NUNEZ INCREASES TOTAL WINS IN 2012 SEASON TO FIVE

Rookie Driver Nunez Claims Two Race Wins At Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

MONTEREY, CA (May 12, 2012) - 16-year-old rookie driver Tristan Nunez continued the 2012 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda season with a double-header weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca today, in conjunction with the American Le Mans Monterey Presented by Patron race event. Nunez ran flag-to-flag in both races to capture the wins from the pole positions and increase his 2012 IMSA Lites season total to five victories in only six races.

"What an incredible weekend for the No. 16 "Dnt txt n DrV" entry," said Nunez. "I am so proud of the team and what were able to accomplish this weekend. The first race of the weekend was tough as there were several cautions and I was concerned that somebody was going to hook onto me and we would have a battle for the lead. But we were able to pull away and come out on top with each restart. What a fantastic race! I really enjoyed this race because it challenged me to stay focused on making the restarts perfect. One mistake could have cost us the win. I was glad that we were able to put down the fastest lap of the race to earn our sixth pole win and have a good start to the second race today. I was able to put my head down and run hard today without worrying about cautions and restarts. We ran a smooth race and I was so glad to be able to bring my car with all of the signatures on it to victory lane for a second time this event."

Nunez took to the challenging 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course running in first place for the entirety of the qualifying session and both races to continue his 2012 rookie season as the youngest IMSA Lites driver in series history. This appearance marked his return to the track after earning his first career victory at the course in formula cars while competing with the Skip Barber Series.

The young Floridian started the weekend off with a bang when he earned his fifth consecutive pole of the season with only running six laps during the 30-minute qualifying session. The Performance Tech team and No. 16 "Dnt txt n DrV" entry of Nunez proved to use tire conservation strategy to their advantage during the qualifying run. IMSA rules and regulations require each car to qualify on the same set of tires they start the first race with, so due to the sandy track surface in California it is crucial to keep your tires clean. Nunez was able to go out and quickly find the speed to post the fastest lap. He earned the pole position and parked the car in the pits for the remainder of the session to conserve the tires.

The first race of the third event weekend in the 2012 IMSA Lites season took place on Fri., May 11 where Nunez ran well in the lead for the 30-minute race to earn his fourth career win. Starting from the pole position, Nunez was able to run very few green laps, as there were several cautions, but he finished 2.821 seconds ahead of the second-place competitor. On the final lap of the race, Nunez laid down a time of 123.606, which was the fastest lap of the race earning him the pole position for Race #2. This marked Nunez's sixth consecutive pole position of the 2012 IMSA Lites season. This result made for a clean sweep of pole positions, 6-for-6, in his rookie season.

The second IMSA Lites race in support of the American Le Mans Monterey Presented by Patron race event was slightly delayed when the morning started off with severe fog over the racetrack. Due to the delay in the schedule, the race was shortened from its original time of 45-minutes in length to 40-minutes. Regardless of the change, Nunez still dominated the entirety of the race keeping at least a three-second lead over the field at all times.

Once again starting from the pole position, Nunez led from the drop of the green flag in Race #2 to the checkered flag to earn his fifth career victory in his IMSA Lites debut season.  The celebrations in victory lane at this weekend's event were extra special for Nunez as he was racing along with his peers to put an end to distracted driving. Nunez's racecar boasts signatures of hundreds of youth that took the pledge to not text and drive at the Safe America Foundation Safe Teen Driving Academy on May 5, 2012 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nunez serves as the national spokesperson for the Safe America Foundation in conjunction with his "Dnt txt n DrV" campaign.

With four events left in the 2012 IMSA Lites series season, Nunez has already turned heads and marked his name in the history books. He currently holds three of the standing track records in the IMSA Prototype Lites series, two at Sebring International Raceway and one at Miller Motorsports Park. In addition, with his first career victory at the season-opening event at Sebring International Raceway, Nunez became the youngest IMSA Prototype Lites winner in Series history.

Nunez sits in the lead for the Series' points championship heading into the seventh and eighth rounds of the IMSA Prototype Lites season to be contested at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on July 20-22 during the 2012 Grand Prix of Mosport.

Most Recent Articles