Big Break for Indy Lights Winner

They don’t have pit stops in Dayton Indy Lights races, but pole-sitter Felipe Giaffone of Brazil wouldn’t mind if they did.

Giaffone dominated the 75-mile race for GM-powered open-wheel cars at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach from start until three laps from the finish.

Then he ran out of gas.

And that turned over the victory to Austrian Philipp Peter, who readily acknowledged his good fortune.

“I had no chance [to win] unless something happened, which was the case,” he said. “[Giaffone] was just better all weekend.”

Peter averaged 87.345 mph. New Zealand rookie Scott Dixon finished second, his second podium finish in two Indy Lights races, and Geoff Boss of Narragansett, R.I., who had crashed twice on Saturday, got his brakes fixed and finished third.

*

Paul Gentilozzi, the defending series champion from Lansing, Mich., made the most of mistakes by front row starters Chris Neville and Brian Simo and won the 60-mile Trans Am for full-bodied muscle cars. Gentilozzi, winning for the third time here, averaged 58.135 mph in his Ford Mustang.

Pole-sitter Neville, from Scottsdale, Ariz., bumped Brian Simo of Carlsbad, Calif., going into Turn 1 on the first lap, touching off a six-car pileup. Then Simo jumped the restart, was black-flagged, and Gentilozzi, the third qualifier, moved into the lead when Simo went to the pits for his stop-and-go penalty and led the rest of the way.

*

Two Long Beach Grand Prix veterans were honored during the weekend festivities.

Promoter Chris Pook, founder of the race, received the PPG Colorful Character award, given annually to someone in the racing community who adds color, style, personality and fun to the CART series.

Howard Handy, a former sportswriter who has supervised the press room at the LBGP for a dozen years, was given the first Allen Wolfe Award. The award is named for the longtime Long Beach Press-Telegram sportswriter who died May 5. Wolfe covered the first 24 Long Beach races for the Press-Telegram.