St. Petersburg, Fla. – Kory Enders started his second Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda season with DEForce Racing over the weekend at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg where he captured his first top ten finish of the 2018 calendar.

Enders came into the Mazda Road to Indy event with momentum from pre-season testing. Even with that momentum, the 1.8-mile street circuit of St. Petersburg is known for being unforgiving. A rough start to Race One resulted in a rear right tire puncture for the Houston native, which sent him to the pits for repairs and left him out of reach from the podium contenders, finishing in nineteenth.

The 20-year-old had some work to do during Race Two as well as he battled from the middle of the twenty-five-car pack. Despite the challenging nature of the street course, Enders managed to end the weekend on a high note and secure 10th place and points that will carry significant weight throughout the rest of the 2018 USF2000 season.

The next time Enders will be racing in his #11 DEForce Racing Tatuus USF-17 will be on May 10, 2018, at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. However, Enders will be taking the opportunity to run with DEForce Racing on April 20th in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park as the team continues to develop their Tatuus-Mazda PM-18.

Kory Enders

Driver #11 DEForce Racing Tatuus USF-17

“Our team has been really consistent and I think all of our drivers did a great job at St. Petersburg over the course of the weekend. Personally, I struggled to find a good gap on the street course in the qualifying sessions, which Is only 1.8 miles with twenty-five cars on track.

In Race One, unfortunately, I was taken out from behind and suffered a rear-right tire puncture and had to pit for repairs and that cost us the race. Race Two qualifying didn’t go great and I had to fight my way up through the pack but it was very hard due to the narrow cornered nature of the street course.”