Canadian driver to Race with Superhero Speed at Superspeedway
FONTANA, Calif. Sept. 11, 2012—Auto Club Speedway is just a short distance from Hollywood making it an appealing “on location” for producers. Movies like the Bucket List and the 2000 adaptation of Charlie’s Angels have taken the Fontana track to the silver screen.
This weekend, Hollywood will hit the 2-mile oval once again withIronman’s Tony Stark look-alike David Ostella in the Firestone Indy Lights Series. Coming off a fourth-place finish in the last race, Ostella is preparing to enter the season finale with an iron fist.
The young Canadian Driver sits eighth in the championship entering the final 2012 race. With some recent setbacks due to brake issues, Ostella and Team Moore Racing overcame that obstacle with a street circuit career-best finish of fourth at the Grand Prix of Baltimore.
“As a team we decided not to focus on my brake issue, which we still had in Baltimore, but instead focused on setup and it paid off,” said Ostella. “Now at Fontana, brakes aren’t as important so we will focus only on going fast.”
Ostella proved his ability to adapt to high-speed oval racing in the no. 22 Global Precast/LiUNA/Xtreme Coil Drilling car when he finished fourth on the historic Milwaukee Mile in June. He carried that momentum to Iowa Speedway, another short high-speed oval, and finished fifth in the Sukup 100. He includes these top-five oval finishes as the highlights of his 2012 season.
“Because of these accomplishments, I have learned a lot,” said Ostella. “My racecraft on the ovals has improved tremendously. I’ve also learned a lot about car setup and communication to the engineer, and I’m ready to learn more.”
Now with only one oval left, Ostella is ready to suit up, do his best Tony Stark imitation and throw down an ‘iron first’ to land on the Fontana podium.
Firestone Indy Lights practice begins Friday at 9:45 a.m. PT, with qualifying set to start at 1 p.m. PT. Racing begins Saturday, Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. PT, when the green flag will start the 50-lap race on the 2-mile course. The race can be watched on a delayed broadcast on NBC Sports Network Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. ET.
Follow David Ostella on Twitter and Facebook for updates. For trackside news and updates, follow @OstellaCorsa.
Fontana Weekend Schedule: (All times local)
Friday, September 14
9:45 – 10:30 a.m. — Firestone Indy Lights practice
1:00 — 2:00 p.m. — Firestone Indy Lights Qualifications
4:45 — 5:30 p.m. — Firestone Indy Lights practice
Saturday, September 15
3:00 — 4:00 p.m. — Race (50 laps), NBC Sports Network (delayed broadcast, Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. ET)