An intense climax to the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire season began Saturday morning at Portland International Raceway with Pabst Racing’s Max Garcia taking a hard-fought victory. It was enough to wrap up the championship in style. Later in the day, a thrilling first half of the final race witnessed USF2000 competition at its finest with a sensational six-car scrap for the lead. Sadly, a chaotic series of incidents blighted the second half of the race and concluded with rookie G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif., surviving to claim an unlikely maiden victory after having lined up 14th on the starting grid.
Elliott Cox (Sarah Fisher Hartman Driver Development), from Indianapolis, Ind., led both of the day’s races, although both he and two-time polesitter Thomas Schrage (VRD Racing), from Bethel, Ohio, had to be content with one visit to the podium.
Schrage earned his first Continental Tire Pole Award of the day by virtue of posting the fastest of every driver’s second-fastest laps during the lone qualifying session on Friday. It was Schrage’s second pole of the season after also starting up front for one of his home-track races at Mid-Ohio last month.
Cox started alongside, but immediately took over the lead and continued to hold the advantage for the majority of the 25-lap race.
Garcia, who started fourth, also worked his way past Schrage in the early stages as the top three edged clear of Sam Corry, from Cornelius, N.C., in a second Pabst Racing Tatuus.
Garcia, from Coconut Grove, Fla., was virtually assured of the championship crown, but he was intent upon finishing his impressive campaign with a flourish. He achieved exactly that by finding a way past Cox at the Turn 1-2 chicane with just three laps remaining to claim his fifth win of the season and secure the championship crown in the best possible manner.
The unfortunate Cox, who had hoped to celebrate his 17th birthday Friday with an overdue maiden victory, had to settle for a nonetheless impressive second ahead of Schrage and VRD teammate Max Taylor, from Hoboken, N.J., who had risen from eighth on the grid.
Even so, the Tilton Hard Charger Award was claimed by Evagoras Papasavvas (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Loveland, Ohio, who finished strongly in fifth after lining up only 12th on the grid.
Schrage, who has contested only a partial campaign, once again underlined his promise by setting the fastest lap of the race which was enough to secure another pole position for the season finale Saturday afternoon.
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Another fine start by Cox saw him vault from fifth on the grid to second on the opening lap, and two laps later he also overtook Schrage on the back straightaway to lead for the second successive race.
Cox held onto a slender advantage with a snarling pack of cars behind him until lap 12, when a lunge around the outside of the first corner by Garcia ended with both cars off the track and a full-course caution.
Taylor assumed the lead for the restart, but that lasted only a few hundred yards until he overshot his braking point at Turn 1 and made heavy contact with Papasavvas, who had taken a wide entry to the corner and was trying to make a move around the outside. Chaos ensued as the majority of the field was involved and several drivers were forced to take to the escape road, earning themselves drive-through penalties.
When the dust had settled, Argyros, who had been running ninth before the incident, suddenly found himself in the lead. Garcia, meanwhile, having been sent to the back of the field after being assessed responsibility for the earlier incident with Cox, took advantage of the melee and then made a series of incisive passes to work his way back into the fight for the win.
Argyros firmly rebuffed Garcia’s attempt to wrest back the lead at the chicane as they entered the final lap, then gained a reprieve when the caution flags waved again following another incident further back in the pack.
So Argyros’ maiden victory was assured and Garcia had to settle for second ahead of last year’s USF Juniors champion Nicolas Giaffone (DEForce Racing), from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Schrage.
Argyros also earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award, while his team owner, Jay Howard, and Augie Pabst of Pabst Racing shared the day’s two PFC Awards.
An exciting season will be celebrated at Sunday night’s Championship Celebration, where Pabst will accept his sixth Team Championship and Garcia will be presented with a scholarship valued at $458,400 to ensure graduation onto the next step of the USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire ladder in 2025.