Curran, Hubbell Capture First FARA Miami 500 Victory

  In a race that saw close battles on track and controversial penalties off track, William Hubbell and Eric Curran finally snapped their winless streak in the FARA Miami 500 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  After failing to finish after dominating early two years ago and then falling behind on pit strategy in 2014, the iconic black and silver Corvette Daytona Prototype outlasted the field in a race marred by crashes.

  Despite the celebration that was FARA’s biggest race of the season, the mood was somewhat muted after the event after driver Andres DeCardenas was airlifted to KendallRegionalHospital.

  DeCardenas, piloting his vintage Porsche in the MP-2A class during the race, was exiting turn five on the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course when he was contacted from behind by another car, spinning him around before making hard contact with the wall at over 100 mph.

  During an extended red-flag period, DeCardenas was extracted from the car and placed into an ambulance on a stretcher, then driven to the infield care center where he was later airlifted to the hospital.

  The segment of wall where Cardenas crashed does not have a SAFER Barrier or a tire-wall.

  Multiple sources at the track have told the News Leader that DeCardenas was unconscious from the time safety workers arrived at the scene of the accident to when he was flown out of the track.

  According to social media posts by friends and family, DeCardenas remains in an induced coma at KendallRegionalHospital in an effort to reduce the stress of swelling from two brain contusions, but is expected to make a full recovery.

  The race itself was hotly contested, sporting one of the deepest fields in FARA history.

  Over 60 cars took the green flag in front of an estimated crowd over 20,000 fans at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  The very first lap of the Miami 500 provided one of the most exciting moments of the race as the Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX of Marcelo Hahn, Allam Khodair, and Renan Guerra rounded NASCAR turn four in a side-by-side drag race with the Lamborghini Huracan of Pablo Perez and Jonathan Summerton, eliciting a roar from the crowd in attendance.

  Perez and Sumerton, who finished second overall and first in MP-1A, nearly saw their day come to an end on lap 71 of the race when they threaded the needle to the inside of the lapped cars of Juan Vento and Herbert Gomez.

  Vento locked up his breaks in an effort to avoid the Lamborghini and in turn slammed into the driver’s side door of Gomez, sending Gomez’s Honda around in the hairpin turn and sending Vento’s Corvette to the garage.

  Gomez and co-drivers Greg Ira and Angel Acosta went on to win MP-4C class.

  Lap 68 also saw a major accident when RJ Lopez spun his Porsche coming on to the front stretch, pounding the outside wall and destroying his car.

  Marco Cirone captured victory in MP-1B, Patrick Dussault and Dore Chaponick grabbed the win in MP-2A, and the father-son duo of Ernie Francis Sr. and Jr. teamed up to win MP-3B.

  Ricardo Flores Jr. and Sr. teamed up for the win in MP-3A while Adolpho Rossi, Ethan Low, and Bruno Leme drove their Ginetta to victory in MP-4A.

  Robert Booth drove his Porsche to a win in MP-2B while Jesse Singer captured the flag in MP-4B.

Trucks Thrill In Exhibition Race

  Racing for the first time on a road course, five drivers from the Southern Pro-Am Truck Series battled it out for the win at Homestead-Miami Speedway in a 15-lap exhibition race before the FARA Miami 500.

  Purpose build for racing on short ovals in north and central Florida, the twists and turns of Homestead-Miami Speedway’s road course provided a different challenge for the series’ drivers.

  On the first lap, the truck of Paul Grynewicz III spun in turn three, sending the other four trucks scrambling to avoid him.

  After a caution later on, Cole Partelo looked to have the race in hand, having built a sizeable lead over Randy Leonard and Chad Chastain.

  However, coming off of the final corner with the checkered flag in the air, Partelo spun his truck, opening the door for Chastain to sneak past and steal the victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  “I went to shift into fourth gear but it went into second and I just turned it around,” said Partelo after the race.

  The Southern Pro-Am Truck Series is slated to return to road course racing in July when FARA visits Sebring International Raceway.