Ostella Qualifies Sixth at Kansas, Visits Oncology Patients
Ostella turned his top lap of 1 minute, 12.766 seconds with one minute remaining in the session under the lights in Performance Tech Motorsport’s No. 38 Dash Neighborhoods/ Phillips 66car, on his final trip around the six-turn, 2.37-mile circuit.
Throughout the each of the three practices of the day, Ostella worked with the team making small changes to the setup to prepare the car for qualifications. A final change was made late in the final practice, which was cut short by a red flag. The abrupt end left Ostella with no time to learn if the new setup was quick enough to get the car in top shape for qualifying.
Ostella, from Maple, Ontario, began the session as the quickest on track, running a lap of 1:13.156. He then lost that advantage as other drivers used the slipstreaming “draft” on the oval section of the course to gain speed, but he still was happy with the performance of the car.
“That was better,” Ostella said. “I felt like the car had better rotation. Power was no problem. It felt flat out in most of the corners. The last lap was the fastest we’ve been so far. I’m not much of a qualifier, so I think things will be different tomorrow. We always seem to be a little more on point on race day.”
Prior to practice and qualifying, Ostella visited with oncology patients at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He was shown the hospital’s state-of-the-art equipment with which patients are treated. He also brightened a few patients’ day by surprising them with pink Dash from Breast Cancer T-shirts – Ostella’s new foundation to benefit breast cancer research and awareness – and free tickets to the unique, two-segment race Saturday at Kansas. A total of 28 guests will visit the track on race day to cheer Ostella on as he tries to finish among the top three on the podium.
“It was truly amazing to meet these patients,” Ostella said. “The best thing was just to see the smiles on their faces when you walk in the room. It feels good to know that I could do that for someone. It’ll be great to have everyone at the track tomorrow.”
The first segment of the race for the Prototype Challenge class will take place from 4:15-5 p.m. (CT) Saturday. After an intermission, the PC event will resume under the lights at 10:15 p.m. for a second 45-minute sprint.
For more information or to donate to Dash from Breast Cancer, visit davidostella.com/dash-from-breast-cancer/. Keep up with Ostella’s on track progress by following him on Twitter at @OstellaCorsa and Facebook. For personal updates from Ostella, follow him on Twitter at @davidostella.