By Diane Swintal

That crooked video board (due to a hydraulic failure) that delayed the USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 races yesterday – it’s still crooked, but secured and working! TSO Photo by Patrick

Good morning from cloudy and cool Portland International Raceway. 63F at 8:00 a.m. Pacific, with highs only in the mid-70s and much later in the day.

Four Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires sessions today, with the Cooper Tires USF200 Championship and the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires conducting their final races of the season.

Road to Indy schedule:

10:15 – 11:00 a.m. USF2000 race three (25 laps or 45 minutes)

11:15 – 11:55 a.m. Indy Lights practice

11:30 a.m. – Noon Indy Pro 2000 autograph session (Fan Village)

1:30 – 2:00 p.m. Indy Lights autograph session (Fan Village)

2:20 – 3:10 p.m. Indy Pro 2000 race three (30 laps or 50 minutes)

3:25 – 3:45 p.m. Indy Lights qualifying

The Indy Pro 2000 championship is done, as Exclusive Autosport’s Louis Foster took the title with a victory in race one yesterday. With a win in race two, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Reece Gold secured second in the title chase. Gold is expected to follow Foster into Indy Lights next season.

USF2000 is a very different story. With incidents in both races yesterday, Pabst Racing’s Myles Rowe threw the championship chase wide open. When Rowe and teammate Jace Denmark – the pole sitter and second in the championship – made contact in turn one at the start of race two, Cape Motorsports’ Michael d’Orlando returned to the championship conversation. Here are the points as they stand:

Points

Back

Myles Rowe

363

—

Michael d’Orlando

357

6

Jace Denmark

357

6

Reminder that the winner gets 30 points, 25 to second, 22 to third. Three bonus points are available – the points above include Denmark’s race three pole point.

USF2000 race three starting lineup:

SP Car Driver Name Time

1 23 Denmark, Jace 01:11.8365

2 22 Rowe, Myles 01:11.9434

3 10 Nepveu, Thomas 01:11.9900

4 17 Johnson, Nikita (R) 01:12.0391

5 5 Hays, Nicky (R) 01:12.1835

6 4 d’Orlando, Michael 01:12.2481

7 12 Clark, Mac (R) 01:12.2590

8 32 Weir, Christian 01:12.2942

9 92 Frazer, Billy 01:12.3369

10 11 Christie, Dylan 01:12.3809

11 91 Brienza, Joey (R) 01:12.4824

12 90 Douglas, Jacob (R) 01:12.5460

13 9 Garciarce, Jorge (R) 01:12.5560

14 33 Kohlbecker, Spike 01:12.5826

15 8 Dyszelski, Danny (R) 01:12.6456

16 6 Papasavvas, Evagoras (R) 01:12.6842

17 3 Jones, Jagger (R) 01:12.6919

18 93 d’Orlando, Nicholas (R) 01:12.9373

19 16 Ho, Ethan (R) 01:13.0621

20 34 Mann, Lucas (R) 01:13.1247

Jagger Jones (grandson of Parnelli) has secured rookie of the year honors over Cape Motorsports’ teammate Nicky Hays, 275 to 210 points. Jones experienced engine issues in the lone qualifying session that put him back in the field in all three races and while Hays’ first series podium finish yesterday helped his cause, it won’t be enough to eclipse his teammate in the final standings.

The pair are the only rookies in the series top 10.