In Formula BMW USA, Wickens beat Stefano Coletti to the finish line by 1.426 seconds at an average speed of 87.312. Simona de Silvestro, an Italian national who lives in nearby Zionsville, Ind., finished third.

Wickens drives for Terre Haute, Ind.-based Team Apex Racing USA, and was excited to win for the team, describing this as their “hometown race.” He competed in both Formula BMW USA events at IMS in 2005 and finished third in the first race last year.

“It was a very nerve-wracking race for me,” Wickens said. “I got a great start, was able to get out to a good lead and, not even completing one lap, I saw the Safety Car come out. Then, during the whole Safety Car period, I was trying to strategize a good restart, and I was able to get a pretty good one, but with the slipstream, I almost got overtaken for second. From there, I was able to pull away a nice gap and just try to manage it for the rest of the race.”

Also of note was Frankie Muniz, known for his role as Malcolm in the hit FOX comedy “Malcolm in the Middle” and who is competing full-time in the Formula BMW USA series. Muniz drove from the back of the starting grid, in 27th, to finish 16th in his first race at IMS.

“It was awesome,” Muniz said. “We were kind of bummed yesterday in our qualifying session with it halfway in the rain, not having communication to know when to switch to dries (tires). We started really bad, but I raced as hard as I could, and it was fun.”