New Zealand racing driver Wade Cunningham ended his Indy Pro Series season in style yesterday, getting the better of Jonathan Klein to win the Chicagoland 100 at the Chicagoland Oval.
The win was the 22-year-old Aucklander's third this season and it came after some of the most exciting wheel-to-wheel action
seen on the IPS circuit this year.
A daring three-wide move on the first lap got Cunningham up with the leading bunch from his row-three starting position and he took the lead for the first time on lap 14. From then on Cunningham, Klein and championship points leader Jay Howard lapped within millimetres of each other at speeds up to 300km/h.
Klein managed to get a break mid- race but Cunningham fought back and the pair swapped the lead through the third quarter while Howard found himself under attack from rookie Japanese driver Akihira Okamoto.
Twice the pace was slowed by yellow flag caution periods, but this time - in stark contrast to other occasions this season - Cunningham did not find himself disadvantaged.
Each time Klein came back at him he was able to respond. When he did so the second-to-last time, with just six laps to go, the race looked like Cunningham's for the taking, but out came the yellow flag again, this time in response to an accident by Tom Wieringa, and the track did not go green again until lap 66 of 67.
Klein tried to get around Howard and go after Cunningham, but this time the 2003 World Karting Champion and 2005 Indy Pro Series winner was not to be denied, crossing the line 0.6097s in front of Klein and 0.6444s ahead of champion-elect Howard.
Third place was enough to give Howard the 2006 Indy Pro Series title, by just four points from Klein.
The win elevated Cunningham to third, just seven points behind Klein and 11 adrift of Howard, and gave the Entrant's Championship to his team, Brian Stewart Racing.
After the race, Cunningham said he knew he was going to be quick, despite being pushed back to sixth place (after being fastest in the second practice session) in qualifying.
