The 2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship streams down the front stretch at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
By Steve Wittich
2020 season basics
- Number of races: 17
- Total laps: 369
- Total miles: 741.096
- Total drivers with at least one start: 26
- Total cautions: 15
- Average cautions per race: 0.9
- Caution free races: seven
- Total caution laps: 27
- Average caution laps per race: 1.6
- Total DNFs: 27
- DNFs per race: 1.6
- The average margin of victory: 2.9 seconds
- The closest margin of victory: Eduardo Barrichello (Pabst Racing) finished a slim 0.2834 seconds ahead of Reece Gold on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in September.
- The largest margin of victory: Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) finished 12.7818 seconds ahead of Eduardo Barrichello (Pabst Racing) in the first of six races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Six different drivers representing five teams stood on the top step of the podium during the 17-race 2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship season.
Series champion Christian Rasmussen won nine races, including the first six races of the season.
The only team to have multiple race winners was Cape Motorsports, with Reece Gold winning twice and Michael d’Orlando winning once.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship driver wins
| RANK | DRIVER | WINS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 9 | |
| 2 | Eduardo Barrichello | 3 | |
| 3 | Reece Gold | 2 | |
| 4T | Michael d’Orlando | 1 | |
| 4T | Kiko Porto | 1 | |
| 4T | Christian Brooks | 1 |
Christian Rasmussen, in the Jay Howard Driver Development No 6 pulls into victory lane at Road America, the Dane’s first of nine wins during the 2020 USF2000 season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
For the first time since 2010, Cape Motorsports was not at the very least tied for the series lead in the team wins category.
Over the past two seasons, Jay Howard Driver Development, which topped the 2020 wins list, has 12 wins, leading Cape Motorsports (ten wins) and Pabst Racing (seven wins).
Kiko Porto’s trip to victory lane in St. Petersburg was the Texas-based team’s first USF2000 win, making them the 15th different team to win a race since the series was reconstituted in 2010.
Since the rebirth of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires in 2010, Cape Motorsports leads all teams with 85 trips to victory lane.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship team wins
| RANK | TEAM | WINS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jay Howard Driver Development | 9 | |
| 2 | Cape Motorsports | 3 | |
| 3 | Pabst Racing | 3 | |
| 4 | Exclusive Autosport | 1 | |
| 5 | DEForce Racing | 1 |
Seven different drivers started from the inside of the front row, with Jay Howard Driver Development champion leading the way with eight pole starts.
Rasmussen (seven), Eduardo Barrichello (once), Christian Brooks (once), and Reece Gold (once) were the four drivers that led from pole to checkered flag in 2020.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship driver poles
| RANK | DRIVER | POLES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 8 | |
| 2 | Eduardo Barrichello | 3 | |
| 3 | Kiko Porto | 2 | |
| 4T | Reece Gold | 1 | |
| 4T | Nolan Siegel | 1 | |
| 4T | Cameron Shields | 1 | |
| 4T | Christian Brooks | 1 |
Jay Howard Driver Development sophomore duo start at the front of an USF2000 race at the New Jersey Motorsports Park (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Not surprisingly, Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) led all drivers with an average starting position of 2.6. The Dane never started a USF2000 race in 2020 outside of the top three rows and started on the front row in 11 races.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship average driver starting position
| RANK | DRIVER | AVG START | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 2.6 | |
| 2 | Reece Gold | 4.6 | |
| 3 | Eduardo Barrichello | 4.9 | |
| 4 | Christian Brooks | 6.6 | |
| 5 | Michael d’Orlando | 7.2 | |
| 6 | Josh Green | 7.8 | |
| 7 | Kiko Porto | 8.1 | |
| 8 | Cameron Shields | 8.2 | |
| 9 | Jack William Miller | 8.3 | |
| 10 | Matthew Round-Garrido | 8.4 | |
| 11 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | 8.9 | |
| 12 | Nolan Siegel | 9.7 | |
| 13 | Simon Sikes | 13.0 | |
| 14 | Kyle Dupell | 13.3 | |
| 15 | Prescott Campbell | 13.5 | |
| 16 | Nico Christodoulou | 13.8 | |
| 17 | Wyatt Brichacek | 14.6 | |
| 18 | Bijoy Garg | 14.7 | |
| 19 | Christian Bogle | 16.1 | |
| 20 | Josh Pierson | 17.0 | |
| 21 | Ayrton Ori | 17.0 | |
| 22 | Max Kaeser | 17.3 | |
| 23 | Josh Sarchet | 17.7 | |
| 24 | Kent Vaccaro | 17.7 | |
| 25 | Gil Molina | 18.5 | |
| 26 | Michael Myers | 18.8 |
Fourteen of the 26 drivers that took part in at least one USF2000 race in 2020 contested all 17 races.
The only driver to complete all 369 laps in 2020 was Pabst Racing sophomore Eduardo Barrichello.
The ALE Combustmveis sponsored No. 22 of Eduardo Barrichello (Pabst Racing) on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
However, with seven caution-free races and four races not seeing any DNFs, 13 drivers completed over 90% of the 741.069 miles contested.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship % of laps completed
| RANK | DRIVER | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eduardo Barrichello | 100.0% | |
| 2 | Michael d’Orlando | 99.5% | |
| 3 | Prescott Campbell | 98.9% | |
| 4 | Josh Green | 98.4% | |
| 5 | Wyatt Brichacek | 97.8% | |
| 6 | Kyle Dupell | 97.6% | |
| 7 | Reece Gold | 96.7% | |
| 8 | Christian Bogle | 95.4% | |
| 9 | Jack William Miller | 95.1% | |
| 10 | Matthew Round-Garrido | 93.8% | |
| 11 | Christian Rasmussen | 93.2% | |
| 12 | Josh Pierson | 93.2% | |
| 13 | Christian Brooks | 91.3% | |
| 14 | Cameron Shields | 88.9% | |
| 15 | Nolan Siegel | 88.3% | |
| 16 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | 84.0% | |
| 17 | Kiko Porto | 76.2% | |
| 18 | Max Kaeser | 68.3% | |
| 19 | Bijoy Garg | 56.4% | |
| 20 | Simon Sikes | 40.4% | |
| 21 | Michael Myers | 38.5% | |
| 22 | Nico Christodoulou | 21.4% | |
| 23 | Ayrton Ori | 19.8% | |
| 24 | Kent Vaccaro | 16.3% | |
| 25 | Josh Sarchet | 14.9% | |
| 26 | Gil Molina | 10.8% |
Seven different drivers representing five different teams started from the inside of the front row, with champion Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) leading the way with eight poles.
Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) led all drivers with eight poles during the 2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship driver poles
| RANK | DRIVER | POLES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 8 | |
| 2 | Eduardo Barrichello | 3 | |
| 3 | Kiko Porto | 2 | |
| 4T | Reece Gold | 1 | |
| 4T | Nolan Siegel | 1 | |
| 4T | Cameron Shields | 1 | |
| 4T | Christian Brooks | 1 |
The 2020 USF2000 season had 11 different drivers stand on the podium, with a pair of sophomores in Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) and Reece Gold (Cape Motorsports) lead the way with ten trips to the podium each.
The pair shared the podium on five different occasions.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship driver podiums
| RANK | DRIVER | PODIUMS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1T | Reece Gold | 10 | |
| 1T | Christian Rasmussen | 10 | |
| 3 | Eduardo Barrichello | 9 | |
| 4 | Michael d’Orlando | 5 | |
| 5 | Kiko Porto | 4 | |
| 6T | Josh Green | 3 | |
| 6T | Christian Brooks | 3 | |
| 8T | Nolan Siegel | 2 | |
| 8T | Cameron Shields | 2 | |
| 8T | Jack William Miller | 2 | |
| 11 | Prescott Campbell | 1 |
A trio of Cape Motorsports drivers, Reece Gold, Michael d’Orlando, and Josh Green, stood on the podium a total of 18 times, the most of any team.
Cape Motorsports drivers Michael d’Orlando (left) and Reece Gold (right) celebrate a one-two finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Four races in 2020 saw at least two Cape Motorsports drivers share the podium.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship team podiums
| RANK | TEAM | PODIUMS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Motorsports | 18 | |
| 2 | Jay Howard Driver Development | 12 | |
| 3 | Pabst Racing | 9 | |
| 4 | DEForce Racing | 6 | |
| 5 | Exclusive Autosport | 4 | |
| 6 | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 2 |
Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development), the 2020 USF2000 champion, led 200 laps, by far the most of the 11 drivers that led at least one lap during the 17 race season.
The Danish driver led 54% of the possible 369 laps.
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship laps led
| RANK | DRIVER | LAPS LED | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 200 | |
| 2 | Eduardo Barrichello | 41 | |
| 3 | Michael d’Orlando | 25 | |
| 4 | Kiko Porto | 24 | |
| 5 | Reece Gold | 22 | |
| 6 | Christian Brooks | 20 | |
| 7 | Jack William Miller | 17 | |
| 8 | Cameron Shields | 13 | |
| 9 | Nolan Siegel | 3 | |
| 10 | Simon Sikes | 3 | |
| 11 | Josh Green | 1 |
Seven of the 17 race winners turned the quickest lap of that race, proving that you can win without being the absolute fastest driver in a race.
However, you do need to have a good pace. The average of the race winner’s lap was 2.8.
Cape Motorsports race winner, Michael d’Orlando, was the most consistently quick of the USF2000 field. The New Yorker never had the fastest lap of the race but never had worse than the 10th fastest lap.
The Focused Project Management/DB Collaborative sponsored No. 4 Cape Motorsports machine of Michael d’Orlando on track during the 2020 USF2000 season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship fastest race lap average
| RANK | DRIVER | AVG. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 3.4 | |
| 2 | Michael d’Orlando | 4.5 | |
| 3 | Eduardo Barrichello | 5.1 | |
| 4 | Reece Gold | 5.7 | |
| 5 | Kiko Porto | 7.8 | |
| 6 | Josh Green | 7.9 | |
| 7 | Matthew Round-Garrido | 8.6 | |
| 8 | Christian Brooks | 8.6 | |
| 9 | Nolan Siegel | 9.0 | |
| 10 | Jack William Miller | 9.1 | |
| 11 | Cameron Shields | 9.4 | |
| 12 | Simon Sikes | 11.3 | |
| 13 | Kyle Dupell | 11.8 | |
| 14 | Gil Molina | 12.0 | |
| 15 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | 12.3 | |
| 16 | Prescott Campbell | 12.7 | |
| 17 | Bijoy Garg | 13.0 | |
| 18 | Wyatt Brichacek | 13.6 | |
| 19 | Nico Christodoulou | 14.4 | |
| 20 | Christian Bogle | 15.5 | |
| 21 | Ayrton Ori | 16.0 | |
| 22 | Kent Vaccaro | 16.3 | |
| 23 | Max Kaeser | 16.6 | |
| 24 | Josh Pierson | 17.2 | |
| 25 | Michael Myers | 18.9 | |
| 26 | Josh Sarchet | 19.3 |
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship number of races with the fastest lap
| RANK | DRIVER | RACES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 7 | |
| 2 | Reece Gold | 3 | |
| 3 | Kiko Porto | 2 | |
| 4 | Eduardo Barrichello | 2 | |
| 5 | Prescott Campbell | 1 | |
| 6 | Nolan Siegel | 1 | |
| 7 | Jack William Miller | 1 |
2020 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship number of races with one of the five fastest race laps
| RANK | DRIVER | RACES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rasmussen | 15 | |
| 2 | Michael d’Orlando | 12 | |
| 3 | Eduardo Barrichello | 10 | |
| 4 | Reece Gold | 9 | |
| 5 | Josh Green | 8 | |
| 6 | Christian Brooks | 6 | |
| 7T | Kiko Porto | 5 | |
| 7T | Matthew Round-Garrido | 5 | |
| 7T | Jack William Miller | 5 | |
| 10 | Cameron Shields | 4 | |
| 11 | Nolan Siegel | 3 | |
| 12T | Prescott Campbell | 1 | |
| 12T | Simon Sikes | 1 |
Track Records set in 2020
Qualifying
- New Jersey Motorsports Park – Eduardo Barrichello (Pabst Racing) – 77.1488 seconds
- St. Petersburg Street Circuit – Christian Brooks (Exclusive Autosport) – 71.9662 seconds
The Hot Wheels/Chaco Flaco/Bell Helmets sponsored No. 44 of Christian Brooks (Exclusive Autosport) on track in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Race
- New Jersey Motorsports Park – Nolan Siegel (Jay Howard Driver Development) – 77.750 seconds
- St. Petersburg Street Circuit – Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) – 72.2279 seconds