By Tony DiZinno

Under clear skies and 63F ambient temperatures, the 20 drivers in their Tatuus PM-22, Elite Engines-prepared 2-liter MZR cars in the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires got their engines fired for the L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America at 8:00 a.m. The race is 15 laps within a 50-minute window.

True to form on a chaotic weekend for the quartet of USF Pro Championships races on the freshly repaved Elkhart Lake, Wis. road course, the action started early – and surprisingly.

Polesitter Christian Weir (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport) didn’t even make it to the start, because the two collided on the warmup lap at the apex to Turn 14. Both drivers came up the hill and pitted, and series starter Aaron Likens waved the yellow flag to halt the start.

Race Control came over the radio to report “Car 10 is the new polesitter.” So Lirim Zendeli in another TJ Speed Motorsports car moved to the point with another Turn 3 Motorsport driver, Louka St-Jean, moving into second. Everyone behind moved up a row.

Race announcers Rob Howden of Andersen Promotions and the USF Pro Championships and Eric Mueller of Road America were stupefied, noting they said as announcers they’re not speechless often, but were here.

The race resumed shortly thereafter with Zendeli ahead of the third TJ Speed Motorsports entry, driven by Francesco Pizzi, then Jonathan Browne in the third of four Turn 3 Motorsport cars third with Myles Rowe fourth in his Pabst Racing with Force Indy entry and Ricardo Escotto fifth in the first of the armada of Jay Howard Driver Development cars.

A more traditional full-course caution occurred on Lap 7 down at Turn 5 with a number of cars off course, including Escotto, St-Jean, Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) and Jackson Lee (Turn 3 Motorsport). The luckless Lee was caught up in an incident not of his own doing for yet another time this year, collateral damage following contact between Escotto and de Alba.

The restart occurred on Lap 9. The TJ Speed teammates, Pizzi and Zendeli, exchanged the lead twice but Zendeli kept the top spot by the conclusion of the lap with Pizzi second, Browne third, Kiko Porto quietly fourth for DEForce Racing and Rowe fifth.

Jordan Missig had driven up from 17^th to sixth for Pabst Racing, looking to continue his momentum after a podium. But he went off at Turn 6 from sixth, with a broken suspension.

With five to go on Lap 10 and the race actually settling into a bit of a rhythm, it was Zendeli, Pizzi, Browne, Rowe and Reece Ushijima (JHDD) in the top five with Rowe sixth, Escotto seventh, Jace Denmark (Pabst), Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Exclusive) in the top 10.

The top five changed hands over the final few laps, with Porto hustling up to second and Pizzi falling down to fifth, with Browne and Rowe making headway to get to third and fourth.

But none of them was able to catch Zendeli, as the German-Albanian driver secured his first USF Pro 2000 victory by 3.5879 seconds.

Zendeli is the seventh different winner this season, joining:

• Christian Brooks, No. 3 Turn 3 Motorsport, St. Petersburg Race 1
• Myles Rowe, No. 99 Pabst Racing with Force Indy, St. Petersburg Race 2, Sebring Races 1 and 2
• Ricardo Escotto, No. 4 Jay Howard Driver Development, IMS Road Course Race 1
• Joel Granfors, No. 92 Exclusive Autosport, IMS Road Course Race 2
• Salvador De Alba, No. 91 Exclusive Autosport, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park
• Michael d’Orlando, No. 1 Turn 3 Motorsport, Road America Race 1

The series resumes at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in two weeks.

L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America Race 2 Unofficial Results

P	No	Name	Team	Laps	Diff
1	10	Lirim Zendeli	TJ Speed Motorsports	15	LAP 15
2	12	Kiko Porto	DEForce Racing	15	3.5879
3	2	Jonathan Browne	Turn 3 Motorsport	15	3.8863
4	99	Myles Rowe	Pabst Racing	15	4.9985
5	55	Francesco Pizzi	TJ Speed Motorsports	15	5.9119
6	92	Joel Granfors	Exclusive Autosport	15	8.6213
7	20	Jace Denmark	Pabst Racing	15	9.1025
8	4	Ricardo Escotto	Jay Howard Driver Development	15	9.5012
9	6	Reece Ushijima	Jay Howard Driver Development	15	12.8912
10	91	Salvador de Alba	Exclusive Autosport	15	15.6048
11	40	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports	15	18.6284
12	81	Nicholas Monteiro	NeoTech Motorsport	15	19.3834
13	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Exclusive Autosport	15	20.1331
14	93	Lindsay Brewer	Exclusive Autosport	15	26.6718
15	32	Christian Weir	TJ Speed Motorsports	14	1 LAPS
16	3	Louka St-Jean	Turn 3 Motorsport	13	2 LAPS
17	19	Jordan Missig	Pabst Racing	10	Contact
18	47	Jackson Lee	Turn 3 Motorsport	6	Contact
19	7	Bijoy Garg	DEForce Racing	1	14 LAPS
20	1	Michael d’Orlando	Turn 3 Motorsport	—	Contact
21	83	Charles Finelli	FatBoy Racing	—	DNS

By Tony DiZinno

The 21 drivers in their Tatuus PM-22, Elite Engines-prepared 2-liter MZR cars in the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires got their engines fired for the L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America at 2:40 p.m. The race is 15 laps within a 50-minute window.

The start was waved off because Nicholas Monteiro’s No. 81 NeoTech Motorsport entry was pulled off course at Turn 5. Additionally, Charles Finelli’s No. 83 FatBoy Racing entry did not start so that left 19 cars for the green flag.

That lap was run under yellow and polesitter Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport) led the field away at the conclusion of Lap 1. Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing with Force Indy) made a move to get into third. Further back, Jackson Lee was contacted at Turn 3 (the corner, not the team) and was stuck by Yuven Sundaramoorthy, which pitched Lee’s car into the air and the gravel trap. Another Turn 3 Motorsport driver, Louka St-John, got thrown off the road with Francesco Pizzi exiting Turn 6. He fell down to 13^th.

This brought out the second full-course caution in as many laps with d’Orlando leading Rowe, Reece Ushijima (Jay Howard Driver Development), Christian Weir (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Bijoy Garg (DEForce Racing).

Green flag flew at the end of Lap 3 with Rowe now second behind d’Orlando. Lee was able to resume after getting taken out of the gravel trap.

Rowe got to the lead on Lap 5, outside of d’Orlando and into Turn 6 with Ushijima following shortly.

Another full-course caution, the third, flew with Lirim Zendeli (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Bijoy Garg (DEForce Racing) having issues into the Kink. Zendeli came out of the dirt with Garg stuck against the barrier. Weir, who’d started second, had also fallen down the order to 16^th.

By Lap 4 the order was Rowe, Ushijima, d’Orlando, Pizzi, Denmark, Missig, Porto, Escotto, St-Jean and de Alba top 10 with Browne, Granfors and Brewer next.

There were some position changes enforced under this yellow flag. Pizzi and Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing) were told to go to the back for jumping the restart.

Revised order as of Lap 6 of 15: Rowe, Ushijima, d’Orlando, Missig and Porto the new top five with St-Jean, Escotto, de Alba, Browne and Granfors the rest of the top 10. Brewer, Sundaramoorthy, Miller, Weir, Pizzi and Denmark still running on the lead lap, with Lee out a lap down.

The restart came at the end of Lap 7, almost halfway. Ushijima makes a run around the outside of Rowe into Turn 1 and completes the pass for the lead. Rowe having to fend off d’Orlando and others for second. Another TJ Speed Motorsports car, Weir, around in the back.

Ushijima has a nightmare Lap 9 though, falling behind Rowe, d’Orlando and Missig down to fourth.

Granfors threw his car up the inside of another car at Turn 1, his Exclusive Autosport teammate de Alba, who was then left in the beach. Miller in his car was collateral damage with nowhere to go on the outside.

Fourth full-course caution of the race flies at the end of Lap 10. New order: Rowe, d’Orlando, Missig, Ushijima, Escotto, St-Jean, Pizzi, Porto, Browne and Denmark into the top 10. Miller pits, and de Alba out of the gravel trap.

Green flag flies again at the end of Lap 11, start of Lap 12. D’Orlando tries to the outside of Rowe, can’t get there.

More contact between Escotto and Pizzi at Turn 6, Pizzi to the inside and collecting Escotto and looping him around.

Meanwhile d’Orlando got back to the lead by Lap 12 by Rowe with Missig now by too.

Granfors pits with a drive-through for avoidable contact.

Rowe got back by Missig on Lap 13 to get back into second, 0.8706 of a second behind d’Orlando with Missig just 0.3 behind him.

Brewer, attempting to pass her Exclusive teammate Sundaramoorthy for 11^th, spins and recovers at Turn 5. This drops her back only one spot after what had been a steady and clean race to that point.

D’Orlando brings it home 0.8184 of a second ahead of Rowe to secure his first USF Pro 2000 victory, with Rowe and Missig completing the podium.

“It’s been a hard season; Turn 3 can agree with that! We’ve had the speed and pace but troubling to not have got the wins and podiums. My streak is finally open, the Turn 3 No. 1 car is up there and it’s a monster!” he said.

“Myles was up there. We got up there and had some good moves to make it work.”

A great day for two Midwest-based teams, Peter Dempsey’s Mundelein, Ill.-based Turn 3 Motorsport ahead of the Oconomowoc, Wis.-based Pabst Racing.

Ushijima and Browne complete the top five, with Porto, Pizzi, Denmark, St-Jean and Weir rounding out the top 10.

Race two is tomorrow morning, bright and early at 8:00 a.m.

L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America Race 1 Unofficial Results

P	No	Name	Team	Laps	Diff
1	1	Michael d’Orlando	Turn 3 Motorsport	15	LAP 15
2	99	Myles Rowe	Pabst Racing	15	0.8184
3	19	Jordan Missig	Pabst Racing	15	3.7215
4	6	Reece Ushijima	Jay Howard Driver Development	15	4.7097
5	2	Jonathan Browne	Turn 3 Motorsport	15	6.5670
6	12	Kiko Porto	DEForce Racing	15	7.8320
7	55	Francesco Pizzi	TJ Speed Motorsports	15	8.7480
8	20	Jace Denmark	Pabst Racing	15	8.8814
9	3	Louka St-Jean	Turn 3 Motorsport	15	10.2943
10	32	Christian Weir	TJ Speed Motorsports	15	11.5238
11	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Exclusive Autosport	15	12.5427
12	4	Ricardo Escotto	Jay Howard Driver Development	15	15.8703
13	93	Lindsay Brewer	Exclusive Autosport	15	25.2653
14	91	Salvador de Alba	Exclusive Autosport	15	41.0412
15	92	Joel Granfors	Exclusive Autosport	15	52.3401
16	40	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports	15	64.4386
17	47	Jackson Lee	Turn 3 Motorsport	14	1 LAPS
18	7	Bijoy Garg	DEForce Racing	3	Contact
19	10	Lirim Zendeli	TJ Speed Motorsports	3	Contact
20	81	Nicholas Monteiro	NeoTech Motorsport	—	Mechanical
21	83	Charles Finelli	FatBoy Racing	—	DNS

By Tony DiZinno

The second qualifying session of the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires weekend at Road America for the L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America produced a late surprise and a record-tying mark.

With his first pole of the year and his USF Pro 2000 career, Christian Weir in his No. 32 TJ Speed Motorsports Tatuus PM-22 edged erstwhile polesitter Michael d’Orlando in his No. 1 Turn 3 Motorsport car by 0.2370 of a second, down to 2:01.7070 over d’Orlando’s best lap fo 2:01.9440.

Those were the only two drivers in the morning qualifying session, set with temperatures of 64F ambient and 75F degrees on track, under the 2:02 bracket.

Weir’s pole means he’s the eighth different polesitter in nine races to start the season, which equals a USF Pro 2000 record also set in 2007 and 2020.

The other seven are:

• Christian Brooks, No. 3 Turn 3 Motorsport, St. Petersburg Race 1
• Francesco Pizzi, No. 55 TJ Speed Motorsports, St. Petersburg Race 2
• Jace Denmark, No. 20 Pabst Racing, Sebring Race 1
• Michael d’Orlando, No. 1 Turn 3 Motorsport, Sebring Race 2 and Road America Race 1
• Kiko Porto, No. 12 DEForce Racing, IMS Road Course Race 1
• Myles Rowe, No. 99 Pabst Racing with Force Indy, IMS Road Course Race 2
• Jack William Miller, No. 40 Miller Vinatieri Motorsports, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

Weir only got the opportunity to run late after a one-lap shootout brought on by two red flags.

The first came with Jack William Miller spun and stopped off Turn 14 prior to pit in with 14 minutes complete. At that point, the Turn 3 trio of d’Orlando (2:01.9440), Louka St-Jean (2:02.4060) and Jonathan Browne (2:02.5459) were running 1-2-3.

Shortly after the restart, Browne slowed exiting Turn 3 with his engine running rough and stopped. He continued but only after a second red flag came out, and was instructed to park in Turn 5. He was penalized for causing the red flag and dropped down to seventh.

The green flag flew with 3 minutes, 46 seconds to go allowing for one out lap and one flyer, where Weir took the top spot.

Qualifying 2 Unofficial Results

P	No	Name	Team	FTime	Diff	Laps	FL
1	32	Christian Weir	TJ Speed Motorsports	2:01.7070	2:01.7070	8	8
2	1	Michael d’Orlando	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:01.9440	0.2370	9	4
3	10	Lirim Zendeli	TJ Speed Motorsports	2:02.1081	0.4011	8	8
4	3	Louka St-Jean	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:02.4060	0.6990	9	5
5	2	Jonathan Browne	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:02.5459	0.8389	9	5
6	55	Francesco Pizzi	TJ Speed Motorsports	2:02.6346	0.9276	8	8
7	99	Myles Rowe	Pabst Racing	2:02.7768	1.0698	8	8
8	4	Ricardo Escotto	Jay Howard Driver Development	2:02.9067	1.1997	8	8
9	91	Salvador De Alba	Exclusive Autosport	2:02.9952	1.2882	8	8
10	47	Jackson Lee	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:03.0530	1.3460	8	5
11	6	Reece Ushijima	Jay Howard Driver Development	2:03.0733	1.3663	8	8
12	7	Bijoy Garg	DEForce Racing	2:03.2322	1.5252	8	4
13	12	Kiko Porto	DEForce Racing	2:03.3276	1.6206	8	4
14	20	Jace Denmark	Pabst Racing	2:03.4096	1.7026	8	8
15	81	Nicholas Monteiro	NeoTech Motorsport	2:03.4119	1.7049	8	8
16	92	Joel Granfors	Exclusive Autosport	2:03.9133	2.2063	8	8
17	19	Jordan Missig	Pabst Racing	2:04.1747	2.4677	8	3
18	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Exclusive Autosport	2:04.3763	2.6693	6	6
19	40	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports	2:04.4453	2.7383	5	4
20	93	Lindsay Brewer	Exclusive Autosport	2:04.8128	3.1058	8	4
21	83	Charles Finelli	FatBoy Racing	2:09.8068	8.0998	8	3

Here are the times for the remainder of the weekend:

Saturday

• 12:55 pm – USF Pro 2000 Autograph Session (fan zone)
• 2:40 pm – L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Road America – Race #1 (15 laps or 50 minutes)

Sunday 

• 8:50am – L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Road America – Race #2 (15 laps of 50 minutes)

By Tony DiZinno

Heading into L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wis., the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires sees Pabst Racing with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe at the top of the tables with a 32-point lead on Exclusive Autosport’s Joel Granfors (165-133).

That 32-point margin from Rowe to Granfors is the exact same margin as Granfors in second has to sixth place, which right now is a three-way tie among Reece Ushijima (Jay Howard Driver Development), Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports) and Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport).

Sandwiched among them are Francesco Pizzi (TJ Speed Motorsports), Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) and Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing), so there’s seven different teams among the top eight drivers in points.

You can read Steve’s extensive USF Pro 2000 weekend preview here.

We don’t expect the USF Pro 2000 track records to fall this weekend, but we do expect the times to tumble significantly from 2022 owing to the fresh new surface covering the 4.014-mile Road America.

The reasoning? Compared to when the Tatuus PM-22 was first introduced in 2018 (pre-halo addition and other chassis enhancements), the Andersen Promotions-operated series made an engine spec adjustment (slightly reduced horsepower and rpm) that has improved reliability.

Heading into the weekend, lap records were:

• Race: Toby Sowery, June 22, 2018, 2:01.3306
• Qualifying: David Malukas, June 22, 2018, 1:59.8151

So while the times are unlikely eclipse those marks, they should be much quicker than in 2022.

Last year’s winners came from Exclusive Autosport (Louis Foster) and Jay Howard Driver Development (Braden Eves).

—

Practice 1 Notes

The best time in any 2022 session was 2:04.3105 in Q1 set by Reece Gold. And in Thursday’s second test session, the fastest time was three seconds under that, set by Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport). D’Orlando ran a best time of 2:01.2671.

In Friday’s official practice session, Turn 3 Motorsport was a solid 1-2-4. Jonathan Browne led it at 2:01.4481 with d’Orlando second and Louka St. John fourth. The lone interloper was Ushijima, best of the JHDD brigade, in third.

—

Qualifying 1 Notes

The aforementioned team parity carried into the first qualifying session of the weekend, with four different teams in the top four positions.

The Peter Dempsey-led Turn 3 squad continued its momentum with d’Orlando capturing the pole at 2:01.7851, edging TJ Speed’s Christian Weir by just 0.0056 of a second (2:01.7907). That’s a nice bounce back for Weir after an incident on the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park oval last month.

Ushijima (JHDD) and Rowe (Pabst with Force Indy) complete the top four.

Qualifying 1 Unofficial Results

P	No	Name	Team	FTime	Diff	Laps	FL
1	1	Michael d’Orlando	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:01.7851	2:01.7851	6	5
2	32	Christian Weir	TJ Speed Motorsports	2:01.7907	0.0056	8	5
3	6	Reece Ushijima	Jay Howard Driver Development	2:02.1503	0.3652	8	6
4	99	Myles Rowe	Pabst Racing	2:02.2038	0.4187	6	3
5	3	Louka St-Jean	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:02.2329	0.4478	8	6
6	7	Bijoy Garg	DEForce Racing	2:02.3165	0.5314	8	8
7	12	Kiko Porto	DEForce Racing	2:02.4049	0.6198	8	3
8	55	Francesco Pizzi	TJ Speed Motorsports	2:02.5072	0.7221	8	6
9	2	Jonathan Browne	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:02.5073	0.7222	8	6
10	20	Jace Denmark	Pabst Racing	2:02.5760	0.7909	7	6
11	4	Ricardo Escotto	Jay Howard Driver Development	2:02.6823	0.8972	7	5
12	10	Lirim Zendeli	TJ Speed Motorsports	2:02.6879	0.9028	7	2
13	91	Salvador De Alba	Exclusive Autosport	2:02.7646	0.9795	7	5
14	19	Jordan Missig	Pabst Racing	2:03.0014	1.2163	8	4
15	47	Jackson Lee	Turn 3 Motorsport	2:03.1827	1.3976	6	5
16	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Exclusive Autosport	2:03.4858	1.7007	8	8
17	93	Lindsay Brewer	Exclusive Autosport	2:03.6928	1.9077	8	6
18	92	Joel Granfors	Exclusive Autosport	2:03.8542	2.0691	7	3
19	40	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports	2:04.0310	2.2459	8	8
20	81	Nicholas Monteiro	NeoTech Motorsport	2:04.6963	2.9112	6	6
21	83	Charles Finelli	FatBoy Racing	2:06.9823	5.1972	9	6

USF Pro 2000 has its second qualifying session of the weekend Saturday at 8:00 a.m., with races occurring Saturday at 2:40 p.m. and Sunday at 8:00 a.m. 

By Steve Wittich

The largest USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires field in over a decade – 21 cars – will contest a pair of 15-lap L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America races as the series that has already had five drivers and four teams visit victory lane, hits the halfway point. The most different drivers to visit victory lane during a season occurred in 2020 when eight drivers were winners.

Through the season’s first seven races, seven different drivers have started from the pole, which is only one driver short of the record eight pole winners, which happened twice (2007 and 2020).

Despite scoring only the ninth most points across three races in Indianapolis, Pabst Racing w/ Force Indy rookie Myles Rowe holds a 32-point championship advantage as the series heads to the iconic Road America.

When the USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires started their three-race “Month of May,” Rowe held a 42-point championship lead over rookie Francesco Pizzi (TJ Speed Motorsports) and veteran Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing).

However, Italian Pizzi and Brazilian Porto didn’t fare much better than their title-leading rival. Porto collected six fewer markers than Rowe, leaving him 48 points out of the championship lead in fifth place. Pizzi was only five points better than the driver of the flat black, brick red and blue No. 99, leaving him in third in the championship, 37 points away from the $664,500 Discount Tire Driver Advancement Scholarship.

The big winners across the trio of races in Indianapolis were the Exclusive Autosport duo of veteran Salvador de Alba and rookie Joel Granfors.

de Alba, a Mexican mentored by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) race winner Michel Jourdain, Jr., started May in 12th place in the championship, trailing Rowe by 79 points. A win in the points-heavy Freedom 90 oval race, combined with a second and sixth on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, meant the 23-year-old outscored all other drivers over the trio of races. de Alba moved to fourth on the points table, making up 38 points and moving to within 41 points of Rowe.

GB3 standout Granfors parlayed a win on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and a second-place finish on the oval into the second most points in the Hoosier State. The Swede moved to second place in the title chase and trails Rowe by 32 points.

USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires points scored in the three races held in Indianapolis, Ind during the “Month of May”

RANK	DRIVER		INDY RACE PTS.
1	Salvador de Alba		87
2	Joel Granfors (rookie)		70
3	Jonathan Browne		59
4	Jack William Miller		57
5	Francesco Pizzi (rookie)		54
6	Reece Ushijima (rookie)		52
7	Michael d’Orlando (rookie)		52
8	Myles Rowe (rookie)		49
9	Kiko Porto		43
10	Ricardo Escotto (rookie)		43
11	Jordan Missig		35
12	Christian Weir (rookie)		34
13	Yuven Sundaramoorthy		33
14	Jace Denmark (rookie)		32
15	Jackson Lee (rookie)		29
16	Nicholas Monteiro (rookie)		24
17	Bijoy Garg		23
18	Lindsay Brewer		20
19	Lirim Zendeli (rookie)		19
20	Charles Finelli		10

What could have quickly become a dominant Rowe championship after four races has become a five-driver battle, showing how quickly things can change. The season-long championship chase will finally click just over the halfway point after Sunday’s L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Road America, the ninth of 18 races.

There is still so much more action before a champion is crowned in Portland, Ore., including this weekend’s doubleheader at the highly unpredictable and newly resurfaced Road America, a trip north of the border to a tight street circuit in Toronto, Ont., and a visit to an unfamiliar Circuit of The Americas.

USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires championship table headed to Road America

RANK	DRIVER	TEAM		TOTAL
1	Myles Rowe (rookie)	Pabst Racing w/Force Indy		165
2	Joel Granfors (rookie)	Exclusive Autosport		133
3	Francesco Pizzi (rookie)	TJ Speed Motorsports		128
4	Salvador de Alba	Exclusive Autosport		124
5	Kiko Porto	DEForce Racing		117
6	Reece Ushijima (rookie)	Jay Howard Driver Development		101
7	Jonathan Browne	Turn 3 Motorsport		101
8	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports		101
9	Jace Denmark (rookie)	Pabst Racing		96
10	Lirim Zendeli (rookie)	TJ Speed Motorsports		83
11	Michael d’Orlando (rookie)	Turn 3 Motorsport		81
12	Jackson Lee (rookie)	Turn 3 Motorsport		70
13	Jordan Missig	Pabst Racing		69
14	Christian Weir (rookie)	TJ Speed Motorsports		68
15	Ricardo Escotto (rookie)	Jay Howard Driver Development		66
16	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Exclusive Autosport		66
17	Bijoy Garg	DEForce Racing		55
18	Christian Brooks (rookie)	Turn 3 Motorsport		47
19	Nicholas Monteiro (rookie)	NeoTech Motorsport		44
20	Lindsay Brewer	Exclusive Autosport		42
21	Charles Finelli	FatBoy Racing		10

Road America, also known as ‘America’s National Park Of Speed,’ will play host to it’s 23rd and 24th USF Pro 2000 races on the newly repaved 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course. 

Previous USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires winners at Road America

YEAR	DRIVER	TEAM
2022 Race #2	Braden Eves	Jay Howard Driver Development
2022 Race #1	Louis Foster	Exclusive Autosport
2021 Race #2	Christian Rasmussen	Jay Howard Driver Development
2021 Race #1	Manuel Sulaiman	Juncos Hollinger Racing
2020 Race #2	Artem Petrov	Juncos Racing
2020 Race #1	Danial Frost	Turn 3 Motorsport
2019 Race #2	Kyle Kirkwood	RP Motorsport
2019 Race #1	Kyle Kirkwood	RP Motorsport
2018 Race #2	David Malukas	BN Racing
2018 Race #1	David Malukas	BN Racing
2017 Race #2	Anthony Martin	Cape Motorsports
2017 Race #1	Victor Franzoni	Juncos Racing
2016 Race #2	Aaron Telitz	Team Pelfrey
2016 Race #1	Aaron Telitz	Team Pelfrey
2010	Conor Daly	Juncos Racing
2008	Peter Dempsey	Andersen Racing
2007	Ron White	Maxwell Racing
2006	Ron White	Ross Smith Racing
2005	James Hinchcliffe	AIM Autosport
2004	Michael McDowell	Star Race Cars
2003	Michael McDowell	Star Race Cars
2002	Guy Cosmo	Racers Edge Motorsports

The Elkhart Lake, Wisc. circuit was once the domain of pole winners, with the driver starting inside the front row winning eight of the first 14 races between 2002 and 2018. However, only one pole sitter has won in the eight races since 2019, and the average starting position of the driver that visited victory lane is 4.5. During those same eight races, the average finishing position of the pole winner is 4.8.

Historically, winning at Road America has gone a long way to securing a championship with Guy Cosmo (2002), Michael McDowell (2004), Conor Daly (2010), Aaron Telitz (2016), Victor Franzoni (2017), Kyle Kirkwood (2019), Christian Rasmussen (2021) and Louis Foster (2022) converting victories into championships.

The recently departed Juncos Hollinger Racing leads all teams with four wins at Road America, with active teams – Jay Howard Driver Development (two), Exclusive Autosport (one), and Turn 3 Motorsport (one) – all collecting wins.

Podiums for teams competing this weekend include:

• Jay Howard Driver Development – three
• Turn 3 Motorsport – three
• Exclusive Autosport – two
• Miller Vinatieri Motorsports – one
• Pabst Racing – one

Avoiding the early caution will be critical, with half of the ten races since the introduction of the Tatuus chassis in 2018 starting with a first-lap yellow flag.

The weekend schedule is as follows:

Friday 

• 9:20 am – 9:50 am – USF Pro 2000 Practice
• 11:30 am – noon – USF Pro 2000 Qualifying (Race #1)

Saturday

• 8 am – 8:30 am – USF Pro 2000 Qualifying (Race #2)
• 12:55 pm – USF Pro 2000 Autograph Session (fan zone)
• 2:40 pm – L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Road America – Race #1 (15 laps or 50 minutes)

Sunday 

• 8:50am – L&W Supply Grand Prix Of Road America – Race #2 (15 laps of 50 minutes)

By Tony DiZinno

The temps were down to 67F ambient for the start of the USF Pro 2000 Championship presented by Cooper Tires, five degrees cooler than USF2000, with green flag about 15 minutes later than originally scheduled (9:45 p.m. instead of 9:30 p.m.) at the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Miller leads the 18 Tatuus USF-22 cars to green, or means to. But the field was so stacked up coming through Turns 3 and 4, so the initial start is waved off. Green comes out at the second attempt with a bit of a chaotic series of movement.

Pizzi around the outside made gains while de Alba goes to the inside and shoots past both Pizzi and Miller to go from third to first. 

At the end of Lap 2, revised order from grid is de Alba, Miller, Pizzi, Granfors and Denmark top five with d’Orlando, Row, Browne, Weir and Lee the top 10.

Ten laps fly by at this track; it took under four minutes to run the first 10 laps of this 90-lap race. 

From the back of the field, Missig has gained eight spots P18 to P10. 

On L19 the gap from de Alba to Miller is back to 0.6 of a second. 

It’s only 22 laps in, but leaders should look out for traffic in the next 4-6 laps. 

Indeed end of L28, Monteiro and Brewer are just ahead of de Alba. Pivotal moment ahead for the Mexican driver. Monteiro by Brewer for P17 on L28. 

Gap now 0.4 L30 – de Alba by Brewer. 

Further back, Denmark and Rowe super tight battling over sixth; the USF2000 title combatants of a year ago run behind d’Orlando in P5, who beat them both. 

De Alba gains 0.4 in traffic over Miller by L32. But loses some time as he approaches the Monteiro/Garg/Escotto battle.

Now stuck behind Monteiro, Miller within 0.3 on de Alba.

Pizzi by Miller outside P2 tried and loses it

Granfors now gets by Pizzi on L38 for P3.

The halfway gap is 0.5 91 to 40. The order: de Alba, Miller, Granfors, Pizzi and d’Orlando the top five with Rowe, Denmark, Browne, Weir and Missig the top 10.

The leaders are approaching Monteiro again L49; he managed to stay ahead of the leaders last go-around. 

Rowe, meanwhile, is catching d’Orlando for fifth. 

Denmark has a big issue L55, drops to P10 with a 23.519 lap while rest in 21s. Browne, Weir and Missig are all by. He loses another spot next lap to Sundaramoorthy and now into pits L57 for a right rear tire change. TBD if he’ll return.  

Thirty to go L60. Rowe trying on d’Orlando, will use Brewer as a pick to get by low side. Gets to P5 L63.

Granfors make a move on Miller for second L64, inside. Now just 0.4 behind de Alba.

Granfors appears to be holding onto his Cooper Tires better than de Alba up front and is gaining 1.5-2 tenths a lap.

De Alba by Monteiro – finally on L69 – but Granfors follows him through. 

Twenty to go L70. De Alba tries L71 inside and is past Lee. Granfors clears him T3-4.

Denmark returns to track L72, out of contention but will gain some additional track time/testing. 

Fifteen to go. Gap 0.4 between De Alba and Granfors. 

Eleven to go. De Alba extends gap to 1.0 by L79. 

Full course caution comes on L81 when Weir hits the wall and stops exiting Turn 4. Car is taken away with left front and rear damage.

Doubtful we’ll be able to restart and indeed we don’t, so de Alba wins and leads an Exclusive Autosport 1-2 over Granfors in second with Miller in third.

Cooper Tires Freedom 90 Unofficial Results

P	No	Name	Team	Laps	Diff
1	91	Salvador de Alba	Exclusive Autosport	90	LAP 90
2	92	Joel Granfors	Exclusive Autosport	90	0.517
3	40	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports	90	1.047
4	55	Francesco Pizzi	TJ Speed Motorsports	90	1.947
5	99	Myles Rowe	Pabst Racing w/Force Indy	90	4.311
6	1	Michael d’Orlando	Turn 3 Motorsport	90	8.747
7	2	Jonathan Browne	Turn 3 Motorsport	90	9.250
8	19	Jordan Missig	Pabst Racing	90	9.897
9	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Exclusive Autosport	90	10.197
10	12	Kiko Porto	DEForce Racing	90	12.347
11	6	Reece Ushijima	Jay Howard Driver Development	89	1 LAPS
12	47	Jackson Lee	Turn 3 Motorsport	89	1 LAPS
13	81	Nicholas Monteiro	NeoTech Motorsport	89	1 LAPS
14	7	Bijoy Garg	DEForce Racing	89	1 LAPS
15	4	Ricardo Escotto	Jay Howard Driver Development	88	2 LAPS
16	93	Lindsay Brewer	Exclusive Autosport	87	3 LAPS
17	32	Christian Weir	TJ Speed Motorsports	80	Retired
18	20	Jace Denmark	Pabst Racing	75	15 LAPS

By Tony DiZinno

Jack William Miller will lead the 18-car field of USF Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires competitors to the green flag for Friday night’s Cooper Tires Freedom 90 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

The Carmel, Indiana native in his No. 40 Miller Vinatieri Motorsports lapped the 0.686-mile oval in a total of 41.726 seconds over two laps, equating to an average speed of 118.372mph.

Miller’s MVM Tatuus IP-22 was ahead of two Exclusive Autosport entries, Joel Granfors and Salvador de Alba. Granfors, the 18-year-old Swede, is fresh off his first USF Pro 2000 win on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course earlier this month and will look to emulate last year’s series champion and Exclusive Autosport driver, Louis Foster, in winning on the IRP oval shortly after capturing his first series win on the IMS road course.

TJ Speed Motorsports’ Francesco Pizzi and Pabst Racing with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe complete the top five on the grid.

Rowe enters the race with a 39-point lead on Kiko Porto, who only qualified his DeForce Racing entry in 11th place (139-100). Pizzi is third on 99, Granfors fourth on 95 and Jace Denmark fifth on 91.

The only oval on the schedule means the USF Pro 2000 field has a slightly different points structure.

A win is 45 points, second 38, third 33, fourth 29, fifth 26, with the remainder of the top 10 23-21-20-18-17 and then 15 for 11th down to 2 for 20th.

Key to the race in recent years? Tire management. Drivers need to hold onto their Cooper Tires over the course of 90 laps, and often times, managing the fall-off and keeping enough in hand when encountering slower traffic decides the winner.

Foster’s win last year was for Exclusive Autosport. Other recent winners with the Tatuus chassis include: Christian Rasmussen for Jay Howard Driver Development (2021), Kody Swanson for Legacy Autosport (2020), Danial Frost for Exclusive Autosport (2019) and Parker Thompson for Exclusive Autosport (2018).

Qualifying Results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Lap 1	Lap 2	Total Time	Avg. Speed
1	40	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports	20.758	20.968	41.726	118.372
2	92	Joel Granfors	Exclusive Autosport	20.910	20.849	41.759	118.279
3	91	Salvador de Alba	Exclusive Autosport	21.022	20.873	41.895	117.895
4	55	Francesco Pizzi	TJ Speed Motorsports	21.066	20.896	41.962	117.706
5	99	Myles Rowe	Pabst Racing w/Force Indy	21.137	20.893	42.030	117.516
6	20	Jace Denmark	Pabst Racing	21.182	20.950	42.132	117.232
7	1	Michael d’Orlando	Turn 3 Motorsport	21.119	21.210	42.329	116.686
8	2	Jonathan Browne	Turn 3 Motorsport	21.144	21.245	42.389	116.521
9	32	Christian Weir	TJ Speed Motorsports	21.187	21.236	42.423	116.427
10	47	Jackson Lee	Turn 3 Motorsport	21.291	21.250	42.541	116.104
11	12	Kiko Porto	DEForce Racing	21.384	21.204	42.588	115.976
12	4	Ricardo Escotto	Jay Howard Driver Development	21.415	21.297	42.712	115.640
13	81	Nicholas Monteiro	NeoTech Motorsport	21.421	21.308	42.729	115.594
14	7	Bijoy Garg	DEForce Racing	21.376	21.362	42.738	115.569
15	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Exclusive Autosport	21.478	21.363	42.841	115.291
16	93	Lindsay Brewer	Exclusive Autosport	21.678	21.715	43.393	113.825
17	6	Reece Ushijima	Jay Howard Driver Development	-.—-	-.—-	No Time	No Speed
18	19	Jordan Missig	Pabst Racing	-.—-	-.—-	No Time	No Speed

By Patrick Stephan

Pole sitter Myles Rowe will bring the field to the green with a lead of 30 (120 to 90) over Kiko Porto.

Alongside Rowe is Francesco Pizzi and the field makes it through Turn 1 but they are stacked 2 and three deep in to Turn 2 and that pushes Lirim Zendelli out in to the grass, dropping him from his 6th starting spot to the tail as he continues.

Rowe goes off at Turn 7 as it appears he just went wide at the exit and got on to the slick grass and had to drive through the field before rejoining.

Lap 2 and we have Lindsay Brewer off track at Turn 7 with suspension damage – this will bring out the full course yellow.

The order right now Pizzi, d’Orlando, Ushijima (from 10th), Porto, Miller, Denmark (from 14th), De Alba (from 12th), Lee, Browne, Granfors (from 18th), Weir, Missig, Garg, Sundaramoorthy, Zendell, Rowe, Escotto, Monteiro, Brewer, Finelli.

Note that Finelli pulled off under the yellow and exited pit lane at the Gasoline Alley entrance. That’s going to give him quite the circuitous route back to the USF paddock. He’ll need to go through Gasoline Alley past the garages, then make a left in front of the INDYCAR Series transporters. That leads to an intersection near the infield midway (Chevy, Firestone displays, etc). He’ll go down the road that leads to the N Lot and can then make a left to the USF paddock.

Restart is waved off as Jackson Lee has to pull off on the back stretch with mechanical issues. He’s retrieved and exits the track at Turn 7. Jackson was having a solid weekend and was in 8th at the time.

Trying to get back to green and the field stacks up at Turn 14. They are single file slowly with Pizzi leading the field, and then we see Salvador De Alba go outside around a bunch of cars. Miller pops outside also but he makes contact with car in front of him and his wing comes off, goes under his car, and he shoots it out the rear of his car.

Restart is under review as you’d expect, some went on the green (when was the green) and others didn’t. That didn’t look good.

Full course yellow is called and at the same time we see cars making contact at the Turn 6 chicane – more wings are flying including Ricardo Escotto who I believe had just changed a wing after possible contact with Brewer in the earlier incident. He had moved right of the chicane when some may have heard the yellow called, while others didn’t and it stacked up at the chicane, but Escotto’s path was blocked and he knocked the wing off again.

The order is De Alba, Granfors, Browne, Weir, Denmark, d’Orlando, Missig, Rowe, Pizzi, Ushijima, Sundaramoorthy, Porto, Zendeli, Garg, Miller, Monteiro, Escotto, Lee, Brewer, Finelli.

The field is reminded by race control that the restart zone starts at PIT IN…they didn’t go anywhere close to that last time.

Restart Lap 10 and De Alba does launch just after Pit In, and the field gets away clean. Monteiro serves an avoidable contact

Lap 11 and in to Turn 1 there are three wide and two rows across. d’Orlando is outside of the front row three wide, he tries to slot in to about 3rd, but Ushijima comes from inside the second group and they make contact the the exit of Turn 1.

That incident will be reviewed, but d’Orlando has damage and will limp it back to the pit lane.

Granfors passes De Alba for the lead on Lap 13, and the order is now Granfors, De Alba, Denmark, Browne, Weir, Rowe, Pizzi, Missig, Ushijima, Zendeli, Miller, Garg, Sundaramoorthy, Porto, d’Orlando, Monteiro, Escotto, Lee, Brewer, Finelli.

Rowe gets pushed off at Turn 2 and in the grass again. He’ll drop back to 8th, so he’ll restart his charge back to the front.

Lap 17, Ushijima dives in on Pizzi from WAY back, locking his right front on the entry to Turn 1. He slides through and Pizzi gets the 7th spot back.

Next lap and Rowe is able to get by Weir (I believe that was the same battle that put him in the grass earlier).

Weir gets a warning from race control for blocking (moving in reaction to). d’Orlando has rejoined after repairs to his right rear suspension from the Ushijima contact.

Jack William Miller back to the pits again, this time its for a flat tire.

Lap 19 and Granfors leads by 1.8 over De Alba, Denmark, Browne, Rowe (5th and has fastest lap – 17), Weir, Pizzi, Ushijima, Missig, Zendeli (10th), Porto, Sundaaramoorthy, Garg, Miller, Monteiro (off Lap 16), d’Orlando, Escotto, Lee, Brewer, Fineli.

Lap 22 and in to Turn 1 Ushijima tries Pizzi again but can’t get around. He tries the inside at turn 7, also doesn’t get it done, but keeps trying.

Down the front straight Pizzi take the inside at the wall and then when Ushijima gets alongside starts to fade to the outside and they maintain those spots through Turns 2-4.

Missig takes advantage of that battle and goes around the outside at Turn 7 to get by Ushijima for 8th.

WHITE FLAG and Granfors leads by 3.1…the same gap when he takes the checkered flag over De Alba, Denmark, Browne and Rowe.

• Granfors came in to the race 7th in points and finished 20th in yesterday’s race with an 8 lap DNF.
• This is his USF Pro 2000 victory.
• Previous series GB3 where his last win was in 2022 at Silverstone
• Previous best in USF Pro 2000 was 2nd at Sebring #2

Got another replay of that messy restart (Lap 6). While De Alba caught most of the attention with is big outside move, Granfors was also a big mover. With everyone stacked and slowly building speed on the front straight he stuck to the inside line and squeezed between the wall and another car to wind up P2 by the time they hit the first turn.

That restart clearly helped us get podium that started the race 18th, 12th, and 14th respectively.

UNOFFICIAL Results USF Pro 2000 Discount Tire GP of Indy Race #2:

Pos	Car #	Driver	Laps	Gap	Led	ST	Team
1	92	Joel Granfors	25		15	18	Exclusive Autosport
2	91	Salvador De Alba	25	3.1502	5	12	Exclusive Autosport
3	20	Jace Denmark	25	3.4243		14	Pabst Racing
4	2	Jonathan Browne	25	0.8003		5	Turn 3 Motorsport
5	99	Myles Rowe	25	3.5676		1	Pabst Racing
6	32	Christian Weir	25	2.4363		7	TJ Speed Motorsports
7	55	Francesco Pizzi	25	2.9483	5	2	TJ Speed Motorsports
8	19	Jordan Missig	25	0.4091		11	Pabst Racing
9	6	Reece Ushijima	25	1.1792		10	Jay Howard Driver Development
10	10	Lirim Zendeli	25	1.3501		6	TJ Speed Motorsports
11	12	Kiko Porto	25	0.2702		4	DEForce Racing
12	90	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	25	1.9094		17	Exclusive Autosport
13	7	Bijoy Garg	25	3.7736		16	DEForce Racing
14	1	Michael d’Orlando	22	3 LAPS		3	Turn 3 Motorsport
15	40	Jack William Miller	18	39.8719		8	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
16	81	Nicholas Monteiro	16	1 LAPS		19	NeoTech Motorsport
17	4	Ricardo Escotto	6	0.5178		15	Jay Howard Driver Development
18	47	Jackson Lee	4	0.3		9	Turn 3 Motorsport
19	93	Lindsay Brewer	1	0.269		13	Exclusive Autosport
20	83	Charles Finelli	1	0.7169		20	FatBoy Racing