that and achieved his goal.”

” He was in the race shop nearly every day and each member on the team was pushing each other to achieve this result. This year we also had a strong foundation as a team. After all, 2005 was Vision Racing’s first season as a whole so to come back and go Indy Lights racing four years later with a solid group of people made a big difference. Overall, I believe our second place points championship result was about the people on our team that made it happen.”

About Vision Racing: 

Vision Racing is owned and operated by Tony and Laura George as well as actor Patrick Dempsey of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana in a 32,000 square foot facility. The team competes full-time in the IndyCar Series and is entering its fifth season of IndyCar Series competition.

The team features returning IndyCar Series driver Ed Carpenter and welcomed veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay for 2009. Also new for 2009 is a return to the Firestone Indy Lights Series with driver James Davison, as well as a technical partnership with new FIL team Bryan Herta Autosport and driver Daniel Herrington.

Vision Racing continues to proudly perpetuate the legacy of the Hulman-George family through motorsports excellence, by demonstrating the traditions and heritage of the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Racing.

source: Vision Racing