Jaime Camara greeted race winner Travis Gregg in Victory Lane with a hug and friendly reminder that he'll be at the front again at Phoenix International Raceway on March 19.

The Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammates, who finished 1-2 in the season-opening Homestead-Miami 100, treated the large crowd to a 67-lap duel on a warm and sunny day in south Florida.

"The guys gave me a good car," said Gregg, who competed in three Menards Infiniti Pro Series races in 2004 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. "I just had to not make any mistakes out there and run smart. I knew (Jaime) was going to work with me and we ended up 1-2. I'm really happy to start the season like this."

Gregg, the pole sitter in the No. 7 Lucas Oil Products/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone, had Camara on his rear wing all 67 laps.

"It was a very good race; I gained a lot of experience," said Camara, who was making his Menards Infiniti Pro Series debut. "It was difficult to make a move on him, though my car was really good. His car was really good, too."

Jon Herb finished third in the No. 6 AERCON entry, while Wade Cunningham was fourth in his first series race in the No. 33 Team New Zealand entry. Jay Drake finished fifth in the No. 20 Vision Racing car.

Team owner Sam Schmidt was impressed with the maturity of Gregg and Camara on the 1.5-mile variably banked oval. He also expects more battles between the drivers ahead, with Chris Festa, the third member of the team in the No. 19 SpacePak/CareCentric/Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry, joining the battle.

"It's beautiful," the former IndyCar Series driver said about the 1-2 finish. "You have two really competitive guys but it's really impressive that they're so young and they had enough patience to race clean and smart.

"We worked together a lot this week to make our cars better than anybody else's and let then them settle it in the race."

With additional experience and coaching, Schmidt expects both Camara and Festa to challenge for the checkered flag at PIR. His input began in Victory Lane with Camara.

"On the mile-and-a-half (oval), it takes you about a lap and a half to pass somebody so it's all strategy," Schmidt told the Miami resident and native of Goiania, Goias, Brazil. "Just drive smart."

Camara attempted to pass Gregg on the inside coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap, but didn't have the momentum and finished .0736 of a second behind.

"Travis was very fast from the beginning till the end of the race," Camara said. "I was trying to work on a best line to make a move on him on the last three laps. His car was good on all the lines, and our cars are pretty much the same. I tried to force him down and maybe the low line was not good for him, but it was good for him. I couldn't make the move."

Herb was 6 seconds behind, but was generally pleased with the outing.

"I think this is about what we expected," he said. "Obviously, the Schmidt team has been strong, has a history of winning races and championships. That's the team to beat out here.

"Finishing behind them is a good start. But, you know, we're not going to sit and be happy with that. It's time to move on and try and work on the next one. We didn't have the speed those guys had. We're going to have to go back and work on it so we can come back and deserve it next time we get back up there."

Mishael Abbott, the first female to compete in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series, finished eighth after starting fourth in her debut.

"My first race was extremely exciting," the Coral Springs, Fla., resident and Florida International University student said. "Going into Turn 1, being up front with all the cars out there was great. We've got a little bit of work to do running in some traffic. We accomplished our goal, which was to finish all the laps out there. So we're really happy."