LiveThread: 2008 Indy Lights finale

While your humble host will most assuredly be here at the computer for the IndyCar series race later today, other priorities will have us out of the World Headquarters this morning during the first LIVE television broadcast of and Indy Lights race since who knows when.

Right now the championship points battle looks like this:
473 Raphael Matos
469 Richard Antinucci

Should be a good battle as Matos starts from the front and Antinucci back a bit in ninth, but it's a shame that one single decision by one of these two earlier this year has prevented this from being a truly historic battle.

Ana Beatriz currently sits mathematically eliminated in third position with 409 points, but take a moment and consider what might have been. Back in the third race of the season Beatriz was leading in the second race at St Pete when Antinucci - her teammate - punted her and sent her spinning off the track. Antinucci was penalized 10 points for the infraction, but that didn't help Beatriz who finsished in 16th despite being likely on her way to her first Indy Lights victory.

Had she held on to win that race she would have an additional 36 points right now, Antinucci in second would remain the same, and Matos would actually drop a point since he would have finished behind Beatriz in that race. The standings would then be:

472 Matos
469 Antinucci
445 Beatriz

Those 27 points would still pose a large deficit for "Bia" to overcome, but not an impossible one when you consider that her victory at Nashville is the only one by any of these three drivers on an oval this year. Just something to keep in mind while watching Matos or Antinucci claim the championship this morning.

Meanwhile, please add your race comments below if you happen to be watching. Muchas gracias.

UPDATE: It's Rafa! Matos wins the championship when Richard Antinucci goes into the wall, but the champion is upstaged as his teammate Arie Luyendyk Jr wins his first Indy Lights race in his 62nd start. Congratulations to both drivers. Smells like a party.

Unfortunately your humble host was banking on the DVR recording this, but when I got home I noticed the "IndyCar" programming turned out to be an N-Word pre-race show and bowling. Bowling? Are you kidding me? Ugh! ESPN is such a four-letter word.