By Steve Wittich
Jace Denmark won his first USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires pole after all three Pabst Racing drivers spent time holding the provisional pole during qualifying for the first USF Pro 2000 at Sebring International Raceway.
The 18-year-old, who won six USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires poles, turned a lap at 128.406 seconds to best his teammate Myles Rowe by a razor-thin 0.072-second margin.
The top five drivers, including Denmark, Rowe, Francesco Pizzi (Turn 3 Motorsport), the third Pabst Racing driver Jordan Missig and Michael d’Orlando, who recovered nicely from a morning incident, were all within two-tenths of a second of the pole-winning time.
The top nine drivers were within one second of Denmark, and the Metal Works Custom Fabrication sponsored No. 20.
When the green flag flew to begin qualifying at 12:55 pm, the ambient temperature was 83F at Sebring International Raceway.
The cars of Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport) and Ricardo Escotto (Jay Howard Driver Development) sustained moderate damage. However, despite the quick turnaround, both crews fixed the cars and got back on track.
All 19 drivers set a lap in the opening five minutes as they worked to get their fresh Cooper Tires up to the ultimate operating temperature.
After two laps each, Pabst Racing’s Jace Denmark had the quickest lap and was one of seven drivers to turn a lap under two minutes.
At the halfway mark of the 20-minute session, most drivers were in the pit lane for fresh tires and adjustments.
With ten minutes remaining, Pabst Racing held the top three spots. Denmark (119.205 seconds) led his teammates Myles Rowe and Jordan Missig within two-tenths of a second of the provisional pole. 13 of the 19 drivers were within one second of Rowe at the halfway point.
d’Orlando clearly wasn’t phased by his practice incident going to second on his fourth lap of qualifying.
Rowe was the first driver to improve on his earlier and go under 159 seconds after putting on fresh tires.
With five minutes left to set the grid, Rowe held the provisional pole, with his teammates holding the second (Denmark) and third spots (Missig).
On his sixth lap, with four minutes remaining, Denmark lowed the provisional pole time, going under the best time from spring training.
Exclusive Autosport’s Joel Granfors interrupted the Pabst Racing party, moving to third quickest.
Missig was the third Pabst Racing driver to grab the provisional pole, but it wasn’t for long, as Denmark went a tenth of a second quicker.
Pizzi, the pole-sitter for the second race in St. Petersburg, was the first of four drivers to get within two-tenths of a second of Denmark.
One of the final drivers to cross the alternate start finish was points leader and St. Petersburg race #2 winner Rowe, who came within seven-hundredths of a second of pole winner Denmark.
USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires unofficial qualifying #1 results
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFF. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Jace Denmark | Pabst Racing | 1:58.405 | —- |
| 2 | 99 | Myles Rowe | Pabst Racing w/Force Indy | 1:58.477 | 0.072 |
| 3 | 55 | Francesco Pizzi | TJ Speed Motorsports | 1:58.522 | 0.117 |
| 4 | 19 | Jordan Missig | Pabst Racing | 1:58.536 | 0.131 |
| 5 | 1 | Michael d’Orlando | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:58.572 | 0.167 |
| 6 | 92 | Joel Granfors | Exclusive Autosport | 1:58.824 | 0.419 |
| 7 | 10 | Lirim Zendeli | TJ Speed Motorsports | 1:58.935 | 0.530 |
| 8 | 6 | Reece Ushijima | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:58.993 | 0.588 |
| 9 | 12 | Kiko Porto | DEForce Racing | 1:59.025 | 0.620 |
| 10 | 91 | Salvador de Alba | Exclusive Autosport | 1:59.523 | 1.118 |
| 11 | 2 | Jonathan Browne | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:59.535 | 1.130 |
| 12 | 90 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Exclusive Autosport | 1:59.762 | 1.357 |
| 13 | 7 | Bijoy Garg | DEForce Racing | 1:59.803 | 1.398 |
| 14 | 32 | Christian Weir | TJ Speed Motorsports | 1:59.985 | 1.580 |
| 15 | 4 | Ricardo Escotto | Jay Howard Driver Development | 2:00.014 | 1.609 |
| 16 | 40 | Jack William Miller | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 2:00.045 | 1.640 |
| 17 | 47 | Jackson Lee | Turn 3 Motorsport | 2:00.083 | 1.678 |
| 18 | 81 | Nicholas Monteiro | NeoTech Motorsport | 2:00.684 | 2.279 |
| 19 | 93 | Lindsay Brewer | Exclusive Autosport | 2:01.238 | 2.833 |
The teams and drivers will have three hours and 40 minutes to get prepared for the first of two Cooper Tires Grand Prix Of Sebring, which will get the green flag at 4 pm.