PALMETTO, Fla. – The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda will host its first-ever triple-header event this weekend at Road America in support of the American Le Mans Series. The 4.048-mile, 14-turn permanent road course located in Elkhart Lake, Wis., will hold pivotal rounds of the closely-fought championship with only seven races remaining on the schedule.
Thirty drivers are currently entered for the August 17/18 races and of those 21 will have a leg up on the competition after participating in an exclusive USF2000 two-day test at the facility the end of June. Judging from a close set of fastest laps in the 15 hours of track time at the test, USF2000 is on deck to offer fans some great racing action.
“I couldn’t be more excited about our first triple-header event and Road America is the perfect setting,” said Dan Andersen, President and CEO of Andersen Promotions, the series promoter. “It is a track our drivers love and it really teaches some great racecraft. As always, our goal is to provide as much learning opportunities as possible and holding a trio of races at one venue helps to accomplish this in a cost-effective way. It is definitely something we are looking to do more of in the future.”
One to Watch
Belardi Auto Racing’s Scott Anderson is coming off a near perfect weekend at the Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products, the last two rounds of competition. Anderson, 23, of Fort Collins, Colo., claimed his first career USF2000 win and notched a second-place finish in Race #1. The 2011 Skip Barber National champion and MAZDASPEED Scholarship driver was also unofficially quickest in the first day of testing at Road America in June.
“This was one of our most productive tests of the year,” said Anderson after the outing. “It started out really well and we were pretty quick right from the start. We were able to do some more fine-tuning on the second day and I was really happy with the car, so I’m looking forward to going back there for the race weekend.”
Anderson is currently fourth in the championship standings with six top-10 finishes including four top-five drives. He pilots the #14 MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development/Neuropathy Testing Center/Laser Nail Center Van Diemen which also sports the OtterCares® Foundation of Fort Collins logo. Anderson is using the Mazda Road to Indy platform to raise awareness of the many charities in his home state.
Mid-Ohio Shake Up
Two drivers heavily embroiled in the Championship Class battle scored a mere three points between them in Race #2 at Mid-Ohio on August 5. Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammates Spencer Pigot and Matthew Brabham ran off the road while battling for position. The end result was Brabham earning his first DNF of the season and Pigot limping home to finish 23rd – the first time this season the pair have not visited the podium.
It was a rollercoaster weekend for Brabham who saw his pole position for Race #1 retracted due to a rules infraction – running a set of tires on the #83 DTE Group Van Diemen that had not been nominated for competition. The 18-year-old from Manalapan, Fla., rebounded magnificently, however, charging from 30th on the grid to third to join race winner Pigot (#2 Team Pelfrey/Doug Mockett & Company/E-merging Technologies/Parathyroid.com/California Scents) on the podium.
Enerson Versus Furuseth
One point currently separates two young guns in the National Class Championship. RC Enerson, 15, of New Port Richey, Fla., is currently out front with Norway’s Henrik Furuseth, 16, hot on his heels. The duo each picked up a victory at Mid-Ohio with Enerson claiming his third straight class win in ZSports Midwest with Team E Racing’s #10 Patriot Bank entry, and Furuseth claiming his second win and fourth top-three finish aboard the #32 Palfinger/Akrene Mek Verksted Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing entry.
By the Numbers: Championship Class
In the Championship Class, USF2000 awards 30 points for a win, 25 for second and 22 for third with a bonus point awarded for pole position, most laps led and fastest race lap.
The current standings have Spencer Pigot leading Matthew Brabham by 18 points, 181 to 163. Belardi Auto Racing’s Roman Lagudi is currently third with 131 points. Lagudi has claimed six top-five finishes in seven events including four podiums in the #4 Champion Stone/Tool and Supply/ High Performance Distributors Van Diemen. Teammate Scott Anderson is fourth at 117 points with Matthew Di Leo of MDL Racing in fifth at 105 points. Di Leo is coming off his best finish to date this season with a second-place run in Race #2 at Mid-Ohio – his second podium this year.
Boding Well for the Future
In addition to Anderson and Di Leo, several drivers enter the Road America race weekend with momentum after logging their best results of the year two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio. Luigi Biangardi matched his career-best result to date with a fourth-place drive in the ArmsUp Motorsports #15 Inject-It/Gulfstream Properties/Slick Locks/Chicago Indoor Racing entry; Andretti Autosport’s Shelby Blackstock notched his best race result with a fifth-place finish in the #8 Starstruck Van Diemen, his fifth top-eight finish; Trent Hindman of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing made his first podium appearance since the pre-season Cooper Tires Winterfest with a third-place drive aboard the #3 Premier Woodcraft/Zydro+/DFL Construction/RaceLite Protection machine; and Pabst Racing Services’ Dalton Kellett finished seventh in the #5 K-Line Insulators entry.
In the National Class, Paul Alspach claimed his best finish to date of fourth in the #97 Robinson Motor Sports/Bertil Roos Racing School FE car, and Jim Libecco finished second in the #98 Akron Skin Center/www.akronskin.com entry for JAY Motorsports.
Road America Hometown Event for ArmsUp Motorsports and Pabst Racing Services
Two USF2000 teams won’t be logging any frequent flyer miles this weekend. ArmsUp Motorsports is based in nearby Sheboygan Falls. The squad led by Gregg Borland was formed in 1995 and most recently won the 2011 SCCA FC National Championship. Ohio-born Borland is a passionate Ohio State fan and ArmsUp drivers receive a buckeye leaf on their car for each pole and win – something Luigi Biangardi, who has one leaf from a pole at Sebring, will be going for this weekend.
Pabst Racing Services is based in Oconomowoc and, since 1991, has been headed by second-generation racer Augie Pabst III, who competed in F2000 in the 1990s. In addition to winning both rounds at Road America last season, the team won the 2011 National Class Championship with Luca Forgeois, who claimed six wins and 10 podiums and this year has graduated to the Championship Class (#9 Belardi Auto Racing Gearup/Splashlight/Café Noir).
Both teams have logged many miles at the Elkhart Lake circuit as has National Class and Pabst Racing driver J.R. Smart from Madison, a well-established auto dealer who pilots the #6 Smart Motors, Inc. entry and has won three out of four National Class races at Road America in the past two years.
Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Road America Schedule
USF2000 drivers will have the opportunity to participate in a Promoter Test Day this Wednesday with sessions scheduled at 9:00 am CDT and 2:00 pm. Official practice begins on Thursday at 9:00 am followed by qualifying at 12:45 pm. Two races are scheduled for Friday at 9:40 am, just prior to ALMS practice, and 5:15 pm, immediately following ALMS qualifying. At approximately 7:00 pm that evening, USF2000 drivers will ride alongside ALMS competitors and fans in the tour de Road America Bike Ride to Fight Cancer charity bike ride. The final race will kick off track activities on Saturday and is scheduled for 8:45 am, just before the ALMS race warm-up. Live commentary and Timing and Scoring is available at www.usf2000.com.