KVRT’S MARIO MORAES EARNS FIRST INDYCAR CAREER PODIUM FINISH

JOLIET, IL - - AUGUST 30, 2009 - - Round #15 2009 IndyCar Series season - - KV Racing Technology driver Mario Moraes earned the first podium finish of his young IndyCar career with a third place performance last night in the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.

Moraes, competing for the second time on the 1.5-mile D-shaped tri-oval, drove like a seasoned veteran throughout the 200 lap contest.  Starting eighth, he was patient throughout the first two stints running anywhere from sixth to eight, but working the traffic and getting the feel of the #5 Azul – Votorantim – KV Racing Technology Honda/Dallara/Firestone car.  Moraes benefited from a brilliantly engineered and prepared car, outstanding pit work and a shrewd race strategy that took advantage of the yellow flags.  Following his second pit stop, Moraes began to press the attack getting as high as third, before settling into fourth.  However, 18 laps into the stint the second caution of the race occurred and the team made the decision to pit for fuel only.  The strategy worked perfectly as Moraes rejoined the contest in third place while his Firestone tires easily lasted the extra laps.  Battling with the lead cars for the first time this deep into an oval race Moraes showed how much he has learned.  He initially dropped to seventh, but quickly regrouped and charged back to regain third where he stayed until his final pit stop on lap 162.  Moraes spent much of the first part of the final stint in a three car duel for fourth place however, when Helio Castroneves crashed out on lap 184 race officials ruled that Moraes was in sixth when the track went yellow.  Undaunted, Moraes fought a fierce battle during the final 10-lap shootout.  He was still sixth on lap 197, but working the traffic and the draft he jumped to fourth with one lap to go. On the white flag lap, with seven cars in the mix, Moraes slipped out of the draft to make the pass that put him on the podium for the first time. 

“This is great,” Moraes said.  “The entire KV Racing Technology team has been working really hard for this all season and I’m really pleased with a third place finish.  I want to thank everyone at KVRT.  They did an amazing job all weekend, in fact all year. The crew did a great job tonight.  We had really fantastic pit stops.”

Moraes went on to say, “This last month has been really tough for me.  It has been really hard to stay focused.  I am just happy that my mom could make the trip from Brazil for this race and I want to dedicate this podium finish to my Dad.”

Moraes, 20, the second youngest driver in the series, is in his second IndyCar season and first with KVRT.  He made his 30th career IndyCar start and 18th on an oval last night.  This was Moraes’ second consecutive top-four finish.  He placed a road course career high fourth a week ago in Sonoma.  The third place showing last night and the fourth in Sonoma are the first top-five finishes of his career.  Moraes has now earned career high finishes on eight of the 14 tracks this season.  The third place finish is also KVRT’s best showing at Chicagoland in two races, three starts.  Moraes earned 35 points for his effort last night and picked up two places in the standings. He now sits 16th in the points with 248.

Next up for KVRT is the Indy Japan 300, September 18-19, at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi, Japan.  The race will be televised live on September 18 at 10:30 p.m. ET on Versus.

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