August 13, Sparta, KY. If you do the math on Travis Gregg, this is the one equation you should be sure to know:

In 2005:  Three 1.5 mile ovals = Three poles = Three victories.  Enough said.

With a dominant win today at Kentucky, Travis has captured every pole, and won every Infiniti Pro race held on a 1.5 mile oval this year.  Whether it's his sprint car background or a good car prepared by the crew at Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Gregg is definitely the driver to beat on mile-and-a-half tracks.  And today was definitely no exception. 

But while it seemed mostly clear from the outset that Gregg would win the race, what surprised many observers was the action behind the leader.  There was everything that we've come to expect from an IPS event, right up to subsecond margins and frequent changes of position.  This incredibly tight competition evolved into a thrilling battle for second place at the end of the race between series points leader Wade Cunningham, and Marco Andretti, which was decided by an incredible nine ten-thousandths of a second (.0009 seconds).  It was without a doubt some of the best racing of the day.

However, from the beginning, it was clear that Travis Gregg was the man to beat.  After an incredibly strong qualification in which he was a full 1.5 MPH faster than his teammate Jaime Camara, who shared the front row with him, Travis wasted no time in asserting his dominance.  As the field came around for the start and the green flag dropped, Gregg accelerated away from the pack while Marco Andretti drove high and passed a slowing Jay Drake entering Turn 2.  Chris Festa and Jon Herb raced side by side, battling for position.  By Lap 2, Marco had passed Jaime Camara to capture second place (after starting fifth). 

Andretti's position was short-lived though as Camara was able to repass him in Turn 4 on the outside.  After the pass, Andretti slowed dramatically and was passed by Jon Herb.  About the beginning of the race Andretti said, "I was in second, then I was just flat and [as the run got longer] I was holding on for dear life."

Gregg was not the only car showing some speed in the early stages of the race.  Lap 4 saw Jay Drake diving to the inside and racing side by side with Camara to pass him for second place in Turn 3.  Carrying a lot of speed, Drake closed on Gregg and by Lap 8 tried to pass him on the inside.  The pass did not succeed and they raced for several more laps.  Drake tried again on the inside on Lap 10, and again, Gregg was able to hold the lead.  This was the most significant test of the race for Travis.

On Lap 12, the battle in the rear of the field was heating up as Wade Cunningham dueled with Chris Festa for several laps in some very close racing.

The mid-race settled down into two general packs:  Gregg, Drake, and Herb in the lead pack (with Gregg maintaining a sound lead), then after a small gap, Jaime Camara, then after a sizeable gap, the second group of Cunningham, Bussell, Festa, Simmons and Andretti.  At this point, Marty Roth and Arie Luyendyk, Jr. were far from contention in the rear of the field.

As Gregg held his lead, Jon Herb and Jay Drake were battling for second with Herb testing Drake on the inside upon entry into Turn 1.  He completed the pass, only to have Drake repass him on Lap 25.  But on Lap 25, Herb passed Drake on the inside again entering Turn 1 and began to reel in Gregg.  Not to be outdone, Drake was side by side with Herb again on Lap 28.  They raced that way for several more laps until Drake was finally able to regain possession of second place close to Lap 30.

Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, Travis Gregg, leading Drake by over 200 yards, was approaching the lap car of Arie Luyendyk, Jr.  While attempting to pass him, Gregg drifted up the track and made what appeared to be solid contact with the Turn 2 wall.   "I hit really hard," Gregg said, "I thought I broke something… but I just tried to gather it back up and make sure the car was okay."  Evidentially it was, as he continued to extend his lead.

For the next ten laps, the best racing was in the middle of the pack, with several side-by-side duals between Simmons, Festa, Cunningham, and Bussell that brought the fans to the edge of their seats.  Near Lap 40, Nick Bussell had just passed Cunningham and was approaching Festa.  But, Bussell had to get out of the throttle quickly when Festa changed his line.  This event earned Festa a black flag for blocking and on Lap 42 he paid the price in the form of a drive-through penalty which relegated him to a ninth place finish.

Lap 47 saw Gregg with a huge 300 yard lead over Drake.  However,  that lead evaporated when, on the next lap, Jon Herb blew an engine and brought out the yellow flag.  "I really had no indication the engine was going to fail," Herb said, "I lost about 200 RPM in Turn 4, then in Turn 1 it just let go."  Up to that point, Herb was running a very strong race and most likely could have contended for (at least) second towards the finish.

The track stayed under caution until Lap 55 when the green flag waved again.  On the restart, Gregg pulled away from the field again.  But behind him, there was an incredible display of racing as Camara (running in 3rd) ran side-by-side with Jay Drake (in 2nd) and Marco Andretti, running in 7th at the restart, drove high and passed four cars on the outside to end up in 2nd by the end of the lap.  Cunningham followed Andretti and ended up behind him in 3rd. 

From that point on, the real battle was for second as Cunningham and Andretti continued their dual from St. Petersburg, racing side by side and challenging each other for the position.  Both Cunningham and Andretti seemed to race each other cleanly and provided some breathtaking excitement for the fans on hand to see.

With about three laps remaining, Cunningham tried Andretti on the outside, but couldn't complete the pass. Wade picked up the draft again though, and positioned himself to make one of the outside passes on the final lap that have become a common recipe for victory on the high-speed 1.5 mile ovals.  Sure enough, as the white flag was displayed, Cunningham pulled alongside Andretti on the outside in Turn 3 and by the finish, just like we've seen in many IndyCar races, it was too close to call.  However a quick glance at the scoring tower showed Cunningham in second and Andretti in third, .0009 seconds behind -- less than a millisecond.   Of course, Gregg handily beat them both by over 12 car lengths to earn his third win of the season.

Regarding the battle for second, Andretti said, "We went for it, but Wade played it perfectly.  I was inside of him.  He just didn't leave me that much room, just perfect, because that made me have to get out of [the throttle] because I had big understeer."  And Cunningham said, "That was a tough battle.  I think Marco lost second when he downshifted on the last lap and that's what gave me second place."

The fans at the Kentucky Speedway got more than they bargained for as they saw Travis Gregg dominate the field with a spectacular win and Wade Cunningham and Marco Andretti put on an astounding display of close racing on the last lap to finish second and third respectively.  After the results of race today, it's clear that the Infiniti Pro Series not only prepares drivers to take the next step to the IndyCar series, but also provides a level of racing that is every bit as exciting -- maybe more.

The final, unofficial standings from Kentucky are: