Lexington, Ohio - Peter Portante had a lots of ups and downs at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this past weekend. While the #41 Belardi Auto Racing (MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Intercity Lines, Inc./California Scents/Beurre & Sel/B&R Electrical Contractors/Randy's Wooster Street Pizza/Northern Construction/Velez Computer Systems/Pagliacci's) car was ready to go, racing circumstances would come into play big time.

The Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio started off with two testing session on Thursday. Portante posted quick times (1:23.472 in Test 1) in both sessions, but his best lap time would come in Session 2 where he finished P1 with a 1:22.017. The following day started bright and early with practice where Portante would post the quick time of 1:22.060 which landed him in the P4 spot.

Qualifying was an unfortunate event for Portante when he missed the checkered flag causing him to forfeit his fastest lap time. He would start in P8. Race 1 was not optimal for any of the drivers. The rain hit hard during the night, and through the early morning, which made track conditions very wet and slippery. Portante was spun on the first lap by a competitor and just focused on making up time from there. His car was in prime condition before the spin giving him at least three-tenths over his competitors. Portante would finish Race 1 in P11.

Race 2 was much more successful for the Plainville, CT, native when he started out in P8 and quickly made his way to the P4 spot. He would hold tight there until the final three laps where a smooth move allowed him around a competitor taking the third-place position. This is the second time Portante has been on the podium this year, the first being at Indianapolis during the Night Before the 500 back in May. The celebration from his podium would be short lived, however, when Race 3 came around. Portante started in the fifth position but shortly after the green flag an incident occurred that involved 11 cars, Portante included. He would not rejoin the race and would finish in the 18th position.

Portante's next event with the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Series Powered by Mazda will be held at the legendary Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on September 7-8.

Portante on Race 2:

"Obviously, the race was quite good. We started in eighth place and moved our way quite easily through the field. We made a small adjustment which helped us in the beginning of the race and maybe had to struggle a little bit at the end. A podium at a road course is fantastic coming from our podium at Lucas Oil and good momentum from Toronto, so keep gaining, keep gaining speed, keep gaining momentum and just keep working on it going faster and faster. That's kind of the name of the game. Usually when you go fast you do well so if we continue that we should be good for the rest of the year."