Archives for Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda – TSO

USF2000 at Road America – 2018 – Steve’s preview

Posted by  on Wednesday, June 20th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

To say that Kyle Kirkwood has an early stranglehold on the 2018 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda might actually be an understatement.

The Cape Motorsports rookie currently holds a 59 point advantage through the first five rounds of the 14 race USF2000 championship. To put that lead into perspective, Alex Baron who now sits second on the points table has 56 point lead over 16th place Mathias Soler-Obel.

The 19-year-old has three wins, three poles, four podiums, and led 84 straight and 104 of 138 laps so far this season.

Kyle Kirkwood and his Cape Motorsports team will look to keep the celebration going at Road America (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

“We still have the same approach as always,” asserted Kirkwood, whose own streak of five consecutive top-five finishes, including three wins, has taken him to a commanding 61-point lead in the chase for a $325,000 Mazda Scholarship to advance to Pro Mazda in 2019. “I think this entire year we’ve been pretty risk-less. So I believe our current strategy is quite good… in any situation. Technically, we only have to maintain, but we will always strive for wins.”

Current Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda points.

RANK DRIVER POINTS
1 Kyle Kirkwood – R 154
2 Alex Baron 95
3 Jose Sierra – R 90
4 Igor Fraga – R 76
5 Lucas Kohl 74
6 Rasmus Lindh – R 74
7 Darren Keane 71
8 Calvin Ming 67
9 Kaylen Frederick 62
10 Kory Enders 60
11 Julian Van der Watt – R 58
12 Keith Donegan – R 49
13 Colin Kaminsky 45
14 Manuel Cabrera – R 41
15 Jamie Caroline – R 40
16 Mathias Soler-Obel – R 39
17 Bruna Tomaselli 35
18 Zach Holden – R 32
19 Kyle Dupell – R 30
20 James Roe – R 26
21 David Osborne – R 22
22 Oscar DeLuzuriaga – R 20
23 Sabre Cook – R 18
24 Russell McDonough – R 16
25 Max Peichel – R 15
26 Michael D’Orlando – R 13
27 Jayson Clunie 5

Saturday Afternoon’s Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Mazda will be the 25th USF2000 race held on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course. The series first visited the Kettle Moraine region of Central Wisconsin where Chris Simmons won from pole.

Cape Motorsports has been the dominant USF2000 team for almost two decades. Drivers from the St. Petersburg, Fla. based squad have won ten times, started on pole nine times, and finished on the podium 22 times.

Jonathan Bomarito, Charlie Kimball, and Tonis Kasemits on the USF2000 podium at Road America (Photo courtesy of USF2000)

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda winners at Road America.

YEAR DRIVER TEAM
2017 Race #2 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing
2017 Race #1 Rinus VeeKay Pabst Racing
2016 Race #2 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2016 Race #1 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports
2012 Race #3 Scott Anderson Belardi Auto Racing
2012 Race #2 Matthew Brabham Cape Motorsportsm
2012 Race #1 Matthew Brabham Cape Motorsports
2011 Race #2 Petri Suvanto Cape Motorsports
2011 Race #1 Spencer Pigot Andretti Autosport
2010 Race #2 Sage Karam Andretti Autosport
2010 Race #1 Sage Karam Andretti Autosport
2006 Race #2 J.R. Hildebrand Cape Motorsports
2006 Race #1 Dane Cameron Cape Motorsports
2005 Race #2 Jay Howard Aiken Racing
2005 Race #1 Joey Foster Cape Motorsports
2004 Race #2 Bobby Wilson Cape Motorsports
2004 Race #1 Adam Pecorari Andersen Racing
2003 Race #2 Charlie Kimball PR1 Motorsports
2003 Race #1 Charlie Kimball PR1 Motorsports
2001 Race #2 Tonis Kasemets Pabst Racing
2001 Race #1 Tonis Kasemets Pabst Racing
2000 Race #2 Marc-Antoine Camirand Key Motorsports
2000 Race #1 Aaron Justus Cape Motorsports
1993 Chris Simmons SOTARE Racing

Here are some highlights from the year 2000.

Pabst Racing and ArmsUp Motorsports will be hoping a little home cooking kick starts their seasons.

Pabst Racing has had the pace this year, Kaylen Frederick and Rasmus Lindh have the third and fourth best race lap average, but the results so far have been lackluster.

Four of the six podium spots during the pair of inaugural USF-17 races at Road America were scored by Pabst Racing drivers, including a pair of wins by Rinus VeeKay. The first of two Badger State teams entered this weekend is located in Oconomowoc, and has decades of experience at “America’s National Park of Speed.”

Founder Augie Pabst, Jr has extensive experience at Road America winning two SCCA US Road Racing Championship races in 1963 and 1964. Current team principal Augie Pabst, III, raced at Road America in Sports Car Club of America events and was also a winner at Road America in a Shelby Can-Am car. The team-wide success has not just been limited to team ownership. Engineer and driver coach Tonis Kasemits has one Atlantic Series win to go along with two additional podiums. The Estonian born Kasemits has also has made one IndyCar, and some USF2000 starts at Road America.

The team has a total of four wins at Road America (a pair by VeeKay last year and a pair by Kasemits) and drivers Kaylen Frederick, and Lucas Kohl turned in the quickest lap times at the recent test.

Veteran Kohl and his rookie teammate Rasmus Lindh are currently tied for fifth in the championship, with the Swedish 16-year-old Lindh using the “Month of May” to move up from 18th after St. Petersburg.

Calvin Ming, who had second and fourth place finishes at Road America last year is currently seven points behind his teammates.

Headquartered just 10 miles from Road America in Sheboygan Falls, Wisc., ArmsUp Motorsports will be fielding a pair of cars in their home race.

Keith Donegan, the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout winner is coming off his best two finishes of the young season and will be joined by Max Peichel who made his Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires debut with the team on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Baron, Sierra, and Fraga need to start winning races

Alex Baron has had better pace than championship leader Kyle Kirkwood, but a pair of DNF’s have negated his two trips to victory lane. The Swan-RJB Motorsports driver was only the 12th quickest driver at the recent test and will have to find some more pace during practice. More importantly, the Frenchman must start finishing races and finishing races ahead of Kirkwood.

Outside of a mechanical issue in the second race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, DEForce Racing pilot Jose Sierra has shown the pace and racecraft needed to win races and stay in championship contention. Qualifying up front, as the 19-year-old Mexican did in the season-opening race, would go a long way to helping with that.

Exclusive Autosport rookie Igor Fraga has shown potential to be a front-runner in USF2000 but seems to need that extra push to become a consistent podium finisher. That kick this weekend could come from a new teammate (see below).

Other drivers, we’re watching.

After a disappointing 19th place finish in the season opener, Sierra’s DEForce Racing teammate Kory Enders has three top ten finishes. And, after ending the open test last week with the fourth quickest lap, the 20-year-old is well positioned to capture his first Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires podium.

Darren Keane, who is only five points out of fourth place in championship chase had a forgettable opening race at on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway recovered nicely with a fourth-place finish in race two and an impressive eighth-place finish in his first career oval race.

The Team Pelfrey driver ready for a break out performance is Julian Van der Watt, who recovered nicely from a disappointing race on the oval at Lucas Oil Raceway to collect the sixth quickest lap at last weeks open test. If the South African driver has shown, he has the race craft to fight for podiums but just needs to find that few tenths to qualify in the first few rows.

Returnee

Jacob Abel and the family-run Abel Motorsports have been regulars in the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda the past two seasons. The Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Mazda twin-bill we be the first time the team has crossed over to the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, but Abel did make two USF2000 starts with Newman Wachs Racing racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2017. The Louisville, Ky. based pilot finished the recent test at Road America with the 15th quickest time.

Newcomer

Danial Frost will be making his USF2000 debut with Exclusive Autosport at Road America this weekend. Despite being only 16-years-old, the Singaporean has made 74 starts across the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship, the F4 Japanese Championship, Formula Masters Asian Series, F4 Danish Championship and MRF Challenge series. A combination of nine wins and 32 podiums have resulted in three top-six championship finishes. It will be interesting to see how the young driver adapts to the Mazda powered Tatuus which should be reasonably similar to the Formula Masters car, which is also a Tatuus chassis powered by a 2.0L engine.

Extras

  • The pole sitter has won 13 of the 24 USF2000 races at Road America, and the winner has only come from outside of the first two rows on one occasion, in 2006 when J.R. Hildebrand won from 13th on the grid.
  • In the 11 races at Road America since Dan Andersen resurrected the series in 2010, the pole sitter has won eight times, finished second twice and third once.
  • Before 2010, the pole sitter finished outside of the top ten on five occasions.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda schedule

Friday

8 AM – 8:30 AM – Practice #1
11:10 AM – 11:40 AM – Autograph Session
12:45 PM – 1:15 PM – Qualifying #1
5:35 PM – 5:55 PM – Qualifying #2

Saturday

1:10 PM – 1:50 PM – Race #1

Sunday

8 AM – 8:40 AM – Race #2

 

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category: USF2000 News/Results
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Carb Night Classic – Friday, 7:10pm – Kirkwood claims time-shortened USF2000 race

Posted by  on Friday, May 25th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

It’s a dominant drive for Kyle Kirkwood in Round 5 of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, with a flag-to-flag win from pole position in the time-shortened race from Lucas Oil Raceway.

A planned 75-lap race, the Cooper Tires Freedom 75, was shortened to a timed 30-minute race – just 58 laps – on the 0.686-mile oval because of two full-course cautions for incidents. One of them involved Kirkwood’s closest championship rival, Alex Baron.

The engines were fired at 6:08 p.m. ET for USF2000’s first and only oval race of the year, with the 75-lap Cooper Tires Freedom 75 ready to launch from Lucas Oil Raceway.

Field forms up nicely and takes the green flag second time by with Kirkwood and Lindh leading the field to green.

Baron immediately is on the move up to third by the end of the first lap after completing a three wide pass past Donegan and Kohl, where Donegan was sandwiched in the middle.

At Lap 5, Kirkwood leads Lindh, Baron, Kohl, Frederick in the top five with Donegan, Keane, Sierra, Fraga and Ming in the top 10. Dupell, 21st and last, is 11.6293 seconds back – so roughly half a lap down. Thompson lost the 2016 race in traffic so how Kirkwood handles traffic when he gets there will be key to note.

At Lap 10 the order is identical all the way from first to 21st with no major battles. Dupell is 17.3039 seconds back so we are only five seconds away from the leaders catching the tail end of traffic.

Blue flag is displayed to Dupell as Kirkwood completes Lap 16 with a 2.6163 second lead over Lindh. He’s past Dupell at the end of Lap 17 and start of Lap 18, on the inside and into Turn 1. This means the leaders will be in traffic for the rest of the race.

At Lap 25 we are one third of the way through the race. The full order is Kirkwood, having led all 25 laps so far, with nearly a four second lead over Lindh, Baron third, then Kohl and Frederick in the top five. Then it’s Donegan, Keane, Sierra, Fraga and Ming in the top 10, van der Watt, Cabrera, Enders, Holden, Kaminsky, Soler-Obel and Tomaselli on the lead lap with Osborne, McDonough, DeLuzuriaiga and Dupell.

The race and potentially the championship take a big turn on Lap 29, as Baron is in the wall at Turn 3 with a broken beyond repair No. 19 Swan-RJB Motorsports car. He was trying to lap BN Racing’s McDonough, and McDonough pits his car with front wing damage. Baron’s out of the car and out of the race; this is a big hit to his title hopes as he entered the race 13 points behind Kirkwood. Now he’ll finish either 20th or 21st in this race.

This brings out a full-course caution and helps the Pabst Racing trio of Lindh, Frederick and Kohl move up to second, third and fourth. Lindh will be right behind Kirkwood on this restart but one of the Newman Wachs Racing cars, Osborne, is sandwiched in-between Lindh and the other two Pabst cars.

Restart occurs at the end of Lap 40, start of Lap 41. Kirkwood gets a great jump on Lindh, and Osborne stays low through Turns 1 and 2 to get out of the way.

However the yellow flag flies again just after the restart, as Zach Holden’s No. 10 DEForce Racing car is actually riding over the back of Julian van der Watt’s No. 80 Team Pelfrey car exiting Turn 2. They come to a rest at the entrance to Turn 3. Van der Watt had restarted in 10th place while Holden had restarted in 13th. This is a tough hit for van der Watt, as the South African driver had quietly leapt to fifth in the points entering the race.

There are 30 laps to go during this second full course yellow and the revised order up front is Kirkwood, Lindh, Frederick, Kohl, Donegan, Sierra, Fraga, Keane, Ming and Cabrera in the top 10.

Somehow, though, neither van der Watt nor Holden’s cars appear that damaged and they both drive around to the pits, despite the odd looking accident. However Holden and van der Watt both climb from their cars once they are in the pits.

Lights are out on the pace car at the end of Lap 49 and we are back green on Lap 50, with 26 laps to go. Frederick makes a run past Lindh and is by the red-haired Swede at Turns 1 and 2 for second. Frederick holds off Lindh’s re-pass attempt through Turns 3 and 4. Further back, Fraga is working on Donegan for sixth as Sierra had passed the Irishman a lap earlier for fifth.

However because of the cautions, this becomes a 30-minute timed race, so there are only 58 laps completed.

Kirkwood wins over Frederick with a winning victory margin of 1.2695 seconds. The teenager leads Pabst’s trio, with Lindh in third and Kohl in fourth. Sierra, who started 10th, moves up five positions to fifth for DEForce Racing.

Kirkwood entered with only a 13-point lead over Baron but will gap him by an additional 40-plus points (at least 45 to 2 for this race alone), owing to the increased points percentage for the oval race.

After the race, Kirkwood told TSO Ladder that his Memphis test helped him understand how to drive an oval but not to race it. Also, he said he was able to restart better here versus the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He didn’t have any issues on either restart and brought it home for his third win of the year. He hated that Baron had the incident – he didn’t wish any ill will on him – but didn’t mind the fact this result helps his points gap.

For Frederick, his first podium of the year was overdue, and came after a patient run to get past Lindh for second.

The series is off until Road America, the weekend of June 22-24.

Cooper Tires Freedom 75 – Unofficial Results

P No Name Team Laps Diff
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood Cape Motorsports 58
2 24 Kaylen Frederick Pabst Racing 58 1.2695
3 23 Rasmus Lindh Pabst Racing 58 1.9099
4 22 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 58 3.5994
5 12 Jose Sierra DEForce Racing 58 4.7860
6 30 Keith Donegan ArmsUp Motorsports 58 5.2606
7 91 Igor Fraga Exclusive Autosport 58 6.0105
8 36 Darren Keane Newman Wachs Racing 58 6.9243
9 21 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 58 8.2575
10 90 Manuel Cabrera Exclusive Autosport 58 8.8193
11 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 58 10.0898
12 5 Mathias Soler-Obel Sol.O Racing 58 11.7898
13 27 Colin Kaminsky DEForce Racing 58 12.4723
14 82 Bruna Tomaselli Team Pelfrey 58 14.2833
15 37 David Osborne Newman Wachs Racing 57 1 LAPS
16 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga Newman Wachs Racing 57 1 LAPS
17 81 Kyle Dupell Team Pelfrey 57 1 LAPS
18 10 Zach Holden DEForce Racing 41 Contact
19 80 Julian Van der Watt Team Pelfrey 40 Contact
20 29 Russell McDonough BN Racing 30 Contact
21 19 Alex Baron Swan-RJB Motorsports 28 Contact
category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO

Carb Night Classic – Friday, 4pm – Welcome to Lucas Oil Raceway, Pro Mazda and USF2000 practice and qualifying

Posted by  on Friday, May 25th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Welcome to Round 7 of the Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires and Round 5 of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda seasons, from Lucas Oil Raceway just outside Indianapolis right at the Clermont/Brownsburg border.

Remember that tonight, there are 50 percent more points on offer for what will be the first of two oval races for Pro Mazda and the first and only USF2000 oval race this season.

It was a mad scramble to get out of Indianapolis Motor Speedway by 2:15 p.m. from Carb Day and after a crazy Freedom 100 for Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, and off to Lucas Oil Raceway, but I made it here halfway through USF2000 qualifying about 2:55 p.m.

A couple surprises greeted us upon our return here to the track for the first time in two years. For one, the usual gate we enter near the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires paddock on the south side of the track, near Turn 2, is closed. That means a quick detour to head north to the main entrance. This then means a longer drive back inbound once in the circuit and to a number of different potential parking spots near the Lucas Oil Raceway road course, near Turn 4.

The second surprise was literally earth-shaking and ground-pounding. Some drag race testing is happening behind us on the Lucas Oil Raceway drag strip. So, naturally, this is quite a bit louder than what we’re hearing with open-wheel cars.

—

MRTI’s own one-night “Field of 33”

There are two scratches to the projected fields. Aaron Telitz’s planned “Carb Day Double” won’t happen as ArmsUp Motorsports will run a single car only for Mazda Motorsports Scholarship recipient Keith Donegan in USF2000. Meanwhile Kris Wright is a no-go in Pro Mazda in the second BN Racing car.

This leaves 21 Tatuus USF-17 Mazdas and 12 Tatuus PM-18 Mazdas, respectively, for the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires’ own personal “Field of 33” at Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Ind.

—

Quick practice notes and times

Following the Mazda Road to Indy Oval Summit, it was time to be on track on Thursday afternoon for testing and practice.

Practice took place last night for both USF2000 and Pro Mazda, to be closer to race conditions.

Both points leaders led their respective sessions with Parker Thompson (Pro Mazda) and Kyle Kirkwood (USF2000) on top.

USF2000 Times
Pro Mazda Times

—

Qualifying reports

Kirkwood topples the Pabst posse

In USF2000, it was looking like Pabst Racing would have a 1-2 on the grid, but Kyle Kirkwood spoiled the party right at the end for Cape Motorsports.

The past Team USA Scholarship recipient laid down two laps at 98.568 and 98.442 mph to have a two-lap average of 98.505 mph.

Pabst will roll off second and third with Rasmus Lindh and Lucas Kohl. Kohl has one past start here in 2016.

Keith Donegan has a career-best fourth spot on the grid at a track that plays to ArmsUp Motorsports’ engineer John Walko’s strengths.

Pabst’s third of four drivers, Kaylen Frederick, completes the top five.

Points leader Alex Baron will roll off from eighth place in the Swan-RJB Motorsports entry.

The Freedom 75 will go green at 6:05 p.m. and run until 6:45 p.m.

Cooper Tires Freedom 75 – Unofficial Qualifying Results

P No Name Team QSpeed L1Speed L2Speed
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood Cape Motorsports 98.505 98.568 98.442
2 23 Rasmus Lindh Pabst Racing 98.443 98.144 98.744
3 22 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 98.175 98.042 98.308
4 30 Keith Donegan ArmsUp Motorsports 97.575 97.690 97.460
5 24 Kaylen Frederick Pabst Racing 97.569 97.833 97.306
6 36 Darren Keane Newman Wachs Racing 97.565 97.669 97.462
7 91 Igor Fraga Exclusive Autosport 97.559 97.479 97.639
8 19 Alex Baron Swan-RJB Motorsports 97.428 97.050 97.808
9 80 Julian Van der Watt Team Pelfrey 97.338 97.149 97.528
10 12 Jose Sierra DEForce Racing 97.264 97.833 96.703
11 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 97.231 97.918 96.553
12 21 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 97.046 96.905 97.188
13 10 Zach Holden DEForce Racing 96.580 96.407 96.753
14 5 Mathias Soler-Obel Sol.O Racing 96.458 96.611 96.304
15 90 Manuel Cabrera Exclusive Autosport 95.925 95.015 96.853
16 27 Colin Kaminsky DEForce Racing 95.576 95.398 95.755
17 37 David Osborne Newman Wachs Racing 95.157 95.125 95.189
18 82 Bruna Tomaselli Team Pelfrey 94.860 93.969 95.768
19 29 Russell McDonough BN Racing 94.617 94.364 94.872
20 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga Newman Wachs Racing 94.048 94.123 93.972
21 81 Kyle Dupell Team Pelfrey 93.383 92.969 93.802

—

Parker Thompson parks it on pole for Exclusive 

For Pro Mazda, Juncos Racing found itself in the similar place as Pabst Racing – it looked like they’d have three of the top four positions, before the last driver to run knocked them off pole.

In this case it was two-time Lucas Oil Raceway starter in USF2000, Parker Thompson of Exclusive Autosport, who pulled off the pole speed at 107.764 mph.

Juncos fell to second with Carlos Cunha at 106.826 mph, then David Malukas in third in the BN Racing entry and the two other Juncos cars of Rinus VeeKay and Robert Megennis.

RP Motorsport Racing’s Harrison Scott will start sixth for his oval debut while Cape Motorsports’ Oliver Askew will start eighth, behind the lone Team Pelfrey car of Sting Ray Robb.

Cooper Tires Freedom 90 – Unofficial Qualifying Results

P No Name Team QSpeed L1Speed L2Speed
1 90 Parker Thompson Exclusive Autosport 107.264 106.816 107.716
2 1 Carlos Cunha Juncos Racing 106.726 106.423 107.031
3 79 David Malukas BN Racing 106.129 106.219 106.039
4 9 Robert Megennis Juncos Racing 105.530 105.774 105.286
5 2 Rinus VeeKay Juncos Racing 105.375 105.569 105.182
6 10 Harrison Scott RP Motorsport Racing 105.256 105.154 105.358
7 82 Sting Ray Robb Team Pelfrey 105.210 104.925 105.497
8 3 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports 104.428 104.373 104.483
9 27 Lodovico Laurini RP Motorsport Racing 103.484 103.500 103.467
10 91 Antonio Serravalle Exclusive Autosport 103.167 102.962 103.374
11 8 Nikita Lastochkin Cape Motorsports 103.087 103.523 102.655
12 83 Charles Finelli BN Racing/Fatboy Racing 101.983 101.818 102.148

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category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO

Previewing the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Freedom 75 from Lucas Oil Raceway

Posted by  on Thursday, May 24th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

The first rung on the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires has just one oval race on the schedule. But for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the Freedom 75 back at Lucas Oil Raceway will be an important test in the championship battle.

Just outside Indianapolis in Brownsburg, Ind., the 0.686-mile oval will provide a change-up to the series after its first weekend of the year was on the streets of St. Petersburg, and its second was at the flowing, smooth Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Kirkwood vs. Baron, Round 3

American Kyle Kirkwood and Frenchman Alex Baron, the latter who also holds English citizenship, have emerged as the leading contenders for this year’s USF2000 championship.

Cape Motorsports pilot Kyle Kirkwood leads the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda championship heading into the only oval race of the season at Lucas Oil Raceway Park. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

They each have a pair of wins and one runner-up finish; it is only one result that separates Cape Motorsports’ lone driver and Swan-RJB Motorsports’ lone full-season driver thus far. Kirkwood has 106 points to Baron’s 93, but both drivers have a significant gap over third-placed Jose Sierra on 64.

Kirkwood, a past Team USA Scholarship recipient, is new to ovals entirely. Baron, meanwhile, only has two past oval starts in his MRTI career. He raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself in Indy Lights in 2014 and then made his first USF2000 start in several years with ArmsUp Motorsports at Iowa Speedway last July, where he finished fourth.

The Cape driver had his maiden oval test at Memphis Motorsports Park, a 0.75-mile D-shaped oval in Millington, Tenn. last week. Even without any experience, Kirkwood is optimistic given Cape’s short oval record (we’ll get to that in a bit).

“Going into it, Cape has always done very well at ovals, and they have some good setups,” Kirkwood told TSO Ladder. “I’ve never driven on an oval before, so this will be my first time. They have the series test here but that is just the day before. We’re doing a test at Memphis Monday and Tuesday, two days, so I’ll get to see what an oval is really like there.”

21 cars featuring a few drops, and an old friend back?

The USF2000 field drops by at least five cars from 26 to 21 for the Tatuus USF-17 Mazda’s second oval race (Iowa Speedway in 2017 was its debut). Yes, it’s a drop, but no, it’s nowhere near as bad as in 2016 when the field plunged from 27 cars to 12 for this race.

No-goes for this weekend is Jamie Caroline, the talented young Englishman who’s let a few results slip through his fingers this season at BN Racing, James Roe in the second Swan-RJB Motorsports car who impressed on debut in Indianapolis, and Team BENIK, with neither Sabre Cook nor Michael d’Orlando entered.

One old friend hopes to make a comeback, though. ArmsUp Motorsports has been working on pulling off the USF2000 equivalent of something Team Pelfrey did on multiple occasions in Pro Mazda, and that brings a past team driver and oval race winner back to a series for a Lucas Oil Raceway cameo. In Pelfrey’s case, it was Anders Krohn for consecutive years in 2013 and 2014. And in ArmsUp’s case this weekend, the hope is to run 2016 Pro Mazda champion Aaron Telitz for his USF2000 return for the first time in three years, since he last competed in the series in 2015.

Telitz has tested the Tatuus USF-17 car and PM-18 cars before and has worked to help Gregg and Brent Borland with the setup of the ArmsUp car. If he races, he’ll be a teammate to Mazda Motorsports scholarship recipient Keith Donegan.

Aaron Telitz scored his first Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires win on the Lucas Oil Raceway oval in 2014 while driving for ArmsUp Motorsports (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

He won his first race in his five-year Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires career at Lucas Oil Raceway with ArmsUp in 2014. Telitz finished third for Cape Motorsports in USF2000 in 2015, and fifth for Pelfrey in Pro Mazda at 2016 at Lucas Oil Raceway, so the 26-year-old has more starts at this track than the rest of the USF2000 field combined. Max Peichel was in ArmsUp’s second car at the Indianapolis road course, and the Minnesota teenager impressed by scoring the team’s first top-10 finish of the year in race two.

Oval notes among the field of 21 or 22

The only USF2000 driver with a past USF2000 start at Lucas Oil Raceway is Brazilian Lucas Kohl, who started and finished 10th for John Cummiskey Racing here in 2016.

Series veterans Baron (Swan-RJB), Kohl, Calvin Ming and Kaylen Frederick (Pabst Racing) and Kory Enders (DEForce Racing) all have Iowa Speedway starts on their record last year. Baron, as noted earlier, was fourth there last year. Ming was third, Frederick sixth, Kohl seventh and Enders 11th. While Darren Keane (Newman Wachs Racing), Colin Kaminsky (DEForce Racing) and Bruna Tomaselli (Team Pelfrey) raced most of the 2017 USF2000 season, they did not race at Iowa.

That leaves most of the rest of the field set to make their oval debuts in the MRTI this weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway.

Two sets of fascinating points gaps

Kirkwood leads Jose Sierra, of DEForce Racing, in third place by 42 points (106-64). The young Mexican then leads a quartet of drivers tied for 17th – Bruna Tomaselli, Manuel Cabrera, Kaylen Frederick and Kyle Dupell – by 40 points (64-24).

USF2000 this year is that close, where there is potential for that much movement among 18 drivers depending on how Friday’s race goes.

And with more points on the line this weekend, we’d expect the standings – which are below – to change massively.

1          Kyle Kirkwood           106
2          Alex Baron                 93
3          Jose Sierra                  64
4          Igor Fraga                  55
5          Julian van der Watt  54
6          Darren Keane             51
7          Calvin Ming                49
8          Lucas Kohl                 45
9          Kory Enders              45
10       Rasmus Lindh            41
11       Jamie Caroline           40
12       Colin Kaminsky         33
13       Zach Holden               27
14       James Roe                  26
15       Keith Donegan          26
16       Mathias Soler-Obel   25
17       Bruna Tomaselli        24
18       Manuel Cabrera        24
19       Kaylen Frederick       24
20       Kyle Dupell                24
21       Sabre Cook                 18
22       Max Peichel               15
23       Russell McDonough  14
24       Michael d’Orlando    13
25       David Osborne          13
26       Oscar DeLuzuriaga    12
27       Jayson Clunie             5

Past Lucas Oil Raceway history

Cape had a relative two-year “dry spell” in-between wins here in 2013 and 2016. The last time USF2000 raced here in 2016, Anthony Martin beat Parker Thompson for a Cape 1-2.

In the intervening years, Jake Eidson won for Pabst Racing in 2015, and Aaron Telitz took his maiden Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires victory for ArmsUp Motorsports in 2014.

Telitz’s win in 2014 ended Cape’s four-year win streak. Neil Alberico took the 2013 win here for Cape, Spencer Pigot beat Matty Brabham in a memorable duel here between Cape teammates in 2012, while Petri Suvanto won for Cape in 2011 and Patrick McKenna won for Cape in 2010.

And about the extra points…

With Lucas Oil Raceway serving as the only oval weekend on the USF2000 schedule, Andersen Promotions has worked to strengthen its importance and reduce the chances of drivers not running the ovals by increasing the points. In previous years, the car count has tended to drop for the Lucas Oil Raceway event.

A win Friday will be worth 45 points rather than 30, second place 38 rather than 25, third place 33 rather than 22, and so on and so forth. Here is the oval points table, below.

OVALS

Position Points Position Points
1 45 11 15
2 38 12 14
3 33 13 12
4 29 14 11
5 26 15 9
6 23 16 8
7 21 17 6
8 20 18 5
9 18 19 4
10 17 20+ 2

One additional point is awarded for pole position and most laps led

With a 22-car grid, there’s a net swing north of 40 points between first and last, so the points standings could be jumbled.

Schedule

Before on-track running on Thursday, the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires has an Oval Clinic from 8:20 to 10, then three groups of 20 minutes each for Cooper meetings starting at 10:15 a.m. going to 12:05 p.m.

Thursday, May 24

TIME EVENT
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM USF2000 Testing #1 (Session 1, Includes Rookie Observation)
12:30 PM – 1 PM USF2000 Testing #1 (Session 2, Includes Rookie Observation)
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM USF2000 Testing #2 (Includes Rookie Observation)
5:45 PM – 6:45 PM USF2000 Practice

Friday, May 25

TIME EVENT
2:30 PM – 3 PM USF2000 Qualifying
6:05 PM – 6:45 PM USF2000 Race (Freedom 75)

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Saturday – MRTI Update #8 – IMS Road Course – Kirkwood controls chaotic second USF2000 race

Posted by  on Saturday, May 12th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Kirkwood controls an otherwise chaotic race two

Motivated to win Saturday after losing a win he felt he probably deserved on Friday, Cape Motorsports’ Kyle Kirkwood executed a controlled drive Saturday morning to win the second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda race of the weekend. It’s his second win of the season.

The 20-lap, 40-minute race featured a waved off start and a finish under yellow but like on Friday, featured no shortage of action to cap off USF2000’s portion of the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

The race start was waved off due to debris on course. Before the green Michael d’Orlando’s tough weekend continued as he pitted his repaired No. 51 Team BENIK car. He’d need to catch up the field when the race restarted.

It went green on Lap 2, but without one of Friday’s podium finishers Jose Sierra. The Mexican driver pitted his No. 12 DEForce Racing car and retired from the race. Baron passed Kohl for second and tried by Kirkwood on the outside of Turn 7 to try to emulate his move from Friday, but to no avail. Caroline got by Kohl for third.

Baron’s race went away from him on Lap 3, following contact with Caroline at Turn 7. Caroline tried to Baron’s inside but the two drivers made contact, which pitched Baron into a spin and around, and dropped him to 24th. Keep that in mind though for how this race progressed.

With the contact, Caroline moved into second ahead of all four Pabst Racing cars in succession: Kohl (No. 22), Lindh (No. 23), Ming (No. 21) and Frederick (No. 24), with Holden now best of DEForce’s quartet in seventh. Soler-Obel, van der Watt and Keane complete the top 10.

Lindh is closing on the leaders as he sets the fastest race lap on Lap 4 from third place. Kirkwood though has extended his lead to 2.4405 seconds.

The Swede’s race takes a turn for the worse on Lap 5 as he drops to eighth. Kohl, Holden, Frederick, Soler-Obel and van der Watt are all past for position on this lap. Lindh isn’t the only Pabst Racing car in trouble as Ming pits his No. 21 car with front wing damage.

Reset on Lap 6 is Kirkwood, Caroline, Kohl, Holden, Soler-Obel, Frederick, van der Watt, Keane, Lindh and Roe in the top 10. Fraga has improved to 16th from 22nd and Baron is back to 20th from 24th.

As Kirkwood gaps the lead up to 7.3982 seconds over the field, Caroline now has a train of cars behind him in his No. 28 BN Racing entry.

It all gets a bit crazy on Lap 10 as Holden passes Kohl for third in the Turns 3 and 4 complex, but contact for him later in the lap wounds his No. 10 DEForce car and ends his podium chances.

At Lap 10, the revised order is Kirkwood is leading by 9.2926 seconds, with Frederick now second after starting 12th, then Caroline third, Kohl fourth, Soler-Obel fifth, then van der Watt, Lindh, Holden, Keane ande Roe in the top 10. Holden parks his car in the runoff at Turn 1.

Then on Lap 11 at Turn 4, there’s contact that takes out Caroline and Frederick. Frederick’s No. 24 Pabst car is beached at Turn 4, while Caroline limps his No. 28 BN car into the pits and retires from the race.

It’s a drastically shaken up order as the race goes to its second full-course caution. Kirkwood’s lead is erased and he’s now leading Lindh, Keane who’s rocketed up to third, Roe now fourth, Enders fifth, Kaminsky sixth, Soler-Obel seventh, Dupell eighth, Baron miraculously back to ninth and Cabrera in the top 10. Then it’s Fraga, Kohl, Peichel, van der Watt, Tomaselli, Osborne, d’Orlando, Donegan, Cook and DeLuzuriaga in the top 20.

The restart comes at the end of Lap 13 and start of Lap 14. Kirkwood gets a good jump and leads away from Lindh, while Roe tries a move on Keane for third around the outside into Turn 1. He’s unable to complete it in either Turn 1 or Turn 7.

Baron gains two more spots on the restart and is up to seventh, past Soler-Obel and Dupell.

The top three broke away while Roe held back a train of cars, running fourth in the second Swan-RJB car. The Irishman has a quick turnaround to finish this race, and then will fly to Watkins Glen International after it.

Baron gains three spots on Lap 15, and is back to fourth after getting around Kaminsky, Enders and Roe, and is now just 0.6479 behind Keane in third.

On Lap 15 with just five to go, Lindh is within 0.6261 of Kirkwood. He maintains the gap at 0.6636 of a second. Baron is now just a tenth behind Keane for third and is right on his gearbox coming through the exit of Turn 4.

Contact further back at Turn 4 occurs between the No. 37 Newman Wachs Racing car of David Osborne with d’Orlando’s No. 51 Team BENIK car. Osborne and d’Orlando were running 16th and 17th at the time. Osborne’s car is beached in the gravel trap, and this brings out the third full-course caution of the race. Dupell’s No. 81 Team Pelfrey car ran deep at Turn 12 just prior to this, and the caution allows him an opportunity to restart, although he headed into the pits.

Baron made it past Keane for third just prior to this yellow and will restart just behind Lindh in second and leader Kirkwood.

As the field passes under the start/finish line at the end of Lap 18, we get the one to go before green signal from Race Control, so we’ll get a one-lap dash.

The order before this restart is Kirkwood, Lindh, Baron, Keane, Roe, Enders, Kaminsky, Kohl, Soler-Obel and Fraga in the top 10. Van der Watt is 11thh ahead of Cabrera, Peichel, Tomaselli, Ming, Donegan, McDonough, DeLuzuriaga, d’Orlando and Cook the top 20 and all drivers on the lead lap.

Even before the restart, contact occurs further back as Tomaselli’s No. 82 Team Pelfrey car is stopped on course at Turn 12 without its rear wing. The Brazilian driver hops out of her car and scrambles off track.

Race Control lets the race proceed under green for the start of the lap through Turn 7 before throwing the fourth and final full-course caution of the race, before the field hits Tomaselli’s stricken and stranded Pelfrey car.

Baron had gotten into second just before the yellow flag here, and crossed the line behind race winner Kirkwood under yellow.

Kirkwood and Baron split the weekend in USF2000, just as they did in St. Petersburg, except in the reverse order. There, Kirkwood won race one and Baron race two. Here, it was Baron winning race one and Kirkwood winning race two.

Lindh’s weekend promise ends with the Swede scoring his first career USF2000 podium finish, and joins Kohl as a Pabst driver with a podium this year.

Keane and Roe started ninth and 10th and finish fourth and fifth, Roe posting an impressive top-five finish in only his second start in USF2000, and confirming Swan-RJB Motorsports gets its first double top-five finish.

Enders and Kaminsky uphold the day for DEForce in sixth and seventh, with Kohl, van der Watt and Cabrera in the top 10. Cabrera was just ahead of Exclusive Autosport teammate Fraga for the final top-10 position.

Kaminsky’s No. 27 car has significant front end damage and goes through the runoff at oval Turn 1, road course Turn 12. He’s listed seventh provisionally.

It was a wild race but the weekend, confirmed Kirkwood and Baron as the primary title contenders from here.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – Race #2 Unofficial Results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 20
2 19 Alex Baron 20 0.8372
3 23 Rasmus Lindh 20 1.0947
4 36 Darren Keane 20 1.8199
5 20 James Roe 20 2.1358
6 11 Kory Enders 20 2.5477
7 27 Colin Kaminsky 20 3.2046
8 22 Lucas Kohl 20 3.7785
9 80 Julian Van der Watt 20 4.4584
10 90 Manuel Cabrera 20 4.8462
11 91 Igor Fraga 20 5.3294
12 14 Max Peichel 20 5.9986
13 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 20 6.4100
14 21 Calvin Ming 20 7.0058
15 29 Russell McDonough 20 7.4479
16 30 Keith Donegan 20 7.6930
17 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 20 8.4177
18 31 Sabre Cook 20 8.9076
19 51 Michael d’Orlando 20 10.7945
20 37 David Osborne 19 Running
21 24 Kaylen Frederick 19 Running
22 82 Bruna Tomaselli 18 Retired
23 81 Kyle Dupell 16 Retired
24 28 Jamie Caroline 11 Retired
25 10 Zach Holden 10 Retired
26 12 Jose Sierra 1 Retired

—

After raising $6,000 during the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America last year, the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock hopes to raise double that amount over the next few days. You can do your part by donating here —>please make a donation in the #RaceToEndLupus

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category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
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Friday – MRTI Update #5 – IMS Road Course – Baron edges Kirkwood after intense USF2000 battle

Posted by  on Friday, May 11th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Baron edges Kirkwood after intense battle in race one

In only 27-plus minutes and 15 laps of racing, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda put on a show at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Ultimately Alex Baron captured the win following an intense battle with Kyle Kirkwood, having started second and first, respectively in the first race of the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

Baron, who drives for Swan-RJB Motorsports, has now ended Cape Motorsports’ win streak in USF2000 competition at this road course. Cape had won six straight races here prior to this result. Nico Jamin swept 2015, Anthony Martin and Parker Thompson split 2016 and Oliver Askew swept 2017. Jamin, Martin and Askew have all gone on to win the series championship at year’s end.

The engines fired on the field of 26 Tatuus USF-17 Mazdas at 2:45 p.m. ET on Friday, under sunny skies and warm ambient and track temperatures hovering in the mid-80s ambient and mid-110s on track.

Off the start, Kirkwood led away from Rasmus Lindh, who got past Baron for second, with Kaylen Frederick and Jamie Caroline completing the top five.

Kirkwood got out to a quick lead of more than 1.4 seconds on Lap 3, but that got erased following the first full-course caution of the race. Three cars were in trouble, as Darren Keane (Newman Wachs Racing) and Michael d’Orlando (Team BENIK) pitted without front wings, and Lucas Kohl (Pabst Racing) got eliminated from the race. Kohl ran eighth, Keane 11th and d’Orlando 21st at the end of the first lap. Under this yellow, Bruna Tomaselli (Team Pelfrey) and Zach Holden (DEForce Racing) also made visits to the pits.

The order under yellow was Kirkwood, Lindh, Baron, Frederick, Caroline, Sierra, Ming, Fraga, van der Watt and Enders in the top 10. Behind them it’s Kaminsky, Roe, Soler-Obel, Holden, Cabrera, Dupell, Donegan, McDonough, Cook, Tomaselli, Peichel, Osborne and DeLuzuriaga with Keane, d’Orlando and Kohl either off or out.

The restart occurred on Lap 7 with Kirkwood working to defend against Lindh and Baron. Lindh, however, slowed exiting Turn 2 and limped around as nearly the entire field went past. Another car needed to take evasive action around the outside of Lindh, going through the gravel.

Baron moved around Kirkwood in the brief green flag period before the second caution period of the race. Lindh’s demise opened the door for Caroline, Sierra and Ming to move up into the top five positions. Fraga, Enders, van der Watt, Cabrera and Soler-Obel moved up into the top 10. Roe, Dupell, Kaminsky, Donegan and Peichel complete the top 15.

The restart comes on Lap 12, and Baron and Kirkwood streak away from the rest of the field, by 1.4 seconds over Sierra who’s gotten past Caroline for third. Fraga has also passed Ming for fifth.

Kirkwood makes it past Baron for the lead through the Turns 1 and 2 complex on Lap 13, but doesn’t hold it through the end of the lap. Baron is back past and leads Kirkwood by just 0.2554 of a second with two laps to go, and Sierra is right there at just 0.8056 of a second behind in third. Caroline is now by himself in fourth and Fraga is fifth, still ahead of Ming, Enders and van der Watt.

The white flag flew at the end of Lap 14 with Baron, Kirkwood and Sierra within 0.8003 of a second and Caroline close but not quite there at 1.6458 seconds back. Enders is now up to fifth with a fading Ming now holding up van der Watt, Fraga, who’s lost a couple spots, Kaminsky and Cabrera in the top 10. Roe is on the fringes of a top-10 finish in his debut.

Swan-RJB Motorsports’ Baron is able to hold off Kirkwood by just 0.4344 of a second to snap Cape Motorsports’ six-race winning streak in USF2000 at the IMS road course. Sierra brings it home in third for DEForce Racing. Caroline is fourth for BN Racing and Enders makes it two DEForce cars in the top five.

Ming holds on for sixth ahead of van der Watt, Fraga, Kaminsky and Holden, up to a top-10 result to make it all four DEForce cars in the top-10. Holden had actually pitted earlier in the race, and as of Lap 7 he was 17th.

The top three in the race are the top three in the championship, albeit not in the same order.

Unofficially Kirkwood has 74 points, Baron 67 and Sierra 63, with no one else having more than 51 (Fraga in fourth).

The second USF2000 race of the weekend comes at 9:15 a.m. ET and local time on Saturday morning.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – Race #1 Unofficial Results

P No Name Laps Diff
1 19 Alex Baron 15
2 8 Kyle Kirkwood 15 0.4344
3 12 Jose Sierra 15 1.2364
4 28 Jamie Caroline 15 2.0410
5 11 Kory Enders 15 3.9397
6 21 Calvin Ming 15 5.8504
7 80 Julian Van der Watt 15 6.1918
8 91 Igor Fraga 15 6.6899
9 27 Colin Kaminsky 15 7.1147
10 10 Zach Holden 15 8.1029
11 90 Manuel Cabrera 15 8.4697
12 20 James Roe 15 8.4942
13 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 15 8.6089
14 23 Rasmus Lindh 15 9.0988
15 37 David Osborne 15 10.6740
16 81 Kyle Dupell 15 10.7012
17 14 Max Peichel 15 16.0014
18 29 Russell McDonough 15 17.2898
19 82 Bruna Tomaselli 15 17.6225
20 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 15 18.1201
21 31 Sabre Cook 15 33.0280
22 24 Kaylen Frederick 14 1 LAPS
23 36 Darren Keane 13 2 LAPS
24 30 Keith Donegan 8 OFF COURSE
25 51 Michael d’Orlando 7 OFF COURSE
26 22 Lucas Kohl 2 OFF COURSE

—

After raising $6,000 during the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America last year, the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock hopes to raise double that amount over the next few days. You can do your part by donating here —>please make a donation in the #RaceToEndLupus

Don’t miss any of the action:

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Friday – MRTI Update #2 – IMS Road Course – USF2000 and Pro Mazda first qualifying results

Posted by  on Friday, May 11th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Friday’s sessions from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are underway. This is a busy day for the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires, as there are eight on-track sessions – five qualifying sessions, and three races.

For a reminder, here is the schedule:

Friday, May 11th

TIME EVENT
7:30 AM Public Gates Open
8:05 AM – 8:25 AM USF2000 Qualifying #1
8:40 AM – 9 AM Pro Mazda Qualifying #1
9:15 AM – 10 AM IndyCar Practice #1
10 AM – 10:30 AM USF2000 Autograph Session (Fan Village)
10:20 AM – 10:50 AM Indy Lights Qualifying #1
11 AM – 11:45 AM IndyCar Autograph Session (Fan Village)
11:10 AM – 11:30 AM USF2000 Qualifying #2
11:50 AM – 12:10 PM Pro Mazda Qualifying #2
NOON – 12:25 PM Indy Lights Autograph Session (Fan Village)
12:30 PM – 1:15 PM IndyCar Practice #2
1 PM – 1:25 PM Pro Mazda Autograph Session (Fan Village)
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Indy Lights Race #1
2:45 PM – 3:20 PM USF2000 Race #1
3:35 PM – 4:15 PM Pro Mazda Race #1
4:30 PM – 5:45 PM IndyCar Qualifying
7:30 PM Public Gates Close

—

Kirkwood grabs pole for USF2000 first race

Cape Motorsports has a six-race winning streak in Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda competition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

And they’ll enter today’s first race of the weekend in the best possible position to make it lucky number seven, courtesy of driver No. 8.

Kyle Kirkwood is on the pole for today’s first race of the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America, courtesy of a best lap of 1:24.7694 in his Tatuus USF-17 Mazda around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn IMS road course. He was just shy of the qualifying record, set last year, 1:24.6831 by last year’s series champion Oliver Askew.

Showing the longevity, life and pace of the Cooper Tires, Kirkwood set his best lap on his ninth lap of the session, as all of the top three drivers did.

Kirkwood will share the front row with Alex Baron in the No. 19 Swan-RJB Motorsports car, which means the two winners from the St. Petersburg weekend and two of the top four drivers in points will be at the front of the field later today. Baron was just 0.014 of a second off the pole.

Rasmus Lindh was best of the four Pabst Racing entries, with the young Swede clocking in third in his No. 23 car, and only 0.02 of a second off.

DEForce Racing’s Jose Sierra and Kaylen Frederick, in another Pabst car, completed the top five runners.

All of the top 15 runners in qualifying, from eight teams, were within 0.9442 of a second, showcasing the competitiveness and depth of the field.

The first race of the weekend is at 2:45 p.m. ET.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – First Qualifying Results

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:24.769 –.—- 11
2 19 Alex Baron 1:24.783 0.0140 11
3 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:24.790 0.0204 11
4 12 Jose Sierra 1:24.861 0.0914 11
5 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:24.929 0.1598 11
6 21 Calvin Ming 1:24.983 0.2140 12
7 28 Jamie Caroline 1:25.308 0.5391 11
8 11 Kory Enders 1:25.370 0.6005 12
9 22 Lucas Kohl 1:25.387 0.6176 11
10 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:25.395 0.6261 11
11 36 Darren Keane 1:25.510 0.7408 9
12 91 Igor Fraga 1:25.547 0.7775 11
13 10 Zach Holden 1:25.659 0.8892 11
14 81 Kyle Dupell 1:25.684 0.9146 11
15 20 James Roe 1:25.714 0.9442 12
16 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:25.811 1.0412 11
17 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 1:25.826 1.0566 11
18 30 Keith Donegan 1:25.908 1.1387 12
19 51 Michael d’Orlando 1:26.018 1.2485 9
20 90 Manuel Cabrera 1:26.035 1.2655 12
21 37 David Osborne 1:26.112 1.3421 12
22 14 Max Peichel 1:26.400 1.6307 13
23 29 Russell McDonough 1:26.554 1.7844 12
24 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:26.563 1.7938 10
25 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:26.600 1.8302 12
26 31 Sabre Cook 1:26.827 2.0575 13

—

Askew makes it a Cape pole sweep on Friday morning

Oliver Askew of Cape Motorsports has scored the pole for the first two Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. As expected, the new Tatuus PM-18 Mazda smashed the previous track record at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn track.

With testing times in the 1:19.8 bracket here last October, and the previous track record a 1:22.8800 by Patricio “Pato” O’Ward in 2016, today’s first qualifying was always going to see a new mark established. The question was who would do it.

Askew had an initial edge on Juncos Racing’s Rinus VeeKay by just 0.0165 of a second, thanks to a best lap of 1:19.5937. But as the session wound down, Askew went even quicker, to a best time of 1:19.3319. That time is 3.5481 seconds faster than O’Ward’s previous mark.

VeeKay looked set to qualify directly alongside his 2017 USF2000 title rival, before David Malukas pipped him right at the end of the session. Driving the No. 79 BN Racing entry, his best time was 1:19.4643. Malukas stayed out one lap past the checkered flag, though, which triggers a penalty of a loss of his fastest lap.

The remainder of the top eight qualifiers, which also included Harrison Scott (RP Motorsport Racing), Robert Megennis and Carlos Cunha (Juncos), Andres Gutierrez and Sting Ray Robb (Team Pelfrey) also dipped into the 1:19 bracket. However, both Pelfrey cars required a tow-in at the end of the session from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team. The top 10 drivers were within 0.9309 of a second.

One driver who didn’t crack the 1:19 bracket was points leader Parker Thompson of Exclusive Autosport. The Canadian completed only two laps in the session with what sounded like a very off song engine on his second lap. He is listed 11th on the grid with a best time of 1:20.5385.

Askew and VeeKay, two Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship protagonists of a year ago haven’t yet been able to duel for Pro Mazda wins like they did in USF2000, but they have an excellent opportunity to do so today.

Askew has a winning streak to extend today, as he won both USF2000 races here last year. A win here would be his first in Pro Mazda, and would come on a weekend that is very important to him and his family – the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America event.

VeeKay, meanwhile, swept the St. Petersburg weekend to kick off the season. The Dutch driver has a rather remarkable streak of finishing no worse than where he started in 18 straight races. The Barber Motorsports Park weekend marked his first in his Mazda Road to Indy career where he did not score at least one podium finish in one of the two races. He’ll look to keep his first streak going and restart his podium run later this afternoon.

The first of two Pro Mazda races goes green at 3:35 p.m. ET and local time.

Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires – First Qualifying Results

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 3 Oliver Askew 1:19.332 –.—- 12
2 79 David Malukas 1:19.464 0.1324 11
3 2 Rinus VeeKay 1:19.559 0.2269 10
4 10 Harrison Scott 1:19.590 0.2583 12
5 9 Robert Megennis 1:19.591 0.2590 11
6 1 Carlos Cunha 1:19.712 0.3800 11
7 81 Andres Gutierrez 1:19.839 0.5068 12
8 82 Sting Ray Robb 1:19.990 0.6580 11
9 27 Lodovico Laurini 1:20.254 0.9218 12
10 8 Nikita Lastochkin 1:20.263 0.9309 12
11 90 Parker Thompson 1:20.538 1.2066 2
12 78 Kris Wright 1:20.562 1.2303 11
13 91 Antonio Serravalle 1:21.578 2.2461 12
14 83 Charles Finelli 1:23.072 3.7405 13

—

A stuck, then unstuck spud

One quick Pro Mazda note we have to peel away from our notebook and share with our readers (please forgive the potato puns).

Team Pelfrey’s Sting Ray Robb is from Idaho, and at every event is supported by The Famous Idaho Potato Tour. The giant potato is on a flatbed of a truck.

It turns out, getting the potato truck through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway tunnel and into the facility is not an easy task.

Fellow Idaho native Davey Hamilton Jr., who will make his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires oval debut with Team Pelfrey in the Freedom 100 later this month, posted this rather hilarious outtake of the truck trying to make it through the tunnel.

From Davey Hamilton Jr.’s Instagram Story, here is The Famous Idaho Potato Tour truck attempting to get through the IMS tunnel.

We are happy and pleased to report on Friday morning the truck is in the facility, and set up at the midway.

The Famous Idaho Potato Tour truck is in the Speedway. (TSO Photo by Tony DiZinno)

—

After raising $6,000 during the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America last year, the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock hopes to raise double that amount over the next few days. You can do your part by donating here —>please make a donation in the #RaceToEndLupus

Don’t miss any of the action:

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Pro Mazda News/Results, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, USF2000 News/Results
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Thursday – MRTI Update #1 – USF2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights – first practice sessions, and some additional notes

Posted by  on Thursday, May 10th 2018     

By Tony DiZinno

Good evening, and welcome to TSO Ladder presented by Cooper Tires’ coverage of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

All three series, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, are in action together for the first time since the St. Petersburg weekend back in March. Indy Lights and Pro Mazda both completed a pair of races at Barber Motorsports Park last month, but it’s been a long stretch since the drivers and teams of the USF2000 series have been in action.

All three series race under the same race name this weekend, the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America. You can find more information on that at the bottom of this and all other TSO Ladder posts this weekend; it is a good cause.

In case you missed Steve’s comprehensive race weekend previews, they are linked here:

—

Here’s some quick paddock notes before the first official practice session. There have been some car count adjustments, with only seven Indy Lights cars, 14 Pro Mazda cars (more on both of these items below) and 26 USF2000 cars entered.

—

Victor’s solo act… again

It would be fair to say Victor Franzoni was not expecting to be the only Indy Lights driver at Juncos Racing this weekend, in the wake of Alfonso Celis Jr. announcing his step up to the Verizon IndyCar Series starting at Road America. Celis made his Indy Lights debut at Barber Motorsports Park.

That being said, the Mazda Motorsports scholarship driver is still focused on this weekend in Indianapolis. Franzoni kickstarted his Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires championship charge at this race weekend last year, which came after a successful test at the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test the previous fall.

Franzoni is hoping for a similar result this go-around in his first Indy Lights weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The ambient and track temperatures will be significantly higher in May than they were in October, and Franzoni told TSO Ladder that he hope that doesn’t significantly affect the balance of what was a really good car at the October test.

Juncos Racing won the second race of last year’s Indianapolis road course weekend with eventual champion Kyle Kaiser, who like Franzoni, used this weekend as the jump-off point to his title run.

—

DEForce is strong at two venues

DEForce Racing stretches its team and resources across two places this weekend, with four USF2000 cars here at IMS and a single car for James Raven at the Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda weekend at Road Atlanta.

The DEForce team expects Raven, who competed in Pro Mazda at the season opener at St. Petersburg, to focus on F4 for the rest of the year.

It remains to be seen whether DEForce’s Pro Mazda car will return this year, as after Raven was in the car at St. Petersburg, Kory Enders made his series debut at Barber Motorsports Park last month. Enders competes full-time in USF2000.

—

Pelfrey down a car for the weekend

Unfortunately, Team Pelfrey will not have Rafael “Rafa” Martins in his No. 80 car for the rest of the weekend, although he was entered. A testing incident earlier this week at Putnam Park has sidelined the young Brazilian driver for the Indianapolis road course event.

Team Pelfrey and Martins will work together to restart their program after this weekend. Martins has a best finish of sixth place through four races.

—

USF2000: Tight field in testing

It may only be testing, but the level of depth and tight times in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda was incredible to witness on Thursday.

Here’s an illustration from two drivers in the field, one series rookie and one series sophomore, of that point.

Swedish driver Rasmus Lindh of Pabst Racing tested here for Team BENIK in October at the Griffis test. He was seventh in the morning and third in the afternoon, just 0.0892 of a second off the fastest time of 1:25.902 set by Kyle Kirkwood.

“We were good in the morning and better in the afternoon,” Lindh told TSO Ladder, noting how small changes can make a big difference.

DEForce Racing’s Colin Kaminsky of Homer Glen, Ill., who ran here under the John Cummiskey Racing team operations last year, thought he was closer to the front than he otherwise was in the second session.

“So Peter (Dempsey) comes on the radio and says, ‘You’re half a second off,’” Kaminsky told TSO Ladder. “I’m thinking, ‘That’s great! Where are we at?’ And Peter says, ‘We’re 13th.’ That shows how deep this field is!”

—

Frederick’s new driver coach

Another Pabst USF2000 driver, Kaylen Frederick, has a new driver coach this weekend. Meyer Shank Racing with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Verizon IndyCar Series driver Jack Harvey is assisting Frederick here at the IMS road course. Harvey’s No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda isn’t in the INDYCAR Grand Prix road course race but will be active next week in preparation for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

—

Thursday marked the first day of running, with each series having two test sessions before first official practice late in the afternoon.

USF2000 was up first, and as Cape Motorsports goes for its seventh straight victory here at the IMS road course, its single driver Kyle Kirkwood was top of the charts all day.

The driver of the No. 8 Tatuus USF-17 Mazda was fastest in the first test at 1:26.010, and in the afternoon went slightly quicker at 1:25.902.

In the heat of the afternoon’s first and only official 30-minute practice, Kirkwood stayed on top at 1:25.969, and was the only driver in that bracket this session.

Pabst Racing has all four of its cars in hot pursuit. Lucas Kohl, Rasmus Lindh, Calvin Ming and Kaylen Frederick were second, third, fourth and sixth, all within 0.4765 of a second of Kirkwood.

The lone interloper in the Cape and Pabst top-six was Darren Keane of Newman Wachs Racing, who was fifth. Keane tested well here at the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Test in October. This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Keane’s debut in the USF2000 series, which was done with Team BENIK. He shifted to Newman Wachs Racing starting last June at Road America.

St. Petersburg race two winner Alex Baron was seventh for Swan-RJB Motorsports, ahead of Jamie Caroline (BN Racing), Julian van der Watt (Team Pelfrey) and Igor Fraga (Exclusive Autosport).

James Roe, the Irish driver, was 12th in his first official session with Swan-RJB, 0.647 of a second off the fastest time. The other series debutante – Max Peichel of ArmsUp Motorsports – was 22nd.

Times are below. Qualifying for race one is tomorrow morning at 8:05 a.m. ET and local time.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – First Practice Results

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 8 Kyle Kirkwood 1:25.969 –.—- 17
2 22 Lucas Kohl 1:26.203 0.2343 17
3 23 Rasmus Lindh 1:26.290 0.3213 18
4 21 Calvin Ming 1:26.373 0.4040 17
5 36 Darren Keane 1:26.400 0.4306 17
6 24 Kaylen Frederick 1:26.445 0.4765 17
7 28 Jamie Caroline 1:26.481 0.5118 14
8 19 Alex Baron 1:26.506 0.5368 15
9 80 Julian Van der Watt 1:26.526 0.5568 17
10 91 Igor Fraga 1:26.546 0.5774 17
11 12 Jose Sierra 1:26.592 0.6226 16
12 20 James Roe 1:26.643 0.6740 18
13 11 Kory Enders 1:26.654 0.6852 17
14 51 Michael d’Orlando 1:26.738 0.7689 15
15 10 Zach Holden 1:26.800 0.8310 10
16 81 Kyle Dupell 1:26.839 0.8703 15
17 82 Bruna Tomaselli 1:26.923 0.9541 16
18 30 Keith Donegan 1:26.944 0.9750 17
19 27 Colin Kaminsky 1:27.130 1.1610 11
20 37 David Osborne 1:27.294 1.3248 18
21 90 Manuel Cabrera 1:27.333 1.3640 19
22 14 Max Peichel 1:27.497 1.5284 16
23 5 Mathias Soler-Obel 1:27.517 1.5478 14
24 31 Sabre Cook 1:27.786 1.8174 16
25 29 Russell McDonough 1:27.990 2.0212 17
26 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga 1:28.305 2.3365 19

—

A changing track and changing running order told the story of the day in Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires on-track activity.

While Carlos Cunha and David Malukas led the morning and afternoon test sessions, it was Oliver Askew of Cape Motorsports that ended fastest in the 30-minute official practice session held late Thursday afternoon.

Askew’s best time of 1:20.899 in the No. 3 Tatuus PM-18 Mazda was several tenths off the best times from the morning and afternoon. Cunha took his No. 1 Juncos Racing car to 1:20.286 in the morning, with Malukas in his No. 79 BN Racing car at 1:20.303 in the afternoon.

Behind Askew, points leader Parker Thompson was second in his No. 90 Exclusive Autosport car, at 1:20.924. Malukas was third, with Sting Ray Robb (Team Pelfrey) and Robert Megennis (Juncos Racing) making it five different teams in the top five.

Two issues occurred within the final five minutes of the 30-minute practice session.

A red flag flew for Thompson’s teammate, Antonio Serravalle, going off course at Turn 1.

Megennis’ car meanwhile was brought back to the paddock on a flatbed after a suspension issue going through Turn 13. Having hit the curbs the wrong way, Megennis’ sustained damage to the left rear wishbone and needed to get picked up and towed in.

Pro Mazda qualifies for its first race of the weekend starting at 8:40 a.m. ET and local time on Friday.

Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires – First Practice Results

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 3 Oliver Askew 1:20.899 –.—- 14
2 90 Parker Thompson 1:20.924 0.0252 17
3 79 David Malukas 1:21.063 0.1640 7
4 82 Sting Ray Robb 1:21.079 0.1799 16
5 9 Robert Megennis 1:21.104 0.2050 15
6 1 Carlos Cunha 1:21.111 0.2122 15
7 2 Rinus VeeKay 1:21.157 0.2579 17
8 10 Harrison Scott 1:21.178 0.2797 15
9 81 Andres Gutierrez 1:21.209 0.3106 13
10 27 Lodovico Laurini 1:21.684 0.7853 15
11 78 Kris Wright 1:21.803 0.9045 15
12 8 Nikita Lastochkin 1:21.862 0.9633 14
13 91 Antonio Serravalle 1:22.434 1.5349 10
14 83 Charles Finelli 1:23.660 2.7610 18

—

In the inter-team battle shaping up at Andretti Autosport, Colton Herta led the first official 45-minute practice late Thursday afternoon over teammate Patricio “Pato” O’Ward.

Herta, in the No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing Dallara IL-15 Mazda, posted a best time of 1:16.603, which was just ahead of O’Ward’s time in the No. 27 car at 1:16.641.

Belardi Auto Racing teammates Aaron Telitz and Santi Urrutia were third and fourth.

Dalton Kellett, Ryan Norman and Victor Franzoni were next.

Qualifying for race one is at 10:20 a.m. ET on Friday.

Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires – First Practice Results

P No Name FTime Diff Laps
1 98 Colton Herta 1:16.603 –.—- 18
2 27 Pato O’Ward 1:16.641 0.0383 12
3 9 Aaron Telitz 1:16.789 0.1857 20
4 5 Santi Urrutia 1:16.910 0.3075 22
5 28 Dalton Kellett 1:16.988 0.3855 21
6 48 Ryan Norman 1:17.000 0.3969 22
7 23 Victor Franzoni 1:17.028 0.4248 22

—

After raising $6,000 during the Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America last year, the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock hopes to raise double that amount over the next few days. You can do your part by donating here —>please make a donation in the #RaceToEndLupus

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Previewing the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda doubleheader on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course

Posted by  on Thursday, May 10th 2018     

By Steve Wittich

The drivers and teams of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda are back in action after a two-month break from competition.

Cape Motorsports rookie Kyle Kirkwood, who won his first USF2000 start in St. Petersburg, Fla., has a seven-point championship lead, and a lot of pressure to extend a six-race winning streak for his team.

“To be the championship leader after my debut weekend, to me, is quite an amazing feeling,” says Kirkwood. “We’re very strong at the moment, so it’s definitely a relief knowing that Cape Motorsports and I are carrying over our momentum from last year.

“IMS is a special track to me,” he continues. “We obviously had great success there last year in the F4 US Championship and so did Oliver Askew and Cape. No doubt it is one of my favorite tracks we will race this year.”

Following Kirkwood is a pair of fellow rookies. Jose Sierra (DEForce Racing) and Igor Fraga (Exclusive Autosport) are both within ten points of the championship lead.

Seeing rookies Oliver Askew and Rinus VeeKay shine with a new USF-17 last year was not a surprise, but traditionally the USF2000 championship has been dominated by veteran drivers.

It’s still early though, and veterans Alex Baron (Swan-RJB Motorsports), Calvin Ming (Pabst Racing), Darren Keane (Newman Wachs Racing), Lucas Kohl (Pabst Racing), Kaylen Frederick (Pabst Racing) and Bruna Tomaselli (Team Pelfrey) all lurking within 20 points of second place, the rookies will need to watch their backs.

Baron, who won the second race in ‘St. Pete’ had the fastest lap in both races, and if he can temper his aggressive nature just a little bit, could quickly emerge as one of the favorites to win the Mazda Motorsports Scholarship.

Another driver who’s performance that TSO will be watching this weekend include BN Racing’s rookie Jamie Caroline. The British teenager who won 10 races on the way to claiming the 2017 F4 British Championship crown, was quick in the opening event but was forced to retire due to contact in race #1.

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda point standings headed into the three-race “Month of May.”

RANK DRIVER POINTS
1 Kyle Kirkwood – R 48
2 Jose Sierra – R 41
3 Igor Fraga – R 38
4 Alex Baron 35
5 Calvin Ming 32
6 Darren Keane 31
7 Lucas Kohl 30
8 Julian Van der Watt – R 27
9 Kaylen Frederick 22
10 Bruna Tomaselli 21
11 Jamie Caroline – R 20
12 Kyle Dupell – R 18
13 Colin Kaminsky 16
14 Keith Donegan – R 15
15 Zach Holden – R 15
16 Mathias Soler-Obel – R 14
17 Kory Enders 13
18 Rasmus Lindh – R 12
19 Sabre Cook – R 10
20 Michael D’Orlando – R 6
21 David Osborne – R 6
22 Jayson Clunie 5
23 Oscar DeLuzuriaga – R 3
24 Russell McDonough – R 2
25 Manuel Cabrera – R 2

Newcomers

There are two new names entered in this weekend’s doubleheader. James Roe, Jr. has been tabbed to join Swan-RJB Motorsports, and ArmsUp Motorsports is adding Max Peichel to team with Keith Donegan.

James Roe, Jr. is a second-generation driver from Naas, Co. Kildare in Ireland that was recommended to the team by Indy Lights pilot Aaron Telitz. The 19-year-old has multiple wins in the Formula Ford competition and recently scored a podium in an F2000 Series Championship event at Road Atlanta.

“This is an amazing opportunity for me, one that wouldn’t have come about if not for Aaron Telitz and Fred Edwards,” Roe admitted. “Aaron called a week ago and asked was I free to drive at Indy and explained what was going on. I immediately jumped at the opportunity and cannot thank him, Fred Edwards, Mirl Swan and the guys at Swan-RJB, enough for this. I also have to thank Gregg Borland from ArmsUp Motorsports for letting me do this, as it clashes with our F2000 race at Watkins Glen, we are aiming to do both. It’s going to be a huge challenge this weekend, but I am looking forward to it.”

With the final USF2000 race early on Saturday morning and the first F2000 race late on Saturday afternoon, Roe, Jr. will attempt to make both races.

Roe, Jr’s father Michael, was a successful Formula Ford and Formula 3 racer in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States (US) to race. His experience in the included Can-Am, IMSA GTP and also four Indy car races with Hemelgarn Racing in 1985.

Max Peichel spent last season competing in the F4 United States Championship Powered By Honda with Jay Howard’s team. The teenager from Edina, Minn. also tested at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Newman Wachs Racing during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test last October.

Seeing Purple

For the second straight year, Royal Purple will team up with the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires to raise money and awareness about lupus.

The difficult to diagnose chronic autoimmune disease has no cure, and the silent illness impacts the daily lives of 1.5 Million Americans, including some people close to the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires paddock.

“My mom has lupus, and it really does impact your life,” said Pro Mazda driver Oliver Askew. “Not many people understand the disease so to use racing to raise awareness by having the Lupus Foundation of America as part of the INDYCAR GP weekend is so important. I’ll be doing my part to help spread the word. Last year was the first year that Royal Purple joined with the Foundation for this weekend to promote what they do and we saw a huge involvement, so if we can build on that and keep spreading the word about this disease, it will really help us fight it.”

Belardi Auto Racing, spearheaded by team owner Brian Belardi and team manager John Brunner, has been a staunch supporter of the Lupus Foundation of America for some years.

“It’s awesome to be able to bring the awareness of lupus to racing,” explained Brunner. “That’s how I got involved. The daughter of a friend in racing, Dave Hunt, was diagnosed and I had no idea what it was. From that moment on, I tried to educate myself. Brian (Belardi) has a connection as well, and we ran a decal for the Lupus Foundation of America on our cars years ago. To see the relationship between Royal Purple and the Lupus Foundation of America last year was great and we look forward to continuing that and growing.

“We raised over $6,000 last year, and I think we can double that this year. Our hope is that this brings awareness and needed funds – it’s a mystery disease, but it’s amazing how many friends I have who have a personal connection, with family members or friends who have been diagnosed with this disease. We’re proud to do what we can to help.”

Watch for all of the entries across the three series to have this special on the nose of their race cars this weekend.

You can show your support by using the #RaceToEndLupus hashtag this weekend, or better yet you can donate at this special page on the Lupus Foundation of America website.

 

Previous winners

Outside of a pair of wins in inclement weather 2014 by Adrian Starrantino (JAY Motorsports) and Will Owen (Pabst Racing) in 2014, the top step of the podium at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course has belonged to drivers from the Cape Motorsports stable.

The St. Petersburg, Fla. based team has won six straight USF2000 races to begin the “Month of May” for the lowest rung of the Mazda Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires.

USF2000 race winners on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course

YEAR DRIVER TEAM
2017 Race #2 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports
2017 Race #1 Oliver Askew Cape Motorsports
2016 Race #2 Parker Thompson Cape Motorsports with /WTR
2016 Race #1 Anthony Martin Cape Motorsports with /WTR
2015 Race #2 Nico Jamin Cape Motorsports with /WTR
2015 Race #1 Nico Jamin Cape Motorsports with /WTR
2014 – Race #2 Adrian Starrantino JAY Motorsports
2014 – Race #1 Will Owen Pabst Racing

Pole sitters.

Cape Motorsports drivers have also dominated the inside front row starting spot on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, starting seven of the eight races from pole.

Despite an average of one lead change in each of the eight USF2000 races, the pole sitter has won the last seven races in a row. And, the pole sitter in the very first USF2000 race at the iconic “Brickyard,” Florian Lattore, finished fourth.

Other nuggets of info

  • The Royal Purple Synthetic Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America doubleheader will be the 9th and 10th visits that the USF2000 series has made to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Six different drivers have won in the first eight races.
  • All of the USF2000 races on the IMS road courses, expect the second race in 2015, has had a least one caution.
  • The cautions have come on Lap 1 (three times), Lap 3 (three times) and Lap 2 (two times).
  • The eight races have seen a total of eight lead changes, with the four lead changes during the first race in 2014 setting the high water mark.
  • All eight races have finished under green flag conditions.
  • Will Owen crossed the finish line 15.9994 seconds ahead of second place Jacob Eidson in the wet race #1 in 2014. That stands as the largest USF2000 margin of victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
  • 2014 also produced the closest margin of victory when Adrian Starantino finished only 0.3394 seconds ahead of Florian Latorre.
  • The only caution free event, race #2 in 2015, has the quickest average race speed at 98.979mph.
  • The longest USF2000 race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race was 51.22 miles (21 laps), and the shortest race was 36.585 miles (15 laps).

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda schedule

Friday, May 11

TIME EVENT
8:05 AM – 8:25 AM USF2000 Qualifying #1
10 AM – 10:30 AM USF2000 Autograph Session (Fan Village)
11:10 AM – 11:30 AM USF2000 Qualifying #2
2:45 PM – 3:20 PM USF2000 Race #1

Sautrday, May 12

TIME EVENT
9:15 AM – 9:55 AM USF2000 Race #2

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Sunday – MRTI Update #12 – USF2000 Race #2 – Baron back in victory lane after a few years away

Posted by  on Sunday, March 11th 2018     

Good things come to those who wait and for Alex Baron, returning to victory lane in the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires was well worth it in Sunday’s second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race of the weekend in St. Petersburg.

Baron started from pole and led all 25 laps in his No. 19 Swan-RJB Motorsports Tatuus USF-17 Mazda for his third career USF2000 win, and first since 2013 when he ran two race weekends at the tail end of the year with Afterburner Autosport. He also won his most recent Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires start, but that was back in 2014 at Toronto with Belardi Auto Racing.

The field of 25 cars might have been anxious to race, having waited all day for their first on-track activity as the last on-track session of the St. Petersburg weekend. But fortunately, all 25 cars made it through the first lap without incident.

Baron led away from Fraga, Kohl, and Caroline, with race one winner Kirkwood the big loser as he fell from third on the grid down to fifth.

On Lap 4, Caroline passed Kohl for third place at Turn 4 on the inside, and into the final podium position.

Caroline closed to within three-tenths of Fraga for second on Lap 7 and started plotting his move to overtake him. On Lap 9, Caroline and Fraga completed an over-under exchange of spot, with Caroline out-braking himself into Turn 1 to allow Fraga back through. This allowed Baron’s lead to grow to 3.4037 seconds.

Kohl, meanwhile, had to defend against a hard-charging Kirkwood for fourth.

By Lap 13 the order was Baron, with a 4.9997 second lead over Fraga, with Caroline third, Kohl fourth and Kirkwood fifth. Rasmus Lindh, Kaylen Frederick, Julian Van der Watt, Jose Sierra and Calvin Ming completed the top 10.

Kirkwood lost the back-end of his car exiting Turn 10 on Lap 15 and clanked the wall, when running fifth, and fell into the clutches of Frederick, Lindh, Van der Watt and Sierra.

There was a bit of consternation between Van der Watt and Sierra for the position a couple laps later, and Frederick fell behind them from sixth down to ninth.

Lindh’s rear wing collapsed on Lap 19 while running sixth, and it shot the Pabst Racing driver around backwards into the concrete barrier where the car sustained rear end and right rear corner damage.

On the restart with five laps remaining, Caroline ran wide from third place at Turn 1 and lost two positions. This allowed Kohl to jump into third and Kirkwood to move into fourth. Caroline regained one of those spots to make it back to fourth.

Two more incidents occurred before the end of the race, both at Turn 8. DEForce Racing’s Colin Kaminsky had what appeared to be a heavy accident with rear wing damage on his No. 27 car at the runoff point for the corner, while Manuel Cabrera’s No. 90 Exclusive Autosport car lost the back end on corner exit.

Baron held on for his first win in USF2000 since 2013, when he won two races in the final two weekends of the year at Laguna Seca Raceway and at the Reliant Park street course in Houston.

The win is the first in USF2000 for the fledgling Swan-RJB Motorsports team, led by the pairing of Mirl Swan and Ryan Barth. The team has Baron’s similarly named but not similarly spelled colleague Alex Barron – the 1997 Atlantic champion and past IndyCar race winner – as its driver coach.

The French Baron, however, was the only one of the two on-site this weekend. He told TSO Ladder post-race that he only met Barron more than a week ago and Barron was unable to attend this weekend with a prior commitment.

Unofficially, Kirkwood still leads the points over Sierra (48-41), with a bevy of drivers (Baron, Fraga, Kohl, Ming, and Keane) all in the 30-points or more range.

P No Name Team Laps Diff
1 19 Alex Baron Swan-RJB Motorsports 25
2 91 Igor Fraga Exclusive Autosport 25 2.0072
3 22 Lucas Kohl Pabst Racing 25 5.4112
4 28 Jamie Caroline BN Racing 25 5.8753
5 8 Kyle Kirkwood Cape Motorsports 25 6.4352
6 12 Jose Sierra DEForce Racing 25 6.7089
7 10 Zach Holden DEForce Racing 25 10.3995
8 21 Calvin Ming Pabst Racing 25 12.3825
9 24 Kaylen Frederick Pabst Racing 25 13.2106
10 11 Kory Enders DEForce Racing 25 13.8957
11 80 Julian Van der Watt Team Pelfrey 25 14.5395
12 36 Darren Keane Newman Wachs Racing 25 15.2984
13 30 Keith Donegan ArmsUp Motorsports 25 17.8019
14 82 Bruna Tomaselli Team Pelfrey 25 18.6553
15 81 Kyle Dupell Team Pelfrey 25 19.3876
16 5 Mathias Soler-Obel Sol.O Racing 25 20.3106
17 31 Sabre Cook Team Benik 25 20.7347
18 37 David Osborne Newman Wachs Racing 25 22.0867
19 38 Oscar DeLuzuriaga Newman Wachs Racing 25 22.9271
20 93 Jayson Clunie Exclusive Autosport 25 23.7519
21 90 Manuel Cabrera Exclusive Autosport 23 23.5011
22 27 Colin Kaminsky DEForce Racing 22 7.7823
23 51 Michael d’Orlando Team Benik 22 18.3366
24 23 Rasmus Lindh Pabst Racing 18 15.3895
25 29 Russell McDonough BN Racing 7 1 LAPS
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