USF Pro Championships – Page 11

Giaffone takes back to back USF Juniors sweep at Barber

Nicolas Giaffone and DEForce Racing have taken control of the USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires title-chase following an emphatic performance Friday at Barber Motorsports Park. Giaffone, 18, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, cruised to victory in both 20-lap races and now holds a relatively comfortable 21-point lead in his quest for a Discount Tire Driver Advancement Scholarship — valued at $241,890 — which will enable the series champion to progress onto the next step of the USF Pro Championships ladder in 2024.

DEForce Racing teammate Quinn Armstrong, from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, finished second in both races. Brazilian Lucas Fecury, aboard a third DEForce Tatuus JR-23, and VRD Racing’s Jimmie Lockhart, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., each earned a third-place finish.

DEForce Racing first served notice of its intentions when Giaffone, Fecury and Armstrong topped the timing chart in official practice on Thursday afternoon. The Texas-based team’s dominance continued into the pair of qualifying sessions, one yesterday and the other bright and early this morning, as the trio once again was fastest, and in the same order.

After securing his first Cooper Tires Pole Award, Giaffone paced the 15-car field into the first corner in this morning’s opening round and was never seriously under threat for the entirety of the 20-lap race.

The first four laps were run behind the pace car following a pair of minor incidents, after which Giaffone took charge of the proceedings. His teammates, Armstrong and Fecury, exchanged positions moments after the start, and while Armstrong remained within a second of Giaffone for the first half of the race, the Brazilian soon stretched his legs and edged clear. Giaffone eventually took the checkered flag a comfortable 4.721s clear of the Australian.

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Armstrong finished a similar distance clear of Fecury, who had to fight off a determined challenge toward the end from former points leader Joey Brienza (Exclusive Autosport), from Golden, Colo.

Lockhart had an eventful race before crossing the line in fifth. He lost one position at the start, quickly gained two, then lost them again with a mistake on the seventh lap before once again rising up the field and overtaking Taiwanese American Ethan Ho (DC Autosport) with a handful of laps remaining.

Ethan Barker (VRD Racing), from Houston, Texas, picked up the Tilton Hard Charger Award, rising from 12th on the grid to ninth, while DEForce Racing principals David and Ernesto Martinez claimed their second PFC Award of the young season as the winning car owners.

The picture-perfect day for Giaffone continued Friday afternoon, once again with only a few clouds punctuating a glorious blue sky. Giaffone took full advantage of his second Cooper Tires Pole Award of the day by once again leaping into the lead at Turn 1. As was the case earlier, Armstrong muscled past teammate Fecury on the opening lap, but there was no topping Giaffone, who displayed a devastating mixture of pace and consistency as he romped to another clear victory.

Armstrong again was untroubled in second, while Lockhart quickly moved up from sixth on the grid to challenge Fecury, whom he passed with a slick move on lap seven.

VRD stablemate Max Taylor, from Hoboken, N.J., also was on the move, climbing from ninth on the grid to finish fifth and claim his first Tilton Hard Charger Award of the season.

“We were able to snatch the second win. It makes me incredibly happy and I still can’t believe that,” Giaffone said after his dominant day. “It was a perfect weekend – P1 in practice, P1 in two qualifying sessions and P1 in both races. It is beyond imaginable. If I knew this would happen coming into Alabama for the first time, I wouldn’t have believed it. I have to thank DEForce. They gave me an amazing car and we, as drivers, can’t do much without a good team. All the glory to them. I am just driving. I hope I can come back to Alabama soon. I really, really like the track. Now it is time to think about the championship, and we are in a good position.”

The PFC Award to the winning car owners once again fell the way of David and Ernesto Martinez, whose DEForce Racing team now holds a commanding 37-point edge over Exclusive Autosport as the series heads next to VIRginia International Raceway, in Alton, Va., for a triple-header event on June 3-4.

USF Juniors return to action at Barber with IndyCar

For the second time in the brief history of USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires, drivers on the first rung of the USF Pro Championships open-wheel racing development ladder this week will have an opportunity to compete on the same bill as the NTT …

A field of 15 cars is entered for the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Alabama, which will comprise the fourth and fifth rounds of the 16-race season, at the impressive 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park facility located just outside Birmingham, Ala., on Friday, April 28.

Entry List

All are chasing a scholarship valued at over $241,800 to advance to USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires in 2024 as part of the Discount Tire Driver Advancement Scholarship. Discount Tire was announced as the Official Tire Retailer of USF Pro Championships Presented by Cooper Tires in March.

Three different drivers shared the victory spoils last month at Sebring International Raceway during the first weekend of competition for the band-new Tatuus JR-23 chassis, kicking off the series’ second year of competition. Joey Brienza, 18, currently leads the point standings after scoring a win and a pair of second-place finishes in Florida for the Exclusive Autosport team.

Brazil’s Nicolas Giaffone, the 18-year-old son of six-time Indianapolis 500 starter – and 2002 podium finisher – Felipe Giaffone, trails Brienza by 11 points after adding a second and a fourth to his Sebring win for DEForce Racing.

Teammate Quinn Armstrong won the opening race at Sebring, but struggled in the other two races and consequently lies only fourth in the points table, merely two points behind two-time runner-up finisher Jack Jeffers (Exclusive Autosport).

Jimmie Lockhart also showed excellent speed in his home-state opening rounds. Lockhart ran among the top four for all three races, and eventually finished on the podium at the third time of asking for VRD Racing.

Additional entries this weekend include an ambitious new team, Ram Racing, which has won five NACAM Formula 4 Championship titles since 2005. Now with a base at MSR Houston in Texas, Ram Racing will make its initial foray into the USF Pro Championships with 18-year-old Colombian Juan Felipe Pedraza, who claimed the top NACAM spoils in 2023 with eight wins from 17 starts.

Hudson Schwartz, a 13-year-old phenom from Virginia, also will make his debut with VRD Racing after winning previously both in karting and the recent Lucas Oil Formula Car Winter Series.

A pair of test sessions on Thursday, April 27, will allow the teams and drivers one last chance to gain experience of the undulating 17-turn track prior to 30 minutes of official practice at 3:00 p.m. CDT. The first of two qualifying sessions at 4:30 p.m. will set the grid for Race One at 10:15 a.m. on Friday. A second qualifying period bright and early at 7:45 a.m. on Friday will determine the starting positions for Race Two later in the afternoon at 4:15 p.m., immediately after the first official IndyCar practice session of the weekend.

Full coverage can be found on the free USF Pro Championships App, YouTube channel and the usfjuniors.com website.

The Discount Tire STEM Program also launched this week with a school visitation today at Gadsden State Community College in Gadsden, Ala., headed by USF Pro Championships Race Director Joel Miller. Students from the school’s Automotive Service Technology course will be guests of Discount Tire on Friday at Barber Motorsports Park to complete the program with an immersive at-track experience.

INSIGHT: IndyCar’s feeder series are surging

The big news this year in American junior open-wheel racing is the growth of the Indy NXT by Firestone series. In its expansion from 12 full-time cars in 2022 during the first year under Penske Entertainment’s control to the 19 full-time entries …

The big news this year in American junior open-wheel racing is the growth of the Indy NXT by Firestone series.

In its expansion from 12 full-time cars in 2022 during the first year under Penske Entertainment’s control to the 19 full-time entries that took part in the season-opening race earlier this month in St. Petersburg, Indy NXT has been a great year-to-year success story that speaks to the efforts by its owner to grow the top training category. Those 19 entries are spread across six teams, with half belonging to one team, HMD Motorsports, winners of the opening round with Danial Frost.

And the good news isn’t limited to the series formerly known as Indy Lights.

What often gets overlooked in Indy NXT’s turnaround is how just as much prosperity is taking place directly below the series in Andersen Promotions’ USF Championships presented by Cooper Tires.

At the top step of Andersen’s ladder, USF Pro 2000 opened the season with 20 cars and just completed its fourth race of the year with Christian Brooks taking race one at St. Pete before Myles Rowe claimed race two to close the event. Rowe then swept both races last weekend in Sebring to earn three in a row and a healthy lead in the championship standings. The best part is found within the paddock, as eight teams are invested in USF Pro 2000.

USF2000, Andersen’s previous entry-level series, has welcomed 23 drivers to its grid so far in 2023, with 19 taking part in Sebring where Lochie Hughes won on Saturday and points leader Simon Sikes — Rowe’s stablemate at Pabst Racing — won on Sunday. And like USF Pro 2000, USF2000 boasts eight teams powering its grid.

USF Pro 2000 has opened the new season with 20 cars across eight teams. Image via USF Pro Racing

“The thing that’s greatest to see is more team owners coming into our series because I’ve always thought of our team owners as essentially my partners,” Dan Andersen told RACER. “They’re the people that go out marketing the series to potential drivers, alongside me doing that same marketing, so we’re in it together and the more people I have with seats they need to fill, the more I’m going to see my series grow. So, I’m always gratified when I get more team owners into the series, and that’s a good thing.

“The growth has been coming for several years now. Even [in 2021], the last year that we ran Indy Lights [for Penske Entertainment], the numbers came up a bit and we have done a lot of legwork internationally as well as nationally to try and sow the seeds of interest in Indy Lights. And they seem to be doing fine now, which I’m very happy about, because we certainly want to send people from our USF Championships to a healthy Indy NXT series.”

Junior open-wheel car counts always fluctuate a little bit, with some rounds losing a few cars while others have a couple of extra entries, but as a whole, there’s a reason to feel optimistic about the health of IndyCar’s training categories with approximately 60 drivers spread across Indy NXT, USF Pro 2000, and USF2000 trying to make their way to the big series.

Andersen also has his latest creation, the new entry-level slicks-and-wings USF Juniors series which launched last year using existing Formula 4 cars, which had 17 drivers or so on the grid. A switch to a brand-new car this season has come with an anticipated dip in entries with 13 drivers present for its opening weekend in Sebring, where the three races delivered three different winners in Quinn Armstrong, Nicolas Giaffone—the son of IndyCar race winner Felipe Giaffone—and Joey Brienza. Andersen expects USF Juniors to match or exceed the fields in his other series before long.

“Last year we ran the old F4 car for our first season as a lot of them were around, but they didn’t have the halo and we knew from the outset that a new car was needed, which we’ve introduced for year two. And so far, we have we have sold more than 20 new cars,” he said.

“We had one two-car team that didn’t make it to Sebring because their drivers didn’t get their passports in time, but I’m not worried about the car count going up. We have two more cars being delivered in the next two weeks and that will take us up to 22. We’ll be there soon with Juniors as teams get their new car ready, and this is something we’ve done with all of our series where every car is 2022 or newer and has a halo and all of the latest safety technology. That’s the most important part for the parents who send their kids our way.”

Give USF Juniors some time and we’ll be edging towards 80 young drivers from North America and abroad who are chasing their IndyCar dreams on the same ladder that gave us Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta, and Pato O’Ward, among dozens and dozens of others.

Pick any of the four series that serve as IndyCar’s equivalent of college for open-wheel racers, and there’s health and talent to be found within each championship. From Brienza to Sikes to Rowe to Frost and all of their title-contending rivals, we’re in a rich period of driver and team development that will eventually benefit the NTT IndyCar Series. Long may it continue.

Sikes grabs maiden USF2000 victory at Sebring

Third time proved to be a charm for Simon Sikes. The 22-year-old from Augusta, Ga., started his Pabst Racing Tatuus on pole position at the legendary Sebring International Raceway road course for the third successive USF2000 Presented by Cooper …

Last year’s USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires champion Mac Clark, from Milton, Ont., Canada, made a decisive pass in the closing stages to finish second for DEForce Racing as New Zealander Jacob Douglas climbed from ninth on the grid during a dramatic race to complete the podium for Exclusive Autosport.

A separate qualifying session earlier Sunday saw Sikes claim his third Cooper Tires Pole Award, comfortably clear of new teammate Max Garcia. Points leader and Saturday race winner Lochie Hughes (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Surfers Paradise, Australia, lined up third on the grid ahead of an impressive Ethan Ho (DC Autosport), from Los Angeles, who was pulling double duty this week after also competing in the trio of USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires races on Thursday and Friday.

Another aggressive start from Hughes saw him challenging for the lead through Turn 1, but this time Sikes was able to cling onto his advantage. Ho slotted into third ahead of Garcia, who was then tipped into a spin at Turn 4 by fellow 14-year-old Nikita Johnson (VRD Racing), from Gulfport, Fla.

Evagoras Papasavvas (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Loveland, Ohio, also mounted an early charge, taking advantage of the incident ahead of him to challenge and then overtake Ho for third place on lap 2.

The two leaders, Sikes and Hughes, immediately began to pull clear of their pursuers, and Sikes seemed to have matters under control until the caution flags flew due to an incident on the seventh lap.

The drama began when Elliot Cox drafted alongside Papasavvas heading into Turn 1. The two rivals made contact at the exit of the corner, which coincides with a slight kink to the right at Turn 2, whereupon they locked wheels and slid sideways through the grass until rejoining the race track – still out of control – at the apex of Turn 3.

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Ho miraculously avoided a major catastrophe by jinking to his right merely an instant before seemingly inevitable contact. A handful of others also took drastic evasive action, with an unfortunate Sam Corry, from Cornelius, N.C., who had been running sixth, the only major casualty as his VRD Racing Tatuus sustained suspension damage and was forced out of the race.

Hughes attacked Sikes at the restart, only to run wide at the exit of Turn 1. Hughes also inadvertently selected sixth gear, which cost him critical momentum and allowed Clark to make the pass for second at Turn 3. Clark had been the major beneficiary of the earlier fracas, rising from seventh to third.

Hughes tried his best to regain the place at Turn 7, but Clark steadfastly held the inside line, forcing the Australian to try the outside. Minor contact at the exit caused something of an accordion effect on the following short straightaway. As well as a wholesale shuffling of positions, Canadian Louka St-Jean’s optimistic attempt to capitalize ended dramatically with a harrowing end-over-end somersault for his Jay Howard Driver Development car from which he was fortunate to emerge unscathed.

Another full-course caution brought the race to a premature conclusion, with Sikes still out in front ahead of Clark and Douglas, who had nimbly passed Hughes shortly before the caution flags waved. The move enabled Douglas to clinch the Tilton Hard Charger Award.

“We started from pole, which is always where you want to be,” Sikes said after the race. “It was a tough race from the start, huge amounts of pressure off the green flag. Lochie was right there behind me, but I was slowly able to build a gap right up until that caution halfway through the race. From there, I knew it was going to be a fight on the restart. He got the outside of me going into Turn 1 and we went side by side. Luckily, I was able to come out of that out front. There was some fighting behind me and by the time I looked back, I had a six-car length gap to the cars behind me. There was a crash behind which brought out that last caution and ended the race. It is such a nice feeling to finally, after all these years, end it on top.”

Augie Pabst claimed his first PFC Award of the season as the winning car owner.

The USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires contenders will take a short hiatus before reconvening at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course for a triple-header event in conjunction with the NTT IndyCar Series on May 11-13.

RESULTS

Hughes fends of Sikes for USF2000 Sebring win

As with the earlier USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires race, the third-place starter in Saturday afternoon’s USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires contest at Sebring International Raceway stole a march on both front-row qualifiers to take a lead he was never to relinquish. This time it was Lochie Hughes, from Surfers Paradise, Australia, who translated the hole-shot into his second win of the season for the Jay Howard Driver Development team.

Simon Sikes, from Augusta, Ga., claimed the bonus points for both pole position and fastest race lap, but for the second race in succession had to settle for a second-place finish for Pabst Racing. Hughes’ teammate, Evagoras Papasavvas, from Loveland, Ohio, completed the podium in third.

Sikes continued where he left off at the Spring Training preseason test at Sebring by turning the fastest time in qualifying Saturday morning to secure his second Cooper Tires Pole Award. But an aggressive move at the first corner by Hughes also allowed a fast-starting Elliot Cox (Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development), from Indianapolis, Ind., to move into second place at Turn 1.

Sikes regained one position from Cox later on the opening lap, and after a red-flag stoppage to remove the cars of VRD Racing teammates Zack Ping, from Buford, Ga., and Nikita Johnson, from Gulfport, Fla., Sikes quickly homed in on Hughes to commence a protracted battle for the lead.

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Sikes briefly found a way past into Turn 1 on the ninth lap, only for Hughes to regain the advantage with another strong move at Turn 17. Sikes redoubled his efforts on the 12th and final lap, drawing alongside Hughes as they raced into Turn 17, Sunset Bend, but Hughes was able to hang on and secure his second win of the year.

Papasavvas overtook Cox for the third position a couple of laps after the restart, although his hopes of challenging for the lead were dealt a blow on the seventh lap when he made a mistake in the Turn 15/16 complex of corners. Papasavvas instantly fell back into the clutches of both impressive 14-year-old debutant Max Garcia (Pabst Racing), from Coconut Grove, Fla., and Cox, who had slipped back to fifth. Cox then glimpsed an opportunity to make a move on Garcia at Turn 17, diving to the inside under braking, whereupon contact between the pair caused both cars to spin.

Last year’s USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires champion, Mac Clark, from Milton, Ont., Canada, was the biggest beneficiary, emerging to claim fourth for DEForce Racing.

Cox recovered to cross the finish line in fifth ahead of Chase Gardner, from Prosper, Texas, although a post-race penalty for avoidable contact later dropped Cox two positions in the final results. Gardner, who was promoted to fifth, his best finish to date for Exclusive Autosport, also took home the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 13th on the grid.

Hughes’ effort ensured a second PFC Award of the season for Jay Howard as the winning car owner.

The Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring will continue Sunday morning with a second qualifying session at 9:35 am EDT to establish the grid for the fourth race of the season, which is due to see the green flag at 1:40 p.m.

RESULTS

Rowe sweeps USF Pro 2000 weekend at Sebring

Myles Rowe consolidated his position at the top of the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires point standings following another impressive victory this afternoon at Sebring International Raceway. Rowe, from Brooklyn. N.Y., once again made a lightning start, jumping from third to first at the first corner. Even a couple of late full-course cautions failed to interrupt his dominance as he raced to his third USF Pro 2000 victory in just four starts for Pabst Racing with Force Indy.

Rowe now holds a commanding 42-point lead in his quest to win a Discount Tires Driver Advancement Scholarship valued at $664,500 to graduate to Indy NXT in 2024.

Albanian rookie Lirim Zendeli scored his best finish of second for TJ Speed Motorsports, while Kiko Porto, from Recife, Brazil, rebounded from a mechanical problem yesterday which prevented him from even starting the race, to secure his third podium appearance for DEForce Racing.

Last year’s USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires champion, Michael d’Orlando, from Hartsdale, N.Y., looked to have put a sequence of unfortunate circumstances behind him this morning when he posted the fastest time in qualifying to claim his first Cooper Tires Pole Award. But after being beaten away from the start by Rowe, d’Orlando’s luck once again turned sour on the second lap when he lost control over the bumps in Turn 1 and gyrated luridly in front of almost the entire field. He was miraculously able to continue, despite another quick gyration at Turn 4, and eventually fought his way back to 11th at the checkered flag.

Fellow front row qualifier Francesco Pizzi, from Rome, Italy, also had a disappointing race for TJ Speed Motorsport. Pizzi lost two positions on the opening lap and later ran out of road at the exit of Turn 1, losing several more places. He placed seventh after an eventful 15-lap race.

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Porto, after starting eighth, fought his way past Mexico’s Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) for third position on the fifth lap, where he remained until the finish.

Two late cautions set the scene for a one-lap dash to the checkered flag. Rowe made an exemplary restart at the first time of asking, but had to defend rigorously from Zendeli on the final lap, especially at Turn 3, but was not to be denied as he sped onward to the victory.

“It was the race of my life honestly,” Rowe said. “Now that it is all over, I have been trying to close out a weekend winning all of the races since I was 14. It’s been a long road to dominate a weekend and we finally did it today. I’m just ecstatic, my family is ecstatic, the team is ecstatic – I couldn’t be happier. It was also thrilling because it was so calm, cool and collected for 10 of the laps or so and then a full course caution came out when I had an almost 5s gap. Then here I am on the last lap defending three corners on the track to make sure I could hold my spot. Luckily, I kept my head down and we did it. I have to send a big thank-you to Pabst Racing, Force Indy, Penske Entertainment, Sparco, Bell, SimCraft and NXG – all of them. This wouldn’t be possible without them.”

De Alba looked set for fourth until, bizarrely, his car’s fire extinguisher suddenly discharged as he negotiated the tricky Turn 13 on the final lap. Reece Ushijima, directly behind, adeptly avoided the slowing Tatuus, whose driver was completely unsighted by a wave of foam, but behind him, Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing) from Scottsdale, Ariz., and Sweden’s Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) weren’t so fortunate, making contact which dropped both of them far down the order.

Jackson Lee (Turn 3 Motorsport), from Avon, Ind., took advantage of the melee to jump from a solid 10th to record his first top-five finish, narrowly ahead of fellow Indianan Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports) and Pizzi.

Lee’s avoidance also enabled him to claim the Tilton Hard Charger Award after having lined up 12th on the grid.

Augie Pabst picked up his third PFC Award of the young season as the winning car owner.

The USF Pro 2000 teams and drivers will return to action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course for another pair of races in conjunction with the NTT IndyCar Series on May 11-13.

RESULTS

Giaffone, Brienza share Friday USF Juniors wins at Sebring

Nicolas Giaffone (DEForce Racing) and Joey Brienza (Exclusive Autosport) shared the victories Friday at a hot, sunny Sebring International Raceway as USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires produced two more all-green-flag races to continue an entertaining start to its 2023 season. Giaffone, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, narrowly headed Brienza, from Golden, Colo., in this morning’s 10-lap race, while the positions were reversed this afternoon which enabled Brienza, who also finished second yesterday, to claim an early lead in the point standings.

Jack Jeffers (Exclusive Autosport), from San Antonio, Texas, and Jimmie Lockhart (VRD Racing), from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., each earned a third-place finish.

An exciting first race Friday morning began with Brienza once again at the front, courtesy of his second Cooper Tires Pole Award by virtue of posting the best second-fastest lap among the USF Juniors field in qualifying on Thursday.

Brienza breezed to a comfortable lead of more than three seconds after the opening three laps as the field jostled for position in his wake. Max Taylor (VRD Racing), from Hoboken, N.J., muscled his way past front row starter Jeffers at Turn Three, whereupon Jeffers cost himself several more positions by sliding briefly off the road later in the lap.

Giaffone was on the move early, rising from sixth on the grid to third, despite sliding onto the grass in Turn Three on the second lap. Undeterred, Giaffone proceeded to overtake Taylor for second, then rapidly closed the gap to Brienza.

Both had elected to run a fresh set of Cooper tires, but Giaffone’s pace was relentless, and he grasped the lead from Brienza with a bold pass at Turn 3 on the seventh lap. Brienza fought back in the closing stages, but the Brazilian held him off to claim a fine victory.

Giaffone’s fine drive netted him the Tilton Hard Charger Award, as well as a second straight PFC Award for DEForce Racing’s David and Ernesto Martinez as the winning car owners.

Jeffers also mounted a fine recovery drive, finishing third after having slipped back to sixth following his early error. Ethan Ho (DC Autosport), from Los Angeles, Calif., inherited fourth after VRD teammates Taylor and Lockhart tangled in Turn 10 with four laps remaining.

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Brienza led throughout this afternoon’s final race of the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring triple-header after once again starting from the pole.

Giaffone lost a little ground to Brienza as he battled Lockhart for the first couple of laps, and even though the Brazilian soon made second place his own, he was unable to make any inroads into Brienza’s advantage.

Instead, all eyes were on a thrilling battle for third place which saw Lockhart, Taylor, Jeffers and DEForce Racing teammates Quinn Armstrong and Lucas Fecury all exchanging places on a regular basis. A mistake midway through the race by yesterday’s race winner, Armstrong, from Surfers Paradise, Australia, cost him any chance of defending his initial points lead. Lockhart faded from second to fifth after five laps, but then mounted a rousing challenge during which he made two bold passes and posted the fastest lap of the race before wrestling away the final podium position from teammate Taylor at Turn 17 on the last lap.

Brazil’s Erick Schotten (Exclusive Autosport) earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award, rising from 12th on the grid to eighth, while team owner Michael Duncalfe capped a fine day by securing his first USF Juniors PFC Award.

Next up for the USF Juniors is a double-header event at Barber Motorsports, in Leeds, Ala., in advance of the NTT IndyCar Series weekend on Thursday and Friday, April 27-28.

RACE TWO RESULTS

RACE THREE RESULTS

Rowe extends USF Pro 2000 points lead with Sebring win

Myles Rowe grasped an early lead in Friday’s Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring, then romped away to claim his second USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires victory of the season for Pabst Racing with Force Indy. With three of the season’s 18 races now in the books, Rowe, from Brooklyn, N.Y., already holds a handy 16-point lead in his quest to win a Discount Tires Driver Advancement Scholarship valued at $664,500 to graduate to Indy NXT in 2024.

Joel Granfors, from Eskilstuna, Sweden, drove a fine race for Exclusive Autosport, rising from sixth on the grid to take second ahead of TJ Speed Motorsports’ Francesco Pizzi, from Rome, Italy. For both Europeans it was their first podium finish since switching their sights on a career in North America.

Rowe and Pabst Racing teammate Jace Denmark, from Scottsdale, Ariz., continued their form from Spring Training by pacing the 19-car field during the lone official practice session Friday morning. A couple of hours later it was Denmark who shone brightest in qualifying, turning a best lap of 1m58.609s, an average speed of 113.711mph, to snag his first Cooper Tires Pole Award. Rowe completed the front row of the grid, less than a tenth of a second off the pole time, while Pizzi shared row two with a third Pabst Racing Tatuus IP-22 in the hands of Jordan Missig, from Channahon, Ill.

The majority of the first five laps were run behind the pace car due, firstly, to a mechanical problem which unfortunately sidelined St. Petersburg double podium finisher Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing), from Recife, Brazil, then an incident between Mexico’s Ricard Escotto (Jay Howard Driver Development) and Miami-based Brazilian Nicholas Monteiro (NeoTech Motorsport).

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At the initial wave of the green flag, Rowe had followed Denmark through Turn 1, then pounced decisively at Turn 3 to take the lead. The caution flags waved shortly thereafter. Then, soon after the restart, Denmark began to experience gearshift problems, costing him precious fractions of a second. For the majority of the 15-lap race, Denmark maintained a gap of around a second to Granfors, who had leapt from sixth to third at the initial attempt at a start. But the pressure continued to build on the young Arizonan, who eventually lost out to Granfors on the run toward Turn 1 with just a couple of laps remaining. Moments later, Pizzi also took advantage of Denmark’s loss of momentum to slip into third place and assume the final podium position.

Missig also finished right with the lead group in fifth, securing his best-ever finish, as Germany-based Albanian Lirim Zendeli (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Mexico’s Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) both found a way past Japanese-American Reece Ushijima (Jay Howard Driver Development) for sixth in the closing stages.

“That move on lap one was crucial because I didn’t know how the racing was going to be today,” Rowe said after the race. “In practice, the aero push was insane so I knew I had to make a move early. It was a good clean move and we got it done. We had a full-course caution so it was about focusing on the restart. We executed and it was just about keeping my head down and focusing on facing forward and it paid off.”

The Tilton Hard Charger Award went to Jack Miller William (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports), from Carmel, Ind., who made up five places from his starting position of 16th.

Augie Pabst picked up his third PFC Award of the young season as the winning car owner.

The USF Pro 2000 competitors will be back in action Saturday morning at 10 a.m. ET for a second qualifying session which will set the grid for race two at 3:30 p.m. As always, full coverage can be found on the free USF Pro Championships App, YouTube channel and usfpro2000.com website.

RESULTS

Armstrong springs from sixth to claim first USF Juniors win

Quinn Armstrong made up for a disappointing qualifying session earlier in the day by climbing from sixth on the grid to win this afternoon’s opening round of the new USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires season at Sebring International Raceway for …

Polesitter Joey Brienza had to settle for second place, just ahead of Exclusive Autosport teammate Jack Jeffers.

Brienza couldn’t quite match the pace set by Armstrong during the lone official practice session held earlier in the morning in cooler conditions, but when it mattered in qualifying, his time of 2m10.600s was more than a half-second clear of everyone else. Brienza thus claimed his first Cooper Tires Pole Award as well as the honor of leading the way toward the green flag for the 10-lap race.

An impressive start for the field of new Tatuus JR-23 race cars saw four contenders running side by side as they headed toward the dauntingly fast – and bumpy – Turn 1, but it was Brienza who held his nerve, and the lead. Teammate Jeffers followed in second, while Armstrong somehow managed to muscle his way through to third at the exit: “Thank God, it’s a wide track,” he said with a broad smile.

Brienza led by more than a second by the completion of the opening lap, but Armstrong continued his march forward, fighting quickly past Jeffers and then making rapid inroads into Brienza’s advantage.

The two leaders were virtually tied together after three laps as they continued to stretch away from Jeffers in third.

Heading down the long Alec Ullman Straight for the sixth time, Brienza’s steering wheel momentarily went blank due to an obscure technical glitch, which in turn caused a balky change into top gear. The brief loss of momentum played into the hands of Armstrong, who drew alongside before the braking area for Turn 17 and then moved into the lead for the first time.

The young Australian maintained his advantage until the finish to cement the victory. He also secured the Tilton Hard Charger Award after making up five positions from the start, while DEForce Racing’s David and Ernesto Martinez earned the PFC Award as the winning car owners.

“I started sixth and we knew we would have to work to go forward, but that we could go forward,” related Armstrong. “We showed the pace in practice, and we put that into practice in this race. I had an amazing start and was able to get to third pretty much straight away, just chipped away at second and managed to get to first. Then it was just qualifying laps for the rest of the race. This is the exact way you want to start the year. There’s no better place to finish the race and I’m happy about how this season has begun.”

Brienza managed to keep going, despite the intermittent electrical problem which enabled Jeffers to close to within a second at the checkered flag.

Nicolas Giaffone (DEForce Racing) emerged from a thrilling midfield battle to finish fourth ahead of Ethan Barker (VRD Racing), Lucas Fecury (DEForce Racing) and VRD Racing’s Jimmie Lockhart, who ran as high as fourth before slipping back in the closing stages.

Two more races Friday will complete the opening event of the 16-race season, starting with Race 2 at 9:20am ET.

RESULTS

USF Pro Championships return to Sebring this week

All three levels of the USF Pro Championships Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel racing development ladder – USF Pro 2000, USF2000 and USF Juniors – will see action this coming weekend at Sebring International Raceway. The 3.74-mile road course hosted the traditional Spring Training pre-season test last month, marking a return to the schedule for the old-school track in central Florida for the first time in almost a decade.

The most recent USF2000 race at Sebring took place in 2013, while USF Pro 2000 last saw competition under the Star Mazda moniker in 2010.

For the two more senior series, the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring marks the second event on the 2023 calendar following an outstanding season-opening pair of races a few weeks ago just 100 miles or so to the west on the streets of St. Petersburg. There will be two races for each championship. This week also marks the start of the second season of USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires with a tripleheader event on Thursday and Friday, March 23-24.

Rowe, Porto head USF Pro 2000 field

Two races at St. Petersburg resulted in Christian Brooks and Myles Rowe, sharing the spoils for their respective Turn 3 Motorsport and Pabst Racing with Force Indy teams. Kiko Porto also enjoyed an excellent weekend for DEForce Racing with a pair of second-place finishes.

The current point standings see Rowe, who narrowly lost out on last year’s USF2000 championship, on top by a slender three-point margin over 2021 USF2000 champion Porto by virtue of finishing third in the opening encounter. Rowe will return to Sebring on the crest of a wave after also heading the timing charts at Spring Training.

Entry List

Others to make a mark early this year include fellow rookies Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), who claimed fifth and third in the first two races, and a trio of Europeans – Francesco Pizzi, Joel Granfors and Lirim Zendeli.

Pizzi started second and finished fourth in the opening race for new team TJ Speed Motorsports. Pizzi also posted the fastest race lap, securing pole position in the second race in which he finished fifth. Granfors had to work rather harder following an incident during qualifying which relegated him to 20th and last on the grid for Race 1.

After finishing second in last year’s GB3 Championship in the UK, Granfors rebounded well to claim a pair of top-10 finishes and the fastest lap of the weekend in Race 2 for Exclusive Autosport. Zendeli also showed strong pace in a second TJ Speed entry.

The field of 20 USF Pro 2000 contenders will qualify and race on Friday with a second qualifying session and race scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Hughes leads the way in USF2000

Four drivers representing three different teams secured podium finishes during the first USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires weekend at St. Petersburg. Race 1 was a tour de force for Jay Howard Driver Development and rookie Lochie Hughes headed home Evagoras Papasavvas. In Race 2, VRD Racing’s Nikita Johnson improved from third to first to claim his first USF2000 victory.

The race winners are separated by just one point as the series heads inland to Sebring, by virtue of Hughes, who turned 21 last week, securing the bonus points for pole position and leading most laps in the first race to 14-year-old Johnson’s solitary bonus marker for leading 18 of the 20 laps in Race 2.

Simon Sikes also made an early statement for Pabst Racing, recovering from an accident in qualifying to rise from 15th on the grid to fourth. His fastest race lap was enough to secure his first-ever USF2000 pole for Race 2, although he was unable to keep Johnson behind him and had to settle for second place. Sikes will arrive in Sebring brimming with confidence after pacing the field at Spring Training.

Entry List

Other likely contenders will include Sam Corry (VRD Racing) and Jorge Garciarce (DEForce Racing), who each earned a top-five finish in St. Petersburg.

In addition, another former karting star, Max Garcia, will make his USF2000 debut for Pabst Racing after celebrating his 14th birthday last Friday. Garcia was too young to contest the opening races of the season.

The 20-car USF2000 field will take to the track for the first time on Saturday morning with a pair of races on Saturday and Sunday.

Debut races for new USF Juniors Tatuus

USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires will kick off their season on Thursday and Friday with the first three of ultimately 16 races this year. A field of 13 cars is expected, headed by 18-year-old Joey Brienza, who starts as one of the favorites for honors after topping the timing sheets during Spring Training earlier this month for the Exclusive Autosport team.

After a promising debut campaign in 2022 with older F4 cars, the series’ brand-new Tatuus JR-23 car will make its competition debut at Sebring. The technical package is closely aligned with the other two steps on the ladder, utilizing exactly the same carbon/honeycomb monocoque chassis, replete with a state-of-the-art Halo-type device for improved safety and allied to a slightly less powerful 2.0-liter Elite MZR engine.

Brienza posted the fastest time during the Spring Training test at 2m11.964s, which compares to the fastest USF2000 lap at 2m05.431s and the quickest USF Pro 2000 time of 1m58.669s.

The three distinct steps on the ladder provide a logical progression to assist drivers as they progress toward a future in Indy NXT and, eventually, the NTT IndyCar Series. Graduation to the next level also is assured by packages totaling in excess of $1.3 million as part of the Discount Tire Driver Advancement Scholarship program.

Entry List

Third-generation Brazilian racer Nicolas Giaffone was second fastest at Spring Training for DEForce Racing, followed by teammate Quinn Armstrong, Ethan Ho, who will be pulling double duty with DC Autosport in USF2000, and Jimmie Lockhart (VRD Racing).

The first green flag will fly at 4:20pm ET on Thursday, with two more races following on Friday.

Full coverage can be found on the free USF Pro Championships App, YouTube channel and respective series’ websites.