Faulkner wins Texas Lights.

Dorricott Racing rookie Damien Faulkner scored an impressive win from the pole in his first career oval track race last night, in the debut of the Dayton Indy Lights Championship at Texas Motor Speedway.

Faulkner led all but two of the race's 67 laps and crossed the finish line ahead of Derek Higgins and Kristian Kolby as the race ended under the second of the day's two caution periods.

Faulkner is the first Dayton Indy Lights rookie to win both the pole and the race in his oval-racing debut since Mario Dominguez at Homestead/Miami Speedway in 1999. Ironically, it was Dominguez who played a part in sealing Faulkner's similar first win on Saturday. As Higgins and Kolby pressured Faulkner on the last lap of the race, Dominguez and Higgins' team-mate Rudy Junco touched and hit the outside wall exiting Turn Two. Although both drivers escaped uninjured, the incident brought out a full course caution. The race was completed under yellow flag conditions, preventing Higgins and Kolby from making a final run on Faulkner in the final two corners of the race.

"In the beginning of the race, I didn't get a great start," Kolby admitted, "After about the second lap, the car started with rev limiter problems and I would have to back off and started dropping further back and couldn't keep up with them in the draft. After
the yellow, I got a really good start and began to challenge the front. We qualified third and definitely had the pace to run on our own."

Faulkner won his first career pole in Friday's single car qualifying session, and led the field to the green flag alongside team-mate and outside front-row starter Townsend Bell. The Dorricott team-mates ran side-by-side for nearly the first three laps - with Bell officially leading lap one - before Faulkner moved out front with Bell and Higgins in close tow on lap three. Dominguez and his PacWest Lights team-mate Dan Wheldon also joined the lead-pack fray and, although Faulkner led the next 51 laps, the top-five frequently changed among Bell, Higgins, Dominguez and Wheldon, who ran just inches apart.

"I got a very good start, and actually got by Townsend and got a good run on Damien, but then Townsend got another run on me," Higgins explained, "I was happy just to sit behind Damien and Townsend to bide my time. We started racing at lap ten, and it was frustrating that people were racing too much and it was going to end up in disaster by the things that were happening. That's
what happened with the accident. I'm happy with the end result - it's a track you have to treat with respect."

The pack was coming out of Turn Four on lap 52, when Wheldon and Bell came together while battling for second. Bell continued minus his DirecPC Lola's nose, but Wheldon spun and was collected by the third Dorricott car of Jon Fogarty, who had moved into lead-pack contention just a few laps earlier after running at the back of the field in the early going.

Wheldon and Fogarty both hit the wall but escaped uninjured. Bell continued despite three pit-stops, including one to honour a black flag for a safety technical inspection. He finished the race eighth, two laps down.

After a caution period for the Wheldon/Bell/Fogarty incident, the race came down to a seven-lap dash to the finish. Higgins managed to edge by Faulkner on the outside to officially lead lap 64, but the Dorricott driver never really lost the top spot. He moved back in front and stayed there until the dual chequered and yellow flags three laps later.

"It's difficult to take the outside line, so I stayed low," Faulkner revealed, "I know Derek made a stab on the outside midway through the race, but then he settled in behind us. I was hoping to go the race without a caution.

"Derek had the lead briefly but only by five millimetres or so. It was only one official lap but it wasn't enough to make a difference in the race except for the electronic timer at the start-finish line. I knew it would be difficult for him to make a move from the outside. He was actually further ahead of me on the back straight heading into turn four. I wasn't going to back out and he gave me the room I safely needed. I thought the race was clean regarding the fellows that were up front."

Higgins, with top-three finishes in the year's first three races, has now built a strong 52-point championship lead. Bell is second with 41 points and Dominguez, despite the DNF, is now third with 33 points.

Dayton Tyre Awards were made to Rolando Quintanilla, who receives four Dayton Daytona racing tyres as the Move to the Front award recipient after improving five positions to finish in fifth place. Kolby received two tyres as the Dayton Rookie Award recipient as the highest finishing first-year driver. Faulkner received a pair of Dayton Daytona racing tyres as the fast qualifier.

The Worldcom Fast Pace Award went to Jon Fogarty, who received $1000 for setting the fastest race lap at 188.483mph (28.306secs). The Simple Green Clean-Up Award was not claimed for the second race in a row, and rolls $7500 over to the next event at the Milwaukee Mile, where $10,000 will be posted.

Ireland takes the lead in the Nation's Cup after Faulkner's win, with 58 points. The United States is in second place with 41 points and Mexico third place with 37 points.

Faulkner wins the Racing for Kids Award worth $500, with an additional $1500 being presented to the Cook's Children's Hospital in Fort Worth on behalf on Racing for Kids. Higgins takes the lead the RFK points championship with 52 points.

In the Bosch Platinum +4 Speedway Challenge Award, which began with the Texas event, Faulkner earned 22 points to take the lead of the competition that pays $10,000 to the driver accumulating the most points in 2001's six oval track events.

Race result - Texas Indy Lights.

1. Damien Faulkner
2. Derek Higgins
3. Kristian Kolby
4. Luis Diaz
5. Rolando Quintanilla

Championship standings (after three races).

1. Derek Higgins 52 points
2. Townsend Bell 41
3. Mario Dominguez 33
4. Kristian Kolby 32
5. Dan Wheldon 30