Andretti Autosport driver Spencer Pigot put an exclamation point on the first round of Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda competition at the picturesque Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The 17-year-old from Windermere, Fla., edged series points leader Petri Suvanto for pole by 0.007 seconds and went on to eventually claim a dominant victory this afternoon, his second of the season aboard the #8 Team MAZDASPEED/Skip Barber entry.
It was not smooth sailing in the initial stages of the 12-lap race for Pigot, who lost the lead to Belardi Auto Racing’s Wayne Boyd heading into Turn One at the start and was shuffled back to fourth behind Suvanto and teammate Zach Veach. The ensuing battle at the front also included 22-year-old Chris Miller of Minneapolis, MN, who was making his USF2000 debut with JDC MotorSports in the #85 Miller Milling/Red Line Oil entry.
But Pigot was on a mission, moving into second place on Lap 4 and passing Boyd for the lead on Lap 6. He took the checkered flag with a 5.697-second advantage over the field, setting fastest lap of the race and adding valuable points to his current second-place ranking in the championship.
As positions continued to shuffle behind Pigot, Boyd was issued a stop-and-go penalty for blocking which he served on Lap 7. The trip to pit lane dropped the #4 TheAppBuilder.com driver to 10th in the final positions. With Pigot off in the distance, the trio of Suvanto, Veach and Miller continued to battle for the final podium spots with Suvanto edging past Veach on the last lap for second and Miller finishing fourth.
Sick Tea Racing’s Timmy Megenbier finished fifth in the #17 Sick Tea/Rahal Foods/ Caputo/Wiscon Corp car, posting another strong drive after claiming his first USF2000 podium in the last round of competition at Mid-Ohio.
J.R. Smart of Madison, WI, - a two-time winner at Road America last year – claimed his first National class win of the season with a solid drive in the #6 Smart Motor, Inc. entry with Pabst Racing Services. National class points leader Luca Forgeois finished fifth after contact which required service in pit lane for a new front wing.
Contingency awards include the Tilton Hard Charger Award for the driver who gains the most
positions which went to Timmy Megenbier. The PFC Award for the winning car owners was
issued to Andretti Autosport and Pabst Racing Services in the National class. The Staubli Award, a random finisher award, was issued to Revere Greist, who was making his first USF2000 start with locally-based ArmsUp Motorsports.
The green flag for the second round of USF2000 competition at Road America will take place at 9:25 am CT tomorrow.
Spencer Pigot, #8 Team MAZDASPEED/Skip Barber: “The race was a lot of fun, but a bit more fun than I would have liked after falling back to fourth. I had to fight hard to get past Zach [Veach] and was able to get back into the lead pretty quickly after that. I kept pushing and tried to pull away. The car was really good this afternoon and I have to thank all my guys at Andretti, all of my sponsors and everyone that has been helping me.”
Petri Suvanto, #3 Viseko: “This was not quite what we came here for in Race 1 but we picked up good points so I have to be happy. The race was really fun today. It was a bit different from Mid-Ohio. I was more on the defensive side which sometimes is the case and finishing P2 is great for today.”
Zach Veach, #7 Team Zakosi Data Backup: “The race was definitely a pretty big battle. We were constantly switching positions and everyone was fighting hard to the end. With about three laps to go, I managed to move from fourth up to second and from there on I just kept trying to hit my marks. We pulled out a little bit then Petri [Suvanto] reeled us in. On the last corner, I pushed off a little too much and dropped wheels off in Turn 14 which cost me second place. I just have to really thank my team and sponsors because they deserved a second-place today and maybe tomorrow will go better.”
J.R. Smart, #6 Smart Motors, Inc.: “On the first lap, I had to go four wheels off course to avoid Revere Greist who had spun and was in the middle of the track right in front of me. I spent the rest of the race picking grass out of my helmet and I am sure glad I had a couple of tear-offs on because the track certainly was kicking up a lot of dirt. Today was a lot of fun and I really enjoy driving here.”