Aussie Cameron Shields finishes third in opening race at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, WI (June 23, 2019) – Newman Wachs Racing and its driving duo of Nolan Siegel and Cameron Shields traveled to the iconic Road America facility on the June 21-23 weekend for the sixth and seventh rounds of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. Shields maintained the momentum that he fueled in winning the Freedom 75 oval race at Lucas Oil Raceway in late May, running in the top-10 all weekend to post a best finish of third in the first race of the doubleheader. Siegel stretched his impressive run of consistent finishes, adding his second top-10 result of his freshmen year.
“All-in-all, I’m happy with the weekend,” offered Brian Halahan, NWR Team Manager. “Cameron drove extremely well to give us our second podium of the season. Nolan continues to impress me by completing every lap and gaining his second top-10 finish. We are all looking forward to the streets of Toronto with the goal of more top-10’s.”
The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship series took to the track at Road America first thing on Friday morning for the event’s lone practice session. Shields and Siegel timed in eighth and 11th, respectively, to begin the weekend. In the short 20-minute qualifying session for Race 1, Cameron stepped things up and turned the sixth fastest lap of the 18-car field to secure a starting spot on the outside of the third row. Nolan also lowered his lap times, slotting in 14th for the opening race of the doubleheader.
The first race took place on Saturday afternoon and Shields was immediately on the move. The Aussie expertly avoided a turn one incident to emerge in the fourth position and he then made quick work of Manuel Sulaiman to grab hold of third. Cameron was chased for the remainder of the race by the current series point leader, but a trip to the podium was not to be denied, and he went on to finish third. Siegel delivered yet another consistent performance to score his second straight top-10 finish.
For Race 2, Shields qualified 10th while Siegel matched his early qualifying run to finish up in 14th. In the final race of the weekend, Shields advanced impressively into the battle for fifth, but a minor mechanical issue dropped him to ninth in the final tally. Siegel was embroiled in a race-long battle just outside the top-10 and capped the weekend with a 14th place finish.
The team completed an official series test at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the Wednesday and Thursday following the Road America weekend, ahead of the USF2000 event that will take place at the track at the end of July. Before that race, the team will travel north of the border to Canada for the Honda Indy Toronto street race on July 11-13.
NEWMAN WACHS RACING – DRIVER RESULTS AND QUOTES
USF2000 – ROUNDS 6/7 – JUNE 21-23, 2019
REV GROUP GRAND PRIX – ELKHART LAKE, WI
NOLAN SIEGEL – #36
Qualifying 1: 14th – 2:11.612
Qualifying 2: 14th – 2:10.620
Race 1: Start – 14th / Finish – 10th
Race 2: Start – 14th / Finish – 14th
Driver Quote: “My weekend at Road America didn’t go super smoothly, but we ended up where we deserved to be and made lots of progress throughout the weekend. Now that we’ve had a couple days of testing, we’ve figured out a few things setup wise and Cameron and I are going to be stronger than ever in Toronto!”
CAMERON SHIELDS – #73
Qualifying 1: 6th – 2:10.853
Qualifying 2: 10th – 2:10.326
Race 1: Start – 6th / Finish – 3rd
Race 2: Start – 10th / Finish – 9th
Driver Quote: “Road America was a great weekend for myself and Newman Wachs Racing. After winning on the oval at Lucas Oil Speedway, it was great to continue with success by finishing on the podium for the first race. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on our side in the final event for the weekend, but we managed to salvage a top-10 to finish the weekend. Our next round is the Streets of Toronto so I’m sure we can succeed there too, if we work hard. Street events are always a lot of fun and very challenging, so it is something I’m looking forward to!”
NEWMAN WACHS RACING – SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
Website: www.newmanwachsracing.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewmanWachsRacing
Twitter: @newman_wachs
Instagram: @newman_wachs
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About Newman Wachs Racing: Newman Wachs Racing was formed in 2005 by late actor and IndyCar team owner Paul Newman and long-time racing friend Eddie Wachs to aid the development of young drivers in Champ Car’s Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda. Among the drivers to go through the NWR program were JR Hildebrand, John Edwards and Simona de Silvestro. After a seven-year hiatus, Newman Wachs Racing has returned to racing, competing in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship on the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires.
