
The new Tatuus JR-23 USF Juniors Chassis begins testing during a USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires event at Road America (Photo courtesy of USF Juniors / Photo: José Mário Dias)
Source: Series PR
The new Tatuus JR-23 USF Juniors Chassis begins testing during a USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires event at Road America (Photo courtesy of USF Juniors / Photo: José Mário Dias)
Source: Series PR
USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires Race #3 start at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy of Jose Mario Dias/USF Juniors)
Alessandro De Tullio (Velocity Racing Development) celebrates his first USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires win at Virginia International Raceway ((Photo Courtesy of Jose Mario Dias/USF Juniors)
Mac Clark (DEForce Racing) leads Andre Castro during the second USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires race at Barber Motorsports Park. Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy
Source: Andersen Promotions PR
Mac Clark in the MIR Raceline USA/Sekanskin/Valkyrie AI sponsored No. 17 from the DEForce Racing stable grabbed his third straight USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires pole. This time, it was at Barber Motorsports Park (Photo Courtesy of Jose Mario Dias/USF Juniors)
By Steve Wittich
Mac Clark (DEForce Racing) continued his dominance early in the inaugural USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires season, grabbing his third straight pole, covering the 2.3-miles of Barber Motorsports Park in 86.828 seconds (98.097mph). That scorching lap was 0.165 seconds ahead of Road To Indy veteran Andre Castro (International Motorsport).
The following three drivers in the qualifying order, and the only other drivers within a half-second of Clark, were a trio of Velocity Racing Development pilots. Nikita Johnson, Alessandro De Tullio, and Sam Corry, who all stood on the podium at the first event of the season Ozarks International Raceway, will start from the third, fourth, and fifth spots.
Eleven of the 18 drivers that turned laps were within one second of the pole sitter.
The green flag for USF Juniors qualifying flew from the starters stand for a 20-minute shootout at 11:20 am.
The 18-drivers quickly began turning laps on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course in the quest for at least two hot laps.
Velocity Racing Development’s Nikita Johnson was the quickest driver after the field had completed at least two laps, but there were still 15 minutes remaining in the session.
Jeremy Fairburn spun in Turn 16, coming to rest on the driver’s left of the right-hander. The No. 87 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport machine was high-sided on the curbs and could not continue without the help of the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team. Unfortunately, that necessitated the red flag with just over 13 minutes remaining, and the Fairburn lost his fastest lap.
When the green flag came back out, the No. 23 International Motorsport machine of Andre Castro left a little early. That was a violation of the rules and the quickest driver in the morning practice served a drive-thru as his penalty.
After a couple of laps to get their Cooper Tires up to the optimal operating temperature, lap times began to fall.
The first driver to improve on his lap time was DEForce Racing’s Mac Clark, turning a lap one-hundredth of a second quicker than Johnson.
The second red flag of the session came out with seven minutes remaining on the clock. The cause this time was the No. 20 of Alessandro De Tullio (Velocity Racing Development), who spun in Turn 13. He eventually continued but lost his best lap for causing a red flag. Like Fairburn earlier, he had just turned the third quickest lap.
After two more laps to get their tires warmed up, lap times began to fall, with first Castro and then Clark grabbing the provisional pole.
With two minutes remaining, Johnson and De Tullio inserted bested Castro but were still well behind Clark, holding the provisional pole.
On his last lap, Castro became the second car to turn a sub-87-second lap, grabbing the outside front row spot.
Andersen Interior Contracting Grand Prix of Alabama unofficial qualifying results
RANK | CAR. NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFFERENCE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | Mac Clark | DEForce Racing | 1:26.828 | — |
2 | 23 | Andre Castro | International Motorsport | 1:26.993 | -0.165 |
3 | 7 | Nikita Johnson | Velocity Racing Development | 1:27.119 | -0.291 |
4 | 20 | Alessandro De Tullio | Velocity Racing Development | 1:27.162 | -0.334 |
5 | 14 | Sam Corry | Velocity Racing Development | 1:27.300 | -0.472 |
6 | 71 | Ethan Ho | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | 1:27.395 | -0.567 |
7 | 87 | Jeremy Fairbairn | Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports | 1:27.412 | -0.584 |
8 | 55 | Noah Ping | Velocity Racing Development | 1:27.517 | -0.689 |
9 | 19 | Jake Bonilla | DEForce Racing | 1:27.650 | -0.822 |
10 | 61 | Nicholas D’Orlando | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | 1:27.709 | -0.881 |
11 | 31 | Titus Sherlock | Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports | 1:27.789 | -0.961 |
12 | 67 | Elliot Cox | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development | 1:28.017 | -1.189 |
13 | 24 | Earl Tucker | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | 1:28.189 | -1.361 |
14 | 8 | David Burketh | Future Star Racing | 1:28.266 | -1.438 |
15 | 9 | Bianca Bustamante | IGY6 Motorsports | 1:28.408 | -1.58 |
16 | 18 | Maxwell Jamieson | DEForce Racing | 1:28.521 | -1.693 |
17 | 25 | Jacob Bolen | IGY6 Motorsports | 1:29.895 | -3.067 |
18 | 53 | Alan Isambard | International Motorsport | 1:30.821 | -3.993 |
The first of two USF Juniors races will get the green flag at 2:35 pm (CDT).
Make sure you download the new USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires app at the following locations:
DEForce Racing’s Mac Clark on track at the Ozarks International Raceway. The Canadian won his second USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires race (Photo Courtesy of Jose Mario Dias/USF Juniors)
By Steve Wittich
After a second flag-to-flag USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires victory, DEForce Racing’s Mac Clark has the chance to complete the perfect weekend on Sunday morning.
The 18-year-old, who calls Campbellville, Ontario home, led testing, led practice, scored two poles, and stood on the top step of the podium twice.
For the second race in a row, Velocity Racing Development pilots occupied the second and third steps of the podium. Sam Corry repeated his third-place finish while his 15-year-old teammate from Miami, Fla., Alessandro De Tullio, came home in second.
For the second race in a row, Andre Castro finished fourth.
After a pace lap, the front row of Clark and Nikita Johnson (Velocity Racing Development) brought the field to the green flag on the front straight of the 3.97-mile, 19-turn road course.
Once again, Clark was able to grab the lead with the first five drivers holding station.
The field made it cleanly through the first eight corners before the pilots who started sixth, seventh, and eighth ended up in the barriers on the driver’s right in Turn 9, bringing out the yellow flag.
The incident included the No. 87 of Jeremy Fairburn, who went backward into the barrier, the No. 19 of Jake Bonilla, who made the lightest contact, and the No. 53 of Alan Isambard, who was nose-first into the barriers.
The running order after crossing the line, under yellow, to complete one lap was Clark, Nikita Johnson, Sam Corry, Andre Castro, Alessandro De Tullio, Ethan Ho, Titus Sherlock, Earl W. Tucker, IV, Elliot Cox, Noah Ping, Bianca Bustamante, Jeremy Fairburn, Jake Bonilla, Alan Isambard, and Nicholas d’Orlando.
Unfortunately, much like the earlier race, a few drivers could not take the start in the second of three Cooper Tires Grand Prix Of The Ozarks. Maxwell Jamieson again missed the start of a race. He was joined by Jacob Bolen, who made late contact in Race #1 after avoiding his teammate Bustamante.
With multiple cars in the tire barrier, race control decided to throw the red flag so the drivers didn’t lose track time under green.
The green flag came back out on Lap 3, with Clark getting a good restart. Noah Ping lost two laps, and d’Orlando lost one lap during the red flag period.
On Lap 4, Castro moved to the final spot on the podium. Further back in the field, Sherlock got by Ho for sixth.
On the next lap, Castro lost that spot and one more, dropping to fifth place. The driver that grabbed fourth was De Tullio.
Clark’s lead over Johnson when he was shown the cross flags to signify the race’s halfway point was 2.7 seconds. Johnson had 2.4 seconds over Corry, who had De Tullio and Castro right on his tail.
On Lap 7, the driver running in second place had an issue, dropping down the field to the seventh spot. That promoted Corry to second and De Tullio to the final spot on the podium.
Clark’s lead over Corry after eight laps of action was 7 seconds. Corry, who finished third in the first race, had De Tullio and Castro within one second in the three-car battle for the final two spots on the podium.
Further back in the field, Tucker and Cox were nose-to-tail for the eighth spot.
With two laps remaining, the battle for the last two spots was still going hot and heavy, but it wasn’t the only action on the undulating track. Johnson was able to gain back one of the spots he lost earlier, going to sixth after passing Ho, and Cox finally got around Tucker for eighth.
Clark took the white flag 8.8 seconds ahead of a side-by-side Velocity Racing Development battle for second. The gap between Corry and De Tullio as they took the white flag was a scant 0.08 seconds.
De Tullio completed the pass, grabbing the second step on the podium after getting by his teammate.
“It was a really exciting race,” said De Tullio to Rob Howden, explaining the pass for second. “I got a run out of the last turn. He went to the inside early, forcing me to take the outside line. Coming into Turn 1, there was a small gap, and I went for it. He raced me super clean. He also did a great job with him behind him the whole race, so good job to Sam. Also, good job to Mac Clark for the win.”
Cooper Tires Grand Prix Of The Ozarks Unofficial Race #1 Results
RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | DIFFERENCE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | Mac Clark | DEForce Racing | 12 LAPS |
2 | 20 | Alessandro De Tullio | Velocity Racing Development | -8.599 |
3 | 14 | Sam Corry | Velocity Racing Development | -9.592 |
4 | 23 | Andre Castro | International Motorsport | -10.278 |
5 | 31 | Titus Sherlock | Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports | -14.099 |
6 | 7 | Nikita Johnson | Velocity Racing Development | -16.845 |
7 | 71 | Ethan Ho | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | -26.517 |
8 | 67 | Elliot Cox | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development | -27.963 |
9 | 24 | Earl Tucker | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | -28.306 |
10 | 9 | Bianca Bustamante | IGY6 Motorsports | -92.965 |
11 | 61 | Nicholas D’Orlando | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | -1 LAPS |
12 | 55 | Noah Ping | Velocity Racing Development | -4 LAPS |
13 | 87 | Jeremy Fairbairn | Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports | -12 LAPS |
14 | 19 | Jake Bonilla | DEForce Racing | -12 LAPS |
15 | 53 | Alan Isambard | International Motorsport | -12 LAPS |
DEForce Racing’s Mac Clark on track at the Ozarks International Raceway. The Canadian won the pole for the first USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires race (Photo Courtesy of Jose Mario Dias/USF Juniors)
By Steve Wittich
Mac Clark, the pilot of the MIR Raceline USA/Sekanskin/Valkyrie AI sponsored No. 17, turned a lap of the 3.97-mile, 19-turn Ozarks International Raceway road course in 142.104 seconds. That scorching lap was over one second ahead of the rest of the field.
The Canadian joins Vince Puleo (USF2000), Kim Campbell (Indy Lights), Wink Bancroft (Formula Atlantic), Kyle Kirkwood (F4 United States Championship), Baltazar Leguizamón (Formula Regional Americas Championship), Matt Jaskol (Formula BMW), Axel Matus (F4 NACAM) and Tom Bagley (USAC Super Vee), among others, that won the first pole in a North American
USF Juniors is the fourth series in which the 18-year-old has claimed the pole position. He has also started on the inside front row in the F4 United States Championship, the F2000 Championship Series, and F1600 in Canada.
Starting on the outside of Clark is Sam Cory, a Velocity Racing Development driver making his first-ever start in cars.
Clark’s DEForce Racing teammate Jake Bonilla and the experienced International Motorsport racer Andre Castro are starting on the second row.
The green flag for the first-ever USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires session came out at 10:30 am (CDT), with 17 drivers vying to become the first pole-sitter in series history.
Sticker Cooper Tires was the play for the 20-minutes of qualifying that set the grid for the first of the three Cooper Tires Grand Prix Of The Ozarks races.
With the short qualifying session and the grid for subsequent races potentially on the line, getting quickly up to speed was crucial.
The quickest driver in practice, Clark, had the fastest first and second laps and, after a pair of circuits on the 3.97-mile, 19-turn road course, was followed by Nikita Johnson, Cory, Jake Bonilla, and Ethan Ho in the top five.
Most of the drivers could complete three laps in the first half of the session, with Clark still holding the provisional pole. Titus Sherlock and Andre Castro jumped into the top three on their third laps of the session but still trailed Clark by 1.5 seconds.
Corry and Bonilla improved their times on their fourth laps, getting to within just over one second of the provisional pole sitter Clark.
The red flag for an incident involving the No. 61 DC Autosport w/ Cape Motorsports machine of Nicholas d’Orlando in Turn 10 came out with five of the 20 minutes remaining in the session.
The green flag came back out once the incident was cleaned up, with drivers getting one last hot lap to improve their starting spots.
Unfortunately, the second red flag of the session came out, ending qualifying before the drivers could get up to speed. This one was for an incident involving Maxwell Jamieson.
Cooper Tires Grand Prix Of The Ozarks Qualifying Results
RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | FAST LAP | DIFFERENCE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | Mac Clark | DEForce Racing | 2:22.104 | —— |
2 | 14 | Sam Corry | Velocity Racing Development | 2:23.173 | -1.069 |
3 | 19 | Jake Bonilla | DEForce Racing | 2:23.319 | -1.215 |
4 | 23 | Andre Castro | International Motorsport | 2:23.394 | -1.29 |
5 | 31 | Titus Sherlock | Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports | 2:23.668 | -1.564 |
6 | 7 | Nikita Johnson | Velocity Racing Development | 2:23.857 | -1.753 |
7 | 71 | Ethan Ho | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | 2:24.001 | -1.897 |
8 | 87 | Jeremy Fairbairn | Crosslink Kiwi Motorsports | 2:24.196 | -2.092 |
9 | 20 | Alessandro De Tullio | Velocity Racing Development | 2:24.200 | -2.096 |
10 | 53 | Alan Isambard | International Motorsport | 2:24.221 | -2.117 |
11 | 67 | Elliot Cox | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development | 2:24.294 | -2.19 |
12 | 61 | Nicholas D’Orlando | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | 2:24.336 | -2.232 |
13 | 24 | Earl Tucker | DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports | 2:24.874 | -2.77 |
14 | 55 | Noah Ping | Velocity Racing Development | 2:25.081 | -2.977 |
15 | 18 | Maxwell Jamieson | DEForce Racing | 2:26.088 | -3.984 |
16 | 25 | Jacob Bolen | IGY6 Motorsports | 2:30.113 | -8.009 |
17 | 9 | Bianca Bustamante | IGY6 Motorsports | 2:33.128 | -11.024 |
The USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires drivers will qualify at 1:15 pm (Central). You can follow along with video and timing and scoring USF Juniors website.