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Matos Captures '08 Indy Lights Championship
By Andrew Cutler February 7 2008
It came down to a three point difference between two drivers going into the the final race of the season. Raphael Matos held the edge & captured the pole during yesterday's qualifying. The challenger, Richard Antinucci, was only able to qualify in 10th, & had to deal with heavy traffic as the 67 lap race unfolded.

Traffic would prove to be Antinucci's undoing, as he was taken out before the half-way point by Sean Guthrie, who clipped Richard's left rear tire, sending him into the outside wall.

From there, with the championship already his, Raphael could concentrate on the business at hand. Matos, his teammate Arie Luyendyk Jr., Ana Beatriz and Bobby Wilson had made a break away from the rest of the field and went off to settle the race between themselves. Matos held the advantage for the whole race until a late caution set up a restart on the final lap. When the green flag came back out, Luyendyk Jr. jumped around his teammate and drove off to claim his first Firestone Indy Lights victory, with Beatriz close behind; Matos held onto the third spot.

Next up is the the final regular season race for the IndyCar Series, which begins at 3:30pm ET, 7:30pm GMT. Scott Dixon leads Helio Castroneves in the chase for that championship by 30 points. On the forum board page of this site I have provided a link to the IndyCar website, where you can watch the race via live video streaming.

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