Salvador De Alba, Jay Howard Driver Development, Groupo Indi, Mecano, Sidral Aga, IndyPro 2000. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Tony DiZinno

The Jay Howard Driver Development pace at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway continued in both pre-race Indy Pro 2000 sessions Saturday morning. Braden Eves led practice while Friday’s test leader, Salvador De Alba, has secured the pole for today’s race.

Practice

After two test sessions on Friday, the Indy Pro 2000 contenders rolled out early Saturday morning at 9:45 a.m. CST for a busy day of activity with official practice, qualifying and the race all within several hours at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. 

As it was on Friday, the Jay Howard Driver Development team was fastest in official practice. This time it was Braden Eves atop the charts at 141.439 mph in his No. 4 entry. Eves, last year’s winner here, led Nolan Siegel in the first of the DEForce entries and Friday’s pacesetter Salvador De Alba in the second of three JHDD entries. Championship leader Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing) completed the top five.

All 15 entries ran more than 20 laps during the session before qualifying at 11:45 a.m. CST and local time. 

Qualifying

The first four drivers out included the three series debutantes in Marcos Flack, Bijoy Garg and Trey Burke, and Lindsay Brewer in her first oval start. They slotted in in that order out of the gate.

Fifth driver out, Jordan Missig, lost the rear through Turns 3 and 4 and suffered significant left rear damage as he backed into the wall. With a minimal time frame between qualifying and race, it left the Pabst Racing driver rather vulnerable to missing the start. 

Missig’s teammate Yuven Sundaramoorthy was next out after the track went back green. He chased the car in both corners on both laps, with significant wiggling, but was still able to slot in second. 

Jack William Miller was the second Exclusive Autosport affiliated driver out after Brewer, and the Miller Vinatieri Motorsports driver’s pace struggles continued this weekend as he was only fourth of the six completed runs so far.

Salvador De Alba was a possible pole contender for Jay Howard Driver Development, having paced both test sessions on Friday. He had a 137.3 mph warmup lap, which set him up for a great qualifying run. A speed of 138.794 mph delivered that as he moved to the top. 

After Kiko Porto took a run, Braden Eves slotted into second behind his JHDD teammate. He was close but not close enough to beat De Alba. 

Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing) and Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport) also were close but no cigar to De Alba, but ahead of Eves. 

The last three drivers to take a run at De Alba were the Juncos Hollinger Racing pair of Enaam Ahmed and Reece Gold, and championship leader Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport), but none pulled off the pole heist. 

Salvador De Alba, Jay Howard Driver Development, led both Friday test sessions in the No. 6 Groupo Indi, Mecano, Sidral Aga
IndyPro 2000 car. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich and Tony DiZinno

The Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires season has four races left as it descends on World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for its second and final oval weekend of the season. This oval precludes a tripleheader at Portland International Raceway next month.

Back in May, Louis Foster had promise in spades but hadn’t started winning yet. But a double dip of victories – first on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and then again two weeks later at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park’s 0.686-mile oval – propelled the Exclusive Autosport driver into championship contention.

That magical month kicked off a run of six wins from the last eight races, including a weekend sweep last time out in Toronto. Foster now heads to the 1.25-mile oval with a 71-point lead over Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Reece Gold.

As at IRP, the WWT oval comes with the 50 percent points bonus. More on what lies ahead for the field of 15, and WWT oval history, is here from Steve:

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World Wide Technology Raceway Indy Pro 2000 Nuggets

Saturday’s VP Racing Fuels Oval Challenge Of St. Louis will be the sixth Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race at the 1.25-mile, World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway, with the eventual series champion – Victor Franzoni (2017), Rinus VeeKay (2018) & Kyle Kirkwood (2019) winning three times.

Previous Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race winners at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway

The pole sitter at this track has only won one time – Devlin DeFrancesco in 2020 – with the average starting position of the winner across the five races coming in at 3.8.

The average finishing position of the pole sitter is 2.4, with all five finishing in the top four.

Five different teams – Andretti Autosport, Cape Motorsports, Juncos Hollinger Racing, RP Motorsport & Turn 3 Motorsport have started on the pole in the five races.

Juncos Hollinger Racing with five podiums from five drivers – Victor Franzoni, Rasmus Lindh, Robert Megennis, Artem Petrov and Rinus VeeKay – lead all teams.

The 2019 race, won by Kyle Kirkwood, had four drivers and three lead changes, the highest in both categories.

Two of the five races have run caution free, and the other three have had a single caution.

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New faces making their debuts

Three new drivers join the Indy Pro 2000 field this weekend, including two USF2000 veterans and one Australian newcomer.

#7 Bijoy Garg, DEForce Racing, DEForce Racing
IndyPro 2000. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

Bijoy Garg will be in a second DEForce Racing entry, stepping up with the same team as he raced with in USF2000. Trey Burke, who races with Joe Dooling Autosport and has had Sage Karam as a driver coach, steps up for his Indy Pro 2000 debut. He deputizes for Jonathan Browne at Turn 3 Motorsport; Browne is tied up with mandatory university exams in Dublin this week.

#2 Trey Burke, Turn 3 Motorsport, Human Centred Movement, CRPS Awareness
IndyPro 2000. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

“I’m super excited to be making my Indy Pro 2000 debut with Turn 3 Motorsport at such a high speed track,” said Burke. “I know the team and the car will be really strong all weekend long, meaning a good result is up for grabs. This weekend can’t come soon enough. Thanks again to Peter and the entire crew for giving me this opportunity, it really means a lot.”

#5 Marcos Flack, Jay Howard Driver Development, JHDD, CSU One Cure, Lucas Oil
IndyPro 2000. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

At Jay Howard Driver Development, Brisbane, Australia’s Marcos Flack joins the fold. Flack is a top karter and has advanced into F4 and GB3 series championship competition. He scored his first GB3 win at Silverstone earlier this year.

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to come race in the Road to Indy with a front-running team like Jay Howard Driver Development. I am looking forward to make my USA racing debut at Gateway. Ovals are a new discipline for me, and I think I will be able to learn a lot.”

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JHDD, De Alba, top both test sessions

Jay Howard Driver Development ‘s Salvador De Alba topped both test sessions held Friday. The driver of the No. 6 Groupo Indi/Mecano/Sidral Aga Tatuus was the only driver over 140 mph in both sessions. Last year’s winner Braden Eves, in the No. 4 CCFI/Huston Insurance/Addison Holdings JHDD entry, was second in the first test and fifth in the second.

Reece Gold, in the No. 55 The Ticket Clinic entry for Juncos Hollinger Racing, clocked in third in the first session and second in the second.

Foster’s No. 90 Copart.com/Novara Technologies entry and Nolan Siegel’s No. 8 Towne Ford/Race for RP entry were fourth and fifth in the two sessions.

Session speeds are below. Saturday will see the series’ official practice at 9:45 a.m. CST and local time, qualifying at 11:45 a.m. and race at 2:15 p.m.

First Session

Second Session

The Copart.com/Novara Technologies sponsored No. 90 navigates Turn 1 of the L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Toronto. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

The call to fire the 14 Elite Engine prepared 2.0L engines for the final Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires race of the weekend, the L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Toronto, came at 11:43 am.

After one lap behind the pace car, the front row of Foster and Siegel brought the field to the green flag in front of packed stands and suites on Princes’ Blvd.

Unfortunately, Salvador de Alba, in the No. 6 Jay Howard Driver Development machine, did not start the race.

The first turn/lap was messy, with multiple incidents. Enaam Ahmed, who started seventh, lost his front wing on the front straight, but that was the least of the field’s worries.

Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing), who started outside the front row, appeared to get turned by Jordan Missig as he entered Turn 1. Then, with nowhere to go, Green, Porto, and Brewer were all involved.

Race control announced that the incident involving the No. 19 (and others) was under review. They further revealed that they would take a look when they got the in-car camera footage.

Unfortunately, Green was unable to continue necessitating a yellow flag.

The running order under yellow was Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport), Jordan Missig (Pabst Racing), Reece Gold (Juncos Hollinger Racing)m, Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports), Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing), Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport), Braden Eves (Jay Howard Driver Development), Wyatt Brichacek (Exclusive Autosport), Lindsay Brewer (Exclusive Autosport), Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing), Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing), Enaam Ahmed (Juncos Hollinger Racing) and Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport).

Under the yellow, Ahmed came to the pit road for repairs.

The green flag came out to start Lap 5, but the field only made it five corners before the track went back to full course yellow conditions. Once again, Siegel was an innocent bystander. This time, he was collected by Browne, who tagged the wall at the exit of Turn 5, damaging the right rear suspension and sending him spinning into Siegel. Both cars made significant contact with the barriers.

The cars still on the track under yellow were Foster, Missig, Gold, Sundaramoorthy, Brichacek, Porto, Ahmed, and Brewer.

The green flag came back out to start Lap 9. The ten remaining cars completed a full lap under green, but the tight battling continued. Sundaramoorthy got by Eves and Miller on the restart, moving to fourth.

At the halfway point of the 25-lap race, Foster’s lead over Missig was 2.8 seconds. However, Missig had Gold and Sundaramoorthy within two seconds as the trio battled for the podium.

Foster was pulling away, but not quickly. Missig was turning laps within a tenth of a second of the championship lead at the point.

With seven laps remaining, the Exclusive Autosport driver had a four-second lead, but he almost threw it all away on the next lap.

Foster hit the curb, got some oversteer, and locked up in Turn 5, almost tagging the wall, giving back one second of his lead to Missig.

The best battle was between Sundaramoorthy and Miller, with the second-generation driver with a half-second of the Pabst Racing rookie.

Foster settled back in, with the lead increasing to 3.4 seconds with four laps remaining. Then, with three laps remaining, Foster turned the race’s fastest lap, which was sixth tenths of a second quicker than the next best lap.

Foster’s lead when he got the white flag was 4.9 seconds, cruising to his sixth win in the last eight races and almost putting the championship out of reach.

L&W Supply Grand Prix of Toronto Race #2 – unofficial results

The Copart.com/Novara Technologies sponsored No. 90 navigates Turn 1 of the L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Toronto. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

Exclusive Autosport rookie Louis Foster is on a roll. His fifth win in seven starts extends his championship lead to 63 points.

The soon-to-be 19-year-old was joined on the podium by Enaam Ahmed (Juncos Hollinger Racing) and Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport).

The front row, featuring a pair of English-born drivers – Foster and Ahmed – led the field to the green flag.

As they came to the green flag, Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport), who started 12th, made contact with another driver, shedding his front wing.

Race control let the drivers race – which they did cleanly – through Turn 7 before throwing the twin yellow flags.

The running order under yellow after the first lap was Foster, Ahmed, Reece Gold (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing), Green, Braden Eves (Jay Howard Driver Development), Jordan Missig (Pabst Racing), Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing), Kiko Porto (Jay Howard Driver Development), Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports), Salvador de Alba (Jay Howard Driver Development), Wyatt Brichacek (Exclusive Autosport), Lindsay Brewer (Exclusive Autosport), and Browne, who was on pit road to get a new front wing.

The yellow was only out for one lap as the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team collected Browne’s wing.

Foster got a nice jump, but behind two drivers made impressive moves. Green gained a spot, getting around Siegel for fourth, while rookie Missig moved past veteran Eves for sixth.

Early in the 25-lap race, Foster was in a league of his own, building a 3.5-second lead over Ahmed.

The best battle in the first ten laps was the tussle for the final podium spot between Gold and Green. Behind them,

On Lap 8, De Alba nosed into the tires in Turn 3. The Mexican driver tried to get going again but needed assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team, necessitating a full course caution. That dropped him a lap down.

The yellow flag erased the 4.9-second gap that Foster had worked so hard to build.

The green flag came back out to a chaotic Lap 12. Foster and Ahmed were tethered together in the first two spots while the action was hot and heavy behind them.

In Turn 3, three drivers made moves.

Green grabbed the final podium spot over Gold.
Sundaramoorthy went to seventh over Eves.
Miller went around Porto for ninth.

Foster’s lead over Ahmed with five laps remaining was 2.3 seconds. Green was consistently quicker than the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver, starting Lap 15 only a half-second behind.

Further back, Sundaramoorthy moved to sixth, passing his teammate Missig.

With seven laps remaining, Foster’s lead over Ahmed was a comfortable 3.1 seconds. Meanwhile, Ahmed was anything but comfortable, with Green continuing to hound the Clear Capital Market/The Support Of Pakistan No. 47 for second place. An impressive run for the Turn 3 Motorsport rookie after suffering extensive damage during qualifying only three hours previous.

Foster had a comfortable 5.2-second gap, but the following four drivers were close, crossing under the crossed checkered flags within two seconds of each other.

Behind winner Foster, Eves, fighting for 7th with Miller, ended in the tire barrier in Turn 3.

L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Toronto

The Copart.com/Novara Technologies sponsored No. 90 navigates Turn 1 of the L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Toronto. Exclusive Autosport rookie Louis Foster will start on the pole for both race in Toronto Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

After struggling (a little) to turn on the Cooper Tires early in the season, Louis Foster has figured things out.

The Exclusive Autosport rookie will start on the Indy Pro 2000 pole for the fourth straight race, out-qualifying his next closest rival – Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing)- by over two-tenths of a second.

The top six drivers were within a half-second of the pole for the race set for an 11:40 am start on Sunday.

The 14 drivers and teams of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series followed their ‘younger’ siblings onto the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit to qualify for the second race of the weekend.

When the 20-minute session started at 8:35 am, the ambient temperature was 73F, and the track temperature was 84F.

Race winner and championship contender Reece Gold went long into the Turn 8 run-off but was able to get his The Ticket Clinic No. 55 turned around, and the 17-year-old could continue.

Braden Eves (Jay Howard Driver Development) and Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport), both winners this season, both spent time on the provisional pole in the first half of qualifying.

However, a familiar face in Foster led the way after ten of 20 minutes. The Exclusive Autosport rookie had turned the best lap of 69.8813 seconds as he shot for his fourth straight pole. He wasn’t going to have it easy, though; Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing), Green, Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing), Eves, Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport), Enaam Ahmed (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Jordan Missig (Pabst Racing) and Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing) were within a half-second of the pole as the drivers came to pit road for fresh tires and adjustments.

With seven and half minutes remaining in the Siegel grabbed the provisional pole. However, the driver of the Towne Ford/Race for RP No. 8 kept lowering the provisional pole as qualifying reached the three-quarters pole.

As the clock clicked to five minutes remaining, Foster returned to the provisional pole, going a hundredth of a second quicker than Siegel.

Foster continued to get quicker, and on his 11th lap, the gap between the Britain and American Siegel was 0.15 seconds.

Things were changing quickly, though. The Cooper Tires were getting into the optimal operating window, and times kept dropping.

Green was the first driver to grab the provisional pole with under three minutes remaining, but his time atop the timing screens didn’t last long. Siegel was the first driver to go under 69 seconds, turning a lap at 68.8572 seconds.

Like Green, Siegel’s time didn’t last long before Foster bested it.

The session ended with some chaos. The No. 92 Exclusive Autosport machine of Wyatt Brichacek was deep in the run-off in Turn 3.

Further along the track, the SessionGuardian/Zimperium sponsored No. 3 of Green was blocking the entrance to the pit road. The Team USA Scholarship winner was pushing hard for pole on the final lap, tapping the wall at the exit of Turn 8, causing him to lose control. The car eventually made contact with the tires at the entrance to the pit road, moving the concrete barrier and coming to rest in the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES pit box.

L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Toronto Qualifying for Race #2

#90 Louis Foster, Exclusive Autosport, Copart.com, Novara Technologies
IndyPro 2000 – Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

It took Exclusive Autosport rookie Louis Foster ten races to come to grips with turning on the Cooper Tire slicks, but now that he has, the Britain has won three straight poles.

It wasn’t easy for the championship leader, with the top seven drivers within a half-second of the pole speed of 69.4139 seconds.

Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers Enaam Ahmed and Reece Gold were the closest to knocking Foster from the pole and will start second and third.

Nolan Siegel, who led practice, will start outside the second row.

After a seven-minute delay for barrier repair, the 20-minute qualifying session for the L&W Supply Grand Prix of Toronto Race #1 got underway in perfect conditions. The ambient temperature was 74F, and the track temperature was 120F.

After two laps at speed, Juncos Hollinger Racing driver Enaam Ahmed held the provisional pole. However, drivers were still working on getting their Cooper Tire slicks into the optimal operating window, so things were changing quickly.

After five laps of running, championship leader Louis Foster held the provisional pole.

With just under a dozen minutes of the session remaining, Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports), who had just gone fifth quick, lost the rear end of the No. 40 under braking, backing into the concrete wall. He lost his best two laps and will start in

The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team quickly got the car on the hook and moved it behind the wall, with the green flag coming out with seven minutes remaining.

When the red flag came out, the top five were Foster, Sundaramoorthy, Siegel, Green, and Porto.

The first driver to improve on their time after the red flag was Gold, who pitted early in the session before heading back out on the track, but the timing screen was lighting up with green as drivers got quicker and quicker.

The first driver to knock Foster from the provisional pole was Eves. However, that didn’t last long, as the current Exclusive Autosport driver dropped the provisional pole, going three-tenths quicker than the former driver for Michael Duncalffe’s team.

The 14 drivers took last-lap shots at Foster, with Ahmed and Gold both putting in great laps but falling just short.

L&W Supply Grand Prix of Toronto qualifying results

Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing) led the lone Indy Pro 2000 practice in Toronto Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

When the lone Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires practice session in Toronto got underway, the ambient temperature was 71F, and the track temperature was 82F.

The early leader was DEForce Racing rookie Kiko Porto, the latest winner in the series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Only two drivers – Porto and Louis Foster, had turned a lap under 72 seconds at the halfway point of practice. Porto’s lap timed at 71.7614 seconds was only 0.0128 seconds better than the Exclusive Autosport points leader.

Those two had almost seven-tenths of a second over Nolan Siegel (DEForce Racing), who was third on the timing screens. Josh Green (Turn 3 Motorsport), Enaam Ahmed (Juncos Hollinger Racing), and Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports) were the other drivers within a second of the top spot.

However, times started to fall, with Foster moving to the top of the timing screens, with the first lap under 71 seconds. With ten minutes remaining, Miller, Siegel, Green, Reece Gold (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Porto, and Braden Eves (Jay Howard Driver Development) were within a half-second of Foster.

With 11 minutes remaining in the session, Lindsay Brewer, who is making her first street course start, brought out the red flag when her No. 93 Exclusive Autosport machine nosed into the tires in Turn 8.

The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team got the car extracted and restarted, with Brewer able to drive back to pit road missing the front wing.

The green flag came back out with five minutes left, and the field streamed back onto the still green 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit.

Gold, Eves, Porto, Siegel, Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Pabst Racing), Jordan Missig (Pabst Racing), Wyatt Brichacek (Exclusive Autosport), Salvador de Albal (Jay Howard Driver Development), and Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport) all improved on their best laps in the final five minutes, with Siegel turning the quickest lap of practice on his 20th lap.

L&W Supply Grand Prix of Toronto practice results.

The 14 drivers are scheduled for their first qualifying session at 1:55 pm.

The Banco Daycoval/Petromega sponsored No. 1 of Kiko Porto navigates the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

By Steve Wittich

First, thanks to Patrick for doing a great job with the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires coverage this weekend, as I got called up to work for NBC this weekend.

A Cooper Tire guest gave an enthusiastic command to fire the Elite Engines 2.0L powerplants in the back of the Indy Pro 2000 field.

The front row of Foster and Porto lead the well-formed up field to the green flag on the front straight for the final race of a busy Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

It was the second time Foster started a race this season from the pole, and it was Porto’s best start this year.

Foster got to Turn 1 before Porto, but behind the lead group, the field was two and three wide. Somehow, they got cleanly through the fast right-hander.

Porto got a better run off Turn 1, making a textbook inside pass of the pole-sitter in The Keyhole.

After one lap of green flag action, the running order was Porto, Foster, Sundaramoorthy, Gold, Siegel, Ahmed, De Alba, Miller, Brichacek, Eves, Green, Missig, and Browne.

The reigning USF2000 champion quickly began to pull away, but behind them, Gold was putting tremendous pressure on Sundaramoorthy. However, the Pabst Racing driver could keep the Juncos Hollinger Racing veteran behind him.

On the second lap, Miller, who was pressuring De Alba for seventh, lost three spots, dropping to 11th.

Ahmed, who lost a spot to Siegel early, got that spot back on the third lap of the race.

After five laps, Porto’s lead was only a half-second, with the remainder of the field equally spaced and the top 12 separated by only 8 seconds.

Just after starting Lap 5, Brichacek had an off-track excursion at the exit of Turn 1. He continued but had to bring the Corpay sponsored No. 92 to pit road and the attention of Exclusive Autosport to inspect for damage.

On Lap 9, De Alba started his march forward, getting by Siegel for the sixth spot.

After ten laps, Porto held a 0.6724 second lead over Foster, with the top 12 still within ten seconds of the lead.

On his 11th lap of the race, Foster turned the quickest lap to that point and slowly reeled in the leader in by hundredths of a second per lap.

After 15 laps, the lead was under a half-second for the first time. But, showing how competitive the series is, the first dozen drivers were still within 12 seconds of the leader.

Further back, Gold was pushing hard for the final spot on the podium, locking up in Turn 4 on consecutive laps.

The gap between the leaders was under four-tenths of a second for the first time, as the points leader obviously wasn’t satisfied with second place.

Gold, with a potentially flat-spotted left front tire, lost a spot to his teammate Ahmed on Lap 18 and quickly had De Alba on his gearbox.

On Lap 19, Foster got a good run out of the keyhole, taking a look to the outside of leader Porto in Turn 4 before tucking back in behind the No. 1.

The gap between the front two was over a half-second with four laps remaining. That wasn’t the only battle on track, with five different contests separated by less than a second.

De Alba continued his run toward the front of the grid, going the long way around Gold in Turn 4 and quickly catching Ahmed in fourth. The Mexican rookie turned the quickest lap of the race on the next lap.

Porto’s lead when he got the white flag was just over a half-second. Further back, less than two seconds separated Sundaramoorthy, Ahmed, De Alba, and Gold in the battle for the final spot on the podium.

The running order remained static over the final circuit, with Porto crossing the line only 0.3423 seconds ahead of Foster, the fourth closest Indy Pro 2000 finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The win is the first Indy Pro 2000 trip to victory lane for the Brazilian, who now has six total Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires wins. That total includes a Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship win at Mid-Ohio.

Foster, who now has eight podiums in his first dozen American starts, still finished ahead of his main title rivals. As a result, the 18-year-old travels north of the border with a relatively comfortable 49-point lead in the scholarship fight.

Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Race #2 unofficial results

The series is back in action in two weeks for a double header at the always entertaining 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit.

By Patrick Stephan

#90 Louis Foster, Exclusive Autosport, Copart.com, Novara Technologies – Shown On Track at Mid-Ohio on Friday. 

The first Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires race got off to a difficult start. Louis Foster brought the field down nicely packed up by the time they hit the front straight. Josh Foster jumped out of line to make it three wide entering Turn 1 but the field made it through there.

Up at Turn 2 (an exciting place all day in every division), Yuven Sundaramoorthy was inside Reece Gold and spun to the outside. Braden Eves also got involved (though I didn’t see exactly how) and he picked up a damaged front wing. Sundaramoorthy’s car wind up on the outside of the grass and he would retire for the day.

When the field came back around to take the yellow at the end of Lap 1, the order up front was Foster, Siegel, De Alba, Porto, Brichacek, Miller, Green and Ahmed.

Back to green on Lap 4 and in the upcoming laps De Alba would get by Siegel for 2nd, and Green would get back to 7th around Ahmed.

The order on Lap 9 is Foster, De Alba, Siegel, Porto, Brichacek, Miller, Green, Ahmed, Missig, Gold, Eves, Browne and Sundaramoorthy.

We were under yellow on Lap 9 due to Jonathan Browne spinning in to the gravel trap at Turn 1. The AMR INDYCAR Safety team was able to get him out so he could rejoin the field and we went back to green to start Lap 11.

On that lap, Josh Green got by Jack William Miller in Turn 4 to take over the 6th spot. Next lap (12) and Ahmed would also pass Miller to take 6th.

Up front, Foster is leading De Alba by 1.3 seconds, followed by Nolan Siegel, Kiko Porto and Wyatt Brichacek.

At the halfway point (15 of 30) it’s still Foster by 2.6, with Siegel another 0.75 back. Porto, Brichacek, Green, Ahmed, Miller, Gold, Eves and Missig are all on the lead lap – and 3rd through 10 are mostly nose to tail except for a couple 1.0 second gaps.

On Lap 20, Josh Green is putting a lot of pressure on Brichacek heading in to Turn 12 – not an easy place to pass – and he gets another run the next lap and takes the 5th spot.

Lap 22 and Jack William Miller slides off Turn 2 and goes through the grass, that’ll cost him 8th as he drops down to 10th.

Foster continues to expand his gap, now up to 6.7 seconds over De Alba who is now leading Siegel by just .04 and in danger of losing the 2nd spot as second, third and fourth (De Alba, Siegel, Porto) run nose to tail around the circuit with Green just 1.2 back of that battle in 5th.

Wyatt Brichacek’s tires seem to be going away as he has dropped to 9th on Lap 24. Braden Eves got 8th with a strong move in to Turn 12.

It’s still Foster up front, now by 8.8 seconds with 5 laps to go as De Alba is still very much under pressure by Siegel for second.  Porto, Green, Ahmed, Gold, Eves, Brichacek, Miller and Missig follow. Browne is 12th – but one lap down.

Lap 28 and Foster’s lead is 11.5 as De Alba has to be more concerned with keeping second from Siegel than trying to push and catch the leader – a situation that’s been happening for most of the race.

Taking the white flag, 2nd through 5th are nose to tail at the start finish line and they start dicing up in Turn 2 and Porto gets inside of Siegel but can’t complete the pass.

Foster picks up his 4th win of the season and extends his point lead over Reece Gold to 38.  This is De Alba’s 3rd podium and Siegel’s 4th.

UNOFFICIAL Results Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires Race #1 at Mid-Ohio:

By Patrick Stephan

Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport) in the Copart.com/Novara Technologies No. 90 dominated the lone Indy Pro 2000 practice at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and then took pole for both races. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

The second Indy Pro 2000 qualifying session hit the grid with some clouds just starting to build in the area, but not yet covering the track. The sun is baking this mostly light colored surface up to 122.7F with the ambient at 88F and the humidity is a “moist” 39%.

After 8 minutes Louis Foster is fastest with his fifth lap at 1:19.2570, followed by Wyatt Brichacek, Kiko Porto, Braden Eves and Nolan Siegel.

Just past halfway, most of the cars are in the pits getting fresh Cooper Tires mounted to their machines.

Approaching 5 minutes to go, most of the drivers were back on the track, but it is still Foster up front as he improves to a 1:19.1755.

Rece Gold then takes P1 at 1:19.0661 as drivers start to cycle through on this final sticker tire run. Foster retakes P1 going sub 1:19 with a lap of 1:18.7676, followed by De Alba and then Gold who pops another quick lap to retake P1 as we approach 2 minutes remaining.

Race control mentioned an issue over at Turn 11, but quickly gave the all clear. Not sure if that affected anyone going through that corner. Remember, if a driver sees a yellow – even local – they get that lap invalidated.

Kiko Porta moves to P1 with just over a minute on the clock, dropping Gold to P2, followed by Ahmed, Miller, and Foster.

Siegel then moves to P4, knocking Foster down to 6th as the checkered flag flies and we’ll see what everyone has on this final lap. Sundaramoorthy goes to P2…..and Foster does it again with a final lap of 1:18.4328 to take his second pole position of the day.

Porto, Sundaramoorthy, Gold and Ahmed round out the Top 5.

Indy Pro 2000 Race #2 Qualifying Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: