IndyCars - The off-season: Series news and comment until the March 2014 kick-off

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Alton - USF Juniors hold their practice session for the weekend…

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…at VIRginia International Raceway. The results were not far from the results of the three test sessions they did on Friday.

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Here was the order of speed for USF Juniors P-1 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Jack Jeffers [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:54.855s for a speed of 102.494mph

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2 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:54.949s for a speed of 102.411mph

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3 - Nicolas Giaffone [R], DEForce Racing - time of 01:55.515s for a speed of 101.909mph

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4 - Max Taylor [R], VRD Racing - time of 01:55.529s for a speed of 101.896mph

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5 - Ethan Barker, VRD Racing - time of 01:55.571s for a speed of 101.859mph

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6 - Jimmie Lockhart [R], VRD Racing
7 - Lucas Fecury, DEForce Racing
8 - Quinn Armstrong, DEForce Racing
9 - Ethan Ho, DC Autosport
10 - Erick Schotten [R], Exclusive Autosport

11 - Brady Golan [R], DEForce Racing
12 - Carson Etter [R], DC Autosport
13 - Hudson Schwartz [R], VRD Racing
14 - Giovanni Cabrera [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Notable:

• Today’s fast guys were yesterday’s fast guys, though we did see Jimmie Lockhart improve today. He can be better yet.

• Jack Jeffers was the 2022 Lucas Oil School Formula Car Race Series Champion, with 6 WINS. Before the School he was a karter, though he didn’t race in 2021 due to injuries. He has clearly bounced back with a vengeance. Jack is from San Antonio, Texas.

• Any one of the TOP NINE guys are capable of podiums and Nicolas Giaffone, Quinn Armstrong and Joey Brienza are already race WINNERS.

• The TOP SEVEN are all covered by 1 second.

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Jack Jeffers - Alamo City kid

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Next up for the Juniors will be qualifying midday. Then Race 1 will be held in the mid-afternoon.

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Alton - USF Juniors are qualified for Race 1 at VIR…

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…and it probably CANNOT be tighter, as Ethan Ho takes his first pole for DC Autosport.

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Here is the way USF Juniors will grid for Season Round 6, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Ethan Ho, DC Autosport - time of 01:55.327s for a speed of 102.075mph

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P2 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:55.327s for a speed of 102.075mph

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Row 2

P3 - Jack Jeffers [R], Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:55.342s for a speed of 102.062mph

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P4 - Nicolas Giaffone [R], DEForce Racing - time of 01:55.461s for a speed of 101.957mph

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Row 3

P5 - Ethan Barker, VRD Racing - time of 01:55.915s for a speed of 101.557mph

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P6 - Quinn Armstrong, DEForce Racing - time of 01:55.996s for a speed of 101.486mph

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Row 4

P7 - Max Taylor [R], VRD Racing
P8 - Erick Schotten [R], Exclusive Autosport

Row 5

P9 - Hudson Schwartz [R], VRD Racing
P10 - Jimmie Lockhart [R], VRD Racing

Row 6

P11 - Brady Golan [R], DEForce Racing
P12 - Carson Etter [R], DC Autosport

Row 7

P13 - Lucas Fecury, DEForce Racing
P14 - Giovanni Cabrera [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Notable:

• Look at the stats. Ethan Ho and Joey Brienza both had virtually the same time and same speed. The pole was given to Ethan either because in the 10 thousandths of a second he was better OR because his 2nd fastest lap was better than Joey’s. In any case, this is Ethan’s first pole in 29 Road to Indy / USF Pro Championship starts. He set a new track record at VIR to get it.

• The first 3 spots are covered by 0.015 seconds and the TOP TEN are covered by a second! Incredible competitiveness.

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Ethan Ho - first pole for the 17-year-old from Los Angeles.

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The race is scheduled for mid-afternoon today.

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Alton - USF Juniors hold a wild and briefly wet Race 1 of the weekend…

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…and taking his 3rd WIN in a row was Nicolas Giaffone for DEForce racing from a P4 start. P2 went to Jack Jeffers for Exclusive Autosport from his P3 start while P3 went to Quinn Armstrong for DEForce racing from a P5 start.

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Ethan Ho for DC Autosport led the field off in the dry from pole and led through several turns as Jack Jeffers pounced on Joey Brienza for Exclusive and took P2 from him. Within a few more corners Jeffers was by Ho and into P1. Before the end of the lap Giaffone was by Brienza and holding P3. Jimmie Lockhart for VRD Racing had moved from a P10 start to P7 as Jack Jeffers set Fastest Lap. On lap 2 Max Taylor for VRD Racing took P5 from teammate Ethan Barker and Lucas Fecury for DEForce took P8 from Hudson Schwartz for VRD. On lap 3 Nicolas was finally able to pass Ethan Ho for the P2 spot and then went after Jack Jeffers in the lead. The two traded “over-under” maneuvers through several corners but Jeffers always returned to P1. Joey Brienza got caught up in a gaggle of cars and dropped from P4 to P7 behind Max Taylor, Jimmie Lockhart and Ethan Barker. Quinn Armstrong moved past teammate Brady Golan for P11. On lap 4 Jimmie Lockhart set Fastest Lap. The TOP SEVEN cars had separated and were moving away from the rest, running within feet of each other.

Ethan Barker went off the island and was able to get back on, still in P6, but he lost momentum and Joey Brienza took P6 away from him, setting Fastest Lap in the process. On lap 6 Max Taylor in P4 and Ethan Ho in P3 touched while going through Tuirn 1 and Ho was spun off course. He was able to rejoin in P10 while Taylor fell to P5. On lap 7 as the field entered Turn 1 Max Taylor and Ethan Barker went spinning off the course when they ran into a wall of rain that had rolled in. Barker rejoined in P13 and Taylor rejoined in P11. Other cars started spinning off but getting back on and Race Control threw a yellow flag for the course, to determine what to do. After circulating for several laps it was determined that the rain had left as quickly as it had appeared and the safety car left the track and the race was restarted on lap 12, with 4 laps to go.

On the restart the running order was Jack Jeffers, Nicolas Giaffone, Hudson Schwartz, Lucas Fecury, Quinn Armstrong, Ethan Ho, Joey Brienza and Jimmie Lockhart in P1 thru P8. Lucas Fecury quickly passed Hudson Schwartz for P3 while Joey Brienza passed Quinn for P5 with Jimmie following through to P6. On lap 13 Nicolas and Jack went through another full lap of over-unders battling for P1, with Jeffers again emerging in the lead. Joey passed Hudson for P4 and Jimmie Lockhart again followed him into P5. On lap 14 after yet another series of over-unders Nicolas was finally able to take P1 from Jack. Joey and three other cars tangled for position, in Turn 17 with Brienza dropping off course with damage. A local yellow came out but the race continued with Quinn emerging in P3, Max Taylor in P4 and Lucas Fecury in P5. As the cars came onto the last lap, lap 15, Jack and Nicolas were running nose-to-tail for the lead and Jeffers got a great run on Giaffone but had to back off while in the local yellow and Nicolas was able to take the WIN with a mere 0.15 seconds on Jeffers. Armstrong pulled in P3 some 2 seconds behind the pair.

A very exciting race with the added drama of a touch of rain shaking things up.

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Notable:

• There is no telling how the race would have ended without the little rain squall that completely changed everything, and then just disappeared. Giaffone already had a formidable lead in points, but this will make it very hard to catch him.

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Your happy podium - That’s Jack Jeffers in P2 on the left, Nicolas Giaffone in P1 in the middle and Quinn Armstrong in P3 on the right:

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Race 2 and Race 3 are scheduled for Sunday morning and midday. The grid for Race 2 was determined by qualifying and Race 1 results and will follow when it is posted…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Alton - The grid has been set for USF Juniors Race 2 of the VIR weekend…

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The grid was set by using either a driver’s 2nd best qualifying lap or his best Race 1 lap - whichever is faster.

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Here is the grid for USF Juniors Season Round 7 at VIRginia International Raceway: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Jack Jeffers [R], Exclusive Autosport

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P2 - Ethan Ho, DC Autosport

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Row 2

P3 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport

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P4 - Nicolas Giaffone [R], DEForce Racing

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Row 3

P5 - Ethan Barker, VRD Racing

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P6 - Erick Schotten [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Row 4

P7 - Max Taylor [R], VRD Racing
P8 - Quinn Armstrong, DEForce Racing

Row 5

P9 - Hudson Schwartz [R], VRD Racing
P10 - Jimmie Lockhart [R], VRD Racing

Row 6

P11 - Lucas Fecury, DEForce Racing
P12 - Carson Etter [R], DC Autosport

Row 7

P13 - Brady Golan [R], DEForce Racing
P14 - Giovanni Cabrera [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Jack Jeffers

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Alton - USF Juniors holds Race 2 of their VIR weekend…

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…and tasking his 5th WIN and 4th in a row is Nicolas Giaffone for DEForce Racing from his P4 start. P2 goes to Joey Brienza for Exclusive Autosport from a P3 start while P3 goes to 13-year-old Hudson Schwartz for VRD Racing from a P9 start.

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The first lap of the race was run under yellow to allow the cars to get heat in their tires due to the cool weather - expected to be cloudy but dry, all day. Jack Jeffers for Exclusive led the field away on lap 2 with Ethan Ho for DC Autosport hot on him in P2. Max Taylor for VRD Racing quickly passed Erick Schotten for Exclusive to take P5. Caught up in that battle was Ethan Barker for VRD who went from P5 to P14 in the lap. Jimmie Lockhart for VRD passed Quinn Armstrong for DEForce for P7 and Hudson Schwartz followed through for P8. Ethan Ho set Fastest Lap. On lap 3 Nicolas passed Joey Brienza for P3. Jimmie Lockhart set Fastest Lap. On lap 4 Nicolas took P2 from Ethan Ho and went after Jack Jeffers. Max Taylor took P4 from Joey Brienza. and Quinn Armstrong set a new Fastest Lap. Lap 5 saw Giaffone take the lead from Jack Jeffers, setting Fastest Lap in the process. Quinn Armstron passed Hudson Schwartz for P8.

On lap 6 Jack Jeffers began to fall backwards, first out of P2, then P3, then down the field. On lap 7 Jimmie Lockhart took P4 from Erick Schotten with Joey Brienza following through to P5. Schotten dropped to P6. Jeffers dropped to P14 and pitted as Nicolas set a new Fastest Lap out front. Jeffers would eventually rejoin, 3 laps down. Lap 8 saw Joey Brienza take P5 from Erick Schotten. Quinn Armstrong went off the island in Turn 16 and clouted the barrier, bringing out a full course caution. On the lap 12 restart Ethan Ho and Jimmie Lockhart tangled, with Ho losing his rear wing and Lockhart going off and getting stuck in the wet grass. Another caution came out to retrieve him.

On the lap 14 restart Erick Schotten took Hudson Schwartz for P4. He then slid off course but got back on in P10. Max Taylor in P2 made a stab at Nicolas Giaffone for the lead but he also slid off course. The resulting off-course excursions handed P2 to Joey Brienza and P3 to Hudson Schwartz, as Nicolas crossed the line only 0.22 seconds ahead of Brienza, who was 0.5 seconds ahead of Schwartz.

A tight race, but always under Giaffone’s control.

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Notable:

• While we have 1 race to go to be halfway through the season Nicolas Giaffone has really stacked up an impressive total of WINS and podiums and is probably already unassailable, without some bad luck coming his way.

• Jack Jeffers mechanical problem turned out to be a steering wheel malfunction. of course, the steering wheel on the Tatuus does much more than just steer. if the ECU could be called the brain of the car, the steering wheel is the central nervous system to all the car’s electronics.

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Your happy podium - That’s Joey Brienza in P2 on the left, Nicolas Giaffone in P1 in the middle and Hudson Schwartz in P3 on the right:

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Race 3 is schedule for midday. The grid for this race follows…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Alton - The grid has been set for USF Juniors Race 3 of the VIR weekend…

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The grid was set by using either a driver’s 2nd best qualifying lap or his best Race 2 lap - whichever is faster.

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Here is the grid for USF Juniors Season Round 8 at VIRginia International Raceway: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Nicolas Giaffone [R], DEForce Racing

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P2 - Jimmie Lockhart [R], VRD Racing

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Row 2

P3 - Jack Jeffers [R], Exclusive Autosport

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P4 - Ethan Ho, DC Autosport

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Row 3

P5 - Joey Brienza [R], Exclusive Autosport

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P6 - Hudson Schwartz [R], VRD Racing

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Row 4

P7 - Erick Schotten [R], Exclusive Autosport
P8 - Max Taylor [R], VRD Racing

Row 5

P9 - Quinn Armstrong, DEForce Racing
P10 - Brady Golan [R], DEForce Racing

Row 6

P11 - Ethan Barker, VRD Racing
P12 - Lucas Fecury, DEForce Racing

Row 7

P13 - Carson Etter [R], DC Autosport
P14 - Giovanni Cabrera [R], Exclusive Autosport

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Nicolas Giaffone - on pole for the first time, this weekend

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[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Alton - USF Juniors closes out a great weekend with Race 3…

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The Juniors put on three great shows this weekend and Race 3 may be the most exciting yet, as Jack Jeffers breaks through to take his first series WIN for Exclusive Autosport from his P3 start. Coming home P2 from pole was Nicolas Giaffone for DEForce Racing while P3 went to Max Taylor in a great drive for VRD Racing from his P8 start

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Lap 1 saw the leaders go three wide at first as Giaffone led them away. Joey Brienza for Exclusive Autosport passed Jack Jeffers to take P3 as Nicolas started to already put a gap on the field. Quinn Armstrong for DEForce passed Max Taylor to take P8. Ethan Ho for DC Autosport got caught out and dropped from P4 to P8. Erick Schotten for Exclusive passed Hudson Schwartz for VRD to take P5, with Quinn following through to P6. On lap 2 Joey took P2 from Jimmie Lockhart for VRD Racing. Hudson Schwartz then went off in Turn 1 and got stuck in the wet grass. A full-course caution was called to retrieve him. On the lap 5 restart Jimmie reclaimed P2 from Joey Brienza. and Quinn Armstrong passed Jack Jeffers for the P4 spot. Max Taylor took P8 from Ethan Ho and then took P7 from Lucas Fecury for DEForce, with Ho following through to reclaim P8. On lap 6 it came unraveled for Taylor when Ethan Ho took P7 from him and Lucas Fecury followed through to put Taylor back in P9. Ho then took P6 from Erick Schotten. Jack Jeffers passed Quinn Armstrong for P4.

On lap 7 Jeffers then passed Joey Brienza to take P3 as P9 Lucas Fecury went off in Turn 17, but got back on in P11. Max Taylor took P7 from Erick Schotten. On lap 8 a gaggle formed in Turn 1 and Jimmie Lockhart went off and back on, dropping from P2 to P5, as Jack Jeffers went to P2, Joey Brienza to P3 and Quinn Armstrong to P4. By lap 9 Jack Jeffers had erased Giaffone’s lead and was beside him through Turn 1, finally taking P1 from Nicolas in Turn 3. Nicolas then found himself battling Joey Brienza as Jack began to get away. Soon, Quinn Armstrong got in on the action and passed Brienza to take P3 as Jimmie Lockhart followed through for P4. Max Taylor took P6 from Ethan Ho and then took P5 from Joey. He next passed Jimmie for the P4 spot.

On lap 10 Joey reclaimed P5 from Jimmie Lockhart as Max Taylor took P3 from Quinn Armstrong. Jack Jeffers was now over a second in the lead and getting away. On lap 11 Jeffers was 1.4 seconds away. On lap 12 he was 2 seconds clear. Jimmie Lockhart reclaimed P5 from Joey Brienza and then took P4 from Quinn Armstrong, with Brienza following through to P5 again. On lap 13 Jeffers took Fastest Lap as he continued to escape Giaffone. Ethan Ho in P7 developed a battle with Quinn Armstrong for P6, as the two traded paint Ho went off in Turn 15 and dropped to P10 before climbing back on the island. On lap 14 Joey reclaimed P4 from Jimmie Lockhart. On the final lap, lap 15, Jimmie again took P4 from Brienza as Jack crossed the finish line 3.2 seconds ahead of Nicolas who was 2.6 seconds ahead of Max Taylor.

A great race with a lot of passing for the TOP FIVE or SIX spots for much of the race! The Juniors are a treat to watch.

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Notable:

• Jeffers becomes the 4th different driver to WIN in 2023. He was likely to contest for the WIN in Race 2 when a malfunction of his steering wheel dropped him out of the competition. Jeffers has been good from the start of the season, with 2 podiums at Sebring but a lackluster time of it in Alabama. He returned to great form at VIR and now looks to keep advancing.

• Giaffone could afford to take the P2 in Race 3 with 5 WINS and 4 WINS in a row. He still opened up his gap back to 2nd-in-points Joey Brienza, who finished in P5. Giaffone needs a building to fall on him or it’s about over, even though we are only halfway through the season.

• Max Taylor didn’t impress at the season openers at Sebring until Race 3 with his P4 there. Since then, he has almost always been a TOP FIVE driver and today’s Race 3 run only verifies that.

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Your happy podium - That’s Nicolas Giaffone in P2 on the left, Jack Jeffers in P1 in the middle and Max Taylor in P3 on the right:

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Alton:

1 - Nicolas Giaffone, 230
2 - Joey Brienza, 169
3 - Quinn Armstrong, 149
4 - Jack Jeffers, 147
5 - Jimmie Lockhart, 131

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Thank you, VIR for the great views - on and off the track! Next up for the USF Juniors will be a double-header at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, July 6-8, to support the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It will be HARD for them to beat the wonderful show they put on at VIR.

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[MarkyS]

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It’s Friday night and it’s time to see the last episode of “100 Days to Indy”…

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Last night the CW Network presented Episode 6 of their terrific series, “100 Days to Indy” This one chronicled the 107th Running of the Indy 500 and thus ended the series. In case you didn’t see it LIVE we now have links available for the episode prior to it, Episode 5, “The Road to the Indy 500”, and Thursday night’s Episode 6 entitled “Finally”:

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100 Days to Indy - The Road to the 500 | Stream Free

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100 Days to Indy - Finally | Stream Free

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This has been a bang-up series that gave new fans some insight into what this series is all about while reminding series regular fans why they love it so. Our only regret is that it has come to an end and our only hope is that the series and CW Network find a way to keep going with more content in the near future
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[MarkyS]

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The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be happening over the weekend, starting Saturday afternoon…

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…and, as usual, there are several IndyCar drivers, both current and former, in the race. We have a tentative list of them here:

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Hypercar class - IndyCar driver Scott Dixon will be in the # 03 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R car with former IndyCar driver Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande.

Scott Dixon (left) and Sebastien Bourdais

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Former Indy Lights Vice-Champion Esteban Guerrieri will join former IndyCar driver and Indy Lights Champion Tristan Vautier in the # 04 Vanwall Vandervell 680 for Floyd Vanwall Racing Team. Their co-driver will be Tom Dillman.

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Esteban Guerrieri (left) and Tristan Vautier

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Former IndyCar driver Mike Conway will drive the # 07 Toyota GR010-Hybrid for Toyota Gazoo Racing with co-drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez.

Mike Conway

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Former Indy Pro 2000 driver Pipo Derani will drive the # 311 Cadillac V-Series.R for Action Express Racing with co-drivers Jack Aitken and Alexander Sims.

Pipo Derani

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Former IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe will drive the # 708 Glickenhaus 007 for Glickenhaus Racing with co-drivers Romain Dumas and Olivier Pla.

Ryan Briscoe

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Former IndyCar driver Esteban Gutierrez will drive the # 709 Glickenhaus 007 for Glickenhaus Racing with co-drivers Franck Mailleux and Nathanael Berthon.

Esteban Gutierrez

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LMP2 class - Former IndyCar driver Ben Hanley will drive the # 14 Nielsen Racing ORECA 07 Gibson with co-drivers Rodrigo Sales and Mathias Beche.

Ben Hanley

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Road to Indy ace and current Indy NXT driver Josh Pierson will drive the # 23 United Autosports ORECA 07 Gibson with co-drivers Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis.

Josh Pierson

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Former Indy Lights driver Andre Negrao will share the # 35 ORECA 07 Gibson for Alpine Elf Team with Olli Caldwell and Memo Rojas.

Andre Negrao

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Current IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud will share the # 47 ORECA 07 Gibson for Cool Racing with Reshad de Gerus and Vladislav Lomko.

Simon Pagenaud

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LM GTE Am class - Former Champ Car driver Jan Heylen will drive the # 16 Porsche 911 RSR-19 for Proton Competition with co-drivers Ryan Hardwick and Zacharie Robichon.

Jan Heylen

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CDNT class - Former IndyCar driver Jimmie Johnson will co-drive the # 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports with Mike Rockenfeller and Jensen Button

Jimmie Johnson

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The race is scheduled to get underway at 4:00pm local time on Saturday. We will let you know if any of these guys make an impact, as we expect them to do.

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UPDATE!

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is over, and incredibly, there were no IndyCar drivers among the TOP THREE finishers in each class…EXCEPT for the CDNT class which was WON by former IndyCar driver Jimmie Johnson and his co-drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button in the # 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, but is was an easy WIN as the car was the only car in class and WON the race the minute they started.

The CDNT class is also called the “Innovative Car class.” it was a special effort to return NASCAR to Le Mans for the first time since 1976. The Camaro was as high as 28th out of the 62 starters overall but eventually had brake and driveline problems that dropped them to 39th overall at the finish - about mid-pack.

The Le Mans crowd warmly received the effort and the car was a fan favorite.

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The Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at the finish

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Jimmie Johnsoin is of course known as a magnificent stock car driver but unmistakably, his two years driving an IndyCar made him a better road course driver and able to be a great teammate to road course aces Rockenfeller and Button in this magnificent effort. CONGRATS to all!! Let’s now see what fruit it bears.
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[MarkyS]

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Big weekend ahead as the IndyCar series returns to Road America…

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…with the TOP THREE ladder series coming along to support, as well as the Blue Marble Radical Cup. before we get into that with another thread, let’s catch up on IndyCar news:

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Biggest news of the week has to be that Ed Carpenter Racing and driver Conor Daly have parted company. The release of Daly was NOT due to his performance in the # 20 Chevrolet so much as an “interpersonal relationship” disagreement between Daly and Carpenter, or so we are told. The parting was amicable.
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Conor Daly - out of IndyCars, for now.

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Carpenter made no bones about his disappointment with the team, overall, however, and he has decided to replace Daly with veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay to help get the team back on track. Hunter-Reay is known for his ability to diagnose a car and a team and come up with significant engineering and personnel changes to redirect and help. He actually did it once before for Carpenter, taking a lackluster car at Barber Motorsports Park and making changes to it that put the car on pole. His task, therefore, will not be to WIN races, but rather to build a good program for the future. He is to be in the car for the rest of the season, trying to do that.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay - the knowledge and the skill to make positive changes

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Daly was immediately picked by Dreyer & Reinbold to drive in their Nitrocross season opener at the Visions off-road festival in Oklahoma, this weekend.

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IndyCars have been testing since the Detroit Grand Prix, with some cars going to Sebring while others went to Road America. Unfortunately, we have no comparative times to give you, but we can tell you that TOPPING the first day at Road America was Will Power for Team Penske while P2 was teammate Josef Newgarden. P3 was Callum Ilott for Juncos Hollinger. On the 2nd day of testing Pato O’Ward for Arrow Mclaren was quickest and quickest overall, too.

Road America has a new repave and it’s speeding things up, as the cars are approaching speeds we haven’t seen since the heady days of 1,000 horsepower in the Champ Car era. Don’t be surprised if we see a new track record this coming weekend.

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Pato O’Ward liking the new pavement at Elkhart Lake.

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At Sebring it was the 3rd big car test for 2022 Indy NXT Champion Linus Lundqvist, the first being with Andretti Autosport in 2021, the 2nd for Rahal Letterman Lanigan in 2023 at Texas and this one for Ed Carpenter Racing. Joining Linus on track was fellow Lights driver Toby Sowery for his first-ever IndyCar test - this for Rahal Letterman Lanigan.

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TobySowery

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Meanwhile the rest of the actual Indy NXT 2023 racers were almost all in Iowa at Iowa Speedway for an oval test. TOPPING that test was sophomore Christian Rasmussen for HMD Motorsports while 2nd fastest was fellow sophomore Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports. 3rd was Danial Frost for HMD Motorsports.

Significantly, the series rookies were well off the pace of Rasmussen and Abel - as much as 4 seconds off. In oval racing, experience counts a ton. Rookies occupied eight of the last nine spots of the 17 cars on the time sheet.

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Christian Rasmussen - comfortable at speed on the tight oval

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Thursday will see action at Road America as the kids from USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 and the Blue Marble Radical Cup gang begin their race weekend. Watch for the new thread.

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[MarkyS]

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Friday at Indianapolis - Matty Brabham takes the pole for Saturday’s Trans Am race…

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Indy NXT driver and Road to Indy ace Matthew Brabham took the # 20 GYM WEED Ford Mustang for CD Racing to pole with a time of 1:22.302s, besting Adam Andretti in his # 44 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro by a very healthy 0.919 seconds. Andretti is the nephew of Indy 500 winner, Formula 1 champion and four-time IndyCar champion Mario Andretti. while Brabham is the grandson of the racing great Sir Jack Brabham and the son of IMSA great Geoff Brabham.

It’s not the first time the two scions shared a race track. In fact, Brabham and Andretti finished on the podium together in the season-opening race at Sebring International Raceway in February, with Brabham WINNING and Andretti finishing P2.

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Matty Brabham in the # 20 Ford Mustang for Dyson Racing

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Matthew Brabham (left) and Adam Andretti - history

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Both drivers fully acknowledge and embrace the uniqueness and importance of having an Andretti battling a Brabham on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The race will be on Saturday, the 17th.

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - The Trans Am race…

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…on the Road Course was WON from pole by Indy NXT driver and Road to Indy ace Matthew Brabham in the # 20 GYM WEED Ford Mustang for CD Racing. P2 went to Chris Dyson for CD Racing in the # 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang while P3 went to Paul Menard in the # 2 Weaver Racing/Technique Dodge Challenger.

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Matty for the WIN at Indy

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Matty battled Adam Andretti in the # 44 Top Liner Chevrolet Camaro for much of the race with Dyson a close third, but Brabham eventually pulled a bit of a gap on the other two and the battle became one for 2nd place. A few laps from the end Andretti went out with a mechanical and Dyson’s P2 looked secure, with a large gap back to the rest of the field, but Dyson had a late race spin, just getting back on in time to keep Menard behind him at the line.

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Notable:

• This is Matty’s 2nd WIN of the season and 5th podium. With the WIN Matthew pulls to a 1-point deficit to Chris Dyson for the lead in the points.

• This is CD Racing’s third 1-2 finish of the 2023 season. Brabham and Andretti (in a CD Racing entry, at that time) finished first and second at Sebring International Raceway, and Dyson and Brabham finished first and second at NOLA Motorsports Park.

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Matthew Brabham

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The Trans Am Series TA/XGT/SGT/GT classes return to the track next weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

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M

[MarkyS]

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We are out of the country doing that engineering thing we do for a living…

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…and so our reports are going to suffer for a short while, but we CAN report results and this last weekend the IndyCar drivers who were competing at Watkins Glen International in the IMSA Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen had a PARTICULARLY great weekend. There were IndyCar drivers WINNING their category in 4 of 5 classes and on the podiums in all five classes. Let’s recount who they are:

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In the top GTP class the WINNERS were Road to Indy ace Connor de Phillippi with co-driver Nick Yelloly in the # 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 for BMW M Team RLL. P2 went to Indy Pro 2000 alum Pipo Derani in the # 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R for Action Express with co-drivers Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken while P3 went to Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun in the # 60 Acura ARX-06 for Meyer Shank Racing. The original WINNERS were Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet in the # 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963, but the car failed post-race tech and ended up last in class, elevating the BMW in the process.

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The # 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 for BMW M Team RLL - WINNERS in GTP class

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Connor de Phillippi (left) and Nick Yelloly

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In the LMP2 class the WINNERS were Indy NXT driver Nolan Siegel and IndyCar driver Ben Hanley, along with George Kurtz in the # 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA 07 Gibson. P2 went to the # 18 Era Motorsport ORECA 07 Gibson driven by Indy NXT driver Christian Rasmussen, Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel while P3 went to the # 52 ORECA 07 Gibson for PR1 Mathiasen driven by Ben Keating, Paul-Loup Chatin and Alex Quinn. Siegel is the current points leader in Indy NXT and Rasmussen is 2nd in the points. Both boys are on a roll, right now.

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The # 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA 07 Gibson - WINNERS of the LMP2 class

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left to right, George Kurtz, Nolan Siegel and Ben Hanley

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In the LMP3 class the WINNERS were Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon in the # 74 Ligier JSP320 for Riley. P2 went to Indy Lights driver Garett Grist, Road to Indy ace Dakota Dickerson and Ari Balough in the # 30 Ligier JS P320 for Jr III Racing while P3 went to the # 17 Duqueine D08 for AWA driven by Wayne Boyd, Nico Varrone and Anthony Mantella. The # 30 led for much of the race but the # 74 took the lead late and drove home for the WIN.

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The # 74 Ligier JSP320 for Riley - WINNERS in the LMP3 class

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left to right, Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon

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In the GTD Pro class the WINNERS were Indy Pro 2000 Champion and IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth and fellow Brit Ben Barnicoat in the # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan. P2 went to the # 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 for Risi Competizione driven by Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon while P3 went to the # 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD for Corvette Racing driven by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.

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The # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan - WINNERS in the GTD Pro class

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Ben Barnicoat (left) and Jack Hawksworth

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In GTD class Vasser Sullivan WON again, this time with the # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan driven by Indy Pro 2000 Champion Aaron Telitz, Road to Indy Ace and Porsche Carrera Cup Champ Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo. P2 went to the # 1 BMW M4 GT3 for Paul Miller Racing driven by Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Cory Lewis while P3 went to the # 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Wright Motorsports driven by Zacharie Robichon, Ryan Hardwick and Champ Car alum Jan Heylen.

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The # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan - WINNERS in the GTD class

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left to right, Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson

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So, that’s a HUGE congrats for the WINS from IndyCar drivers Connor de Phillippi, Nolan Siegel, Ben Hanley, Jack Hawksworth, Aaron Telitz and Parker Thompson and another congrats for the podiums from IndyCar drivers Pipo Derani, Christian Rasmussen, Garett Grist, Dakota Dickerson and Jan Heylen - A hell of a good weekend!

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M

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[MarkyS]

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Last weekend, IndyCar came to Mid-Ohio and brought a lot of support racing with them…

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Just as was the case at Road America, IndyCar’s visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was immeasurably aided by support from USF2000 (3 races), USF Pro 2000 (2 races) and Indy NXT with 1 race. The results of all that support racing was in some ways much more dramatic than the IndyCar race itself on Sunday. Let’s see those results, starting with the kids in USF2000:

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USF2000, Race 1 on Friday was WON by Evagoras Papasavvas for Jay Howard Driver Development from his P3 start - his first series WIN. P2 went to pole-sitter Simon Sikes for Pabst Racing while P3 went to Mac Clark for DEForce Racing from a P4 start.

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Your happy podium - That’s Simon Sikes in P2 on the left, Evagoras Papasavvas for JHDD in the middle in P1 and Mac Clark in P3 on the right:

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Papasavvas led most of the race after taking the lead early. Simon battled him the whole way and was right beside him on the final lap in Turns 4 and 5 but Evagoras was able to keep the lead and WIN by just 0.33 seconds - a GREAT battle to the very end.

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USF2000 Race 2 was WON by Mac Clark for DEForce Racing from his P2 start while P2 went to Evagoras Papasavvas for Jay Howard Driver Development from a P5 start while P3 went to Sam Corry for VRD Racing from a P10 start.

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Your happy podium - That’s Evagoras Papasavvas in P2 on the left, Mac Clark in P1 in the middle and Sam Corry in P3 on the right:

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Simon Sikes led 3/4ths of the race from pole and had developed a huge lead when a full course caution happened on lap 14 of 20, bunching up the field for the lap 15 restart. On the restart, Simon’s points-rival Lochie Hughes for JHDD tried to take the lead from P2 in the keyhole in Turn 2 but clipped Simon’s right rear with his left front. He rolled over the top of Sike’s Tatuus and continued to barrel-roll into the gravel trap as Sikes lost his entire rear wing. Hughes is okay but out. Sikes tries to soldier on but on the lap 19 restart he pits, also out of the race. Mac takes the WIN. - A sure win taken away from Simon by HUGE drama.
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USF2000 Race 3 was WON by Simon Sikes for Pabst Racing from pole. P2 went to Nikita Johnson for VRD Racing from his P3 start while P3 went to P2-starter Mac Clark for DEForce Racing.

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Your happy podium - That’s Nikita Johnson in P2 on the left, Simon Sikes in P1 in the middle and Mac Clark in P3 on the right:

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USF2000 Race 3 had a hard time getting started with bumps and grinds that saw lap 7 as the first one under full green. One of the early drop-outs was Simon’s points-rival Lochie Hughes whose car had a mechanical and would not start, dropping him from a P4 start to a DNF. Simon Sikes, thus unburdened, sailed away to a 10 second lead at the end over Nikita Johnson.

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:

1 - Simon Sikes, 311
2 - Lochie Hughes, 271
3 - Nikita Johnson, 271
4 - Mac Clark, 246
5 - Evagoras Papasavvas, 235

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The next outings for USF2000 will be a double-header in support of the IndyCars on the streets of Toronto, July 14-16.
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(continued…)

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M

[MarkyS]

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Last weekend, IndyCar came to Mid-Ohio and brought a lot of support racing with them…(part 2)…

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USF Pro 2000 Race 1 was WON by Michael d’Orlando for Turn 3 Motorsports from pole. P2 went to Jace Denmark for Pabst Racing from his P8 start while P3 went to Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri Motorsports from his P9 start.

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Your happy podium - That’s Jace Denmark in P2 on the left, Michael d’Orlando in P1 in the middle and Jack William Miller in P3 on the right:

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The race was started in the dry but sprinkles and light rain eventually colored the whole contest, with lots of resulting spins and offs and a timed race instead of the full 30 laps. Michael was the beneficiary of being out front and away from most of the spins. Both Jace and Jack were also beneficiaries of other driver’s misfortunes. All three of the podium drivers were able to keep their noses clean and their wheels on the island.

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USF Pro 2000 Race 2 was WON by championship-leading Myles Rowe for Pabst Racing from pole. P2 went to Kiko Porto for DEForce Racing from his P3 start while P3 went to Michael d’Orlando from his P2 start.

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Your happy podium - That’s Kiko Porto in P2 on the left, Myles Rowe in P1 in the middle and Michael d’Orlando in P3 on the right:

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For most of the race Myles had to battle to keep Michael d’Orlando behind him but Kiko came on late in the race and passed Michael, then going after Rowe. D’orlando was having none of it, however, and rather than battle with Myles for the WIN Kiko had to fight to keep P2 from Michael.

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:

1 - Myles Rowe, 251
2 - Kiko Porto, 187
3 - Joel Granfors, 185
4 - Salvador de Alba, 173
5 - Francesco Pizzi, 171

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The next outings for USF Pro 2000 will be a double-header in support of the IndyCars on the streets of Toronto, July 14-16.

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(continued…)
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M

[MarkyS]

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Last weekend, IndyCar came to Mid-Ohio and brought a lot of support racing with them…(part 3)…

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The Indy NXT race at Mid-Ohio was WON by Louis Foster for Andretti Autosport from his P2 start. This is Louie’s long-sought maiden victory in the series. P2 went to Kyffin Simpson for HMD Motorsports from his P3 start while P3 went to teammate Christian Rasmussen from pole.

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Your happy podium - That’s Kyffin Simpson in P2 on the left, Louis Foster in P1 in the middle and Christian Rasmussen in P3 on the right:

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The race started as a dry race and Christian led well through two restarts but eventually just as rain began to fall Louis made a brilliant pass in the Turn 5/6 complex and made it stick, despite a severe right-front brake lock-up. Shortly after that, points-leader Nolan Siegel for HMD slid off the dampening track in Turn 10 and got stuck in the wet grass, needing a tow and going a lap down out of P5 to his eventual P15 finish. On the restart, Kyffin was able to get past Christian to take P2 and he and Louis gapped the rest of the field to the end of the race.

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With this result, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Mid-Ohio:

1 - Nolan Siegel, 244
2 - Christian Rasmussen, 228
3 - Hunter McElrrea, 205
4 - Louis Foster, 202
5 - Jacob Abel, 196

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The next outing for Indy NXT will be in support of the IndyCars at Iowa Speedway, July 22.