Peter Dempsey wins Indy Lights race at Indianapolis by mere inches in four-wide finish
In the closest finish in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history, Peter Dempsey beat Gabby Chaves to the finish line by .0026 seconds in a four-wide finish to win the Indy Lights Series Firestone Freedom 100 Friday afternoon.
Almost incredibly, Dempsey was fourth behind Carlos Munoz, Sage Karam and Chaves on the final lap. But when Munoz, Karam and Chaves went three-wide on the backstretch, the hole they created in the air allowed Dempsey to draft up to their bumpers.
The three stayed three-wide off of turn four when Dempsey got a run on the high side of the track and had just enough room to slingshot past the trio and nip Chaves at the line for the first Indy Lights win of his career.
"Enough (room) for an Indy Lights car to fit through," Dempsey said after the race. "It was tight, you know. I was just hoping they weren't going to move, because if the moved, there would have been a huge crash. I've seen too many big crashes over the years, so that's what I said, hats off to the other three drivers. They gave me the respect, they gave me the room. I might have snuck up on them a little late, maybe a little too late to see me, but they gave me just enough room. I don't think they would have fit another car in there, that's for sure."
The Indy Lights Series is the feeder series for the Izod IndyCar Series. Munoz, who finished fourth, is also running in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 and will start third.
