By Steve Wittich
The sun shone between low clouds, and the ambient temperature was still a comfortable 81F when the lone USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires practice session started.
The early leader in the half-hour practice on used tires was reigning USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires champion Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport).
With ten minutes remaining, Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) topped the timing screens, but it was close with d’Orlando, Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing) and Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport) all within a tenth of the Swede.
d’Orlando and then Porto jumped to the top of the timesheets when the drivers went to fresh Cooper Tires.
The 20 drivers turned 317 laps of the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course, with 2022 USF Pro 2000 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course winner Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) the busiest. The Mexican driver completed 21 circuits.
USF Pro 2000 Discount Tire Grand Prix of Indianapolis practice results
| RANK | CAR | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFFERENCE | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Kiko Porto | DEForce Racing | 1:22.2694 | —— | 13 |
| 2 | 1 | Michael d’Orlando | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:22.5978 | 0.3284 | 15 |
| 3 | 92 | Joel Granfors | Exclusive Autosport | 1:22.6205 | 0.3511 | 17 |
| 4 | 20 | Jace Denmark | Pabst Racing | 1:22.7108 | 0.4414 | 16 |
| 5 | 99 | Myles Rowe | Pabst Racing | 1:22.7108 | 0.4414 | 16 |
| 6 | 2 | Jonathan Browne | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:22.7158 | 0.4464 | 16 |
| 7 | 90 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Exclusive Autosport | 1:22.7389 | 0.4695 | 14 |
| 8 | 10 | Lirim Zendeli | TJ Speed Motorsports | 1:22.7996 | 0.5302 | 19 |
| 9 | 91 | Salvador De Alba | Exclusive Autosport | 1:22.8403 | 0.5709 | 21 |
| 10 | 47 | Jackson Lee | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1:22.8786 | 0.6092 | 15 |
| 11 | 7 | Bijoy Garg | DEForce Racing | 1:22.9186 | 0.6492 | 15 |
| 12 | 55 | Francesco Pizzi | TJ Speed Motorsports | 1:23.0605 | 0.7911 | 18 |
| 13 | 19 | Jordan Missig | Pabst Racing | 1:23.0887 | 0.8193 | 16 |
| 14 | 6 | Reece Ushijima | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:23.1095 | 0.8401 | 15 |
| 15 | 32 | Christian Weir | TJ Speed Motorsports | 1:23.1235 | 0.8541 | 18 |
| 16 | 40 | Jack William Miller | Miller Vinatieri Motorsports | 1:23.2340 | 0.9646 | 6 |
| 17 | 4 | Ricardo Escotto | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1:23.4680 | 1.1986 | 17 |
| 18 | 93 | Lindsay Brewer | Exclusive Autosport | 1:23.8673 | 1.5979 | 12 |
| 19 | 81 | Nicholas Monteiro | NeoTech Motorsport | 1:23.8897 | 1.6203 | 19 |
| 20 | 83 | Charles Finelli | FatBoy Racing | 1:24.8820 | 2.6126 | 19 |
The USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires series had a pair of test sessions earlier this afternoon. The only red flags were for tow-ins.
Rowe led the first test session with a lap at 82.4242 seconds, followed by Granfors, d’Orlando, Browne, Porto, De Alba and Denmark within a half-second of the points leader.
Porto led the second test session, lowering the best lap to 82.2967 seconds, with the following ten drivers with a half-second.
In case you missed it earlier, we posted a weekend preview.
The rest of the USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires schedule for this weekend is as follows (all times local):
Friday
- 9:30 am – USF Pro 2000 Qualifying
- 1:30 pm – USF Pro 2000 Autograph Session
- 2:55 pm – USF Pro 2000 Race #1 (25 laps or 50 minutes)
Saturday
- 8:55 am – USF Pro 2000 Race #2 (25 laps or 50 minutes)
Don’t forget to download the USF Pro Championships Presented By Cooper Tires app to follow the action.