Top 10 helps Michael Crawford Motorsports end on high note
By Dave Lewandowski (indycar.com)
JOLIET, Ill. – The Michael Crawford Motorsports crew stood on the pit lane wall and cheered each time the No. 8 UltraV – Ultraviolet Coatings car crossed the checkered line late in the Chicagoland 100. It meant that P.J. Abbott was closer to attaining one goal on a long list.
Abbott, who started 19th, drove to a seventh-place finish in the 67-lap race at Chicagoland Speedway. Sure, he wasn't indirectly sprayed by champagne in Victory Circle. But a cold bottled water shared with the team was similarly quenching.
Abbott tied his career high in 10 Indy Pro Series races (six with Michael Crawford Motorsports). The Gulf War I disabled veteran is working on a program to return for a full Indy Pro Series schedule in 2008, with continued improvement at every stop.
"We've had a couple of tough seasons," Abbott said. "We just needed some time to get healthy, time to work together and we needed some time to test together. That was important. We went to Kentucky and had a great test, and came here and had another fantastic test. We had a great practice, but the qualifying was completely mine. It was a driver error. I got a little greedy and went for too much and I scrubbed off a little speed.
"So I owed it to these guys to come back and make it up to them."
On the closing laps, Abbott said he was "all over the place" trying to get overtake the cars driven by Sean Guthrie, Mike Potekhen and Bobby Wilson. Logan Gomez beat Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate Alex Lloyd to the checkers by 0.0005 of a second (the closest margin of victory in Indy Racing League history). Robbie Pecorari finished third.
"I think we had a top three or four car, but we just ran out of time with the caution laps," Abbott said. "This is by no means saying we've arrived, but what it shows is that we're improving.
"This is the way this team needed to go out this season. We needed to go out with a victory, and for us this is a victory because it's about improving. It shows that this team is continuing to get better and stronger. That's what this series is for."
Crawford was among those standing on the pit lane wall cheering.
"I'm so proud of him and happy for him," he said. "We've worked together for years, but it's never been the right time and the right place. He always gives it everything he has. He went out and delivered. He did a great job."