Brownsburg, Ind. – The Jay Howard Driver Development team completed Round 8 of the Road to Indy calendar this weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Salvador De Alba scored a top-10 finish in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, marking JHDD’s best finish of the event at their home-state oval.
Already a race winner this season, De Alba continued his trend of moving forward from his qualifying position, starting 12th and making his way up to eighth place. Indy Pro 2000 teammates Braden Eves and Wyatt Brichacek finished 11th and 13th respectively.
In the USF2000 race, the rookie pairing of Danny Dyszelski and Jorge Garciarce gained valuable experience in their first oval race on the Road to Indy. They each learned key lessons and improved their pace throughout the event, despite a challenging race. The teammates finished nose-to-tail, with Dyszelski leading them home in 14th position.
“A bit of a crazy Lucas Oil weekend,” said team owner Jay Howard. “The weather certainly didn’t help us, as it compressed the schedule. On the USF2000 front, as the trend has been all year, every track we travel to is new for our rookie drivers. As every lap is completed, we see good progression. By the last third of the race, both of the boys’ race pace was matching the leaders’. There isn’t much more we can ask for. We’ll build on that and keep doing what we’re doing. Indy Pro was overall not good enough from multiple angles. It is what it is. We’ll lick our wounds and keep our eyes forward on Road America.”
The Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 championships return to action at Road America, June 9-12. Catch live streams on RoadToIndy.TV, the Road to Indy TV App and the series’ respective websites, indypro2000.com and usf2000.com. Find @followJHDD on social for news, updates and highlights.
WHAT THE INDY PRO 2000 DRIVERS SAID:
#5 Wyatt Brichacek
Round 8 – P13
“I really don’t have a lot to say about this weekend. I’m just happy that the car is in one piece and that we’re moving on to Road America.”
#6 Salvador De Alba
Round 8 – P8
“It was a really hard weekend with a lack of speed. As a team, we worked and tried many different settings which weren’t the optimum. In the end, I feel ok with my race. I felt my experience at ovals and managing a race grew. Taking care of my left front tire in the middle of the race helped me push a little harder at the end. I would like to thank all my friends and sponsors who came to the race!”
#4 Braden Eves
Round 8 – P11
WHAT THE USF2000 DRIVERS SAID:
#8 Danny Dyszelski
Round 8 – P14
“I feel like I learned a lot from this weekend. Big thanks to Jay Howard Driver Development for the great car. I enjoyed the experience of racing on an oval and I hope that I use what I learned here to improve my results at the next races to come.”
#9 Jorge Garciarce
Round 8 – P15
“It was a tough weekend here at IRP — my first race on an oval — which was fun but at the same time, challenging. I struggled a bit with confidence and we didn't manage to finish with the results we wanted. In the end, I'm going home with the learning and the experience. I will work hard in these next weeks to achieve the best possible result at Road America.”