Barber Motorsports Park will be hosting three days of Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires spring training in preparation for the 2021 racing season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
By Steve Wittich
For the second straight official USF2000 session to start the 2021 season, Exclusive Autosport veteran Christian Brooks led the way.
The 20-year-old was joined by fellow veterans Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport), Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing), Josh Pierson (Pabst Racing), Prescott Campbell (DEForce Racing), Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing), and Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) in the top ten. Rookies Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Dylan Christie (Turn 3 Motorsport), and Grant Palmer (Exclusive Autosport) were the only three rookies to crack the top ten.
The final USF2000 session on Easter Sunday got underway, with Brooks once again setting the pace. He was followed closely by Myles Rowe, whose Force Indy squad was able to get the No. 99s electrical gremlins sorted out.
With one-quarter of the one-hour session completed, it was still Brooks at the top of the timing screens. He was joined in the top five by Prescott Campbell (DEForce Racing), Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing), Myles Rowe (Force Indy), and Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport).
Brooks continued to lower his lap times, eventually settling at 82.3236 on his 11th lap of the session.
That lap time, which just a little slower than his session leading lap earlier, was set on scuffed tires.
Brooks, with that lap, held the top spot at the halfway point of the session. He was followed by Siegel, Green, Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Josh Pierson (Pabst Racing), Prescott Campbell (DEForce Racing), Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing), Grant Palmer (Exclusive Autosport), Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing), and Bijoy Garg (Jay Howard Driver Development).
At the halfway point of the second session, 18 of the 23 drivers were within one second of Brooks.
With 25-minutes remaining in the session, the red flag was shown to field for a spin in Turn 8 involving Miller Vinatieri Motorsports rookie Kent Vaccaro.
The track got the green flag for testing to resume with 22-minutes remaining as the 23 USF-17s took to the track to learn as much as possible.
With two sets of tires to use each day, most teams chose to start each session with fresh Cooper Tire slicks, so lap times later in the session were more in line with what to expect during race running.
With five minutes remaining in the session, Turn 3 Motorsport drivers Josh Green and Dylan Christie improved on their quickest laps, improving to second and seventh, respectively.
Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship spring training at Barber Motorsports Park test session #2 timesheet.
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | QUICK LAP | DIFFERENCE | TOTAL LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Christian Brooks | Exclusive Autosport | 1:22.3236 | — | 18 |
| 2 | 33 | Josh Green | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:22.3954 | 0.0718 | 26 |
| 3 | 10 | Nolan Siegel | DEForce Racing | 1:22.4365 | 0.1129 | 19 |
| 4 | 23 | Jace Denmark | Pabst Racing | 1:22.5812 | 0.2576 | 34 |
| 5 | 24 | Josh Pierson | Pabst Racing | 1:22.6042 | 0.2806 | 32 |
| 6 | 11 | Prescott Campbell | DEForce Racing | 1:22.6418 | 0.3182 | 24 |
| 7 | 34 | Dylan Christie | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:22.6455 | 0.3219 | 27 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Pabst Racing | 1:22.6533 | 0.3297 | 34 |
| 9 | 90 | Grant Palmer | Exclusive Autosport | 1:22.7574 | 0.4338 | 26 |
| 10 | 12 | Kiko Porto | DEForce Racing | 1:22.7658 | 0.4422 | 19 |
| 11 | 6 | Bijoy Garg | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:22.7977 | 0.4741 | 25 |
| 12 | 99 | Myles Rowe | Force Indy | 1:22.8256 | 0.5020 | 25 |
| 13 | 8 | Jackson Lee | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:23.0607 | 0.7371 | 28 |
| 14 | 4 | Michael d’Orlando | Cape Motorsports | 1:23.0626 | 0.7390 | 27 |
| 15 | 91 | Billy Frazer | Exclusive Autosport | 1:23.0808 | 0.7572 | 27 |
| 16 | 29 | Erik Evans | Velocity Racing Development | 1:23.1289 | 0.8053 | 19 |
| 17 | 9 | Peter Vodanovich | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:23.2062 | 0.8826 | 29 |
| 18 | 2 | Thomas Nepveu | Cape Motorsports | 1:23.2434 | 0.9198 | 28 |
| 19 | 1 | Ely Navarro | DEForce Racing | 1:23.3680 | 1.0444 | 23 |
| 20 | 5 | Spike Kohlbecker | Cape Motorsports | 1:23.4740 | 1.1504 | 11 |
| 21 | 3 | Evan Stamer | Cape Motorsports | 1:23.8144 | 1.4908 | 26 |
| 22 | 16 | Kent Vaccaro | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 1:24.3467 | 2.0231 | 28 |
| 23 | 63 | Trey Burke | Joe Dooling Autosports | 1:24.5840 | 2.2604 | 23 |
The bottom rung of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will be the Monday morning dew sweepers, with their first of three test sessions getting underway at 8:30 am.