McNeilly has now won all five races to commence the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire title-chase – one shy of the start-of-season record of six consecutive wins established in 2020 by current NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Christian Rasmussen, who went on to win the championship for the same JHDD team.

Thomas Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, also enjoyed a successful day with a pair of second-place finishes for VRD Racing. Evan Cooley (Exclusive Autosport), from Mokena, Ill., and G3 Argyros (Pabst Racing), from Newport Beach, Calif., shared the third-place finishes.

McNeilly established a new qualifying lap record en route to securing his third Continental Tire Pole Award of the young season during qualifying on Saturday morning, comfortably clear of Cooley and Schrage.

McNeilly could afford to be a little conservative on the opening lap, so Cooley took full advantage by sweeping past into the lead at Turn One on the opening lap. No problem. A lap and a half later, McNeilly calmly out-braked his rival on the inside line heading into Turn Nine at the end of the back straightaway.

McNeilly’s progress was stymied shortly afterward when the only full-course caution of the race came following a clash farther down the field. Again, no problem. A good early jump saw McNeilly soon well clear of his rivals, extending his margin to almost six seconds by the finish.

Once again, Schrage was the man on the move. After rising from 10th on the grid to third on Saturday, Schrage fell from third to fourth on the opening lap this morning, but didn’t stay there for long. He swooped past Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, on the outside line into Turn One at the restart, with seven laps in the books, and three laps from the finish usurped Jeffers’ teammate, Cooley, from second with a fine move to the inside under braking at the same corner.

Pabst Racing’s Caleb Gafrarar, from Charlotte, N.C., finished close behind Cooley, but Jeffers’ streak of three second-place finishes came to an end as he struggled to hold off DEForce Racing’s young Colombian, Sebastian Garzon, in the closing stages.

Gafrarar’s performance was especially noteworthy given that he had started from 10th on the grid, thereby earning his first Tilton Hard Charger Award of the season.

McNeilly claimed another Continental Tire Pole Award for the final race of the weekend, by courtesy of the fact his second-best lap from the second qualifying session was faster than everyone else.

The first lap was run under yellow flags due to a problem for DEForce Racing’s Brady Golan, from Austin, Texas, who headed directly to the pit lane. Thereafter, no one could hold a candle to McNeilly. He completed the first green-flag lap a full 1.1 seconds clear of Schrage, and proceeded to extend his margin with every passing lap of the 2.74-mile road course situated just a few miles from downtown New Orleans, La. His eventual margin of victory was a convincing 7.7085 seconds.

Argyros kept the pressure on Schrage without ever quite getting into position to attempt a pass, while the pair of Exclusive Autosport cars of Cooley and Jeffers followed at a respectful distance in fourth and fifth. Teddy Musella, from Orlando, Fla., finished sixth for VRD Racing.

Colombian Sebastian Garzon made up five positions from his grid placing of 13th to secure the Tilton Hard Charger Award, while Jay Howard once again scooped both PFC Awards as the winning team owner.

USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire will return to action at the Indianapolis Grand Prix road course on May 8-10, in support of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, when McNeilly will look to extend his championship lead in the virtual backyard of his JHDD team’s Carmel, Ind., base.

Provisional championship points after five of 18 races:

1. Liam McNeilly, 163

2. Jack Jeffers, 112

3. Thomas Schrage 95

4. Evan Cooley, 85

5. G3 Argyros, 68

6. Teddy Musella, 65

7. Caleb Gafrarar, 64

8. Sebastian Garzon, 64

9. Jeshua Alianell, 60

10. Christian Cameron, 55

Race Two Quotes:

Liam McNeilly (#9 Acclaim Contracts/Wolf International-Jay Howard Driver Development Tatuus USF-22): “At the start, someone running outside had a really good opportunity to overtake, so I just let him have it. Then I focused on getting the lead back. The boys did a mega job and gave me a great car this weekend and for the season so far. We are on pole for the final race so we’ll see what we can do.”

Thomas Schrage (#2 Doug Mockett & Company/Airport Electric Service/Boys & Girls Clubs-VRD Racing Tatuus USF-22): “I knew I was starting up front so I played it safe. I know I can drive through the field and, as long as I didn’t make any mistakes early, I knew the car would come to me. I just made sure to work my way back up after a solid start. I fell to fourth, but knew I had work to do and it was nothing I couldn’t overcome.”

Evan Cooley (#90 Brown Brothers Harriman-Exclusive Autosport Tatuus USF-22): “It was a good race overall. We’ve been struggling with setup a little bit all weekend, but bounced back today. I got the lead at the start and held him off for a couple of laps, and we just lost a little pace towards the end. But overall, a good race. I want to thank the team. They’ve been doing a great job this weekend.”

Race Three Quotes:

Liam McNeilly (#9 Acclaim Contracts/Wolf International-Jay Howard Driver Development Tatuus USF-22): “A really good race from my side. The boys gave me a great car again this afternoon. [On five wins in a row] The car is good at the moment, but there are going to be times where other teams are going to get faster so it is good to get the wins now. But, we need to keep working and keep pushing.”

Thomas Schrage (#2 Doug Mockett & Company/Airport Electric Service/Boys & Girls Clubs-VRD Racing Tatuus USF-22): “It was a tough one. From the start, I knew what our strengths were and tried to get to the lead in Turn One. Didn't exactly happen. Once Liam pulled kind of a gap, I knew I just had to focus forward, try to just drop people off as quick as I could out of my draft. And then about Lap 4 or 5, my belts came loose. I was shifting around there, and I thought I just have to try and limit the mistakes. I don't have be the quickest, but as long as I get the good exits, keep them behind me, then I can come out P2. So that's what I did. At the end of the day, it's a good solid weekend with three podiums.”

G3 Argyros (#23 Positive Energy/Elephant Cooperation-Pabst Racing Tatuus USF-22): “I started from the second row. We were really confident coming in and I had a good start. Then from there, it was just really about trying to catch Thomas. We put together a lot of good laps, but just couldn't match the straight line pace. I'd like to thank Pabst for giving me a rocket ship all weekend. We just had some unfortunate events in the first two races, but this one was green all the way to the end. I didn't get hit at all. I’m happy to come home with a trophy, but, you know, you always want more. So come Indy we're going to go for that top step.”