TORONTO, Ont., Canada – Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers took a commanding lead in the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship following a spectacular victory in this afternoon’s first of two races that will comprise the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Toronto.
Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, qualified only fifth on the tight and challenging 1.786-mile, 11-turn circuit that wends its way around Exhibition Place, just a few kilometers from downtown Toronto. But he began to march forward almost immediately, then grasped the lead in opportunistic style, taking title rival Thomas Schrage (VRD Racing), from Bethel, Ohio, by surprise with a late lunge to the inside under braking for Turn Nine. Jeffers pulled inexorably away to secure his fourth win of the season – and, crucially, his third in a row.
Australian Eddie Beswick emerged from a chaotic final few laps to finish a career-best second for Synergy Motorsport, while VRD Racing’s Teddy Musella, from Orlando, Fla., had to settle for third.
Jeffers and Schrage had arrived in Toronto tied on points at the top of the championship standings. Schrage fired the opening salvo during qualifying on Friday afternoon by securing a valuable championship point by virtue of his fourth Continental Tire Pole Award in a row.
Ironically, Jeffers’ teammate, Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., qualified a fine second, with Jeffers back in fifth behind Musella and sandwiched by the two Pabst Racing entries of Caleb Gafrarar, from Charlotte, N.C., and G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif.
The drama began to unfold even before the green flag when the unfortunate Cooley was stranded out on the circuit by a fuel pump failure.
Schrage took advantage of the vacant slot alongside him on the grid to lead from the start, although the race soon was neutralized by a full-course caution due to a variety of incidents further down the field.
Schrage again led at the restart and looked likely to edge away until making a slight mistake which immediately saw him under increasing pressure from teammate Musella and a determined Jeffers, who had quickly found a way past a fast-starting Argyros.
Soon afterward, Musella was adjudged by Race Control to have contravened the rules while trying to defend from Jeffers. He was instructed to move aside and let the young Texan past. He duly did so on Lap 10. Jeffers wasn’t done. On the very next lap, he took advantage of a slight slip by Schrage through the fast sweeping corners in Turns Six and Seven, then glimpsed an opportunity under braking for Turn Nine.
The two leaders made contact, causing damage to Schrage’s front wing, but Jeffers was through and away.
Schrage instead was unable to shake off Musella, and with three laps to go and struggling with an increasingly loose car, Schrage was passed on the exit of Turn One by Musella who then promptly left his braking too late while defending at Turn Three. As Musella’s car snapped sideways, Schrage ducked back to the inside, only to be slammed from behind by a close-following Argyros.
In the ensuing melee, with Schrage hobbled by a flat tire and Argyros with a shattered front wing, Beswick, who had been hot on their heels, ducked through into a fine second place.
Musella recovered to run third and tried every which way to find a way past the former Australian Formula Ford champion, but Beswick held firm. Beswick also claimed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after having started the race in 12th.
Argyros limped home in fourth, barely ahead of another Australian, Brad Majman, who had enjoyed a race-long scrap with Jay Howard Driver Development teammate Anthony Martella, from nearby Woodbridge, Ont., Canada.
Exclusive Autosport’s Michael Duncalfe and Joshua Cooley shared another PFC Award as the winning car owners.
The second race of the weekend will see green flag tomorrow morning at 9:25.a.m. EDT, with Jeffers set to start from pole position after posting the fastest time in a crash-married second qualifying session which took place earlier this morning.
Provisional championship points after 14 of 18 races:
1. Jack Jeffers, 320
2. Thomas Schrage, 297
3. Teddy Musella, 278
4. G3 Argyros, 238
5. Caleb Gafrarar, 218
6. Evan Cooley, 193
7. Anthony Martella, 171
8. Liam McNeilly, 163
9. Lucas Fecury, 162
10. Eddie Beswick, 162
Jack Jeffers (#92 Corpay Cross Border Solutions-Exclusive Autosport Tatuus USF-22): “This is mega, and setting ourselves up nicely for the championship. The goal is always to win, but I wasn't necessarily thinking I need to win this race. I needed to finish top-three because I know I'm set up good for tomorrow. So this was about making moves methodically if I had the car for it, and that's what I was able to do. I've been good under braking compared to my competitors this season, so I knew I had to use it to my advantage, but Thomas and Teddy and the Pabst guys, they've been quick all year. You have to catch them off guard and see where their weaknesses are. I was close to [making a move], but I was kinda like, ahh, we're tied, but I have to go for it so I went for it.”
Eddie Beswick (#25 Synergy Motorsport Tatuus USF-22): “Schrage made a few mistakes and I saw that it was closing up and I was at a nice distance where I could make an opportunity of it if they tripped over each other, and that's what they did. When a crash happens, it washes wide. I went down the inside. I was confident with the pace the whole time. We just didn't get to do it in qualifying. When I was there, I really felt like I belonged to be there. So when I got in front, it was eyes forward. Teddy had a crack at the end there. It got me a bit nervous, but, man, I'm happy. We've had so much hard luck, and it's been difficult. You know, there's no way it was ever going to be easy. We've been sitting around the back, sitting around P10, and then all of a sudden, I'm here in second. I really don't know what to say, but it's been so much hard work, and it's so awesome to give the boys back something that they deserve.”
Teddy Musella (#25 Triarsi Competizione/Don’t Sleep Energy Drink-VRD Racing Tatuus USF-22): “It's just unfortunate. I made a mistake when I passed Thomas, went deep into Turn Three. It's just a driver error. It would have been P2 otherwise. Still, I think it was a good recovery that I was able to finish P3 after almost walling it in [Turn] Three. It's just honestly my bad. It should have been P2, but still a good result.”