Speedway, Ind. – Following a strong start at the season-opening races on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Pabst Racing took to Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.439-mile road course for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship season.
Looking to duplicate their strong efforts at St. Petersburg, Hunter McElrea dropped the hammer for Pabst Racing by posting the second-fastest time while Colin Kaminsky, Bruna Tomaselli, and rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy were among the top-12 fastest in the only practice session of the weekend.
While speed was certainly prevalent with Pabst Racing’s entries, the quartet found themselves spread throughout the starting grid for Round 3. In this case, McElrea and Kaminsky started inside the top-seven while Sundaramoorthy and Tomaselli respectively started 14th and 17th.
Much like Round 1 at St. Petersburg, trouble ensued with an incident in Turn One behind the leaders. With McElrea ahead of the first corner fracas, Kaminsky scathed through the incident by driving through the escape road.
Once the action resumed, McElrea traded the lead with Braden Eves for the remainder of the race. In position to score a pivotal victory for Pabst Racing, McElrea battled a tenacious Eves on the final lap through Turn 10 before relegating to a second-place finish while Kaminsky placed fourth.
Despite starting deep in the field, Tomaselli drove her way to a top-10 result while Sundaramoorthy scored a 12th-place showing.
Round 4 was almost like Groundhog Day for Pabst Racing with McElrea and Kaminsky starting in the same starting spots as the prior race in third and seventh. Meanwhile, Sundaramoorthy and Tomaselli started side-by-side in the ninth row.
Once the green flag waved for Round 4, McElrea ran solidly inside the top-three with Kaminsky not far behind in the top-10. As McElrea kept within striking distance of the leaders, Kaminsky slipped up in Turn 12 and lost precious track position.
All told, McElrea took a terrific third-place finish while Kaminsky regained his composure to place 10th.
Despite starting deep in the field, Tomaselli and Sundaramoorthy fought through traffic to place 11th and 13th, keeping pace and gaining valuable experience from one of the most renowned motorsports venues in the world.
Ultimately, Pabst Racing showcased their resiliency and promise with their strong efforts at Indianapolis. Knocking on the door for wins this past weekend, McElrea expressed optimism with the team’s efforts and overall direction.
“Always a good weekend when you have two podiums,” McElrea said. “That’s four in a row for us so it’s a really strong start to the season with good points. Obviously, we want to be getting those wins, which we’ve been come so close to already, so we should be pretty strong for the rest of the year and we’ll only get stronger.”
In anticipation of Round 5 of the season, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Series held three test sessions at Lucas Oil Raceway on Monday, May 13. Pabst Racing took to the distinct 0.686-mile oval in grand fashion as Sundaramoorthy, Kaminsky, and McElrea posted the second, third, and fifth fastest efforts of the sessions. Remarkably, Sundaramoorthy did not log a lap around an oval until the series’ test sessions at LOR.
Overall, Pabst Racing’s drivers rank solidly in the championship standings with McElrea (second), Kaminsky (sixth), Tomaselli (seventh), and Sundaramoorthy (11th) displaying the team’s deep depth. Following solid outings in Rounds 3 and 4 at Indianapolis and strong test results at LOR, there’s no doubt that this quartet will battle for the win in Round 5 on May 23-25, 2019.