The lead early in the Futaba Freedom 100 was a yo-yo, with Jaime Camara and Wade Cunningham pulling the string.

Up to the front and back to second went Camara, the SWE Race Car Parts pole winner, and Cunningham the first 20 laps (there were six lead changes between Laps 12-19, including one by Jon Herb).

The middle section of the 40-lap race on the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval was a drafting battle, with Camara, driving the No. 1 CELG – Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone, in front but not able to pull away from the No. 33 Visit New Zealand entry.

The last lap was a drag race – with Camara beating Cunningham to the finish line by 0.1319 of a second for his first Menards Infiniti Pro Series victory.

“Man, when the race started, Wade passing me on the first lap, I was surprised,” said Camara, who became the fourth winner in as many Menards Infiniti Pro Series races this season. “But I knew I had a good car and I saw the way he was driving. I saw that I could pass him one or two laps later.

“We were fastest in the first practice, qualifying we were the fastest and the last practice we were the fastest again. So it was one of those weekends that you can’t believe how good the car is. It’s amazing. I have no words. It’s my first victory here in Indianapolis and the biggest race of the year.”

For excitement, the race had everything – continuous battles for the lead and in mid-pack, three-wide racing on the narrow course, emerging stars, a touch of controversy and even a brief rain delay. It also had the dash for the cash, set up during a restart on Lap 40.

Here’s how it went down:

After the No. 6 AERCON entry driven by Herb spun in Turn 1 on Lap 33, the yellow flag bunched up the field again. Before the caution period, Camara and Cunningham were running away from the pack of Al Unser, Herb, Jay Drake and Marty Roth.

On the Lap 37 restart, the No. 42 car driven by German Quiroga spun in Turn 4 trailing the lead pack. The Nos. 21 (Nick Bussell) and 26 (Marco Andretti) cars, trying to avoid the car, also spun. None of the cars made contact with each other or any barriers. But it set up the final-lap restart – a quarter-lap sprint to the finish.

“I was worried on the last lap because I didn’t know if they were going to restart the race,” said Camara, 24, who will serve as grand marshal at the May 28 “Little 500” at Anderson Speedway. “I was asking my crew if the race was going to finish under the yellow flag and they said, ‘No, it’s going to be one green.’ I was very worried because I knew Wade was back here, and I was worried that he would have a run on the front straight and maybe pass me before the start/finish line like two restarts before that.

“But I think I did a good job in maintaining my position.”

Cunningham, 20, a former world karting champion, couldn’t get the jump he needed to propel him to his first Menards Infiniti Pro Series victory. The Brian Stewart Racing driver from New Zealand , who has four top-5 finishes in as many races, did move into the series points lead.

“The plan today was to try and split the two Sam Schmidt cars (front row of Camara and Travis Gregg) for sure,” said Cunningham, who also was runner-up in the last Menards Infiniti Pro Series event – the street-course race in St. Petersburg, Fla. “They were obviously the fastest here this weekend. If they had the chance to work together in that race, there would have been no way anyone could have stuck with him. So my goal at the start wasn’t to get to the lead, it was to get near the front.

“(The final restart) gave the opportunity to pass, but there just wasn’t enough time and that was it.”

Drake, who also drove in the Hoosier Hundred USAC Silver Crown event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds later in the day, finished a series-best third after Indy Racing League officials reviewed video replays and Timing & Scoring information of the Lap 37 restart. It was determined that the No. 3 car driven by Unser passed Drake’s No. 20 Vision Racing car after the yellow caution flag flew.

We're really happy with a third-place finish," Drake said. "The Vision Racing team put together a great effort and they gave me a great car to drive. Our goal was to put together a really consistent race, and that's exactly what we were able to do. We stayed near the front and put ourselves in a position to possibly win the event. The car was getting better and better as the race went on, and I think that if the end of the race hadn't been so confusing, we would've had a good chance to win. It's also really exciting to get our first podium finish this year."

Unser was credited with fourth place. Roth, Travis Gregg, Jeff Simmons, Chris Festa, Taylor Fletcher and Quiroga completed the top 10.

“I definitely feel the tension with this place,” Unser said. “It’s not a normal oval. It’s like we were talking before the race -- it’s not an oval, it’s a road course with four slightly similar turns. But I had a great day out there. We really showed we could perform.”

Roth, who also will compete in the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, posted his best finish in the four events this year – and his best since finishing fourth at Chicagoland Speedway in 2002.

“It was a great race, real exciting,” he said. “There was lots of swapping around up in front of me. Unfortunately, any time I stuck my nose out to make a move, the car would just wash out on me.”