By Steve Wittich

The story of the qualifying for Sunday’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products were diametric results for a pair of Pabst Racing drivers.

The good news is that for the third time this season the Slick Locks Sponsored No. 23 piloted by Pabst Racing veteran Colin Kaminsky will start from the pole.

The bad news is that championship leader Hunter McElrea will have to start Sunday’s final race of the season from the final spot on the grid. The Kiwi’s Soul Red No. 22 experienced a throttle pedal sensor issue, and ground to a halt on the 2.258-mile, 11-turn road course twice, causing two red flags. Per the rule book, he was forced to sit out the remainder of the session.

Starting outside of Kaminsky is Eduardo Barrichello, the best qualifying effort for the DEForce Racing second-generation racer.

McElrea’s closest competition for the championship, Eves was mired in the middle of the timing screens until the end of the session. The Cape Motorsports driver was one of five drivers to turn his quickest lap on his final lap of the session.

Barrichello’s DEForce Racing teammate Manuel Sulaiman will start behind his teammate on the outside of the second row.

The first Road To Indy session of Saturday, qualifying for the second USF2000 race, began under sunny skies and with comfortable temperatures in the upper 60s.

McElrea brought out the first of two red flags after coming to a stop in Turn 4 on his out lap. He was able to get his 2.0L engine restarted and made it back to pit lane. The Pabst Racing crew went to work diagnosing the issue.

The green flag came back out, but only a few drivers were able to complete hot laps before the red flag came back out. This time, McElrea’s car had come to a stop on the pit exit lane. He got going again, but per Rule 8.5.5, he had to sit out the remainder of the 20-minute session. Elite Engine’s Steve Knapp confirmed that the issue was with the throttle pedal sensor.

There were only 10-minutes left when the track went back to green.

With five minutes remaining, the quickest driver was Kaminsky. Sulaiman, Crawford, Eves and Reece Gold were the next four drivers on the timing screen.

Kaminsky was the first driver and the only driver to turn a lap under 85 seconds.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship qualifying #2 unofficial results

The green flag for the first of two Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products races is scheduled to get the green flag at 5:05 pm.

By Steve Wittich

Braden Eves, with a dominant qualifying lap, and the bonus point for winning the pole, moved to within five points of Hunter McElrea with a lap that was over a half-second ahead of the driver he’s chasing in the hunt for the scholarship.

It’s the 20-year-old Ohioan’s fourth pole of the season and the fifth at the iconic road course for Cape Motorsports. It’s Eves first pole since the second race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Nine of the 15 past USF2000 winners at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca have started on pole, giving Eves a decided advantage for the first of two Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products races.

The bottom rung of the Road To Indy, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship drivers, followed the Indy Lights drivers on track for qualifying.

Early in the session, the S team Motorsports sponsored No. 21 of Yuven Sundaramoorthy had an off in Turn 3, but he was able to get the 2.0L engine on his Pabst Racing machine restarted and continued.

Reece Gold, McElrea, and Rasmussen all held the provisional pole in the first ten minutes of the session.

At the halfway point of the 20-minute session, McElrea’s lap of 85.575 seconds was a slim six-hundredths of a second ahead of Christian Rasmussen. Kaminsky, Crawford, and Eves were the remainder of the top five.

McElrea improved on his provisional pole by a few-hundredths on his seventh of nines lap to that point in the session. With five minutes left, the top seven drivers were within a half-second of Kiwi McElrea.

With three minutes remaining, Eves threw down the gauntlet, turning a lap the was almost three-tenths of a second quicker than McElrea. The Cape Motorsports rookie lowered the provisional pole time on his next lap.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Race #1

The checkered flag for the first race for the lowest rung of Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder gets the green flag at 5:05 pm on Saturday.

For the first time this season, Pabst Racing veteran Colin Kaminsky led a USF2000 practice; an excellent way for the Homer Glen, Ill. driver to start the weekend. Kaminsky is in a tight battle with Darren Keane and Christian Rasmussen for third place in the championship. Kaminsky’s quickest lap was 86.223 seconds, an impressive and significant three-tenths of a second ahead of the next fastest driver, Braden Eves.

Eves, who lost the lead of the championship at the last race, got a quick jump on his rival Hunter McElrea, who had the fourth-fastest time.

Also in the top five were youngsters Jak Crawford (Cape Motorsports) and Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports).

The lone USF2000 practice session of the final race weekend of the 2019 season got underway at 8:45 am. There were no clouds in the sky, and the temperature was in low 60s.

Championship leader Braden Eves and two-time race winner Christian Rasmussen traded the top spot on the timing screen early in the session.

Kaminsky moved to the top of the timing screen just before the halfway point of the 30-minute session.

At the halfway point of the session, Kaminsky’s lap of 86.6197 seconds was the quickest. His teammate and championship contender McElrea was second fastest and was followed by Eves, Crawford and Sulaiman in the top five.

With 10-minutes remaining, the red flag came out for Legacy Autosport driver Ayrton Ori, who is making his second appearance in the series. His No. 77 came to a stop in the gravel on the outside of the Rainey Curve. The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team was able to get him back on track, and he was able to drive back to pit road on his own.

The green flag came back out with five minutes remaining in the session, and 17 of the 18 USF-17 machines hit the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course for a few more laps of practice.

McElrea, Darren Keane, Bruna Tomaselli, Kyle Dupell, Nolan Siegel and Reece Gold all turned their quickest laps in the final five minutes. McElrea (fourth) and Miller (fifth) both moved into the top five.

There is one newcomer this weekend. Wyatt Brichacek, an 18-year-old is making his USF2000 debut. The Johnstown, Col. native and Lucas Oil School of Racing graduate has made 23 F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda starts with Jay Howard Driver Development, the team he is with this weekend.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Practice #1 at Laguna Seca Results

The middle rung of the Road To Indy will be back on track again for their first qualifying session at 4:40 pm, but before that, you can get their autograph in the fan village at 2:10 pm.

Here are your Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship race weekend basics

• Race #1: Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products
• Race #2:  Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products

• Race #1 green flag time: Saturday, September 21 at 5:05pm
• Race #2 green flag time: Sunday, September 22 at 10:25am

• Race #1 distance: 20 laps or 40 minutes
• Race #2 distance: 20 laps or 40 minutes

• WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca qualifying track record: 83.959 seconds by Sage Karam (Andretti Autosport) in 2010
• WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca race track records: 84.566 seconds by Mikhail Goikhberg (JDC Motorsports) in 2010

• Each entry can utilize three new sets of Cooper Tire slicks as well as one set of used/scuffed tires from the race weekend at Portland International Raceway.
• The timing line is located at Turn 10
• Drivers failing to slow at least 15% in a timing sector with a local yellow will be subject to a two-place grid spot penalty
• Drivers who fail to heed the checkered flag at the end of a session will receive a two-grid spot penalty
• Causing one red flag will result in a driver losing their fastest lap
• Causing a second red flag will wipe out all of drivers laps and they will be parked for the remainder of the session
• Driver points are distributed as follows: 30 – 25 – 22 – 19 – 17 – 15 -14 – 13 – 12 – 11 – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 – an additional one point will be awarded to the pole sitter, to the driver who leads the most laps, and to the driver who turns the quickest race lap

Don’t miss any of the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires action:

• download the Road To Indy TV app from the Apple App Store or on Google Play to get video, audio, timing & scoring, news from TSO Ladder and much more – you can also get Road To Indy TV via Apple TV, Amazon Video, Roku or Microsoft Xbox One
• IndyCar Radio will have all of your Indy Lights action at  IndyCar Race Control, indycarradio.com, the tune-in app and website, XM Channel 209, Sirius Channel 216, Web Channel 970, or the Sirius / XM app
• Indy Lights races will be available for view with the purchase in the USA with the purchase of the NBC Gold IndyCar Package
• Outside of the USA, you’ll be able to watch the Indy Lights races on all of the Road To Indy TV app delivery options, Indy Lights YouTube channel, and Road To Indy TV Facebook page
• live timing – Road To Indy TV – Indy Lights – Pro Mazda – USF2000 – IndyCar Race Control
• on twitter – TSO Ladder – Team Cooper Tire – Road To Indy TV – Indy Lights – Indy Pro 2000 – USF2000
• on all social media channels via the #TeamCooperTire and #RoadToIndy hashtags
• please subscribe to the following YouTube channels: Road To Indy TV for a post-race weekend wrap-up show, and USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 for previous races.