Matt Lee qualified fifth and ran in sixth place for more than half of Sunday’s Champ Car Atlantic race at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park here. Unfortunately he then did a 180-degree spin in Turn 7 on lap 24 of the 43-lap race. He didn’t hit anything and regrouped, but with no yellows to tighten up the field the Syosset, N.Y. -based teen went on to finish 17 th in the Conquest Racing/Integrated Structures No. 44.
Lee, the second-youngest driver in the field, was competing in only his third race ever in the series, which is presented by Cooper Tires and powered by Mazda. It was also the 17-year-old’s first race ever on the 1.683-mile street course. The event, called the Fast Trac 100, was part of the Grand Prix of Houston. Jonathan Bomarito, who started sixth, got by Lee during a hairy standing start, but Lee quickly settled into sixth place in the field of 27. By lap 10 he was just 0.718 of a second behind the fifth-place driver, Franck Perera, and 1.06 seconds behind the leader and eventual winner, polesitter Raphael Matos.
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