BALTIMORE -- It was a challenging but rewarding weekend for Belardi Auto Racing’s USF2000 team to say the least.
With practice delayed five hours on Friday morning, and only turning five laps at the brand new street course, Belardi’s drivers Wayne Boyd and Luigi Biangardi knew this would be a tough but exciting way to end their season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series.
During the first of two races over the weekend, a Lap 1 accident saw several cars get collected, bringing Boyd to P1. Fighting off competitor Petri Suvanto throughout the race, Boyd clinched his second win of the season and moved to third in Championship points.
Saturday’s happiness didn’t end with Wayne’s win. Teammate Biangardi had an impressive run improving to 4th place after starting in P9 -- his best finish this year. The PFC Award was also awarded to team owner Brian Belardi for being the winning car owner.
Looking to further improve their weekend, Biangardi and Boyd started Sunday’s race in 4th and 5th respectively. Following a restart, Boyd regrettably fell out of the race after his No. 4 TheAppBuilder.com machine began to have electrical problems. His day ended in P15.
The attention was then on Biangardi, who at 15-years-old, is the youngest driver in the series. In a battle for third during the last lap, the driver of the No. 9 INECT-IT.com/Gulfstream Properties machine collided with Matthew DiLeo in Turn 12. The Chicago native unfortunately finished in 12th. At the end of the day, however, a random finisher award, The Staubli Award, was awarded to Luigi, bringing the weekend to a bittersweet finish.
Belardi Auto Racing finishes its impressive USF2000 series season in 3rd place of the Championship run. Wayne Boyd also finishes 3rd in the drivers’ standings with Luigi Biangardi in 10th after only competing in six of the twelve rounds of competition.
Although the year is done for these two impressive drivers, Belardi Auto Racing continues their season with the Firestone Indy Lights series who will compete in two more races this year. Check their Facebook page (“Belardi Auto Racing”) for updates.