By Patrick Stephan

Myles Rowe would lead the field of 19 Tatuus IP-22 machines down to the green flag on a dry and relatively cleaned up race track. The NTT INDYCAR Series had just run their morning warm-up, all on slicks as the dried from overnight and morning showers that sent the USF2000 cars to wet tires earlier today.

Rowe got away clean and when they reached Turn 1, with Jace Denmark going around the outside to pick up the second spot.

A little further back, the red number 92 of Joel Granfors ran to the far inside entering the corner as the field worked to get from 2, 3, 4 wide through the narrowing first couple corners. At the exit of Turn 2, Granfors and Weir looked to be relatively in the groove side by side but would touch tires sending Weir a couple feet in to the air and hard in to the concrete barrier with the left side of his machine.

Weir would end up with the right side of his car on top of Granfors left front. Also getting collected were Ricardo Escotto whose left front made contact with Granfors right rear as that tangled trio came to a stop. About the same time, Louka St-Jean jumped his left front over the right rear of Jonathan Browne.

St.Jean would keep moving after the contact, but would only lake it over to Turn 6 before needed assistance from the AMR IndyCar Safety Team.

Browne and Escotto backed up their cars and left the scene with just Weir and Granfors remaining to be picked up by wreckers due to broken suspensions.

Under yellow, Rowe was leading Denmark, d’Orlando, Brooks, and Zendelli rounded out the Top 5.

Back to green on Lap 5 of 25, Rowe again got a clean jump, and the field moved successfully through 2 and 2. At Turn 3, Denmark looked to the outside and they went side by side at the corner entry, but made some contact at the exit and by the time we saw them in Turn 4, Denmark no longer had a front wing. Rowe may have pushed a little wide with Denmark on the outside, couldn’t quite tell from the video available.

Denmark would come straight to the pits for repairs as the green stayed out and Rowe remained the leader with d’Orlando now second followed by Brooks, Zendeli, and Missig.

Lap 10 saw d’Orlando just a couple car lengths back of Rowe, as that duo created a gap to Brooks and then Zendelli and Missig who are also nose to tail over the next several laps.

Brooks, Zendelli, and Missig would be fighting for 3rd, 4th and 5th during laps 14 and 15 with Zendeli getting to third at Turn 3 on Lap 16. Missig tried to follow him through, but Brooks was able to fight back and keep the 4th spot.

After that tussle, Salvador De Alba and Francesco Pizzi were able to close up and we have 5 cars in order behind Rowe and d’Orlando.

With 7 laps to go, d’Orlando had an issue and started dropping through the field as Zendeli, Missig, Brooks, DeAlba, and Pizzi moved by. d’Orlando, yesterday’s Race #1 winner was now running a couple seconds off the pace.

Myles Rowe was able to move out to a 5.3 second lead with 4 laps to run. Jack William Miller also had an incident on the track, losing his front wing and he too would begin dropping further through the field.

Rowe would manage that lead as the final laps clicked off. Kiki Porto and Yuven Sundaramoorthy would become the best battle on the track for a bit until de Alba tried to get Brooks for fourth while fending off Pizzi. But in both case the lead driver was able to keep their position.

Taking the checkers first, Myles Rowe notched his 5th win of the season by 4.4 seconds over Lirim Zendeli with Jordan Missig joining them on the podium.

Points and Quotes Courtesy Andersen Promotions:

Provisional championship points after 13 of 18 rounds:

1. Myles Rowe, 299

2. Kiko Porto, 218

3. Salvador de Alba, 215

4. Michael d’Orlando, 206

5. Joel Granfors, 206

6. Francesco Pizzi, 201

7. Lirim Zendeli, 189

8. Jace Denmark, 183

9. Jonathan Browne, 169

10. Jack William Miller, 158

Myles Rowe (#99 Penske Entertainment-Pabst Racing with Force Indy Tatuus IP-22): “First of all, the crowd here is amazing. I love Toronto. It is such a great city. It is such a tough race. The bumps are crazy. It is like New York City out there. I just have to give a huge thanks to God, my family, Force Indy, Pabst Racing, SimCraft, Sparco, Bell Helmets and the whole crew. They really put together such a package for us to have this kind of consistency this year. You need to have a certain kind of package to do really successful things at this level of motorsports. All these guys – Lirim, Jordan and the rest of the field – all of them are super competitive and super tough to beat. I just can’t thank you enough to all of my partners.”

Lirim Zendeli (#10 Vexavit/Ajdini Spedition-TJ Speed Motorsports Tatuus IP-22): “It was as difficult a race as it was fun. I didn’t expect so many overtakes. I went from P6 to P2 just by overtaking. I think Michael [d’Orlando] had some problems, but it was really fun. Jordan gave me a nice fight all race. Unfortunately, Myles was already gone by that time. But I am happy for the recovery because qualifying wasn’t great from my side and I came away with two podiums. I think I took the most points of all the drivers and I am very happy.”

Jordan Missig (#19 Racing for Mental Health/AMV Ventures-Pabst Racing Tatuus IP-22): “The start wasn’t as I planned, but we were able to settle in and get into a bit of a groove. As the race went on, a bit of attrition kicked in. Nonetheless, it was a great drive by Myles. He definitely deserved it. I can’t say enough about the Pabst crew. They put an awesome street car together. This is the second time in a row that we could have stood on the podium here in Toronto, but this time we earned it.”

Pos	No	Driver	Hometown	Diff	Gap
1	99	Myles Rowe	Powder Springs GA
2	10	Lirim Zendeli	Bochum Germany	4.4155	4.4155
3	19	Jordan Missig	Joliet IL	5.0104	0.5949
4	44	Christian Brooks	Santa Clarita CA	8.1574	3.147
5	91	Salvador de Alba	Guadalajara Mexico	8.3999	0.2425
6	55	Francesco Pizzi	Rome Italy	8.5703	0.1704
7	12	Kiko Porto	Recife Brazil	16.1572	7.5869
8	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Oconomowoc WI	16.7475	0.5903
9	7	Bijoy Garg	Stanford CA	22.7415	5.994
10	2	Jonathan Browne	Dublin Ireland	23.5337	0.7922
11	81	Nicholas Monteiro	Sao Paulo Brazil	32.238	8.7043
12	93	Lindsay Brewer	Denver CO	38.4746	6.2366
13	40	Jack William Miller	Westfield IN	40.3686	1.894
14	1	Michael d’Orlando	Hartsdale NY	59.112	18.7434
15	4	Ricardo Escotto	Mexico City Mexico	01:30.6	31.4827
16	20	Jace Denmark	Phoenix AZ	3 Laps	3 Laps
DNF	32	Christian Weir	Naperville IL	DNF	22 Laps
DNF	3	Louka St-Jean	Laval Quebec Canada	DNF	1.1309
DNF	92	Joel Granfors	Eskilstuna Sweden	DNF	28.9573

By Patrick Stephan

The first of two USF Pro 2000 races this weekend went green at 11:50am in Toronto with pole sitter, and point leader Myles Rowe bringing the field down to the green flag on a dry race track with the ambient temperature at 75F and the track up to 89F. We had some sprinkles earlier in the day and the humidity was a sticky 79%.

Salvador de Alba got the 2nd spot on the first lap, with Michael d’Orlando, Jace Denmark and Joel Granfors rounding out the early Top 5.

The biggest mover early in the race was Jack William Miller going from his 16th starting spot to 11th.

Michael d’Orlando passed de Alba on Lap 4 to move to second, trailing Rowe by 1.2308 seconds. By lap 8, d’Orlando had closed the gap to just 0.28 as he was trying to find a way by Rowe for the lead.

de Alba got by Denmark on Lap 9, with Granfors also moving up.

Rowe was able get a slight gap in Lap 10 when he turned his quickest lap to this point at 1:10.6650, expanding his gap to 0.6015 with 15 laps remaining.

The yellow flag flew for the first time on Lap 14 when Louka St-Jean tried to go inside of Jack William Miller for 13th at Turn 5. St-Jean was on the inside as they went side by side in to the corner but was never able to get turned, sending Miller into the tire barrier then just turning enough to himself hit the concrete barriers hard with the right side of the car.

Under the yellow, rain was picking up slightly…but not enough for the wet tires. Rowe was leading d’Orlando, de Alba, Granfors, and Denmark.

Kiko Porto back in 8th as the field circulated under yellow, is Rowe’s closest pursuer in point standings at 251-187 coming in to the race.

The AMR INDYCAR Safety team and track crew had the incident cleaned up around Lap 17, but we would stay yellow as race control monitored the moisture falling. And then with 20 laps completed, the red flag was waved over the field as the pace car had its windshield wipers running on a fairly quick “intermittent” setting.

USF race officials declared this a wet race and the field was required to switch to rain tires for the slowly, but consistently wetter track. If this sounds familiar, the field just went through this at Mid-Ohio for Race #1 there. The rain here seems to be a bit more significant, but we’re far from a downpour as the far complete the 5 minute red flag and return to the track on the Cooper wet weather tires.

With the track officially ‘wet’ Myles Rowe got the green flag at the end of Lap 21. The spray was flowing and he cleanly got through Turn 1 and 2, then locked up under braking for Turn 3. Rowe didn’t hit anything and with driver’s wiggling under entry themselves, he backed out of the runoff and returned to the track.

d’Orlando was able to stay on the track and take the lead over de Alba by 0.9 at the end of Lap 22.

Lirim Zendelli moved up to third, with Granfors and Denmark following. Kiko Porto moved to 6th and with Rowe down to 9th this could tighten the point battle.

Driver’s are sliding through turns full dirt track style, and fighting each other and the track.

Lap 24 and the yellow waves for Jonathan Browne in the Turn 8 tires…as another car also finds the Turn 3 run-off, but can continue.

Michael d’Orlando brings the car around to the checkered/yellow flags to take his 3rd race win of the season. This is the third straight race weekend where he’s won (Road America and Mid-Ohio preceded Toronto.

Myles Rowe got back to just 7th after sliding through Turn 3, but still maintains at 64 point lead over Granfors and Porto.

Point Standings and Quotes courtesy Andersen Promotions.

Provisional championship points after 12 of 18 rounds:

1. Myles Rowe, 268

2. Joel Granfors, 204

3. Kiko Porto, 204

4. Michael d’Orlando, 199

5. Salvador de Alba, 198

6. Francesco Pizzi, 186

7. Jace Denmark, 177

8. Lirim Zendeli, 164

9. Jonathan Browne, 158

10. Jack William Miller, 150

Michael d’Orlando (#1 USF Pro Championships/Focused Project Management-Turn 3 Motorsport Tatuus IP-22): “It was a crazy race, and one of the most difficult that I have driven in a long time. Myles gave me quite a fight throughout the race. Then we had a rain red flag and it was really difficult. I know from Myles’ perspective, it is definitely a lot more challenging being the leading guy. It is amazing to be on the top step of the podium here in Toronto. I am proud to be a Canadian up here and an American down there. Turn 3 Motorsport did a fantastic job in making sure the car was extremely fast and capable of this win today. I am extremely thankful to my sponsors and USF Pro Championships – I wouldn’t be here without you guys – Priority Technology Holdings and Rising Star Racing as well.”

Salvador de Alba (#91 Archandel/Red Cola/Mecano/Z Motors-Exclusive Autosport Tatuus IP-22): “It was a very interesting race. I started P3 and kept that position in the dry conditions. Then it started raining and we knew there was going to be more coming. They red-flagged the race so we could change tires. It was hard not knowing the track in the wet conditions, but overall it was a very good race. Myles didn’t make it through Turn Three so we managed to take second position and stay there until the end. Let’s hope to make another podium tomorrow. Coming off of P10, let’s see what we have.”

Lirim Zendeli (#10 Vexavit/Ajdini Spedition-TJ Speed Motorsports Tatuus IP-22): “The start in the dry was a bit difficult because of Kiko in front of me. He missed the start a bit so we both lost a position; he actually lost two. I think I was pretty quick on lap times but overtaking is difficult, but the rain helped a lot. That was the only possibility of how to get from P7 to the podium. I committed to some late braking, and obviously took a lot of risks. I clipped the wall here and there and the tire barrier in Turn Eight. As long as I stayed on track, in the end it paid off.”

USF Pro 2000 Toronto Race #1 Results:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Laps	Diff	Start	Team
1	1	Michael d’Orlando	25	—	2	Turn 3 Motorsport
2	91	Salvador de Alba	25	0.9209	3	Exclusive Autosport
3	10	Lirim Zendeli	25	1.4807	7	TJ Speed Motorsports
4	92	Joel Granfors	25	1.726	6	Exclusive Autosport
5	12	Kiko Porto	25	3.1294	5	DEForce Racing
6	55	Francesco Pizzi	25	3.5237	8	TJ Speed Motorsports
7	99	Myles Rowe	25	3.7997	1	Pabst Racing
8	44	Christian Brooks	25	5.2342	13	Turn 3 Motorsport
9	4	Ricardo Escotto	25	6.552	14	Jay Howard Driver Development
10	20	Jace Denmark	25	8.2466	4	Pabst Racing
11	19	Jordan Missig	25	11.3253	9	Pabst Racing
12	81	Nicholas Monteiro	25	19.8695	17	NeoTech Motorsport
13	32	Christian Weir	25	23.9443	12	TJ Speed Motorsports
14	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	24	1 LAPS	15	Exclusive Autosport
15	2	Jonathan Browne	23	9.6359	10	Turn 3 Motorsport
16	93	Lindsay Brewer	23	2 LAPS	19	Exclusive Autosport
17	7	Bijoy Garg	22	Contact	11	DEForce Racing
18	40	Jack William Miller	13	Contact	16	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
19	3	Louka St‑Jean	13	Contact	18	Turn 3 Motorsport

By Patrick Stephan

With skies darkening to the west, the USF Pro 2000 series rolled off pit lane to start their 20 minute Toronto Race #2 qualifying session.

Point leader Myles Rowe would establish himself at the top of the time sheet after most driver’s had completed their scuffed tire runs with a lap of 1:10.2923.

Kiko Porto, entering the weekend 2nd in points, would find the wall at Turn 6 with about 11 minutes to run, but he would be able to get the car back to the pits.

Staying green and with most teams putting on new tires at around the halfway point of the session, Rowe was leading Jace Denmark, Joel Granfors, Porto, and Michael d’Orlando.

Denmark would move to P1 and then spin with about 6 minutes to go in the session. He would also continue, but with a little more than five minutes to go, the track would go red for Lindsay Brewer in Turn 6.

The order at this point was Rowe, Denmark, d’Orlando, Missig.

Back to green to close out the session and Rowe improved to a 1:09.7214, and while P1, he crashed in Turn 11 after time had expired (so on his final lap), leading to some concern he’d lose that quick lap, but that was not the case – and Rowe officially picked up his 4th (career and season) USF Pro 2000 pole, and second of this weekend.

Missig, d’Orlando, Denmark, and Brooks will round out the Top 5 starters for Toronto Race #2 (Sunday 11:05pm ET)

USF Pro 2000 Race #2 Qualifying Results:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Time	Diff	Best Lap	Laps
1	99	Myles Rowe	01:09.721	—	13	13
2	19	Jordan Missig	01:09.906	0.1842	13	14
3	1	Michael d’Orlando	01:09.926	0.2048	11	12
4	20	Jace Denmark	01:10.105	0.3839	13	13
5	44	Christian Brooks	01:10.152	0.4306	12	12
6	10	Lirim Zendeli	01:10.356	0.6348	12	12
7	92	Joel Granfors	01:10.386	0.6646	12	13
8	32	Christian Weir	01:10.491	0.7695	12	12
9	12	Kiko Porto	01:10.541	0.8198	5	6
10	55	Francesco Pizzi	01:10.584	0.8628	9	9
11	91	Salvador de Alba	01:10.636	0.9149	13	13
12	2	Jonathan Browne	01:10.639	0.9177	12	13
13	7	Bijoy Garg	01:10.757	1.0359	12	12
14	3	Louka St-Jean	01:10.957	1.2359	13	13
15	4	Ricardo Escotto	01:11.039	1.3171	13	13
16	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	01:11.070	1.3483	13	13
17	40	Jack William Miller	01:11.184	1.463	13	13
18	81	Nicholas Monteiro	01:11.324	1.603	13	14
19	93	Lindsay Brewer	01:11.536	1.8142	13	13

By Patrick Stephan

Myles Rowe took his 3rd USF Pro 2000 pole of 2023 in qualifying this afternoon on the Toronto street circuit.

Coming in to the event with a 40 point lead over Kiko Porto, and having just picked up the Mid-Ohio race #2 pole and race win, Rowe is solidly in command of the championship with 7 races remaining. Two here, two at COTA in August, and a trio at the season finale in Portland.

Rowe was leading the Race #1 Qualifying session when with 8 minutes run, the red came out for Francesco Pizzi who smacked the Turn 11 wall hard with the right side. Turns out though that he had the classic street circuit crash. He appeared to clip the wall on the inside of the corner, then shot to the outside wall at corner exit for the big impact.

The session went back to green with Myles Rowe still leading with a lap of 1:09.6146, over d’Orlando, de Alba, Denmark, and Porto.

And thanks to another red flag with a minute to remain, drivers weren’t able to make a final run, giving the pole to Rowe, the championship leader – though just 5th quick this morning – so perhaps some others had a shot at the top spot if we’d stayed green.

Jack William Miller was trying to get inside of Christian Weir as everyone was searching for clear track. Weir moved to the outside at Turn 5, and Miller went inside, but couldn’t make the corner (cold tires) and nosed in to the tire barrier.

That red likely caught a lot of driver’s out, as most weren’t able to make their late run in order to improve on where they ran the first stint. Escotto – P2 in this morning’s practice would have been the most impacted – just judging by the time sheet.

Race #2 Qualifying is the next on track activity for USF Pro 2000 – tomorrow morning at 9:15am ET.

USF Pro 2000 Toronto Race #1 Qualifying Results

P	No	Name	Best Time	Diff	Best Lap	Total Laps	Hometown	Team
1	99	Myles Rowe	1:09.6146	1:09.6146	6	10	Powder Springs GA	Pabst Racing
2	1	Michael d’Orlando	1:10.2744	0.6598	6	10	Hartsdale NY	Turn 3 Motorsport
3	91	Salvador de Alba	1:10.4915	0.8769	6	9	Guadalajara Mexico	Exclusive Autosport
4	20	Jace Denmark	1:10.6454	1.0308	4	9	Phoenix AZ	Pabst Racing
5	12	Kiko Porto	1:10.6538	1.0392	5	9	Recife Brazil	DEForce Racing
6	92	Joel Granfors	1:10.7185	1.1039	4	8	Eskilstuna Sweden	Exclusive Autosport
7	10	Lirim Zendeli	1:10.7325	1.1179	4	9	Bochum Germany	TJ Speed Motorsports
8	55	Francesco Pizzi	1:10.7694	1.1548	3	5	Rome Italy	TJ Speed Motorsports
9	19	Jordan Missig	1:10.8291	1.2145	5	9	Joliet IL	Pabst Racing
10	2	Jonathan Browne	1:10.8709	1.2563	6	9	Dublin Ireland	Turn 3 Motorsport
11	7	Bijoy Garg	1:10.9098	1.2952	5	8	Stanford CA	DEForce Racing
12	32	Christian Weir	1:10.9140	1.2994	5	9	Naperville IL	TJ Speed Motorsports
13	44	Christian Brooks	1:10.9724	1.3578	6	10	Santa Clarita CA	Turn 3 Motorsport
14	4	Ricardo Escotto	1:11.1655	1.5509	5	9	Mexico City Mexico	Jay Howard Driver Development
15	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	1:11.1760	1.5614	6	9	Oconomowoc WI	Exclusive Autosport
16	40	Jack William Miller	1:11.2787	1.6641	5	7	Westfield IN	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
17	81	Nicholas Monteiro	1:11.9455	2.3309	5	8	Sao Paulo Brazil	NeoTech Motorsport
18	3	Louka St‑Jean	1:11.9921	2.3775	3	7	Laval Quebec Canada	Turn 3 Motorsport
19	93	Lindsay Brewer	1:12.1014	2.4868	3	9	Denver CO	Exclusive Autosport

By Patrick Stephan

I was in transit between paddock and media center during this session, so didn’t see all the action, but like the USF2000 session, this one wasn’t exactly clean.

Conditions: Sunny with ambient at 70F and the track at 89F (average – see USF2000 practice notes for information on where temps are measured here in Toronto).

Michael d’Orlando from Turn 3 Motorsport led the session at 1:11.6914, turning his quickest lap on 7 of 10. That was a whopping 0.5838 ahead of Ricardo Escotto, who also brought a red flag in the session. Looked like Turn 10, and his Jay Howard Driver Development machine came back on the hook with left rear damage.

Jace Denmark was P3, followed by Joel Granfors and point leader Myles Rowe.

Denmark finished 2nd here in USF2000 Race #1, but otherwise swept the weekend, leading practice, two qualifying sessions, and winning race #2, so not a surprise he’s in the Top 3 of the first session this year – even though he’s moved up to Pro 2000.

I will try to follow up on the Yuven Sundaramoorthy car as he turned just 3 laps. More to come on that.

The session was also delayed due to fluid on pit lane from Lindsay Brewer’s machine that led to a track inspection/clean-up.

Christian Brooks, back in the series for the first time since St. Pete (most common reason in racing – budget issues), timed in 13th. The St. Pete race #1 winner is filling in at Turn 3 Motorsports as Jackson Lee is out due to a wrist injury he suffered at Mid-Ohio.

USF Pro 2000 Toronto Practice #1 Time Sheet:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Best Time	Diff	Gap	Fast Lap	Total Laps	Team
1	1	Michael d’Orlando	1:11.6914	—	‑‑.‑‑‑‑	7	7	Turn 3 Motorsport
2	4	Ricardo Escotto	1:12.2752	0.5838	0.5838	7	7	Jay Howard Driver Development
3	20	Jace Denmark	1:12.3188	0.6274	0.0436	6	6	Pabst Racing
4	92	Joel Granfors	1:12.3568	0.6654	0.038	7	7	Exclusive Autosport
5	99	Myles Rowe	1:12.4263	0.7349	0.0695	7	7	Pabst Racing
6	19	Jordan Missig	1:12.4649	0.7735	0.0386	5	5	Pabst Racing
7	12	Kiko Porto	1:12.5520	0.8606	0.0871	5	5	DEForce Racing
8	2	Jonathan Browne	1:12.6931	1.0017	0.1411	7	7	Turn 3 Motorsport
9	3	Louka St‑Jean	1:12.7808	1.0894	0.0877	5	5	Turn 3 Motorsport
10	7	Bijoy Garg	1:12.9135	1.2221	0.1327	4	4	DEForce Racing
11	10	Lirim Zendeli	1:12.9208	1.2294	0.0073	7	7	TJ Speed Motorsports
12	91	Salvador de Alba	1:13.1485	1.4571	0.2277	7	7	Exclusive Autosport
13	44	Christian Brooks	1:13.1537	1.4623	0.0052	7	7	Turn 3 Motorsport
14	32	Christian Weir	1:13.1597	1.4683	0.006	7	7	TJ Speed Motorsports
15	55	Francesco Pizzi	1:13.2615	1.5701	0.1018	5	5	TJ Speed Motorsports
16	93	Lindsay Brewer	1:13.5881	1.8967	0.3266	6	6	Exclusive Autosport
17	81	Nicholas Monteiro	1:14.0271	2.3357	0.439	7	7	NeoTech Motorsport
18	40	Jack William Miller	1:14.5733	2.8819	0.5462	4	4	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
19	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	1:15.1216	3.4302	0.5483	3	3	Exclusive Autosport

By Patrick Stephan

Conditions for the first of two USF Pro 2000 races today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course are a little iffy. Ambient is 77F, Track just 85F and the humidity is 81%. The forecast says it’ll rain today…but they haven’t been overly specific on when that will happen.

The field came out of the carousel and on to the front stretch under the control of Michael d’Orlando with Salvador de Alba alongside. They made it through the first turn and the keyhole and things then got spicy down at Turn 5.  Involved are Kiko Porto and Jordan Missig who get the worst of that and will not complete the first lap as we are now full course yellow. Jackson Browne also got a damage in that incident I believe (sorry, didn’t see a replay for exactly what happened). Car #91 of Salvador de Alba will pick up an avoidable contact penalty.

Under the yellow we hear the pace car driver, Gail Truess, report light rain in Turn 2, but it quickly stops. 

Back to green to complete Lap 5 and d’Orlando keeps the lead with the field running single file through Turn 1 and then Jace Denmark runs alongside Ushijima through Turn 2 and they are two wide, possibly three wide all the way down to Turn 4. 

Lap 8 and the order is d’Orlando, Denmark, Miller, Ushijima and Granfors (who is stalking the battle for 3rd as Ushijima really wants that spot).  Behind them are Garg, Rowe, Sundaramoorthy, St. Jean, Zendelli, Weir, Lee, Escotto, Pizzi, Brewer, Monteiro, de Alba, Browne, Porto, Missig. 

Lap 10 and it’s sprinkling again lightly in the keyhole  and down to Turn 4.  

Lap 12 and we haven’t lost the track, even as it gets noticeably darker outside. St. Jean had passed Sundaramoorthy the prior lap for 9th. 

With 2nd starting Porto out along with 4th starting de Alba at the back due to his penalty, we’ve had some big movers in the order. 

Lap 13 shows Denmark up to 2nd from 8th, and Miller is 3rd from 9th.  

Lap 14 and Ushijima has gone off the track in the Turn 9 gravel trap, and is not able to drive out.  

YELLOW – Lap 15 with the rain now being called “light” but it’s coming down, and the pace car has the windshield wipers on. 

Almost back to green, and Ushijima is out of the gravel trap, but as he hustled back to catch the field he spins and is high centered heading down the hill out of Turn 2. 

Pace car has called in a surface change, and race control calls all cars to pit lane. They are to report to their pit boxes, but crews may not yet touch their cars. Race control will wait until all cars are stopped and then a 5 minute window will be opened to change to the rain tires. In dirt track parlance, this is an open red with the exception that putting on the rain tires is REQUIRED. But, crews can optimize the car for the wet. 

The rain was enough to wet the track, and has almost, but not completely, stopped again. 

The order under RED Lap 17 of 30.  d’Orlando, Denmark, Miller, Granfors, Garg, Rowe, St. Jean, Zendelli, Sundaramoorthy, Weir (10th), Lee, Escotto, Brewer, Monteiro, de Alba, Pizzi, Browne, Ushijima, Porto, Missing.

Work time has expired and the field is being lined up on pit lane behind the pace car.  

Report via USF broadcast is the backstretch does NOT have rain, but Turn 9 does. 

Ushijima did not change tires…but he’s two laps down, so not sure if the tire change applied to him. (Update – yep, it does.  Have to take green on rain tires and then you can pit). 

But, that won’t happen soon as after rolling back on the track, Lindsay Brewer spins (again looked like exit of the keyhole when getting on the throttle – this is getting pretty common among all series running this weekend), and she will need the AMR INDYCAR Safety team to get her back on the track.

18 laps completed…and the track is now damp, not wet.  

Back to green to complete Lap 19, but the race is now close to the time limit.  We won’t get all 30 laps for sure – or even close really. 

Lap 20 and there it is – the field gets the white flag with d’Orlando leading Denmark by 1.3. Miller, Granfors, Garg, Zendelli, St. Jean, Weir, Rowe, Sundaramoorthy, Ecotto, Lee, Monteiro, de Alba, Pizzi, Brewer, Browne, 

Race control reported the 47 of Jackson Lee off track, but he is able to drive it back around to the pits and will finish 14th, final car on the lead lap.  

CHECKERED FLAG LAP 21: d’Orlando takes the win over Jace Denmark by 1.5 seconds. 

This is Michael d’Orlando’s second win of the season, (Road America #1). The 21 year old Hartsdale, NY driver is the reigning USF2000 champion.

USF Pro 2000 Race #1 Mid-Ohio Results:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Diff	Gap
1	1	Michael d’Orlando	—	—
2	20	Jace Denmark	1.5096	1.5096
3	40	Jack William Miller	1.9134	0.4038
4	92	Joel Granfors	2.2306	0.3172
5	7	Bijoy Garg	5.1148	2.8842
6	10	Lirim Zendeli	6.627	1.5122
7	3	Louka St-Jean	9.0257	2.3987
8	32	Christian Weir	9.2412	0.2155
9	4	Ricardo Escotto	9.7891	0.5479
10	91	Salvador de Alba	10.2385	0.4494
11	99	Myles Rowe	10.6343	0.3958
12	81	Nicholas Monteiro	12.8183	2.184
13	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	13.4017	0.5834
14	47	Jackson Lee	27.1718	13.7701
15	55	Francesco Pizzi	1 Lap	1 Lap
16	93	Lindsay Brewer	1 Lap	21.2095
17	2	Jonathan Browne	3 Laps	2 Laps
18	6	Reece Ushijima	3 Laps	02:53.6
DNF	12	Kiko Porto	DNF	18 Laps
DNF	19	Jordan Missig	DNF	1.3894

By Patrick Stephan

The qualifying session to set the field for USF Pro 2000 started out with the air temp at 78, track up to 96 and the humidity down slightly to 74F.

Michael d’Orlando was P1 as we approached the final five minutes of the session with a lap of 1:17.5200, followed by Kiko Porto, Salvador de Alba, Jace Denmark, and Myles Rowe -mostly set on their 10th lap as driver’s came in and took fresh rubber for the final run to the end of this qualifying session.

Myles Rowe moved to P1 with his 8th lap, at 1:17.4863, just edging d’Orlando, Alba, Porto and Bijoy Garg.

Rowe still has P1 as the checkered flies, but we have several cars still on the track. Garg had moved to P4 just before the clock expired. On these final laps, Denmark moves to 7th, Jackson Lee moves forward to 14th.

Car 55 of Francesco Pizzi gets a post session penalty for qualifying interference. He is currently 16th, but we’ll see where he winds up starting after the penalty is applied.

This is Rowe’s 2nd pole (Indy GP Race #2), to go along with his three wins this season at St. Pete #2 and Sebring #1 and #2.

PROVISIONAL USF Pro 2000 Qualifying for Race #2 Results (appears to apply penalty to Pizzi):

Pos	No.	Driver	Hometown	Best Tm	Diff	Gap	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps
1	99	Myles Rowe	Powder Springs GA	1:17.4863			104.906	8	10
2	1	Michael d’Orlando	Hartsdale NY	1:17.4972	0.0109	0.0109	104.892	11	12
3	12	Kiko Porto	Recife Brazil	1:17.5053	0.019	0.0081	104.881	11	12
4	7	Bijoy Garg	Stanford CA	1:17.5434	0.0571	0.0381	104.829	11	12
5	91	Salvador de Alba	Guadalajara Mexico	1:17.5475	0.0612	0.0041	104.823	11	13
6	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Oconomowoc WI	1:17.5556	0.0693	0.0081	104.813	12	13
7	20	Jace Denmark	Phoenix AZ	1:17.5854	0.0991	0.0298	104.772	9	9
8	3	Louka St-Jean	Laval Quebec Canada	1:17.7971	0.3108	0.2117	104.487	12	12
9	92	Joel Granfors	Eskilstuna Sweden	1:17.8965	0.4102	0.0994	104.354	9	12
10	40	Jack William Miller	Westfield IN	1:17.9515	0.4652	0.055	104.28	10	12
11	10	Lirim Zendeli	Bochum Germany	1:17.9566	0.4703	0.0051	104.273	9	13
12	6	Reece Ushijima	Laguna Hills CA	1:17.9813	0.495	0.0247	104.24	10	11
13	32	Christian Weir	Naperville IL	1:18.1546	0.6683	0.1733	104.009	12	13
14	47	Jackson Lee	Indianapolis IN	1:18.2243	0.738	0.0697	103.917	12	12
15	4	Ricardo Escotto	Mexico City Mexico	1:18.2384	0.7521	0.0141	103.898	10	11
16	2	Jonathan Browne	Dublin Ireland	1:18.3143	0.828	0.0759	103.797	9	12
17	19	Jordan Missig	Joliet IL	1:18.4101	0.9238	0.0958	103.67	7	9
18	55	Francesco Pizzi	Rome Italy	1:18.4596	0.9733	0.0495	103.605	12	12
19	81	Nicholas Monteiro	Sao Paulo Brazil	1:18.7395	1.2532	0.2799	103.237	11	13
20	93	Lindsay Brewer	Denver CO	1:19.5392	2.0529	0.7997	102.199	10	13

By Patrick Stephan

The first of two qualifying sessions today for Saturday’s pair of USF2000 Pro presented by Cooper Tires races got started promptly at 10:25am ET here at the Mid-Oho Sports Car Course. Ambient temp was 72F, the track at 83F and the humidity a balmy 80F.

With everyone using a carry over set of tires in this morning’s practice, this session will see the driver’s using the first of their three new sets of Cooper Tires.

On the out lap, we saw Yuven Sundaramoorthy spin at Turn 9. He had caught the car in front of him (blue/white car, not quite sure who it was) that was still warming tires. Yuven was carrying more speed and had to cut hard right and spun off to the inside of Turn 9.

He was able to get out of the grass and continue on.

The car #3 of Louka St-Jean was given a warning for qualifying interference, didn’t hear if this was directly related to the Sundaramoorthy spin.

Michael d’Orlando would take the top spot at 1:18.2226 with his fourth lap of the sesson, followed by Bijoy Garg and Kiko Porto.

The red would come out after 7:41 of green flag time when Sundaramoorthy again had trouble. This time it started earlier but he would up in the Turn 9 gravel trap. The AMR INDYCAR Safety team was able to pull him out and he continued back to the pits.

As part of that incident, the car #6 of Reece Ushijima had their fast lap invalidated as it was set while going through a local (later full course) yellow flag area.

Back to green, and lap times continue to drop. d’Orlando is still P1, but his 7th lap is 1:17.6283, and he’s followed by de Alba, Jace Denmark, Joel Granfors, Porto…

Lap 8 and Kiko Porto jumps to P2 with Garg now P3.

Same two up front after Lap 9, but both qo faster as d’Orlando leads Porto with a lap of 1:17.4897. Interesting to see the cars going faster on these 9/10 lap old tires as the tires wear and get hotter while the fuel is also burning off.

d’Orlando comes to the pits after his 11th lap, with about 90 seconds remaining in the session.

The checkered falls with d’Orlando still on top at 1:17.4897. Car #55 of Francesco Pizzi will pick up a penalty for missing the checkered flag and running another lap.

This is d’Orlando’s 3rd pole of the season to go along with Sebring Race #2 and Road America race #1 – where he scored his first victory of the season. He is currently 11th in series points.

USF Pro 2000 Mid-Ohio Race #1 Qualifying Results:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Hometown	Best Time	Diff	Gap	Best Lap	Total Laps	Team
1	1	Michael d’Orlando	Hartsdale NY	1:17.4897	—	‑‑.‑‑‑‑	9	11	Turn 3 Motorsport
2	12	Kiko Porto	Recife Brazil	1:17.5466	0.0569	0.0569	9	13	DEForce Racing
3	92	Joel Granfors	Eskilstuna Sweden	1:17.5608	0.0711	0.0142	10	14	Exclusive Autosport
4	91	Salvador de Alba	Guadalajara Mexico	1:17.5920	0.1023	0.0312	11	14	Exclusive Autosport
5	7	Bijoy Garg	Stanford CA	1:17.6375	0.1478	0.0455	9	13	DEForce Racing
6	6	Reece Ushijima	Laguna Hills CA	1:17.7983	0.3086	0.1608	8	12	Jay Howard Driver Development
7	99	Myles Rowe	Powder Springs GA	1:17.8372	0.3475	0.0389	9	13	Pabst Racing
8	20	Jace Denmark	Phoenix AZ	1:17.8629	0.3732	0.0257	9	12	Pabst Racing
9	40	Jack William Miller	Westfield IN	1:17.9596	0.4699	0.0967	14	14	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
10	10	Lirim Zendeli	Bochum Germany	1:17.9782	0.4885	0.0186	10	14	TJ Speed Motorsports
11	3	Louka St‑Jean	Laval Quebec Canada	1:18.0339	0.5442	0.0557	8	11	Turn 3 Motorsport
12	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Oconomowoc WI	1:18.1141	0.6244	0.0802	7	11	Exclusive Autosport
13	55	Francesco Pizzi	Rome Italy	1:18.2259	0.7362	0.1118	13	13	TJ Speed Motorsports
14	2	Jonathan Browne	Dublin Ireland	1:18.2439	0.7542	0.018	9	11	Turn 3 Motorsport
15	32	Christian Weir	Naperville IL	1:18.2909	0.8012	0.047	12	13	TJ Speed Motorsports
16	47	Jackson Lee	Indianapolis IN	1:18.3136	0.8239	0.0227	9	12	Turn 3 Motorsport
17	19	Jordan Missig	Joliet IL	1:18.3681	0.8784	0.0545	10	13	Pabst Racing
18	4	Ricardo Escotto	Mexico City Mexico	1:18.4260	0.9363	0.0579	14	14	Jay Howard Driver Development
19	81	Nicholas Monteiro	Sao Paulo Brazil	1:18.4956	1.0059	0.0696	11	13	NeoTech Motorsport
20	93	Lindsay Brewer	Denver CO	1:19.4124	1.9227	0.9168	9	14	Exclusive Autosport

By Patrick Stephan

Just couple quick notes from what remains a hazy Mid-Ohio.

The session would stop 15 minutes through when Lindsay Brewer’s 93 car got stuck in the grass outside of the keyhole (between Turns 11 and 12).

We would get another red to end the session when the #4 of Ricardo Escotto slowed through Thunder Valley and was then brought back to the pits by the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team.

That late caution probably ruined the quick laps of some contenders, but when the session took the checkered and red flag, Salvador de Alba was P1.

Point leader – by 48 – Myles Rowe would time just 7th. Lirim Zendelli, Kiko Porto, Michael d’Orlando and Yuven Sundaramoorthy would round out this mornings Top 5.

USF Pro 2000 Practice #1 Timesheet:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Best Time	Diff	Gap	Best Lap	Total Laps	Team
1	91	Salvador de Alba	1:18.1531	—	‑‑.‑‑‑‑	17	19	Exclusive Autosport
2	10	Lirim Zendeli	1:18.3614	0.2083	0.2083	18	19	TJ Speed Motorsports
3	12	Kiko Porto	1:18.3624	0.2093	0.001	14	17	DEForce Racing
4	1	Michael d’Orlando	1:18.4774	0.3243	0.115	14	14	Turn 3 Motorsport
5	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	1:18.5283	0.3752	0.0509	18	19	Exclusive Autosport
6	20	Jace Denmark	1:18.5421	0.389	0.0138	13	17	Pabst Racing
7	99	Myles Rowe	1:18.5795	0.4264	0.0374	13	18	Pabst Racing
8	6	Reece Ushijima	1:18.5817	0.4286	0.0022	6	14	Jay Howard Driver Development
9	40	Jack William Miller	1:18.6815	0.5284	0.0998	16	18	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
10	32	Christian Weir	1:18.6995	0.5464	0.018	15	16	TJ Speed Motorsports
11	92	Joel Granfors	1:18.8087	0.6556	0.1092	15	19	Exclusive Autosport
12	2	Jonathan Browne	1:18.8203	0.6672	0.0116	15	18	Turn 3 Motorsport
13	7	Bijoy Garg	1:18.8238	0.6707	0.0035	15	18	DEForce Racing
14	4	Ricardo Escotto	1:19.0500	0.8969	0.2262	15	15	Jay Howard Driver Development
15	47	Jackson Lee	1:19.0829	0.9298	0.0329	13	16	Turn 3 Motorsport
16	19	Jordan Missig	1:19.4126	1.2595	0.3297	14	15	Pabst Racing
17	55	Francesco Pizzi	1:19.4157	1.2626	0.0031	14	18	TJ Speed Motorsports
18	3	Louka St‑Jean	1:19.4461	1.293	0.0304	7	17	Turn 3 Motorsport
19	81	Nicholas Monteiro	1:19.5077	1.3546	0.0616	14	15	NeoTech Motorsport
20	93	Lindsay Brewer	1:19.9080	1.7549	0.4003	15	18	Exclusive Autosport