By Patrick Stephan
The USF2000 presented by Cooper Tires Race #1 in Portland looked like it would get off to a clean start with most of the field making it through Turn 1. A couple drivers would have to short cut the chicane, but would rejoin.
At Turn 3 though, we had an incident with Ethan Ho going off the track with contact. Also involved were Sam Corry and Jorge Garciarce who would lose a lap and then two making repairs.
Corry also lost a lap due to the incident.
When the green waved again, pole sitter Jacob Douglas again led the field in to Turn 1, followed by championship leader and teammate Simon Sikes.
The Sarah Fisher Hartman crew was able to get #67 for Elliot Cox repaired just in time for the race, and he took the start with less than a lap track time this weekend.
On Lap 9, Max Garcia got the short end of a side by side battle with Thomas Schrage, going on to the access road outside Turn 11. He would rejoin, but at the end of the line.
Douglas was still leading by 0.4992 over Sikes (who wins the title finishing in 2nd), with Evagoras Papasavvas third, then Mac Clark and Nikita Johnson.
Lochie Hughes passes Thomas Schrage on Lap 12 for the 6th spot. Max Taylor is 8th, then Al Morey and Maxwell Jamieson is 10th. Eliott Cox is up to 11th from his 19th starting spot.
The next biggest mover of the race at this point is Max Taylor who is 8th from 14th and Al Morey to 9th from 15th.
The yellow came out on Lap 14, due to debris on the back stretch. Once picked up by the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team, we were able to get back to green.
We had heard Race Control say the #90 of Thomas Schrage was to be black flagged, and he would report to pit lane as the field came down to take the green at the end of Lap 16. Not sure why he was black flagged, but that’s why he gave up that 6th spot at the time.
One lap after getting back to green, Evagoras Papasavvas is able to pass Simon Sikes for the 2nd spot.
The next lap Johnson and Hughes pass Mac Clark dropping him to 6th as they advance to 4th and 5th respectively.
Further back Lucas Fecury has an issue and loses the 12th spot to Carson Etter and Max Taylor also moved through to the 13th spot.
Max Garcia passes Al Morey for 7th on Lap 20 of this 25 lap race.
Other passes in the field we caught, Elliot Cox passed Maxwell Jamieson on Lap 22 to take the 10th spot.
Max Garcia had dropped to I believe 15th, and by Lap 23 was back to 7th, and then on Lap 24, Mac Clark would go off, allowing Garcia and Morey to move forward. That puts Garcia 6th now.
Max Taylor got a spot back, passing Jamieson for 11th as they entered the final circuit.
At the checkered flag, Jacob Douglas picks up his first career USF 2000 victory, while his teammate Simon Sikes picks up the championship with his 3rd place finish.
Evagoras Papasavvas wins the finishes 2nd, just 0.5286 back.
An incident at the final corner dropped Maxwell Jamieson to 14th.
Nikita Johnson finishes 4th and will quickly go find his USF Pro 2000 machine as that field is ready to roll out for their race. Johnson starts 2nd in that event.
Sikes championship comes after running partial seasons in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Not having the budget to complete those seasons, Sikes secures the USF2000 championship in his 42nd series start. This season Sikes scored wins at some of the sports most iconic circuits. He won Sebring 2, Indy 2, Road America 1, Mid-Ohio 3 and Toronto 1.
Race winner Jacob Douglas thanks his family back in New Zealand for all their support that got him his first USF 2000 victory in his 33rd start.
We will be back with more details this evening. Going straight to the USF Pro 2000 race now:
NOTE: The results below are VERY unofficial. The incident we didn’t see on the final lap showed Lucas Fecury moving up and Ava Dobson moving back. There was also a delay to get Turn 12 cleaned up by the safety team, unfortunately we couldn’t see the incident and will work to get more details this evening.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: USF2000 by Cooper Tires Race #1 Results
| Pos | Car # | Driver | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Jacob Douglas | 25 |
| 2 | 6 | Evagoras Papasavvas | 25 |
| 3 | 22 | Simon Sikes | 25 |
| 4 | 17 | Nikita Johnson | 25 |
| 5 | 8 | Lochie Hughes | 25 |
| 6 | 24 | Max Garcia | 25 |
| 7 | 7 | Al Morey | 25 |
| 8 | 1 | Mac Clark | 25 |
| 9 | 19 | Gordon Scully | 25 |
| 10 | 67 | Elliot Cox | 25 |
| 11 | 33 | Max Taylor | 25 |
| 12 | 11 | Lucas Fecury | 25 |
| 13 | 9 | Ava Dobson | 24 |
| 14 | 12 | Maxwell Jamieson | 24 |
| 15 | 57 | Carson Etter | 24 |
| 16 | 14 | Sam Corry | 24 |
| 17 | 10 | Jorge Garciarce | 23 |
| 18 | 90 | Thomas Schrage | 15 |
| 19 | 68 | Ethan Ho | ‑‑‑ |