DirtFish supported driver Benjamin Pedersen recently achieved great success, earning his first Indy Lights victory in Portland last weekend with a dominant display.
After netting his maiden pole the day before, Pedersen made a strong start, resisting Danial Frost into the first two corners and built an immediate advantage.
An early caution period for a collision between Christian Bogle and Flinn Lazier bunched the field up, but once again Pedersen was able to remain resolute out in front, getting a big jump on the restart. From there he was untroubled for the remainder of the 35-lap race, and made another perfect restart after a second caution just before the halfway point.
He eventually crossed the line just under a second ahead of closest challenger Matthew Brabham.
Pedersen’s win has been a long time coming. He’s been a five-time runner-up in the IndyCar feeder series over the last two years already, with three of those second places coming this year. He also netted a third placed finish on the Gateway prior to Portland and a quartet of thirds last season.
Following his win in Portland, a de facto home race for him as it’s the closest to Seattle where he has lived for much of his life, Pedersen sits fifth in the Indy Lights points with a two rounds to go at California’s Laguna Seca Raceway.
“Because Benjamin has been such a longtime family friend, we’ve been able to witness his whole journey to Indy Lights,” said DirtFish’s head of strategy Josie Rimmer.
“From day one, he has truly been one of the most dedicated, hard working people I’ve known, and I mean it wholeheartedly when I say that every ounce of this win was deserved.
“Not only is he great in the car, but he’s just an all around class act – a joy to be around. We love having him represent DirtFish and can’t wait to see where he goes from here.”
In the summer Pedersen got his first taste of top level IndyCar machinery, running in a group test for Juncos Hollinger Racing at Sebring International Raceway.
Pedersen, who has spent much of the year around AJ Foyt Racing learning the ins and outs of IndyCar Racing, was quicker than Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s three full-season drivers in the test.
DirtFish has long been a supporter of Pedersen’s rise up the open-wheel ladder, which has included stints in the F4 US Championship, and Formula 3 over in the UK.
We want to say a huge congratulations to him on his achievement. There’ll definitely be more to come.
