The Cooper Tires Winter Fest, a six-race mini-series that preludes the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda, began today with qualifying for Race #1 taking place this morning and the race itself taking place late this afternoon. Cape Motorsports dominated the 20-car field with a podium sweep and Spencer Pigot leading flag to flag. In second was Matthew Brabham, son of the famous sportscar driver, Geoff Brabham, and grandson to the famous Formula 1 three-time World Driver Champion. (no pressure, though). Rounding out the podium was Trent Hindman who moved up one spot from his starting position in P4.
It’s interesting that Team Pelfrey, last year’s strong rookie team that almost took the championship in Star Mazda, is sponsoring Mr. Pigot.
“It was a really good race. I started from the pole and was pressured pretty hard by my teammate Matt [Brabham] throughout the whole race. It was a bit of an interrupted race with the long yellow, but it was a great day for my first race with the Capes and the team. I have to thank Mazda, Team Pelfrey and all my sponsors.” — Spencer Pigot, #2 Cape Motorsports
The biggest mover of the race was Andretti Autosport’s Shelby Blackstock moved up from his back-half of the grid starting position of P14 to finish nine positions higher in P5 at the end of the 10-lap sprint. Yes, that’s nearly a car per lap!
“We had a rough qualifying session and started the race 14th. However, once the race began we were full of confidence and worked our way up to fifth. I am proud of the Andretti Autosport team and how great they did setting up the car. I can’t wait for the races to come.” — Shelby Blackstock, #8 Andretti Autosport
Another strong mover was one of JDC MotorSports’ newest drivers, Michael Johnson. In his first USF2000 start, he moved up from P18 to finish in P12. Might not sound like much at first, but moving up through the field six spots with only ten laps is no mean feat!
The starting grid for Race #2 will be set by Race #1’s results, and likewise for Race #3. Action begins tomorrow at 0950 EST for Practice #1, with the green flag for Race #2 dropping at 1320 EST and for Race #3 at 1620 EST. Check out all the action live on USF2000’s new Timing and Scoring page, http://usf2000.com/Multimedia/Live.aspx.
Official Results for the Cooper Tires Winter Fest Race #1 at Sebring International Raceway
P |
No |
CLS |
DRIVER NAME |
LAP |
LAPTIME |
FL |
BESTIME |
DIFF |
GAP |
LED |
ST |
STATUS |
LSPEED |
BSPEED |
ELAPSED |
1 |
2 |
CHP |
Spencer Pigot |
10 |
2:05.356 |
10 |
2:05.356 |
> 10 < |
> 10 < |
10 |
1 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
30:52.303 |
2 |
83 |
CHP |
Matthew Brabham |
10 |
2:07.929 |
8 |
2:05.715 |
2.960 |
2.960 |
0 |
2 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
30:55.263 |
3 |
3 |
CHP |
Trent Hindman |
10 |
2:05.221 |
10 |
2:05.221 |
6.539 |
3.579 |
0 |
4 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
30:58.842 |
4 |
14 |
CHP |
Scott Anderson |
10 |
2:07.181 |
10 |
2:07.181 |
11.108 |
4.569 |
0 |
9 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:03.411 |
5 |
8 |
CHP |
Shelby Blackstock |
10 |
2:07.235 |
9 |
2:07.225 |
12.211 |
1.103 |
0 |
14 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:04.514 |
6 |
56 |
CHP |
Matthew DiLeo |
10 |
2:07.883 |
9 |
2:07.078 |
13.678 |
1.467 |
0 |
10 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:05.981 |
7 |
38 |
CHP |
Scott Hargrove |
10 |
2:08.171 |
10 |
2:08.171 |
14.121 |
0.443 |
0 |
8 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:06.424 |
8 |
15 |
CHP |
Luigi Biangardi |
10 |
2:07.412 |
9 |
2:07.388 |
14.242 |
0.121 |
0 |
6 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:06.545 |
9 |
93 |
CHP |
Zac Silver |
10 |
2:07.389 |
10 |
2:07.389 |
15.006 |
0.764 |
0 |
7 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:07.309 |
10 |
5 |
CHP |
Dalton Kellett |
10 |
2:07.254 |
10 |
2:07.254 |
15.726 |
0.720 |
0 |
12 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:08.029 |
11 |
4 |
CHP |
Roman Lagudi |
10 |
2:08.904 |
9 |
2:08.484 |
18.819 |
3.093 |
0 |
11 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:11.122 |
12 |
54 |
CHP |
Michael Johnson |
10 |
2:09.416 |
10 |
2:09.416 |
26.051 |
7.232 |
0 |
18 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:18.354 |
13 |
23 |
CHP |
Jason Wolfe |
10 |
2:10.979 |
10 |
2:10.979 |
30.189 |
4.138 |
0 |
19 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:22.492 |
14 |
6 |
NAT |
J.R. Smart(FC) |
10 |
2:13.866 |
10 |
2:13.866 |
44.604 |
14.415 |
0 |
15 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
31:36.907 |
15 |
19 |
CHP |
Neil Alberico |
10 |
2:28.282 |
8 |
2:08.390 |
1:53.644 |
1:09.040 |
0 |
5 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
32:45.947 |
16 |
11 |
CHP |
Colin Thompson |
10 |
2:08.599 |
10 |
2:08.599 |
1:58.492 |
4.848 |
0 |
13 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
32:50.795 |
17 |
7 |
CHP |
Thomas McGregor |
8 |
2:07.069 |
8 |
2:07.069 |
> 8 < |
1LAP |
0 |
3 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
26:46.338 |
18 |
12 |
NAT |
James Dayson(FC) |
— |
–.— |
— |
No Time |
> 0 < |
8LAPS |
0 |
20 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
–.— |
19 |
9 |
CHP |
Luca Forgeois |
— |
–.— |
— |
No Time |
0 |
17 |
Active |
0.000 |
0.000 |
–.— |
||
20 |
97 |
NAT |
Paul Asbach(FE) |
— |
–.— |
— |
No Time |
0 |
16 |
Grid |
0.000 |
0.000 |
–.— |