Dempsey delivers sixth place finish at Barber Motorsports Park

Chicago, Ill. (April 9, 2013) – Peter Dempsey, driver of the No. 5 Slick Locks / Belardi Auto Racing machine, delivered a sixth place finish at this weekend’s Legacy Indy Lights 100 race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. After a challenging qualifying session, Dempsey started the race from the sixth spot on the grid and once again found himself in the midst of the racing action throughout the 40-lap event. After many hard fought battles, the Irishman ultimately brought home 28 additional points for the Belardi Auto Racing team, settling into the third spot in the driver championship.

“It was certainly a tough race for us,” commented Dempsey. “Sixth place wasn't what we were looking for. The car had great speed all weekend and our qualifying performance didn’t show the true speed of the Slick Locks / Belardi Auto Racing No. 5 car. At a track like Barber Motorsports Park, qualifying is very important, and we probably didn't give it everything we had as we were focused on the race.”

Dempsey had a good start for the race, engaging in a couple of side by side battles with the No. 8 car of Sage Karam and the No. 12 car of Zach Veach. After a too-close-for-comfort encounter with Karam, Dempsey backed off, falling to sixth position, and began to stalk the two aforementioned drivers, waiting for an opportunity to make his move. At the halfway point, Dempsey slipped back up into fifth position after capitalizing on a battle between Karam and Veach. He then focused on chasing down Karam as the No. 2 car of Juan Pablo Garcia fast approached him from behind. From there, it was another 3-way battle which resulted in Garcia receiving an avoidable contact penalty and Dempsey becoming stuck behind the No. 8 car again. With two laps to go, Dempsey attempted one final overtake on Karam and in the process lost his fifth place spot to teammate Jorge Goncalvez. In the end, Dempsey chose reward over risk, bringing home a sixth place finish and third in the championship.

“Once you get stuck in the back of the pack, it’s tough to move forward,” continued Dempsey. “I made contact on the first lap with the No. 8 car which really affected the handling of my car. The car was still fast, even with the damage, but unfortunately I just couldn’t pass the No. 8. I am moving on and looking forward to Long Beach now. I am going to be a lot more aggressive from now on as we have to start getting better results. Long Beach will be a fresh start for us. I would like to thank my team for all their hard work at Barber. My car didn’t miss a beat all weekend!”

Peter Dempsey Press