JHDD and Rasmussen Back in Victory Lane at Mid-Ohio

July 30, 2019|

Team News

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LEXINGTON, Ohio – Jay Howard Driver Development (JHDD) was back in action this past weekend with its Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Road to Indy team competing at the historic Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

After a breakthrough weekend for the JHDD Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship team in Toronto, Christian Rasmussen picked up exactly from where he left off, claiming his second win of the season in Round 10 of the Championship, and another second-place finish in Round 11 on Sunday morning.

Rasmussen and Christian Bogle, who also enjoyed a breakthrough weekend of his own in Toronto, qualified second and 16^threspectively for Saturday afternoon’s Race One. At the start, Rasmussen made an explosive getaway to gain the lead immediately at the first corner, before disappearing into the distance to claim victory by an emphatic nine seconds over fellow championship contender, Hunter McElrea. Bogle, who diced with fellow competitors throughout the 20-lap encounter, brought his Pelican Energy backed USF-17 machine home in the 15^thposition.

For Sunday morning’s race, Rasmussen and Bogle would once again roll off in the second and 16^thpositions at the drop of the green flag. This time, Rasmussen was unable to repeat his Saturday afternoon magic at the start and had to settle in behind McElrea. Both drivers traded fastest laps throughout as Rasmussen claimed his fourth podium in a row with another fine drive to second-place. Bogle once again showed great pace and progression in his rookie Road to Indy season, finishing 15^thand lapping within one second of the fastest lap of the race.

“Very happy with the weekend here at Mid-Ohio,” said a delighted Rasmussen, who has now propelled himself into championship contention.“Fourth podium finish for me in a row, two wins and two second-place finishes as well. So, I’m very happy. We will try to keep that momentum going into the rest of the season at Portland and Laguna Seca. Race One went well and I managed to get by Hunter at the start and continued to keep that gap until the end which ended up around 10 seconds. The second race was a bit tougher as they (Pabst Racing) found more speed. I couldn’t really manage to get by Hunter at the start, but managed the gap until the end, even though I started to catch him it just wasn’t enough today. Overall, I’m very happy with the weekend and we have definitely turned our season around. I can’t thank the Jay Howard guys enough, my sponsors and our team sponsors along with the series for everyone making this possible for me.”

“Coming into the weekend here in Mid-Ohio, I was pretty happy” commented Bogle, who continues to show encouraging progression in his rookie season.“I was a lot closer to the field than I was expecting here in Race One and Race Two. I ended up being about a second off of the fastest lap time which is the closest I’ve ever been besides in Toronto. It was a great weekend overall. I want to thank the JHDD team for all that they have done and Pelican Energy and CSU One Cure for making this possible.”

Team-owner, Jay Howard, was naturally delighted with his team’s performance this weekend and reserved special praise for his Danish rookie. “Christian (Rasmussen) had another phenomenal weekend, back-to-back wins, the momentum is good right now. He is learning every week, he is really starting to understand how to get the very best out of himself, I’m so happy for him and I am excited to keep watching his progress. Christian (Bogle) also continues to improve and impress me with every outing he does this year, and it’s very rewarding to see him closing the gap to the front. Fun times right now.”

Next up for the JHDD Cooper Tires USF2000 team is a trip to the west coast for Rounds 12 and 13 of the Championship at Portland International Raceway. Fans can follow all of the action live through Road to Indy TV.