Elkhart Lake, Wisc. – Despite overcoming several adversities during the Road America race weekend of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, Darren Keane’s race craft was highlighted by some bold and successful overtaking as well as heads up driving.

After turning several laps at an official test ahead of Rounds 6 & 7 at Road America, Keane was primed for a solid weekend of racing in his No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing machine.

Two twelve lap races would make up the USF2000 round which ran in conjunction with the Verizon IndyCar Series event weekend. Starting Race 1 on the seventh row gave Keane plenty of opportunity for forward progress around the 4-mile, 14-turn road course. Keane’s quick response saw him pick up two spots right at the drop of the green before the first yellow was waved on lap four. Keane maintained his focus despite losing several positions at the restart, but a well-sorted car that had a set up for speed matched well with Keane’s resolve as he fought back into the top-ten after making several double passing maneuvers.

“The start of Race 1 went pretty well,” said Keane. “I lost some positions on the restart but made my way back through. The speed of the car was great which made it easy to make controlled passes. I think I put a lot of my karting skills to use during the race because we were running so close and I had to make smart but aggressive moves.”

The final race of the weekend was staged first thing Sunday morning. A qualifying run that had left Keane wanting more, gave him the added boost of motivation to drive through the field. Unfortunately Keane’s forward run ended shortly after the green as he sustained contact and had to pit for a new nose. But a quick stop by his Newman Wachs crew got Keane back out on track in record time where he moved up to 14^th within four laps of his return on track.

Focusing on late braking Keane was able to make passes around the outside and inside as he worked his way through the field. At the close of the 12 lap race, Keane’s run resulted in a 20^th place finish.
“Having to pit for a new nose really threw us off early on in the race,” said Keane. “But the car was set up perfectly and it allowed me to put it exactly where I wanted. I made up a bunch of positions and felt really good about my on track performance today.”

Keane’s next USF2000 outing will take him to one of his favorite courses on the calendar, the Toronto GP on July 13-15.