NISSAN MOTORSPORTS | INFINITI PRO SERIES : Rd.14 California 100

Wade Cunningham waited - occasionally patiently - through 13 races for this moment. Finally, he visited Victory Circle.

To enter the hallowed pavement for the first time as the Menards Infiniti Pro Series champion was doubly special.

The former world karting champion, driving the No. 33 Motorsport New Zealand Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone for Brian Stewart Racing, beat Jeff Simmons to the finish line by 0.1341 of a second to win the California 100. Simmons, who posted eight consecutive top-5 finishes down the stretch - including four victories - finished second in the standings.

Cunningham had recorded seven runner-up finishes, including a streak of four in a row early in the season, and was in the top five in all but one race.

"I definitely felt people would talk if I won the championship without ever winning a race," said Cunningham, who rewarded Brian Stewart with his first series victory. "But if that was the case, it wasn't the true scenario of the year we've had. We led at St. Pete, we led at Indy oval, we led at Watkins Glen, we led at Milwaukee, we've been second at pretty much every other track on the calendar this year. We've always battled at the front, always been at the lead. It's always the stupid things that went wrong. Most of the time, stuff I couldn't control.

"Today, when those things didn't happen, we were strong and we took the win."

Cunnningham, who started fifth, battled with Simmons and pole sitter Travis Gregg the final 10 laps after a restart. On Lap 48, Cunningham held a 0.0558-of-a-second lead over Simmons, with Gregg a half-car length behind. On the white flag lap, Simmons attempted to duck underneath Cunningham on the backstretch. Their tires touched as they ran side by side, bumping Simmons' car below the white line. He was able to regain momentum, but couldn't run alongside Cunningham through the fronstretch.

"We were going through all the scenarios of points, if Jeff does this, if I do this, whatever happens to the points," said Cunningham, 21, of New Zealand. "Once the green flag dropped, I just wanted to go to the front. I just wanted to get out front and run my own race.

"There was no way anyone was going to catch us. There was never the opportunity to make the big break. But we did at the end. Jeff made a pretty smart move, nearly took the lead on the last lap. No way I was going to give it up for anything."

Simmons, who also was runner-up in the 2003 standings as a rookie, qualified seventh in the No. 24 Team ISI car for Kenn Hardley Racing.

"We had a car that was good enough to win," he said. "It wasn't the fastest car out there, but I was able to push Wade away and then get a gap. I was trying to make that last-lap pass. I had room on the inside. I moved down there and Wade just kind of moved down and hit me to kill the run. I almost lost it really. It was a pretty jarring hit. I'm glad I saved it and managed to hold on to second.

"It's a little gratifying to do exactly what I had to do to keep second place in the points and to have that work out right, but we certainly wanted the win."

Gregg, who won three races and six pole positions, finished third - in the race and standings -- in the No. 7 Lucas Oil Products/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Chris Festa was fourth and Vision Racing's Nick Bussell fifth.