USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires title rivals Lochie Hughes (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and Simon Sikes (Pabst Racing), from Augusta, Ga., shared the victory spoils in Saturday’s Discount Tire Grand Prix of Road America. Coincidentally, both had some form of trouble in one of the races.
Hughes encountered a problem with his car in the opening race and later was assessed a 5s penalty for blocking, which dropped him from 10th to 12th, while Sikes placed 10th in race two following some on-track skirmishes. Consequently, Hughes’ slender points lead has diminished by one, from four points to three, heading into the second half of the season.
Jacob Douglas (Pabst Racing), from Christchurch, New Zealand, scored a career-best second-place finish Saturday morning ahead of VRD Racing’s Nikita Johnson, from Gulfport, Fla. After starting from pole position in race two, Mac Clark, from Milton, Ont., Canada, finished second ahead of 14-year-old Max Garcia (Pabst Racing), from Coconut Grove, Fla.
Hughes began the weekend in emphatic style during qualifying on Friday by securing his second Cooper Tires Pole Award of the season, and his first since the opening round on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., in early March. The Australian teenager took full advantage of the pristine new track surface on the challenging 4.014-mile circuit by posting a new lap record of 2m07.8964s, an average speed of 112.985mph. His time comfortably eclipsed the old standard of 2m09.2583s set by Rasmus Lindh in 2018.
A clean start saw Hughes maintain his advantage for the first half-lap ahead of Sikes and the rest of the closely matched pack. Unfortunately, Hughes then made a mistake under pressure at Turn 6 and ran wide, which immediately cost him a couple of positions to Sikes and Clark.
An incident at Turn 1 on the second lap ensured a full-course caution with Sikes at the head of the field, where he was to remain for the remainder of the 12-lap race. Sikes had to withstand challenges at no fewer than three restarts following a series of minor incidents before racing clear to score his third win of the season and briefly retake the championship points lead.
Hughes regained one of his lost places by slicing past Clark at Turn 5 at the first restart, only to slide wide again at Turn 6 and lose several positions after his rear wing collapsed. Hughes stopped to have the wing reattached and did well to climb back to 10th at the finish prior to the penalty.
Clark fell out of contention after being one among three drivers who attempted to run side-by-side through Turn 5 following one of the restarts. He, too, resumed at the back but did gain the consolation of a new lap record, 2m09.1655s, on the final lap.
“It was a fun race,” Sikes said. “Starting second, I was able to get the lead on the first lap into Turn 6 and from there, it was just about trying to hold on to that position. We had several restarts, all of which were all about heavy defending and trying to maintain that lead. Once we got down to the last restart, it was a fun cruise to the end and I was appreciating the awesome Wisconsin scenery. I am so thankful to win at home for Pabst and the first weekend racing with Mockett on the car.”
All of the drama allowed New Zealander Jacob Douglas, who celebrated his 18th birthday earlier in the week, to emerge in a clear second place in his first outing for the locally based Pabst Racing team.
Nikita Johnson (VRD Racing), from Gulfport, Fla., impressively overcame some problems in qualifying by rising from 12th on the grid to complete the podium in third. Johnson’s fine drive earned him the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
Chase Gardner (Exclusive Autosport), from Prosper, Texas, and Elliot Cox (Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development), from Indianapolis, Ind., also took advantage of the incident-packed race to round out the top five after starting deep in the pack.
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The action continued later in the afternoon with Clark, last year’s USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires champion, on pole position after claiming the Cooper Tires Pole Award, his second of the year, during a second dedicated qualifying session on Friday.
Clark held onto his advantage through a couple of early full-course cautions, but there was no holding back Hughes, who made up for his earlier disappointment by drafting past into the lead at the beginning of lap eight. Clark never gave up the chase but had to settle for second ahead of young Garcia, who atoned for an error in race one by snaring his first podium result.
This time it was Pabst teammate Sikes’ turn to have difficulties. After running third in the early stages, Sikes was involved in a couple of skirmishes before finally taking the checkered flag a disappointed 10th.
“It was a pretty good race,” Hughes quipped afterward. “I was able to jump up to second at the start before the safety cars. I got a great restart and just sent it around the outside of Mac. I wasn’t sure how much grip there would be with the resurface but I thought stuff it, go for it. I was in the lead and then another safety car again, but I got a good restart and managed to hold the lead. Then it was just about trying to break the tow which I couldn’t really do so Mac was always right there. It was critical to make no mistakes and just hold the gap I had and win the race and that’s what I did.”
Jorge Garciarce (DEForce Racing), from Guadalajara, Mexico, took a career-best fourth ahead of Johnson.
USF Junior regular Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, capped an exploratory USF2000 outing with Exclusive Autosport by claiming the Tilton Hard Charger Award after finishing 12th and making up nine positions during the 12-lap race.
For the third time this season the PFC Awards for the winning car owners were split by Augie Pabst and Jay Howard.
Next on the agenda for the USF2000 competitors is a triple-header event, once again held in conjunction with the NTT IndyCar Series, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, in two weeks’ time on June 30-July 1.