Copyright © IRL/Ron McQueeney

Travis Gregg was so excited to win at his “home” track, he performed his customary back flip twice. He wasn’t about to be upstaged.

Gregg treated family and friends in attendance from nearby Camden, Ohio, to his third Menards Infiniti Pro Series victory of the season and the back flip doubleheader – at the start-finish line and in Victory Circle after the Bluegrass 100 at Kentucky Speedway.

"It's great to get a win in front of all my family and friends in the stands,” said Gregg, who won the pole in his series debut last year at Kentucky Speedway and finished fifth. "This is really exciting, leading every lap from the pole.”

Gregg’s No. 7 Lucas Oil/Argosy Casino/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car was strong by itself on the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Good thing, because it was on the point the entire race. Gregg, the SWE Race Car Parts Pole winner a day earlier with a quick lap of 187.962 mph, held a comfortable lead early and overcame a “scare” when he brushed the outside retaining wall on Lap 31. He held on during a Lap 57 restart to translate his fourth pole start into a race victory.

The real battle the final five laps was between series points leader Wade Cunningham and Marco Andretti, who was making his fourth series start (second on an oval). Andretti had moved from seventh on Lap 45 to sixth at the lone caution period for smoke trailing from the No. 6 AERCON car of Jon Herb. On the restart, Andretti’s No. 26 Vonage Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone vaulted to second.

Copyright © IRL/Ron McQueeney

Cunningham and Andretti ran side-by-side the final two laps, with Cunningham’s No. 33 Multimatic car edging ahead by 0.0009 of a second (2.58 inches).

“That was a tough battle,” said Cunningham after recording his sixth runner-up finish in nine races. “I think Marco lost a second when he downshifted on the last lap and that's what gave me second place.”

Andretti, who has won the two non-ovals races this season, said the battle gave him further experience against stiff competition.

“I think the main thing I learn in these places is patience,” he said. “We went for it, but Wade played it perfectly. I was inside of him. He just didn't leave me that much room. I was crouching down in the cockpit, everything. It was a lot of fun actually.”

Cunningham’s lead is 27 points over Gregg, with his Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate, Jaime Camara, another 25 points back.

"I hope we have a shot at the points championship now,” Gregg said. “I know this is an important race for us to get back into the points standings, and I think we took a big chunk out today. Hopefully we can gain a little more there."

The next stop is the 1-mile Pikes Peak International Raceway on Aug. 21.