Tucker Brings Home Solid Second-Place Finish at Infineon Raceway

Scott Tucker and the No. 55 Boardwalk Ferrari Level 5 Motorsports team started strong and finished strong Saturday, coming home second by less than a car length behind Enzo Politicchio in race 1 of the Ferrari Challenge Series at Infineon Raceway.

More than half of the 45-minute race was run under a full-course caution, putting a damper on the strategy of the Level 5 Motorsports team to conserve tires during qualifying. Tucker, who started second, cut short his qualifying run in his No. 55 F430 in order to minimize tire wear.

However, an accident on lap eight involving Ted Skokos and Damon Ockey brought out the yellow flag. The track stayed under caution for seven laps -- a total of 23 minutes -- and the green flag didn't drop until only seven minutes remained.

"We certainly didn't anticipate that," Tucker said. "We had the perfect strategy. Our tires would have been newer and fresher than the leader's. But, with the caution lasting that long, it took away our advantage. We fought as hard as we could to get up there and get by Enzo. It was close."

Tucker has finished on the podium at Infineon Raceway - a 2.52-mile, 12-turn road course - every year since he made his debut in the Ferrari Challenge Series in 2007. He finished a mere .15 seconds behind Politicchio. In Saturday's practice sessions, Tucker was the car to beat setting fast times in both sessions.

Harry Cheung finished third, followed by Fracesco Piovanetti and Ty Hubbard.

Tucker ripped off the fastest lap in Saturday morning's practice session at 84.421 mph (1:45.29). During qualifying, Tucker needed only three laps before he was satisfied. After a fast lap of 87.504 mph (1:44.309), the Boardwalk Ferrari Level 5 Motorsports team decided to sit tight, save tires and prepare for the race.

Tucker's strategy netted him a solid starting position on the outside of Row 1, only .076 seconds behind the pole winner, Potolicchio. After the drop of the green flag, Politicchio led at the first turn, but with Tucker all over his bumper. With the top two cars putting distance themselves and the rest of the field, Tucker remained a close second behind Politicchio for the first 15 minutes before the caution flag came out.

"This is a racetrack where it is very difficult to pass, and that was the case today," Tucker said. "When you get out front, you're really at an advantage. We gave it a great run and we fell just a little bit short. This gives us a lot of information to digest and a gives us a lot to think about heading into tomorrow."

Tucker ran the fastest lap of the race at 84.874 mph (1:46.330). Skokos, Tucker's Level 5 Motorsports teammate, was unable to finish the race following the incident on lap 7. He was admitted to a local hospital for observation following the serious accident.

Qualifying for the second F430 race is set for 10 am PT Sunday. The green flag is set for 1:45 pm PT.

ABOUT BOARDWALK

Boardwalk Ferrari, Located in Plano, Tex., is one of the nation's leading Ferrari and Maserati dealerships. The company has extensive involvement in motorsports including relationships in the American Le Mans Series and their
extremely successful sponsorship of Level Five Motorsports Ferrari Challenge entry.

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