USF Pro Championships – Page 8

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.

USF Pro Championships TV launches “The Climb Presented by Discount Tire”

As a further extension of the new partnership between Andersen Promotions and Discount Tire, USF Pro Championships TV has announced “The Climb Presented by Discount Tire” – a new show that will take viewers behind the scenes of the USF Pro …

As a further extension of the new partnership between Andersen Promotions and Discount Tire, USF Pro Championships TV has announced “The Climb Presented by Discount Tire” — a new show that will take viewers behind the scenes of the USF Pro Championships Presented by Cooper Tires.

The mini-documentary series will allow viewers to witness the intense and passionate competition between the future stars of racing as they take part in the world’s most successful driver development program.

“The Climb” will provide an inside look into the next generation of drivers as they compete on some of the most iconic tracks in open-wheel racing, with the debut episode highlighting the season opener in St. Petersburg.

The first episode of “The Climb” premieres at 5:00 p.m. ET today, and is only available on the free USF Pro Championships App, which also provides live streaming, Timing & Scoring, driver bios and more covering USF Pro 2000, USF2000 and USF Juniors — all Presented by Cooper Tires.

Discount Tire was recently announced as the Official Tire Retailer of USF Pro Championships, including entitlement of the series’ scholarship program — the Discount Tire Driver Advancement Scholarship — which will continue to provide an unprecedented scholarship-funded path up the motorsport ladder with over $1.3 million in prize money and awards on offer.

Pro Racing Group — creators of USF Pro Championships TV — enters its 10th season as the broadcast production arm of all three series, including worldwide live streaming, the USF Pro Championships App and exclusive, behind-the-scenes content such as the “In The Making with Emilee Smarr” show, which showcases the topic of making it as a professional athlete.

All three levels of USF Pro Championships will return to action in Florida on March 23-26 for the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring. The doubleheader opening rounds at St. Petersburg saw four different race winners with Myles Rowe of Pabst Racing with Force Indy leading the USF Pro 2000 standings and Lochie Hughes of Jay Howard Driver Development on point in USF2000.