Oliver Askew (Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda) and Victor Franzoni (Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires) completed weekend sweeps from pole in the second of two races for each of the first two rungs on the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires ladder, as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend at the 2.439-mile, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

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Like yesterday, a scattered and somewhat chaotic race for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda produced a similar result at the top of the standings: Oliver Askew has won once again.

Askew has completed his second consecutive weekend sweep and has now won five races in a row to kick off the season, driving the No. 3 Soul Red Tatuus USF-17 Mazda for Cape Motorsports.

This win today was another flag-to-flag victory in the 17-lap, 30-minute race from pole position, although behind him, there was a lot of action.

A multiple car accident on the first lap of the race took out drivers Colin Kaminsky (John Cummiskey Racing) and Dev Gore (Exclusive Autosport), while Kris Wright (JCR), Bruna Tomaselli (ArmsUp Motorsports) and Ricky Donison (Cape) were also collected in the mess, but continued.

That put the race under the first of two full course cautions with Askew then launching nicely from the restart on Lap 4.

Team Pelfrey’s Kaylen Frederick had fallen from second to third on the initial start behind Pabst Racing’s Rinus VeeKay and fell further back on the subsequent restart, out of the top-five down to as low as seventh.

Askew extended the gap over VeeKay to more than three-plus seconds over the 10-plus lap middle stint of the race before his lead evaporated when two different drivers who impressed on Friday had problems.

Pabst Racing rookie Calvin Ming of Guyana, who banked his first podium of USF2000 with third, which became second after Frederick’s disqualification, dropped off pace on Lap 13. Then two laps later, trouble struck Callan O’Keeffe, the South African rookie from Team BENIK, as he slowed to a halt at the inside of Turn 7 and needed to get pushed off course.

It briefly slowed the field for a quick one-lap full-course caution, where the pace car wasn’t even deployed and Askew was left to play pace car driver on his own, and it also wiped out a three-plus second lead.

Askew led from VeeKay, Newman Wachs Racing’s Dakota Dickerson, Pelfrey’s Robert Megennis and Frederick in the top five, with DE Force Racing’s Kory Enders, Exclusive Autosport teammates Parker Thompson and Luke Gabin, Donison – who’d recovered 10 positions from the first lap incident – and Pabst’s Lucas Kohl in the top 10 at the restart.

The green and white flags came out simultaneously for a one-lap shootout as the race was up against the 30-minute time clock.

It got a bit nutty from there as Megennis got a monster tow on Dickerson into Turn 1, before the two collided when battling over the final podium position at Turn 2, and ultimately both fell down the order.

Askew won from VeeKay by 1.2488 seconds, with VeeKay back on the podium for the fourth time this season.

Frederick was the beneficiary of the Megennis/Dickerson battle to advance into third, with Thompson and Enders completing the unofficial top-five finishers. For Enders, the fifth place finish is the first top-five in USF2000 for the rapidly improving DE Force team in its maiden season.

Gabin improved to sixth, a great result after starting 16th, ahead of Megennis, Donison, Kohl and Dickerson in the top 10.

As a result of the Team Pelfrey disqualification – more from TSO Ladder on that here – it changed the points standings even further in Askew’s favor after Friday’s race.

It was unofficially a 42-point lead from Askew to Frederick (155 to 113), but the points elimination for Frederick meant Askew entered today with a 52-point lead over VeeKay (155-103). Frederick was third with 88 points and Megennis sixth with 68 after the points were taken away heading into the day.

That lead only grows with today’s result, as Askew’s first three months in the series have been nothing short of staggering.

It’s worth noting that Askew’s driver coach – Jonatan Jorge – is not here this weekend as he’s supporting other drivers at the European Le Mans Series weekend in Monza. But Askew and Jorge, who runs JJRD, Inc., have stayed in constant contact throughout the weekend via phone. The Team USA Scholarship winner also said the track conditions were more consistent this weekend compared to the first two weekends in St. Petersburg and Birmingham; here, there is only open-wheel rubber present whereas there was sports car rubber present at those two. Askew’s restarts have been exemplary thus far this year and that’s been a big credit to his success; he said today, he had to perform another “mind trick” to prepare himself for the one-lap shootout.

Askew also praised Donison’s weekend performance, in what was the best weekend thus far for both Cape drivers. Donison could have started second on Friday but was bumped back to third after Frederick was reinstated to second after a penalty was rescinded. Then he was bumped up to third after Frederick was disqualified after the race; and that made it quirky where the Indian driver’s first career USF2000 podium was one where he did not actually get to stand on the podium. Donison’s day saw him start fourth, to being caught up in the first lap incident and fall to 19th, to finishing eighth unofficially.

A similar driver with a yo-yo day was Frederick, who felt he may have had contact on the opening couple laps, which dropped him back. But while he was unfortunate early he was smart late; opting to hold back as Megennis and Dickerson battled over third, and then snaking through to the podium once they made contact. Frederick said weekends like this one where items happen outside his control are character-building ones.

VeeKay was happy to be back on the podium after a difficult first race on Friday when he finished sixth. He and the entire Pabst team had a good weekend. Ming was second on Friday and Kohl, in ninth today, had his first top-10 finish of the season.

The next weekend for USF2000 is at Road America, the end of June, after about a month-and-a-half break.

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Some races in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires are more exciting than others, and the second Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race of the weekend falls into the “others” department.

Not that Victor Franzoni minded it, following an authoritative romp to his second win to complete a dominant stretch from start-to-finish all weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Franzoni, who drives for Juncos Racing, avoided the same pitfall as Friday when he had a slow start and dropped to fourth place.

But having made it through Turns 1 and 2 without losing any positions and after fending off the challenge from Team Pelfrey drivers TJ Fischer and Carlos Cunha behind him, Franzoni promptly checked out from there.

Gaining anywhere from four to eight or nine tenths of a second per lap, Franzoni ultimately stretched the gap to a final margin of victory of 13.0798 seconds over Fischer in the 29-lap, 40-minute race.

The result also moves Franzoni into the points lead over Anthony Martin, with the Australian driver finishing off the podium for the first time this season in fourth at Cape Motorsports. Franzoni has two wins and two seconds, while Martin has two wins, a second and a fourth.

The top six drivers all finished in the same order as they started. Franzoni won from Fischer, in a career-best second place after three straight third places to start the year. In third was Cunha, with the Brazilian teenager securing his first career Pro Mazda podium.

Martin was fourth, one spot ahead the third member of Team Pelfrey, Los Angeles-based Russian Nikita Lastochkin and the first World Speed Motorsports driver, Phillippe Denes.

After the race Franzoni said that without a headwind facing him on the front straight, and after his start mistake yesterday, he was determined to not make the same mistake again. It’s been a whirlwind start to the year for him as he went from not having a ride to then only sorting a deal with Juncos just before St. Petersburg after the potential of a USF2000 ride was there, but now he feels fully part of the Juncos family after their best weekend together. Franzoni credited the team’s test in October for the performance baseline ahead of this weekend.

Fischer is now through a full year of circuits in Pro Mazda, as this weekend last year was his final one in USF2000 before he stepped up to Pro Mazda. Fischer credited his driver coach, Chuck West, and Pelfrey engineer Rick Cameron for his improvement and growth, and like Franzoni has four podiums in as many races.

Cunha was over the moon both with his first podium and with racing at Indianapolis. His eyes lit up in talking about the weekend, and this result fulfills his early season promise that has had pace but not yet results.

The next weekend for Pro Mazda is at Road America, the end of June, after about a month-and-a-half break.

Polesitters Victor Franzoni (Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires) and Oliver Askew (Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda) converted those perfect starting positions into victories in the first of two races for each series on the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The win is Franzoni’s first in Pro Mazda in the series’ third race of the year. Meanwhile Askew has his fourth consecutive win in USF2000, in that series’ fifth race.

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Victor Franzoni saw his lead disappear at the start of the 30-minute third round of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires season.

But the Brazilian then made the gap disappear shortly thereafter, before emerging back up front in a brilliant passing maneuver after a two-lap battle with Anthony Martin.

Franzoni is now a winner in the Pro Mazda series for Juncos Racing, and has made significant inroads into Martin’s championship lead after the Australian won both races at St. Petersburg to open the season on top.

Finishing third for the third time in as many races was TJ Fischer, which in keeping the theme of threes alive again made him first of the three Team Pelfrey cars.

Given Franzoni’s dominance in practice and qualifying thus far this weekend, the only way he figured to be headed was if he had a bad start in the race – which he did.

He was swarmed at the start and Martin, who’d qualified third, made it into the lead by the end of the first lap with Franzoni falling to fourth. Franzoni recovered, however, to make it back to second at the end of the lap.

A slightly altered order after the first lap saw Martin ahead of Franzoni, Nikita Lastochkin, Fischer, Phillippe Denes and Carlos Cunha.

Franzoni quickly lowered the gap to 0.4606 of a second on Lap 3 and 0.2353 of a second on Lap 4, which meant a pass was going to be imminent.

On Lap 5, Franzoni darted in behind Martin exiting the final corner. Martin held the lead as Franzoni drafted down the frontstraight before Franzoni darted to the outside through Turns 1 and 2.

The two drivers promptly ran side-by-side through the right, left and pair of right-handers through Turn 4 before Martin held him off into the Turns 5/6 chicane.

But having had a dry run at the passing attempt on the previous lap, Franzoni completed it to perfection a lap later on Lap 6. Having tried to Martin’s outside at Turn 1, it again positioned him to the inside for Turn 2, and he made it past.

Gaps of 0.7036 of a second after Lap 6 followed by 1.3712 on Lap 7, 1.9838 on Lap 8 and 2.4719 on Lap 9 were proof positive Franzoni was in the clear for the rest of the race.

Other than a minor hiccup on Lap 10 when Franzoni lost 1.5 seconds to Martin, he was never challenged the rest of the way, and had to control the race from there en route to the victory, by 5.0012 seconds.

Behind the top two, Fischer rebounded from a slow start as he fell from second down to fourth to emerge at the head of the Pelfrey scrap and make it back to the podium once more. Cunha was fourth followed by Denes in fifth, and Lastochkin dropped to sixth.

Franzoni said afterwards he’d play the move on Martin depending on which way Martin darted. The confidence boost in the win comes with Juncos Racing’s preparation, and Franzoni noted how cool it was to win in a series team owner Ricardo Juncos knows, Pro Mazda, before making his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in the Indianapolis 500.

Martin said his only realistic chance to pass Franzoni for the win would be on the start. While he defended as best he could and could thank Franzoni for racing him clean, as they have in USF2000 before Pro Mazda, he was unable to hold him back fully.

Fischer said he recovered from a poor start nicely and carved his way back through the field. It was a solid result for him at a race where a year ago, his USF2000 season came apart and ultimately led to his Pro Mazda debut that came the next month at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Franzoni again has the pole for Saturday’s race, which gives him a great chance to equalize Martin on two wins for the year and tighten up the points race even further. The window for the 40-minute race runs from 8:15 to 9:05 a.m.

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Very little in terms of an actual race occurred for the opening Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race of the weekend, interrupted by a waved off initial start and then a crash that ate nearly two-thirds of the clock for the 30-minute race.

And additionally, very little changed at the top of the leaderboard, either.

Oliver Askew completed a start-to-finish drive in what wound up as only a 15-lap race to continue a number of streaks, taking the checkered flag by 3.3461 seconds over Kaylen Frederick.

It is the talented Floridian’s fourth consecutive win this season. It is the fifth straight win for Cape Motorsports on the IMS road course, now its first with the Tatuus USF-17 Mazda after four straight with the previous Van Diemen chassis. It is the sixth straight win by the polesitter in USF2000 at IMS.

He did so after a bit of delay to get the race going. The initial start was waved off, and then on the second attempt to get going, a heavy crash between Kory Enders (DE Force Racing) and Kris Wright (John Cummiskey Racing) occurred at Turn 7 and put the race under a full-course caution period.

After 17-plus minutes and seven laps, the race resumed on Lap 8, with Askew leading Frederick. He gained 1.3166 seconds on the first lap, and that was all the margin he needed to streak away from there in his No. 3 Soul Red Mazda.

Frederick lost anywhere from one to four tenths per lap in the remaining 11-plus minutes of the race after the initial restart, but nonetheless was able to stay in second place for the third consecutive race in the No. 81 Team Pelfrey entry.

In third, after starting fourth and passing Ricky Donison of Cape on the opening lap, was Guyana driver Calvin Ming. This is Ming’s first career podium finish in USF2000 in his No. 22 Pabst Racing entry.

Donison was fourth in the second Cape car, the No. 2 entry, for his best result this season and Dakota Dickerson completed the top five in the No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing entry.

Series debutantes Callan O’Keeffe in the No. 31 Team BENIK Tatuus and David Malukas in the No. 79 BN Racing Tatuus impressed to finish sixth and 11thh after starting sixth and 15th, respectively.

O’Keffe was ahead of Rinus VeeKay, Robert Megennis, Ayla Agren and Moises de la Vara in the top 10.

It was a tough race for Exclusive Autosport with Luke Gabin the best of its four cars in 12th. Parker Thompson pitted on the opening lap and again during the yellow, and was left to finish a frustrating 21st, a tough result to take for last year’s series runner-up.

Post-race, Askew said it almost becomes a “mind trick” to try to keep your head in the game when there is a long yellow. He hasn’t had much time to run behind people this week as he has been fastest in most sessions, but said that with a little bit of a draft, you can be quicker. This is his first win at Indianapolis and he called it a dream; this is the first year he will be able to attend the Indianapolis 500 in person.

Frederick was surprised by how strong Askew’s restart was. He also said his rear tires fell off a little bit faster even in the limited green flag running. He said that for a day as long as this, with two qualifying sessions and the race, keeping your mind focused is key to success. He said the track grip and conditions were good without having any sports car rubber down; just the Cooper for the Mazda Road to Indy and Firestone for IndyCar is down here.

After his first podium, Ming said he got a good run on Donison at the initial start, which was enough to secure third place around the outside.

Unofficially Askew stretches his points lead to 42 over Frederick, 155 to 113, with VeeKay in third at 102 points and the only other driver north of 100 scored this year.

The second 30-minute race is in the 10:05 to 10:45 window tomorrow morning.

After having their first qualifying sessions this morning, both the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires had second qualifying sessions later on this morning as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

Here is TSO Ladder’s report from the first qualifying sessions.

Quick pre-session notes, and reports from both second sessions are below.

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TSO had the opportunity to chat with a few USF2000 drivers before the second of two qualifying sessions, as the Grand Prix weekend schedule at the IMS road course is rather abnormal.

With no sports car content on this weekend, as there has been at both St. Petersburg and Barber with various series, it means the Mazda Road to Indy gets more track time, but it’s odd in that the races come later in the afternoon rather than an earlier morning time slot.

Additionally, some drivers had ear buds in to listen to music or other audio prior to the session, as they prepared to amp themselves up for a second straight qualifying session on the day before racing later.

There was one other change prior to the USF2000 second session. Kaylen Frederick was originally determined to have blown the checkered flag at the end of the first session.

However, following a video review, officials determined Frederick had not been issued the checkered flag. That promotes him back to starting second for today’s first race of the weekend, rather than fourth after an initial two-spot penalty.

Lastly, Cape has Matthew Brabham here this weekend in a coaching capacity, as he has done on and off in his career. Brabham won both the USF2000 and Pro Mazda titles, but never competed in either series here on the Mazda Road to Indy – but he won at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Raceway in Pro Mazda in 2013. He won his only Indy Lights race at the road course in 2014 with Andretti Autosport. Brabham also made his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in this race last year, and impressed with the PIRTEK Team Murray operation.

Back from from Australia and straight to the track to help @CMwithWTR kill it at the Indy Car GP pic.twitter.com/Bk85eAb2vV

— Matthew Brabham (@MattyBrabs) May 12, 2017

He is here this weekend following a double duty weekend in the Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden, making his Australian V8 Supercars debut, and one of Robby Gordon’s SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks in Perth, Australia.

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Alas, at 11:15 a.m., the second 20-minute qualifying session for USF2000 kicked off.

Pabst Racing’s Calvin Ming was the early chart topper at 1:25.3773, by only 0.01 of a second over Frederick and Robert Megennis. But that was before Oliver Askew went out, a little later in the session, and promptly delivered a 1:24.7843 on his second timed lap of the session.

Askew later dropped the hammer to a 1:24.7400, which was slightly off his morning pole time of 1:24.6831. But nonetheless, this gives Askew four poles in a row in his No. 3 Cape Motorsports Tatuus USF-17 Mazda. He has a chance to go for four wins in a row this season in the first USF2000 race of the weekend later today.

Frederick was again second – this time in more conventional manner – in his No. 81 Team Pelfrey entry at 1:25.0539.

Rinus VeeKay was third for Pabst Racing in the No. 21 car, with the Dutch driver posting a best time of 1:25.1795. Ricky Donison has his second top-five qualifying effort of the day with fourth for Cape at 1:25.2088 and Robert Megennis completed the top five in the second of three Pelfrey cars at 1:25.2271.

The first USF2000 race of 30 minutes runs from 2:30 to 3:10 p.m. later today.

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The second Pro Mazda qualifying session was 10 minutes shorter than this morning – 20 minutes versus 30 – but the result was nearly identical throughout the 15-car grid.

As this morning, Juncos Racing’s Victor Franzoni scored the pole. The driver of the No. 23 car was a little bit slower this session – his best time was only 1:23.5698 compared to a 1:23.3476 this morning – but the track slowed as the temperatures heated up and the sun began to emerge from behind the clouds.

Team Pelfrey’s TJ Fischer will again start second in his No. 82 car. He improved his best time to a 1:23.7790, just ahead of a 1:23.8108 this morning. So while Franzoni’s gap to Fischer was 0.4632 of a second in qualifying one, it was just 0.2092 this time.

Carlos Cunha and points leader Anthony Martin swapped spots compared to this morning. Cunha will start third for race two and Martin fourth. Martin was 0.011 of a second adrift of the teenaged Brazilian.

Positions five through eight are nearly identical compared to this morning with Pelfrey’s Nikita Lastochkin ahead of three World Speed Motorsports entries. The only change was Bobby Eberle getting one spot higher this session, edging Sting Ray Robb for seventh behind Phillippe Denes in sixth.

The 40-minute Pro Mazda race one runs from 3:25 to 4:05 p.m.

A busy day is on tap for the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires from the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

There’s nine sessions – one practice session (Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires), five qualifying sessions (two apiece for Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and one for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires) and three races (one for each series) – as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America.

Under overcast skies and ambient temperatures in the mid-50s, USF2000 and Pro Mazda kicked off the day with a pair of qualifying sessions for race one. The USF2000 session was only 20 minutes long with the Pro Mazda session 30 minutes.

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The new Tatuus USF-17 Mazda was always likely to break the prior qualifying track record, the question being by how much. Last year’s champion Anthony Martin set a qualifying record of 1:26.1053.

Within his first few laps though, Oliver Askew hadn’t just beat the mark but obliterated it. The young Floridian, who is Martin’s Soul Red Mazda scholarship and Cape Motorsports teammate, laid down an early time of 1:24.9033.

And then on his ninth lap after a pit stop, Askew dropped the hammer even further to a best lap of 1:24.6831.

The second time stood for the pole position, and extended a couple different streaks. The pole position is Askew’s third in a row this season, and it’s the fifth in a row for the Capes in USF2000 at the IMS Road Course.

How important is that latter statistic? The polesitter has won this race in USF2000 the last five times. Adrian Starrantino won 2014’s second race, Nico Jamin won both 2015 races and Martin (race one) and Parker Thompson (race two) won both races last year. Starrantino’s win is the last non-Cape USF2000 win at the IMS road course. Will Owen, who won the first USF2000 race in 2014, is the only non pole-winner to win – and he won from 13th in an odd, rain-affected race where an excellent tire strategy call from Pabst Racing helped propel him to the victory.

Askew is looking for his fourth straight win this season, and led the points by 34 points heading into this weekend.

So who are the drivers looking to stop the Askew and Cape streaks? Askew’s Barber nemesis, Kaylen Frederick of Team Pelfrey, was the only other driver in the 1:24 bracket at 1:24.9784. However following qualifying, the 14-year-old was assessed a two position penalty by the Race Director, and drops from second to fourth on the grid with a revised time (blew the checkered flag).

This promotes Indian driver Ricky Donison of Cape to second, after by far his best qualifying run of the season at 1:25.0610, and Pabst’s Calvin Ming will now start third. (1:25.1305). Frederick is fourth with Newman Wachs Racing’s Dakota Dickerson fifth (1:25.2285). Team BENIK driver Callan O’Keeffe impressed in his first qualifying session with sixth, with Robert Megennis, Rinus VeeKay, Lucas Kohl and Ayla Agren completing the top 10.

Thompson struggled to 11th, best of the four Exclusive Autosport cars. O’Keeffe is the first on the grid of three drivers making their debuts. David Malukas is 15th, and Jayson Clunie 23rd.

USF2000 has qualifying for race two from 11:15 to 11:35 a.m., and race one from 2:30 to 3:10 p.m. It’s a 30-minute race.

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Victor Franzoni has entered this weekend with a lot of confidence for Juncos Racing following a strong test at the Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy test in October.

He backed that up this morning with an authoritative qualifying performance for his first Pro Mazda pole position as he looks for his first win in the series, two years after he made his series debut here.

Franzoni has just under half a second on the rest of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires field in qualifying. A best lap of 1:23.3476 was enough to secure the top spot. The polesitter has won the last five races at the IMS road course in Pro Mazda.

Franzoni has three podiums at the IMS road course in USF2000 and was second in both Pro Mazda races to kick off the season at St. Petersburg.

The Brazilian is well positioned, as he’ll start alongside TJ Fischer of Team Pelfrey. Fischer ran a best time of 1:23.8108 to slot into second right at the end of the session, an impressive effort for the Californian to get onto the front row.

Anthony Martin, who swept the St. Petersburg weekend to open the year, could only manage to qualify third in the lone Cape Motorsports entry. His best time was 1:23.8527.

Fischer’s two teammates from Team Pelfrey, rookies Carlos Cunha and Nikita Lastochkin, rounded out the top five ahead of a trio of World Speed Motorsports entries.

Pro Mazda has qualifying for race two from 11:50 a.m. to 12:10 a.m., and race one from 3:25 to 4:05 p.m. It’s a 40-minute race.

Unofficial qualifying results are below:

After a pair of test sessions held earlier Thursday on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, it was time for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series to hold their first official practice sessions to cap off track activity for the day ahead of the Mazda Road to Indy Grand Prix Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation of America weekend.

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Victor Franzoni paced Pro Mazda’s only practice session before Saturday’s qualifying. The Brazilian, in his No. 23 Juncos Racing entry, set a best time of 1:24.340 in the 30-minute session. The overall best time of the day was Franzoni in the second test session, at 1:23.446.

The primary Juncos driver bested all three drivers from Team Pelfrey, with TJ Fischer, Carlos Cunha and Nikita Lastochkin all running in succession from second to fourth. It was a slight surprise to see St. Petersburg double race winner Anthony Martin only in fifth for Cape Motorsports.

Pelfrey has won the last three Pro Mazda races at this track, with Santiago Urrutia (Race 3, 2015) and Pato O’Ward (both races last year), while Juncos and Andretti Autosport also won in the abnormal Indianapolis triple-header of 2015 (NOLA race two was postponed until here due to weather).

It has been since 2014, when Scott Hargrove swept the weekend, when Cape last won in Pro Mazda here, and that’s an interesting wrinkle to note going into the rest of the race weekend.

The second Juncos driver in the field, Jeff Green, caused a red flag halfway through the session but returned to the pits. Green was eighth in the session, only 0.9458 of a second off the pace and behind the first two World Speed Motorsports cars of Phillippe Denes and Sting Ray Robb in sixth and seventh.

Qualifying is from 8:30 to 9 a.m. ET and local time tomorrow.

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Kaylen Frederick took his No. 81 Team Pelfrey Tatuus USF-17 Mazda to the top of the charts in the opening 30-minute practice session in USF2000 at 1:25.298.

The 14-year-old out of Baltimore will look to break Oliver Askew’s recent stranglehold on the top of the USF2000 field, as Askew has won three straight races and leads Frederick and Rinus VeeKay by 34 points (122-88) heading into this weekend.

Frederick’s fast start has been an interesting story to kick off the USF2000 season, particularly compared to veteran teammates Ayla Agren and Robert Megennis. NBC Sports’ Tony DiZinno has a longer form feature about Frederick’s start, which is linked here.

Askew, meanwhile, had the fastest time of the day with 1:24.703 set in the second test session held earlier in the day.

Behind the top two in this session, it was Exclusive Autosport’s Parker Thompson in third, then Megennis fourth and Pabst Racing’s Calvin Ming in fifth.

Team BENIK driver Darren Keane did not set a time in this session, the only driver of 23 unable to do so.

This is the only USF2000 official practice. On Friday, qualifying one takes place from 7:55 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. ET and local time.

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Here is the Friday Mazda Road to Indy schedule at the track.

7:55-8:15 a.m. USF2000 Q1
8:30-9 a.m. Pro Mazda Q1
10:15-11 a.m. Indy Lights P1
11:15-11:35 a.m. USF2000 Q2
11:50-12:10 a.m. Pro Mazda Q2
1:45-2:15 p.m. Indy Lights Q1
2:30-3:10 p.m. USF2000 Race 1
3:25-4:05 p.m. Pro Mazda Race 1
5:50-6:50 p.m. Indy Lights Race 1