WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Wade Cunningham and Alex Lloyd renewed their season-long rivalry with a split in the Indy Pro Series Corning Twin 100s.
Cunningham won Saturday’s first race to score his first victory of the season and fifth of his IPS career. It was his first victory since Chicagoland last September.
Cunningham was able to overcome a crash in the morning practice session to take the pole and lead every lap. He fought off a bid from Hideki Mutoh to win by .0758 second.
“It feels like we belong here,” Cunningham said after his long drought. “We’ve had quick times and a couple of good showings but really put it together today.”
Lloyd was third on Saturday, his worst finish of the season.
It didn’t take Lloyd long to find his way back to victory lane as he won Sunday’s second race, tying the IPS record for victories in a season with seven.
Lloyd, from the Isle of Man, equaled Mark Taylor’s record of seven set in 2003.
“It wasn’t easy,” Lloyd said. “We started off Friday morning and we weren’t quite there. We didn’t test here last week like some of the other guys. This is why this team is so good. We came from struggling yesterday to have a dominant car today. It was hard work.
“I had to push really hard because Wade (Cunningham) has been quick all weekend. I had to give it everything I had. I was so determined after yesterday being very disappointed to put on a good show and have the car we had yesterday. If we had the car we had today yesterday, then we could have done a double, but today’s been a good day. I’m just thrilled.”
He beat Cunningham by 4.7194 seconds. Rookie Daniel Herrington finished a career-best third followed by Phil Giebler and rookie Richard Antinucci.
The finishes:
Saturday: Wade Cunningham, Hideki Mutoh, Alex Lloyd, Phil Giebler, Bobby Wilson, Daniel Herrington, Jaime Camara, Richard Antinucci, Mike Potekhen, Andrew Prendeville, Jonathan Klein, Stephen Simpson, Brad Jaeger, Logan Gomez, Sean Guthrie, Joey Scarallo, Arie Luyendyk, Jr., C.R. Crews, Ken Losch, Jon Brownson, Chris Festa, Robbie Pecorari, Ryan Justice, Doug Boyer.
Sunday: Alex Lloyd, Wade Cunningham, Daniel Herrington, Phil Giebler, Richard Antinucci, Hideki Mutoh, Mike Potekhen, Andrew Prendeville, Jonathan Klein, Jaime Camara, Robbie Pecorari, Bobby Wilson, Stephen Simpson, Brad Jaeger, Logan Gomez, Sean Guthrie, Chris Festa, C.R. Crews, Ken Losch, Joey Scarallo, Doug Boyer, Arie Luyendyk, Jr., Ryan Justice, Jon Brownson.