Firestone Indy Lights title fight heats up after Iowa event

Through five races, the driver who has a nearly flawless race weekend usually walked away with the winner's trophy.

That pattern held true at Iowa Speedway as Colombian Sebastian Saavedra scored his first with of 2010 with a dominating performance on the .875-mile oval.

Saavedra improved to fourth in the championship standings and pulled him within 32 points of series point leader J.K. Vernay. Saavedra is just nine points out of second- currently held by Charlie Kimball.

Sebastian Saavedra Credit: Chris Jones/Indy Lights

"I couldn't have asked for anything better because our car was great all week long," said Saavedra, who became the fourth winner in five races. "Last year, we had some bad luck here in Iowa, and this year everything came true and I'm happy about it. "

While Saavedra may have won the race, the biggest beneficiary at Iowa may have been Vernay, who rebounded from a disappointing result at Indianapolis with a third-place finish. Vernay's fourth podium of the season put some distance between him and Kimball in the season-long race for the Firestone Firehawk Cup.

"It's a good weekend for the championship," said Vernay, who leads Kimball by 23 points. "I finished 13th at Indy, and now I can (gain) points on them. We have to be focused like that to the end of the championship. The goal is to fight for the title and to win the championship, For sure, we cannot win every race; we have to be focused and be smart until the end of the year."

And limiting mistakes could be critical when it comes down to the final point standings, especially with a stretch of four races over six weeks kicking off with the Corning 100 at Watkins Glen International on July 4.

"Usually, there are two guys who separate themselves from the pack and duel it out for the championship," said Martin Plowman, who finished a career-best second at Iowa. "This year, there are four or five guys who can win every weekend, and you never know who the favorite to win is until race day.

"You just have to get it right the whole race weekend, from practice to qualifying to the race. That level of competition proves that the series is going in the right direction."

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