By Patrick Stephan

Kiko Porto and Jack William Miller crept to the starting line and then we had a four wide drag race to Turn 1. Someone mid pack takes the escape road, as Porto leads through Turn 1. Also had a few cars short-cut Turn 6, didn’t catch the car but race control is looking at it.

Just as they started Lap 2 we go full course yellow due to debris in Turn 5, appears to be a wing from Bijoy Garg who comes to pit lane.

Under the yellow race control moves Jace Denmark in front of Ricardo Escotto due to a pass under yellow.

The order for what should be a quick yellow is Porto, d’Orlando, Miller, Zendell, Granfors, Pizzi, Ushijima, Browne, Rowe (10th).

They were about to go green again but had to wave off to correct the above mentioned shortcuts we saw on the first lap. They have put the start under review also. And a couple minutes later announce 1 to on Lap 5.

Porto leads d’Orlando down the front straight as clouds are building and darkening over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

They again are nearly side by side for the lead, but Porto keeps the lead as another car takes the run-off. Sorry, I’m not great at ID’ing some of these team cars. Pizzi got by Granfors for 5th and Myles Rowe moves up to 7th.

Porto leads by just 0.2211 over d’Orlando who is pushing hard for the lead. Pizzi moves to 4th.

Lap 8 and Granfors spins in Turn 1 and then pulls to the inside of Turn 1 to use take the escape road to head back to the paddock with a broken wheel from earlier contact.

Up front it’s Porto, d’Orlando a half second back, then Miller, Pizzi, Zendell, Rowe, Browne, Ushijima, Weir, Escotto is 10th. Denmark, Lee, De Alba, Brewer, Monteiro, Garg, Sundaramoorthy, Finelli, Granfors, Missig.

Lap 11 – YELLOW for conditions it has started to rain on the south portion of the circuit. Pace Car driver Gail Truess reports that grip is pretty good initially, then she gets to Turn 7 – “it’s raining harder”. Next time around she tells race control they have lost the south end of the track – and now we can clearly see that just looking out the window.

Lap 12 and RED FLAG is out and cars are sent to their pit boxes. This is a closed red right now. Team’s can give the driver’s an umbrella and a drink bottle – but no work allowed on the cars.

Once all the cars got to their pit boxes, the teams were allowed three workers over the wall plus an observer. Race Control has mandated rain tires and teams have 5 minutes to complete their work. Rules require that driver’s take the green for the restart with the rain tires on, but they can then elect to change to dry tires if desired.

This race is scheduled for 25 laps and the clock has stopped with 13 completed. Race Control has now called this a timed race as the cars roll off and it will stop 50 minutes after it started. The clock on T&S shows 13:30 as drivers roll through Turn 9.

And you’ll be shocked to hear it’s not raining any longer as we go back to green. Track temp is down to 94F. d’Orlando tries to takes the lead from Porto in Turn 1 as every car makes it through relatively cleanly. But Porto prevails on the outside. Next lap they are three wide at Turn 3, and d’Orlando gets the lead and Miller takes P2 with Porto now third on Lap 16.

3:44:35 is announced as the time to end this race, a little under 10 minutes from “now” (16 laps completed).

Lap 17 d’Orlando leads Miller by 0.4133, but Miller gets the lead at Turn 7/8. They go side by side through Turn 1 with d’Orlando on the outside, but that becomes the inside of Turn 2 and Miller is back to 2nd. Porto is third, then Browne, Escotto, Ushijima who passed Pizzi, DeAlba is next after he passed Weir.

Myles Rowe – the point leader – has come to pit lane.

Miller was trying to look inside of d’Orlando and Escotto goes around the outside to take 2nd.

Lap 20 and Escotto gets around d’Orlando to take the lead as Miller is fading – potentially with front wing damage. That moved Ushijima to 3rd.

2:30 remaining as of Lap 21 and Ushijima is within 0.76 of d’Orlando for 2nd.

White flag in the air and Reece Ushijima has passed d’Orlando for 2nd. Further down Jackson Lee and Yuven Sundaramoorthy picked up a couple spots on the lap preceding the white flag. They were in a group and now run 9th and 10th.

Checkered flag falls on Ricardo Escotto, the winner of the USF Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires Discount Tire Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Ushijima and d’Orlando round out the podium.

Browne got 4th on the final lap and Miller finished 5th – and then stopped out on the track and needed to be retrieved by safety.

This is Escotto’s first win in USF Pro 2000. His previous best finish in four races this season was 10th at Sebring #2.

Escotto, an 18 year old from Mexico City started 12th. Other big movers were Salvador De Alba from 15th to 6th, Christian Weir from 4th to 8th and Yuven Sundaramoorthy 19th to 9th.

By Steve Wittich

The sun shone between low clouds, and the ambient temperature was still a comfortable 81F when the lone USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires practice session started.

The early leader in the half-hour practice on used tires was reigning USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires champion Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport).

With ten minutes remaining, Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) topped the timing screens, but it was close with d’Orlando, Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing) and Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport) all within a tenth of the Swede.

d’Orlando and then Porto jumped to the top of the timesheets when the drivers went to fresh Cooper Tires.

The 20 drivers turned 317 laps of the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course, with 2022 USF Pro 2000 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course winner Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) the busiest. The Mexican driver completed 21 circuits.

USF Pro 2000 Discount Tire Grand Prix of Indianapolis practice results

The USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires series had a pair of test sessions earlier this afternoon. The only red flags were for tow-ins.

Rowe led the first test session with a lap at 82.4242 seconds, followed by Granfors, d’Orlando, Browne, Porto, De Alba and Denmark within a half-second of the points leader.

Porto led the second test session, lowering the best lap to 82.2967 seconds, with the following ten drivers with a half-second.

In case you missed it earlier, we posted a weekend preview.

The rest of the USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires schedule for this weekend is as follows (all times local):

Friday

• 9:30 am – USF Pro 2000 Qualifying
• 1:30 pm – USF Pro 2000 Autograph Session
• 2:55 pm – USF Pro 2000 Race #1 (25 laps or 50 minutes)

Saturday

• 8:55 am – USF Pro 2000 Race #2 (25 laps or 50 minutes)

Don’t forget to download the USF Pro Championships Presented By Cooper Tires app to follow the action.

By Steve Wittich

The single half-hour USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires practice session before Friday morning qualifying took place late on Thursday afternoon, getting the green flag at 5:10 pm. The sun shone in Speedway, Ind, and the ambient temperature was 82F.

After five minutes of running, race control reminded the teams and drivers that any driver leaving the track surface at the exit Turn 6 would have their lap invalidated. Additionally, offenders would be denoted utilizing the car’s transponder.

Points leader Simon Sikes (Pabst Racing) led early in the session, with Lochie Hughes (Jay Howard Driver Development) grabbing the top spot on the timing screens just past the halfway point. Exclusive Autosport rookie Chase Gardner was the third quickest after 15 minutes.

Lap times continued to fall, with Nikita Johnson (VRD Racing), who waited until late in the session to take to the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course going to the top of the timing screens on only his third lap.

New tire runs meant the timing screen was full of green and purple as drivers got their fresh Cooper tires into the optimal operating range.

Nobody could touch Johnson, with Sikes and reigning USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires champion Mac Clark (DEForce Racing), jumping into the top five at the end of the session.

The top eight drivers – Johnson, Hughes, Sikes, Clark, Gardner, Ethan Ho (DC Autosport), Sam Corry (VRD Racing) and Jorge Garciarce (DEForce Racing) were within a half-second.

The top six drivers represented six teams.

The 20 drivers completed 258 laps.

USF2000 Discount Tire Grand Prix of Indianapolis practice results

The USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires series had a pair of test sessions earlier this afternoon. The only red flags were for tow-ins.

Sikes led the first test session with a lap at 86.4937 seconds, followed by Hughes, Johnson and Clark within five-hundredths of a second. VRD Racing rookie Gordon Scully turned 29 laps, the most of any driver.

Johnson led the second test session, lowering the best lap to 86.1871 seconds, with Hughes, Gardner, Papasavvas and Sikes within a half second of the fastest lap.

In case you missed it earlier, we posted a weekend preview.

The rest of the USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires schedule for this weekend is as follows (all times local):

Friday

• 8 am – USF2000 Qualifying
• 12:05 pm – USF2000 Race #1 (15 laps or 40 minutes)
• 2 pm – USF2000 Autograph Session (IMS Midway)

Saturday

• 8 am – USF2000 Race #2 (15 laps or 40 minutes)
• noon – USF2000 Race #3 (15 laps or 40 minutes)

Don’t forget to download the USF Pro Championships Presented By Cooper Tires app to follow the action.

By Steve Wittich

With three wins, four podiums and three fastest laps, USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires rookie Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing) is off to one of the hottest starts in all of motorsport this season.

The 22-year-old, who recently graduated from Pace University in New York, NY, carries a commanding 42-point lead over his next closest rival for the $664,500 Discount Tire Driver Advancement Scholarship.

However, the series heads to a track known for chaos (see the creative video from Scott Hargrove below) and a hungry group of aggressive competitors will look to trip him up.

The hungry group of drivers from second through sixth – Francesco Pizzi (TJ Speed Motorsports), Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing), Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing), Lirim Zendeli (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) have at least one podium and are separated by only 11 points.

Last year, eight drivers representing six teams stood on the nine possible podiums across three series races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, proving that anything can happen on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course.

USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires Championship Standings After Four of 18 Races

Home race

Jackson Lee was born in Indianapolis and lives in Avon, Ind. The 20-year-old is coming off his best USF Pro Championships finish, crossing the line in fifth place at Sebring International Raceway.

The Indiana University/Purdue University (IUPUI) student’s No 47 from the Turn 3 Motorsport stable features many local sponsors, including the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Browning Chapman and Prime 47 Indy.

Second-generation racer Jack William Miller was born in Westfield, Ind, and calls Carmel, Ind., home.

The 19-year-old will be making his 40th USF Pro 2000 start in Friday’s first race. The driver of the Patterson Dental/Blue Marble Productions sponsored No.40 has two poles, four podiums, 11 top fives, and three quickest laps of the race in 71 USF Pro Championship starts.

“We are very excited that it’s May and finally be back on track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Miller. “We are looking forward to being back in the car and using the knowledge we gained over the break during our events this weekend.”

Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course notes and numbers

• Exclusive Autosport (three) and Jay Howard Driver Development (three) are the only active teams with wins on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
• Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport) has a USF Pro 2000 race win on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
• Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Exclusive Autosport) has two USF2000 wins, and Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) has one USF2000 win on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
• The pole sitter has won 50% of the USF Pro 2000 races here, but that doesn’t tell the entire story. More recently, in the six races over the past two seasons, no pole winners have won, and the average starting position of the race winner is 5.5.
• Michel Jourdain, Jr. protege Salvador de Alba won the first USF Pro 2000 race on a damp track from the 12th starting spot last year, the deepest in the field a driver has won from.

Previous USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires winners on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course

• Active teams Miller Vinatieri Motorsports (two) and Turn 3 Motorsport (one) have poles on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
• Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports) has two USF Pro 2000 poles, and Jonathan Browne (Turn 3 Motorsport) has one pole on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
• Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Exclusive Autosport) and Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) have two USF2000 poles on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
• Exclusive Autosport leads all active teams with eight podiums on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course.
• Nine races have gone green to checker without a caution. The average number of caution laps across all of the races is 2.5. Ten of the 22 races have had a first-lap caution.
• Ten races have seen the lead change hands, with the first race in 2018 having three lead changes, the most in the series on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
• The first race in 2020 is the only one to finish under the caution.
• The most significant margin of victory came in 2017 when Victor Franzoni beat T.J. Fischer to the line by 13.0798 seconds.

• In 2021 current INDY NXT championship leader Christian Rasmussen beat Braden Eves to the twin-checkered flags by a slim seven-hundredths of a second.

• Rasmus Lindh holds the track record at 78.9953 seconds, set during qualifying in 2019.

By Steve Wittich

Reigning USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires champion Michael d’Orlando recovered from a mechanical issue that ruined yesterday’s race to score his first USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires pole.

It’s the 21-year-old 11th career USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires pole.

The pole is the seventh all-time pole for Turn 3 Motorsport and the Peter Dempsey-led team’s seventh all-time.

Two drivers, Francesco Pizzi (TJ Speed Motorsports) and Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing w/ Force Indy), were within a tenth of a second of the pole. The top 13 drivers were within one second of d’Orlando’s best lap.

Lirim Zendeli (TJ Speed Motorsports) rounds out the second row.

The 19 USF Pro 2000 drivers got the green flag at 10 am.

The ambient temperature was 77F, and there were some clouds, with a strong breeze from the west.

Once again, the drivers and teams had a half-hour window to complete 20 minutes of green flag time.

The red flag came out with 13 minutes remaining when the S Team Motorsports sponsored No. 90 came to a stop in the run-off after spinning through the grass after the rear end broke loose when he hit the brakes.

Zendeli had the best time at 119.818 seconds when the green flag returned. Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport), Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport), Jace Denmark (Pabst Racing) and Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing) rounded out the top five.

While under red, teams took the opportunity to bolt on fresh Cooper Tire slicks and make adjustments.

It only took one lap at speed for the times to start dropping. Looking for his second pole of the season, Pizzi was the first driver to grab the provisional pole.

However, the timing screen was lit up green as times quickly started to drop. d’Orlando and Pizzi spent the next five minutes trading the provisional pole.

With five minutes remaining d’Orlando held the provisional pole with a lap at 118.538 seconds, which was a scant five-hundredths of a second ahead of Pizzi. Rowe, Zendeli and Denmark rounded out the top five.

With just under three minutes remaining, the No. 81 of Nicholas Monteiro stopped on the driver’s right on the long run between Turn 6 and 7.

That brought out the red and checkered flag, giving d’Orlando his first USF Pro 2000 pole.

Cooper Tires USF Pro 2000 Sebring Grand Prix Race #2 Qualifying unofficial results

The second 15-lap Cooper Tires USF Pro 2000 Sebring Grand Prix Race gets the green flag at 3:30 pm.

By Steve Wittich

Jace Denmark won his first USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires pole after all three Pabst Racing drivers spent time holding the provisional pole during qualifying for the first USF Pro 2000 at Sebring International Raceway.

The 18-year-old, who won six USF2000 Championship Presented By Cooper Tires poles, turned a lap at 128.406 seconds to best his teammate Myles Rowe by a razor-thin 0.072-second margin.

The top five drivers, including Denmark, Rowe, Francesco Pizzi (Turn 3 Motorsport), the third Pabst Racing driver Jordan Missig and Michael d’Orlando, who recovered nicely from a morning incident, were all within two-tenths of a second of the pole-winning time.

The top nine drivers were within one second of Denmark, and the Metal Works Custom Fabrication sponsored No. 20.

When the green flag flew to begin qualifying at 12:55 pm, the ambient temperature was 83F at Sebring International Raceway.

The cars of Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport) and Ricardo Escotto (Jay Howard Driver Development) sustained moderate damage. However, despite the quick turnaround, both crews fixed the cars and got back on track.

All 19 drivers set a lap in the opening five minutes as they worked to get their fresh Cooper Tires up to the ultimate operating temperature.

After two laps each, Pabst Racing’s Jace Denmark had the quickest lap and was one of seven drivers to turn a lap under two minutes.

At the halfway mark of the 20-minute session, most drivers were in the pit lane for fresh tires and adjustments.

With ten minutes remaining, Pabst Racing held the top three spots. Denmark (119.205 seconds) led his teammates Myles Rowe and Jordan Missig within two-tenths of a second of the provisional pole. 13 of the 19 drivers were within one second of Rowe at the halfway point.

d’Orlando clearly wasn’t phased by his practice incident going to second on his fourth lap of qualifying.

Rowe was the first driver to improve on his earlier and go under 159 seconds after putting on fresh tires.

With five minutes left to set the grid, Rowe held the provisional pole, with his teammates holding the second (Denmark) and third spots (Missig).

On his sixth lap, with four minutes remaining, Denmark lowed the provisional pole time, going under the best time from spring training.

Exclusive Autosport’s Joel Granfors interrupted the Pabst Racing party, moving to third quickest.

Missig was the third Pabst Racing driver to grab the provisional pole, but it wasn’t for long, as Denmark went a tenth of a second quicker.

Pizzi, the pole-sitter for the second race in St. Petersburg, was the first of four drivers to get within two-tenths of a second of Denmark.

One of the final drivers to cross the alternate start finish was points leader and St. Petersburg race #2 winner Rowe, who came within seven-hundredths of a second of pole winner Denmark.

USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires unofficial qualifying #1 results

The teams and drivers will have three hours and 40 minutes to get prepared for the first of two Cooper Tires Grand Prix Of Sebring, which will get the green flag at 4 pm.

By Steve Wittich

The first USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires session since Tristan Vautier won a race in what was then the Star Mazda championship at Sebring International Raceway. The Frenchman won the 11th series race at the former Army Airfield while driving for current series promoter Dan Andersen and his Andersen Racing Team.

The 19 drivers were afforded a half-hour of practice before qualifying for the first of two 15-lap Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring races.

The red flag came out after 12 minutes of activity for the cars of reigning USF Pro Championships Presented By Cooper Tires champion Michael d’Orlando (Turn 3 Motorsport) and Ricardo Escotto (Jay Howard Driver Development), who were off track at the exit of Turn 1. Both drivers exited their cars, and the damaged cars were put on the wrecker and returned to the paddock.

When the red flag came out, Myles Rowe (Pabst Racing w/Force Indy) had the quickest lap at 119.477 seconds and was followed by Francesco Pizzi (TJ Speed Motorsports), Jordan Missig (Pabst Racing), d’Orlando, and Joel Granfors (Exclusive Autosport) in the top five.

Green conditions returned to the 3.74-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway road course with just under eight minutes remaining.

It took the drivers two laps to get their Cooper Tires back into the optimal operating range, with Rowe’s teammates, Missig and Jace Denmark, joining him at the top of the timing screens.

With a few minutes remaining, the timing screen was lit up green as the field continued to go faster, with Rowe and Denmark getting below the best time set during spring training.

The top 10 drivers ended up within one second of the points leader Rowe.

USF Pro 2000 Presented By Cooper Tires practice results