Michael d’Orlando on track at the Lucas Oil Raceway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Tony DiZinno

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship’s Freedom 75 race from Lucas Oil Raceway featured a familiar team atop the charts in Cape Motorsports, courtesy of a veteran savvy drive from Michael d’Orlando.

The third year driver scored his first series pole and second series win, but first on an oval, after expertly judging the traffic in front of him and defending against Prescott Campbell.

—

There’s a possible issue with Yuven Sundaramoorthy on the grid. The No. 22 Pabst Racing car is out of alignment and is set to roll form P8, and the Pabst and Elite Engines crew appear to be looking it over. But all is good. He entered this race leading the points by 13 going in over Porto.

Engines are fired in the 24-car USF2000 field full of Tatuus USF-17 entries right at noon, with sunny, partly cloudy skies and 53F ambient temperatures.

Nathan Byrd, who had a flip in the earlier Silver Crown race, was OK to go for the start here in his No. 19 Legacy Autosport entry. He’ll roll from 21st.

Green flag flies and d’Orlando leads from Campbell, Jace Denmark, Christian Brooks, Kiko Porto and Sundaramoorthy improve but Josh Pierson falls back to seventh from third. He rebounds to sixth by the end of Lap 4.

Campbell is close to d’Orlando going into Turn 3 on Lap 6 and begins his move to set up the lead pass on the Cape driver. The former Lucas Oil Race Series champion for DEForce is running half a tenth to a tenth quicker than is d’Orlando but falls back to 0.4 of a second behind at Lap 8.

With a 24-car field the back of the pack comes up quickly here and Peter Vodanovich is the first car within range, about 14 seconds behind the leaders. Lap times are 22-23 seconds.

There’s a big gaggle of close action among Matt Round-Garrido, Nolan Siegel, Spike Kohlbecker and Dylan Christie over ninth place.

On Lap 22, d’Orlando reaches Vodanovich and is able to pass him into Turn 3, beginning the lapping process. Campbell follows through shortly without losing much time and remains stuck on d’Orlando’s gearbox. Denmark is balked slightly.

The next battle ahead is between Byrd and Burke for 22nd. While the top two are delayed slightly, it allows Denmark to catch up a bit in clean air and get to within 1.1 seconds.

Campbell is right behind d’Orlando and makes it interesting as they run side-by-side for a bit.

By Lap 34 they’re behind Garg (P19) the last car on the lead lap

The top 18 down to Vaccaro are on the lead lap and a handful of d’Orlando’s teammates, Stamer and Nepveu, run ahead of Vaccaro on the road.

There is some spicy mid-pack action involving Round-Garrido, Row, Frazer, Navarro, Vodanovich (who’s a lap down) and then Nepveu and Stamer.

There’s another “almost” move from Campbell L48 going by d’Orlando through traffic but no. Stamer now last car on the lead lap. They’re by Stamer by Lap 50 but Nepveu lies ahead; d’Orlando past by the end of Lap 52.

A car is off pace on driver’s left on the back straight and it’s one of the Exclusive cars into the pits – Round-Garrido. He was P13 at the time.

With the top two past the other Cape cars next in line is Navarro, one of Campbell’s DEForce teammates and fellow Lucas Oil Racing Series champs. Navarro is P14 and the last car on the lead lap. There’s just 19 laps to go.

Campbell got close on Lap 63, moving to the inside and unable to complete the move. Navarro was able to pull away.

On Lap 66 the decisive moment of the race happens. The two collide! With Campbell to the inside and d’Orlando on the outside, the two interlock wheels through Turns 1 and 2. Somehow, both are able to continue as they exit the corner and able to remove themselves.

The pair of 25-second laps dropped both briefly into Denmark’s clutches, but he was unable to get within less than 1.3 seconds of the top two.

With five laps to go on Lap 70, d’Orlando was able to gap Campbell by 0.4916 of a second. Byrd was next ahead on the road as Navarro continued to find pace to emerge ahead of the leaders and remain on the lead lap.

D’Orlando makes a power move on Byrd to gap him to Campbell and pulls the lead out to 0.5818 of a second. With another pass of Garg heading into the final lap, the gap became an insurmountable 0.7103.

D’Orlando takes the checkered flag by 0.5268 of a second over Campbell, with Denmark third for Pabst and easily scoring his best career finish. His first podium and third place beat his previous mark of eighth place, set at Barber race one.

Porto, Brooks and Sundaramoorthy, the top three in the championship entering this race, complete the top six.

Both d’Orlando and Campbell recapped their races and showed mutual respect.

“We were interlocked – my rear tire to his front!” d’Orlando said. “We were going all the way through Corner 2 with locked tires. Yeah I was defending my position a bit, but he got his wheel underneath, so I tried to move up. But I didn’t know we were locked at that point! I just held on.

“Prescott was super fast. Second place is awesome. That whole race was awesome, the 75 laps on the edge of my seat. It was incredible.

“As you pass lapped traffic, the protocol is for them to stay wide. I put the car low to get the fresh aero. They didn’t give me too much of a fight – glad to have some to keep Prescott at bay!”

Campbell added, “I was mentally strong through the whole thing and kept getting runs on him.

“Last year at this race was a big turning point for me, good to step it up mentally. We did the reverse for this weekend. It’s a great progression from season to season.

“It was really close, Michael raced me hard but clean. I like that stuff. He didn’t make it easy so for as many runs as I got on him, he did everything he did keep the lead.”

Freedom 75 Unofficial Results

Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) on track at Lucas Oil Raceway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Tony DiZinno

Twice attempted but not finished on Friday due to weather, the Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires series made up for the lack of running on its scheduled day with a thrilling Saturday race.

The Freedom 90 at Lucas Oil Raceway’s 0.686-mile oval saw a methodical push by eventual winner Christian Rasmussen to pressure and then pass dominant polesitter Reece Gold, who was once again close but no cigar to his elusive first series victory.

—

At 11:10 a.m. the engines re-fired on the 11 Indy Pro 2000 Tatuus PM-18 chassis for the restart of the Freedom 90 from Lucas Oil Raceway, with ambient temperatures only barely north of 50F. Despite a brief scare where the battery died on Jack William Miller’s No. 40 Miller Vinatieri Motorsports entry, he was able to resume.

The field ran three laps under caution to restart, after five laps were completed Friday night. The restart order was the same as the grid order Friday, since there were no green flag laps.

So after Lap 8, Reece Gold restarted first ahead of Braden Eves, Christian Rasmussen, Manuel Sulaiman, James Roe, Artem Petrov, Hunter McElrea, Jacob Abel, Jack William Miller, Kyffin Simpson and Wyatt Brichacek.

Rasmussen was the first mover early as he slotted to Eves’ inside to move into second place. The order remained stable after that with no other position changes.

Through Lap 17, Gold and Rasmussen were the only drivers lapping the 0.686-mile oval in the 20-second bracket with the other nine in the 21s. They built their lead to nearly 3 seconds over Eves.

There was a battle towards the back among Miller, Simpson and Brichacek with the three covered by less than a second.  Simpson darted to the inside on Lap 23 at Turns 1 and 3 but was unable to pass Miller for position.

At a third of the way through the race, Lap 30, Gold led Rasmussen by 1.4964. The order was exactly the same as qualifying from fourth through 11th, with the closest battles the track for fourth between Sulaiman and Roe and the aforementioned Miller, Simpson and Bricachek battle at the back.

Gold was roughly 5-10 laps away from catching the tail-enders at this point, and we figure that could provide Rasmussen’s opportunity to pounce. Traditionally in Road to Indy races here, lapped traffic can singlehandedly swing the difference on a track that’s notoriously hard to pass on.

By Lap 34 Simpson is finally past Miller, briefly, for ninth, but is unable to hold it exiting Turn 2 on the next lap. Miller gets it back on Lap 35.

With this trio just ahead of the leaders, Gold’s gap to Rasmussen is just 1 second.

The Simpson/Miller battle continues and Gold is now right within Brichacek’s rear wing.

Gold passes Brichacek and Miller by the end of Lap 40 and puts two cars between himself and Rasmussen, which extends the gap slightly. Rasmussen is stuck behind Miller in traffic and loses precious tenths.

But at halfway, Lap 45, Gold’s lead is just 0.7414 over Rasmussen. It’s still the same order behind them.

Gold’s Juncos Racing teammate, Simpson, is the next driver to lap.

Sulaiman and Roe are closing on Eves, while Gold is adjusting his apex slightly through the corners and running middle of the road compared to Rasmussen running higher.

Big move with Simpson as Gold gets a little help lapping him, and Rasmussen gets balked slightly. Gap’s up to 0.8539.

Sulaiman gets to the inside of Eves for third on Lap 59 as they’re behind the Miller/Brichacek battle.

A bit further back, McElrea gets Petrov for sixth on Lap 63 to the inside of Turn 3. McElrea by Roe for P5 on Lap 66 exiting Turn 4 as the lone Pabst Racing entry here has come alive later in the race.

At Lap 68, Gold’s lead to Rasmussen is 0.6278 of a second. It’s up slightly from just over 0.4. More traffic lies ahead, in the form of Petrov in eighth, Abel in seventh and Roe in sixth. Abel tries on Roe for sixth on Lap 69 and completes a nice move for the position.

After a few laps, the moment of truth arrived between Gold and Rasmussen. As Gold scythed through some slower cars, Rasmussen kept the pressure on as the race reached Lap 75 of 90 and then hit more traffic.

Things got even crazier with a four-wide moment entering Turn 1. Gold and Rasmussen were to the inside of Roe in the middle and Brichacek up high.

Rasmussen was able to put the power down on corner exit of Turn 2, with the momentum to the inside of Turn 3 and 4. The two ran side-by-side for a couple laps before Rasmussen completed the move to the inside of Turn 3 and 4 and got the pass done by Lap 78.

Gold fought valiantly back to keep the pressure on Rasmussen and for a few laps it looked like he had the opportunity to get him back. But ultimately Rasmussen pulled away from there to win by 0.6655 of a second, for his fourth win this season – all of them coming in the last five races. Behind the Jay Howard Driver Development entry, Gold and Sulaiman ensured Juncos Racing had two more podium finishers.

The momentum was fully with the Dane, and Gold fell shy once again of his elusive first Indy Pro 2000 victory. This was his fourth straight pole producing a result just shy of the win. In the three races at Indianapolis he finished third, fourth and second.

Both took a moment to reflect on an incredible battle, which unfortunately witnessed one driver come up short.

“What a race!” exclaimed Rasmussen. “We started third, got up to second at the first part of the race. Then we ran second, kind of maintained the gap to Reece. It’s super hard to pass around here, especially when Reece was running as quick as he was.

“We had the chance with the backmarkers; I just went hard to pass on the inside into 1 and made it stick. I managed to then hold him off. It was a great run; I think we are leading the championship by now. It’s a great feeling.

“The car was definitely a little bit loose! The track was tricky conditions but we managed to pull it off.”

Gold, who embraced driver coach Ozz Negri after the race (Negri celebrates his birthday today) said of his own valiant effort, “The traffic threw me off my rhythm, but he got back by us. I couldn’t get back by. Overall it was a good race.

“It’s bittersweet trying so hard and leading so much. It hurts a little, but overall a good result.

“(The Indy Pro 2000 car) So much heavier on the arms. I was pretty tired; there’s more grip than the USF but a lot of fun.”

Freedom 90 Unofficial Results

Reece Gold (Juncos Racing) on track at Lucas Oil Raceway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Tony DiZinno

Weather played havoc with repeated attempts to start the Carb Night Classic at Lucas Oil Raceway for the Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires. So both the Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 races will shift from Friday night to Saturday morning, starting at 11 a.m.

Things looked promising enough after USAC’s running with both Silver Crown and Midget cars completing their hot laps. However, a pair of incidents – one for a Silver Crown car hitting the Turn 3 wall hard and laying down a significant amount of fluid and another for Ryan Shilhuski, an Exclusive Autosport mechanic, emerging unscathed after a rollover accident exiting Turn 4 in his Midget – slowed the preliminary laps before the green flag flew for Indy Pro 2000.

—

At 9:08 p.m. the 11 Indy Pro 2000 cars hit the track and lined up on the front straight. There was 5 minutes to the command to start engines and the pre-race festivities commenced, including an unusually hurried rendition of the national anthem.

The grid saw Reece Gold on pole in the No. 55 Juncos Racing Tatuus PM-18 ahead of Braden Eves, Christian Rasmussen, Manuel Sulaiman, James Roe, Artem Petrov, Hunter McElrea, Jacob Abel, Jack William Miller, Kyffin Simpson and Wyatt Brichacek.

Engines have fired and there will be three warm-up laps.

The third time by is green for the 90-lap Freedom 90, and the second time by is when the 50-minute clock starts.

The clock has started with the pace car still in front of the field. Laps count under this full-course caution as the pace car remains out to gauge track and weather conditions.

There is some light moisture in the air and the field remains behind the pace car for four laps.

On the fifth lap the flag stand displays the red flag and the field heads to pit lane.

Race control sends the Indy Pro 2000 cars back to the paddock with the rain intensifying.

—

At 10 p.m., series officials indicated they are working to get the track ready within an hour.

But if there’s any further rain between now and the intended restart, we’ll be done for the night.

According to the race director, the track temperature is 65F at the moment. The ambient is much cooler, just 50F.

—

Reports of sprinkles as Indy Pro 2000 cars head back to pre-grid. And unfortunately not long after that came the call at 10:30 p.m. that the remainder of Friday night activities were scrubbed.

Updated times for Saturday are 11:00 a.m. ET for the Indy Pro 2000 race, the Freedom 90, and then 11:45 a.m. ET for the USF2000 race, the Freedom 75.

By Steve Wittich

Both series basics

Lucas Oil Raceway, a six-mile drive west of the main gate at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Crawfordsville Road opened in 1960. Planned as a multi-use motorsports park, the 300-acre facility featured a ¼-mile drag strip, a 2.5-mile road course and the 0.686-mile oval.

The first major event at the facility colloquially known locally as IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park) was the 1961 “Pre-500 Speed-O-Rama.” Like this year’s Carb Night Classic, that event also served as a warm-up for the Indianapolis 500.

A.J. Foyt led 29 of 30 laps on what was then a 0.625-mile dirt oval, on the way to an Untied States Auto Club (USAC) Sprint Car victory. Two days later, “Super Tex” would win his first of four Indianapolis 500 titles at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Whether it was called Indianapolis Raceway Park, O’Reilly Raceway Park, or Lucas Oil Raceway, the Road To Indy and it’s forerunners have a long history of spending the days prior to the Indianapolis 500 at the 0.686-mile oval. That history dates back to 1979 and a USAC Mini-Indy Super Vee 100 lap race won by Ken Nichols. Nichols was joined on the podium by fellow Indy car drivers Dennis Firestone and Geoff Brabham.

The SCCA version of Super Vee also raced on the Lucas Oil Raceway Oval between 1985 and 1989.

You can watch the 1988 SCCA Bosch/Volkswagen Super Vee Series race here:

Important points implications

We’ll review the current points situation for each series below, but wanted to remind Road To Indy fans that the points on offer are increased for the all oval races.

Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires oval points chart

The middle rung on the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, the Indy Pro 2000 series, heads to the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval for the 11th time since 2010. The Cooper Tires Freedom 90 is the first of two ovals the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series will visit in 2021.

Five different teams – Andretti Autosport (3 wins), Exclusive Autosport (2 wins), Juncos Racing (2 wins), Team Pelfrey (2 wins) and Legacy Autosport (1 win) – have collected victories at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Only twice in ten seasons has the Indy Pro 2000 race winner gone on to also claim the championship. Conor Daly in 2010 and Matthew Brabham in 2013 won on the Lucas Oil Raceway Oval while also winning the advancement scholarship.

Indy Pro 2000/Pro Mazda/Star Mazda winners at Lucas Oil Raceway

Juncos Racing’s Conor Daly celebrates an Indy Pro 2000 (Star Mazda) win at Lucas Oil Raceway (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

Championship fight

A pair of USF2000 champions – Braden Eves (2019) and Christian Rasmussen (2020) are currently separated by only three points with just over one-third of the season’s points distributed. On the line is a $718,065 scholarship and a seat in Indy Lights, one step closer to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

Exclusive Autosport sophomore Eves has been the model of consistency this season, with his average starting and finishing spots being an identical 2.7, with both being the series best.

Rookie Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) has stood on the top step of podium three times, while Eves has visited the top step twice. Both drivers have had five stood on the podium five times.

Where Eves has the advantage over his new rival is avoiding poor results. The Ohioan is one of three drivers to complete all 180 laps this season and his worst finish of the season is a sixth in St. Petersburg, Fla. Conversely, Rasmussen has finished off the lead lap twice, resulting in dissapointing 13th and 9th place finishes.

Eves has a slight oval experience advantage from a personal and team standpoint. The 22-year-old made one oval start in USF2000 in 2019 and a pair of oval Indy Pro 2000 starts last year. At Lucas Oil Raceway in USF2000, Eves started 12th, and gained seven spots to finish fifth.

Current Indy Pro 2000 points leader Braden Eves on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Cambridge/Exclusive Autosport sponsored No. 91 Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

He had less success at that same track in his first Indy Pro 2000 appearance, starting eighth and finishing seventh. At World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway last year, the Ohioan had the best car late in the 55-lap race, starting fifth, finishing second and turning the quickest lap of the race while pressuring Devlin DeFrancesco for the win.

Rasmussen is making his third oval start and his third at this track. As an USF2000 rookie, the Dane started his first oval race from 15th; putting in an impressive drive over 75 laps and finishing in sixth. Last year, the 20-year-old started from the pole and drove away from his competitors for a 6.5 second win.

From the team point of view, Eves’ Exclusive Autosport squad the past success of wins in 2018 and 2019 on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval to fall back on. Jay Howard Driver Development won the USF2000 race at the short oval last year but is making their first Indy Pro 2000 start.

Eves and Rasmussen aren’t the only championship contenders in the Indy Pro 2000 field stacked with Indy Lights level talent. The next three drivers – Artem Petrov (Exclusive Autosport), Reece Gold (Juncos Racing) and Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) are still within 50 points of the tops spot, with the top 10 still within 100 points of Eves.

Petrov will be making his second Indy Pro 2000 start at Lucas Oil Raceway and his fourth Indy Pro 2000 oval start. The Exclusive Autosport veteran’s best finish is third at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway last season.

Gold and McElrea finished second in their respective races at Lucas Oil Raceway in 2020, Gold turning the quickest lap of the race in USF2000 and McElrea having the quickest car on the short oval at the end of last year’s 90 lap Indy Pro 2000 race.

Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires points table after seven races

Oval rookies

Enaam Ahmed (RP Motorsport), James Roe (Turn 3 Motorsport) and Kyffin Simpson (Juncos Racing) are making their first ever oval starts this weekend.

“I’m looking forward to the Cooper Tires Freedom 90,” said James Roe. “It’s a big race in Indianapolis given it’s during the Indy 500 weekend. It’ll be my first time racing an oval which is naturally going to bring its own challenges and require a lot of quick thinking throughout the race. We did an oval test at Lucas Oil Raceway last week which went really well, and I settled in very quickly. The test gave the team a good idea on which way we want to roll out with the car. I’m ready for the challenge and excited to get on track.”

A driver winning their first ever oval start at Lucas Oil Raceway is not as uncommon as one might think. Weiron Tan (2015) and Danial Frost (2019) won their very first oval races and last year Kody Swanson won in his first appearance in a rear-engine race car on an oval.

Qualify well, finish well

The ten Indy Pro 2000 winners on the Lucas Oil Raceway Oval have all started on the front row, with eight of them beginning the race on the pole.

Only twice has the pole-sitter failed to win an Indy Pro 2000 race at the Clermont, Ind. oval. In 2010, pole-sitter Mikael Grenier finished second and last year, pole-sitter Manuel Sulaiman ended up on the final step of the podium.

Miscellaneous Indy Pro 2000 notes from Lucas Oil Raceway

• Six different teams have had a driver start from pole at Lucas Oil Raceway. Andretti Autosport leads the way with a trio of pole starts. Active teams with poles starts are Exclusive Autosport (2), DEForce Racing (1) and Juncos Racing (1).
• Ten different teams have had podium finishers on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval. Juncos Racing, with 10 podium finishes leads all teams. Active teams with podiums include Juncos Racing (10), Exclusive Autosport (2), DEForce Racing (1) and Pabst Racing (1).
• Half of the ten Indy Pro 2000 races at Lucas Oil Raceway have gone caution free, including last year’s Freedom 90.
• There has only been one first lap caution in the ten races.
• The 2013 race featured two cautions and 21 laps run under yellow; highs for the event.
• In 2013, Matthew Brabham crossed under the checkered flag 6.254 seconds ahead of Spencer Pigot, the largest margin of victory in a Indy Pro 2000 race at Lucas Oil Raceway.
• The closest margin of victory occured in 2018, when current Road To Indy TV host Parker Thompson finished 0.2213 seconds ahead of Carlos Cunha.

The 2021 Cooper Tires Freedom 75 will be the 19th USF2000 held on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval.

Greg Tracy, for Primus Racing, won a 40 lapper in 1992. The Californian was joined on the podium by a pair of familiar names and the champions of the USAC Formula 2000 East Championship Series and the USAC Formula 2000 West Championship Series.

On the second step of the podium was the East champion Chris Simmons, an NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship winning engineer with Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. On the final step of the podium was the West champion and five time Indy car race winner Greg Moore.

USF2000 race winners at Lucas Oil Raceway

$401,305 on the line

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship series heads to the lone oval event of the year at the Lucas Oil Raceway Oval with a new points leader. A pair of wins and three podiums by Pabst Racing’s Yuven Sundaramoorthy on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, combined with an unfortunate disqualification* for Christian Brooks, leaves Sundaramoorthy with a 13 point lead over DEForce Racing sophomore Kiko Porto and a 16 point advantage over Brooks and Pabst Racing teammate Josh Pierson.

Current USF2000 points leader Yuven Sundaramoorthy celebrates a victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

Of the four main championship contenders, Brooks has had the best finish on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval last year, starting fifth and finishing fifth. Sundaramoorthy finished ninth, Porto finished 14th and Pierson finished 19th.

From a team perspective among the top four in the championship, Sundaramoorthy and Pierson should have a slight advantage. Their Pabst Racing squad has one win (Jake Eidson), one pole (Colin Kaminsky) and five podiums at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Interesting note: Augie Pabst, Jr., the founder of Pabst Racing and father of current team owner Augie Pabst III, won the first road race on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Raceway Park road course. The renowned sports car driver won a 40 lap USAC Road Racing Championship event in the iconic Scarab.

Michael d’Orlando, a Cape Motorsports pilot, is currently fifth in points, only 37 points behind fellow veteran Sundaramoorthy. The 19-year-old is the returning driver with the best finish at Lucas Oil Raceway in 2020. He started fourth and finished fourth in his only career oval start.

There are currently 12 drivers within 100 points of leader Sundaramoorthy, with four of them rookies. The current rookie points leader is Spike Kohlbecker (Ignite Autosport w/Cape Motorsports), who has a slim ten point lead over Cape Motorsports teammate and Canadian Thomas Nepveu. The St. Louis, Mo. based Kohlbecker has been incredibly consistent so far during his rookie campaign, finishing sixth or seventh in six of the seven races this season.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship points table after seven races

Champs at Lucas Oil Raceway

Of the 20 season that the current Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Series or it’s successors visited the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval, 20% of the winners on the short oval have gone on to win the season long championship. Those are:

• 2020 – Christian Rasmussen
• 2018 – Kyle Kirkwood
• 2016 – Anthony Martin
• 2011 – Petri Suvanto
• 2000 – Aaron Justus

The average finishing position of the 20 champions that race at Lucas Oil Raceway is 4.8.
A dozen of the eventual champions finished on the podium on the short oval. Only twice – Steve Knapp (1996) and Chris Simmons (1993) – in 20 races has the eventual champion failed to finish a race at Lucas Oil Raceway during his championship season.

Busy, busy

A pair of USF2000 drivers are going to keep themselves busy this weekend by racing in multiple series and giving themselves a chance to match Kody Swanson’s 2020 feat of winning in a rear-engine and front-engine open-wheel car on the same night.

Trey Burke will be contesting the Cooper Tires Freedom 75 and the 30-lap Brown’s Oil Champion Midgets race.

Nathan Byrd will be making his USF2000 debut with Legacy Autosport and will also be contesting the Brown’s Oil Champion Midget Race and USAC Silver Crown Series Race during the Carb Night Classic.

The Legacy Autosport/Metalloid/Sturgis Finishing sponsored No. 19 of Nathan Byrd during USF2000 testing (Photo Courtesy of Legacy Autosport)

Byrd, who grew up in a racing family – think Byrd Racing and their extensive Indianapolis 500 and open wheel history- has compiled an impressive amount of seat time so far in 2021. The 21-year-old has contested 21 races across late models (with Rick Ware Racing), trucks, F4/Skip Barber Formula Car Series, modifieds, Focus midgets, F1000, and winged midgets.

Byrd, who made his national midget debut on the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval last year, will take part in 13 total sessions at the Carb Night Classic, including ten of the twelve sessions on Friday.

“I did a test in the USF2000 car last August, putting in about 200 laps,” said soon to graduate Grand Canyon University senior. “I have about 300 laps there in the Silver Crown car. This will be my race debut there in both cars.

“There is a super talented group of drivers this year who have several races under their belts already. Even with my laps at LOR, it will be a huge challenge coming in, but I feel great with Legacy, they have had great laps in the past here.

“The Road To Indy is the best developmental platform to get to IndyCar and the Indy 500 and Legacy is a natural fit because of our families’ shared legacies. The Meyer family has such a legendary history in the sport. They have a winning formula at Lucas Raceway, so we are excited to partner up together with them, Tilson and Speed Sport to make some more history.”

Home race

The Cooper Tires Freedom 75 is a home race for a pair of Hendricks County residents and USF2000 rookies. Jackson Lee and Michael Myers are coming off their best finishes of the season.

Jay Howard Driver Development rookie Jackson Lee grabbed his first top ten of the season in the third race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course the last time the Avon, Ind. was on-track two weeks ago. The 18-year-old is making his first formula car oval start, but isn’t a complete newcomer to only turning left. Lee was a two-time USAC at Mini Indy champion in quarter midgets.

Michael Myers, a rookie who calls Lizton, Ind. home, drives for his family run Michael Myers Racing, finished the third race on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a career best 11th place. The 19-year-old who is enrolled in Harvard web development courses will be making his first career oval start.

Carb Night Classic Friday Schedule

* Exclusive Autosport’s Christian Brooks No. 44 was disqualified for violation of Rule 14.7.3 & 14.7.4.

Rule 14.7 from the USF2000 Rule Books states:

• 14.7. Underwing
• 14.7.1. The rear diffuser must be utilized at all Events and remain in the location and configuration as designed by the chassis Manufacturer.
• 14.7.2. Not Applicable
• 14.7.3. The underwing height as measured from the reference plane is 50mm +/- 5mm).
• 14.7.4. The diffuser exit height is 90mm (+/- 5mm).
• 14.7.5. Other than clear coat, no painting, tape, silicon, adhesive film, or any other substances are permitted on the bottom surface of the underwing except for filling or covering holes.

Don’t miss any of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires action:

• download the Road To Indy TV app from the Apple App Store or on Google Play to get video, audio, timing & scoring, news from TSO Ladder and much more – you can also get Road To Indy TV via Apple TV, Amazon Video, Roku or Microsoft Xbox One
• live timing – Road To Indy TV – Indy Lights – Pro Mazda – USF2000 – IndyCar Race Control
• on twitter – TSO Ladder – Team Cooper Tire – Road To Indy TV – Indy Lights – Indy Pro 2000 – USF2000
• on all social media channels via the #TeamCooperTire and #RoadToIndy hashtags

A note about our presenting sponsor. 

Once again, a huge thank you to Cooper Tires for coming back to be the presenting sponsor of TSO Ladder for the fourth season. Without them, we would not be able to bring you our extensive Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires coverage. If you require tires, I highly recommend them. Our family has the Discover ® AT3 4S  on our SUV and CS5 Grand Touring on our car.

David Malukas won in a barnburner in Saturday’s Indy Lights race. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Tony DiZinno

The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires completed its third doubleheader weekend of the season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

And for the third straight event, the same driver won the second race of the weekend: David Malukas.

In a finish reminiscent of the Freedom 100 that occurred on the IMS oval but won’t occur in 2021, Malukas ensured the fans and onlookers got a photo finish anyway with some excellent strategic defense against a very game and very poised Toby Sowery, who was keen to secure his first win of the season.

The pair of series sophomores were teammates in 2019 under the HMD Motorsports banner, with Sowery under the combined Team Pelfrey/HMD Motorsports umbrella.

On this Saturday, Malukas’ No. 79 HMD Motorsports Dallara IL-15 beat Sowery’s No. 51 Juncos Racing Dallara, then rookies Alex Peroni (No. 5 Carlin) and Kyle Kirkwood (No. 28 Andretti Autosport) to ensure four different teams finished in the top four.

The race had a photo finish with a final margin of victory of 0.0283 of a second, but it was a slow burner to get there. Once the final laps occurred though, the drama and action intensified.

The 35-lap race, five laps longer than the Friday first race dominated by Linus Lundqvist, featured a strategy play in hand as Kirkwood opted to start on a set of sticker Cooper Tires while the rest would use scuffed sets.

Malukas got a great start from pole while behind him, Sowery got past Lundqvist for second by the second lap. Peroni was fourth with Kirkwood fifth, ahead of two more Andretti cars (Devlin DeFrancesco and Danial Frost), Sting Ray Robb, Robert Megennis, Benjamin Pederson, Nikita Lastochkin, Antonio Serravalle and Christian Bogle.

Lundqvist then ran wide at the exit of Turn 12 from third, and dropped behind Kirkwood and DeFrancesco. DeFrancesco and Lundqvist were battling for position through Turns 1 and 2 once Lundqvist recovered his momentum.

With 20 percent of the race completed (seven of 35 laps), the order stabilized with Malukas up front by 0.8 of a second over Sowery. Peroni and Kirkwood would bide their time behind them, and Lundqvist was back in fifth around DeFrancesco.

Little changed by the halfway point, Malukas still up by nearly a second on Sowery. Peroni closed to within 1.7 seconds ahead of Kirkwood, Lundqvist, DeFrancesco, Megennis and Frost.

By Lap 23, Kirkwood was within three seconds so a large blanket would have covered the top four cars.

The gap came down further by Lap 30, with five laps to go. Malukas had Sowery just behind at 0.564 of a second.

It all built to the great finish with two laps to go. Sowery had a brief run on Turn 7 but wasn’t close enough to make an attempt.

As the leaders took the white flag to start Lap 35, Sowery had the run on the outside. Malukas gamely defended, ensuring Sowery didn’t have much road to work with on the outside of Turn 1 even though that would have set him up well for the left-handed Turn 2.

With Sowery off the apex, albeit briefly, it appeared as though he’d fall into Peroni’s clutches. But Sowery regained the momentum and had enough of an effort to come back into Turn 7. Malukas again defended well, in the middle of the road to ensure Sowery had a difficult time picking lines.

Once they were through the Turns 8 through 12 complex, it appeared as though Malukas had enough to hold on. Alas, Sowery had one more charge left in him, and darted to the outside to try a final pass at the line.

He was close, but not close enough, less than three hundredths back at the checkered flag.

A joyous Malukas attempted to chronicle what happened when speaking to NBC Sports’ Katie Kiel on the Peacock broadcast.

“No I didn’t (know he’d win); that was awesome!” he said. “We came from St.Pete and it can’t get more stressful than that. Then Toby, my brother, that was even more stressful! I knew we had push to pass and I was like, please don’t get my toe, please don’t get my toe! I went into (Turn) 1, and I had a huge lockup on the front right but the Coopers, as good as they are, I don’t think any tire can hold up to what I did. Then I was like, is he there but I can’t see him?!? I almost started crying at the end there. Thank you to the team, that was incredible.”

Sowery, who’d given it a valiant effort and came up just shy, noted he was intentionally strategic about his push-to-pass usage.

“I wish we could have used one more. We didn’t have the pace so it was strategic,” he said. “We had a good race. For me it was nearly done, but it was clean and respectful. Hate to see it end up this way but he drove a great and flawless race. Well done to him.” 

The unofficial points after this race see Malukas atop the charts by 11 points over Lundqvist (151-140) with Kirkwood third, 27 back, Sowery now up to fourth after a needed good weekend 46 back and Peroni fifth, 50 back. Four different teams are in the top five in the championship.

The series heads next to Detroit, where it has not raced since 2012.

Christian Rasmussen on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Indy Pro 2000 action in May 2021 Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

The command to fire the engines for the final Indy Pro 2000 race of the season at 11:35 am, only three hours after completing Race #2.

Of note: The Pabst Racing crew changed a power plant in the No. 18 of Hunter McElrea in between Race #2 and Race #3 in 90-minutes. That’s impressive.

For the third straight Indy Pro 2000 race, Reece Gold (Juncos Racing) and Braden Eves (Exclusive Autosport) started from the pole and outside pole.

Christian Rasmussen, who had a mechanical issue in Race #2, started on the inside of the second row but got a great start, going three-wide with Gold and Eves into Turn 1. The trio all emerged safely, with Rasmussen grabbing the lead.

Eves, who started on the outside of the first row, fell to fourth.

The running order at the end of the first lap was Rasmussen, Gold, Enaam Ahmed (RP Motorsport), Eves, Kyffin Simpson (Juncos Racing), Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports), Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing), Wyatt Brichacek (Jay Howard Driver Development), Manuel Sulaiman (Juncos Racing), Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports), Artem Petrov (Juncos Racing), James Roe (

1 55 77 91 21 51 18 5 22 40 42 3 5

On Lap 5, McElrea was able to get around for sixth Abel.

On Lap 7, Race #2 winner Petrov moved around Sulaiman for the eighth spot. A lap later, the Road To Success/Bell Helmets/226ers sponsored No. 42 gained another place, getting past Abel for seventh.

After ten laps, Rasmussen’s lead over Gold was over one second for the first time. Ahmed was one second behind Gold in third. Eves, Simpson, McElrea, Petrov, Sulaiman, Miller, and Abel rounded out the top ten.

At the crossed flags used to signify the race’s halfway point, Rasmussen’s lead was 1.3 seconds. The best battle on the track was for tenth. Abel held the spot, but he was facing immense pressure from Roe and Kaminsky.

Eves was hounding Ahmed for the final spot on the podium with ten laps remaining, starting Lap 15 only six-tenths of a second behind the RP Motorsport rookie. The Exclusive Autosport veteran was able to get by the rookie in Turn 7 with six laps remaining.

With five laps remaining, Petrov got another spot, passing McElrea for sixth.

When they crossed the line to start Lap 21, the gap between the front two drivers was down to 0.5 seconds, the gap getting visibly smaller as the race wound down.

On Lap 21, Petrov moved into the top five, getting around Simpson in Turn 1.

Gold kept the pressure on Rasmussen but couldn’t get close enough to attempt a pass for the lead.

Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires Race #3 results

Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021 Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

Dan Andersen gave the command to start the 400th Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship race at 9:35 am on Saturday.

After two pace laps, the front row of Sundaramoorthy and Brooks brought the field under the green flag to get the 20 lap USF2000 Grand Prix Of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires underway.

For the second straight Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires race, the first lap was interrupted by a caution. The incident started with Nolan Siegel, Myles Rowe, and Dylan Christie, who started seventh, ninth, and tenth, also involved Simon Sikes, Grant Palmer, and Bijoy Garg.

Siegel, Sikes, and Palmer were able to make it back to pit road with only Siegel continuing.

The running order as the field came back to green to start Lap 6. The running order was: Sundaramoorthy, Brooks, Pierson, Porto, Green, Spike Kohlbecker (Ignite Autosport w/Cape Motorsports), Thomas Nepveu (Cape Motorsports), Michael d’Orlando (Cape Motorsports), Prescott Campbell (DEForce Racing), Jackson Lee (Jay Howard Driver Development), Erik Evans (Velocity Racing Development), Billy Frazer (Exclusive Autosport), Michael Myers (Michael Myers Racing), Evan Stamer (Ignite Autosport w/Cape Motorsports), Ely Navarro (DEForce Racing), Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Kent Vaccaro (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports), Trey Burke (Joe Dooling Autosports), Peter Vodanovich (Jay Howard Driver Development), Matthew Round-Garrido (Exclusive Autosport), and Siegel were the cars still running. Sikes, Palmer, Rowe, Christie, and Garg were all retired due to contact.

Brooks got a great start and was able to draft by Sundaramoorthy before they got to Turn 1. Behind the two leaders, Porto was able to get around Pierson for the final spot on the podium.

On Lap 7, Porto gained another spot, moving to second and taking off after the leader. Further back, Kohlbecker lost places to his Cape Motorsports teammates Nepveu and d’Orlando.

On Lap 8, Porto took the lead, with the No. 12 and No. 44 going side-by-side through Turn 7, 8, and 9 before the Brazilian took the lead in Turn 10.

Brooks was right on the gearbox of Porto as they began Lap 9, and Sundaramoorthy joined the two in a three-wide battle for the lead. All three drivers gave each other room, with Porto and Brooks holding their spots. Sundaramoorthy wasn’t so lucky, losing the final spot on the podium to his Pabst Racing teammate Pierson.

With seven laps remaining, Porto’s lead over Brooks was 0.8816 seconds remaining, but it was still anybody’s race. The top eight drivers were separated by less than five seconds.

Over the next three laps, Brooks had cut the lead to 0.6463 seconds remaining. Further back in the field, Lee moved into the top ten, getting around Evans with four laps remaining.

Brooks took two more tenths of a second out of Porto’s lead over the next two laps, getting the white flag with a 0.4-second deficit. The points leader couldn’t quite get close enough to make a move on the leader, and Porto was the first under the 400th twin checkered flag.

Since 1990, the USF2000 series has provided race fans with plenty of excitement, and the 400th race was no different.

The top two positions didn’t change hands on the final lap of the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course, but the battle for the last step on the podium was epic.

Sundaramoorthy made a great outside pass of Pierson in Turn 1 to grab third. The battling by the Pabst Racing teammates allowed d’Orlando to catch them. The Cape Motorsports driver made a brave move around both drivers in Turn 10, 11 and 12, to stand on the USF2000 podium for the seventh time in his career.

USF2000 Grand Prix Of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires Race #3 Results

HMD Motorsports Indy Lights pilot David Malukas focused at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

The second half-hour Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires qualifying session of the weekend got started under sunny skies with an ambient temperature of 58F and a track temperature of 77F. That was 13 degrees warmer than the start of the Indy Pro 2000 race only an hour ago.

After the first ten minutes of running, Toby Sowery was the provisional pole sitter with a lap timed at 75.7835 seconds. Linus Lundqvist, David Malukas, Sting Ray Robb, and Alex Peroni were in the top five and all within a half-second of Sowery’s quickest lap. All 13 drivers had completed either five or six laps.

At the halfway point of the 30-minute session, pit road was busy with drivers bolting on fresh rubber.

The first driver to improve on the fresh Cooper Tires and grab the provisional pole was Lundqvist, but the timing screens started to light up with green as the tires reached their optimal operating temperature.

Lundqvist, Friday’s winner, didn’t hold the provisional pole long. His teammate Malukas, on his 15th of 17th laps, went nine-hundredths quicker than his teammate, taking his third Indy Lights pole and seventh on the Road To Indy.

Indy Lights Race #2 qualifying results