USF2000 – Cape Motorsports Dominates at Sebring

Looks as though Race #1 of the USF2000 Cooper Tires WinterFest was no fluke! The Cape Motorsports trio of Spencer Pigot, Matthew Brabham, and Trent Hindman swept the podium in all three races held at Sebring International Raceway! Today, Races #2 and #3 were held, and the trio performed just as strongly as they did yesterday. There was one exception, Matthew Brabham. Matthew finished Race #1 in P2, nearly three seconds adrift of race winner Spencer Pigot. During Race #2, he set the fast lap of the race with a 2:03.892 and was only 0.079s shy of the win as Spencer once again took the checkers and the top podium step.

Race #3 was a completely different matter. Matthew, with the fastest race lap in Race #2, started from pole and never looked back. He would finish ahead of his race-winning teammate by 2.502s and record his first win in a USF2000 Championship car.

“Today was fantastic. It was very interesting throughout the day with the changing weather conditions. It really threw a mix into the situation and provided a little bit more entertainment for the crowd and for us as well. To come away with a win in the last race is absolutely fantastic. I can’t describe the feeling. It definitely makes a great start to the season and caps off all the testing we have been doing and all the hard work the team has been doing. In the last race, Spencer [Pigot] and I had a dice at the start and that was pretty hairy. Other than that, it was just a really long race for me out in front. In the other races, I was dicing and fighting and they felt like five-minute races. This race felt like three hours and I was out there forever waiting for the checkered flag to come out! Other than that, it was fantastic and I am very pleased.” — Matthew Brabham, #83 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing

The Andretti boys didn’t end up as high on the final results as the team is accustom, and had an up-and-down couple of days. Thomas McGregor had a good result in Race #2 finishing best among the non-Cape Motorsports drivers in P4. Shelby Blackstock started and finished in P7. In Race #3, Shelby would move up from his starting P7 spot and finish P5. Thomas, started in P4 for the final race but fell back to finish in P8.

“First, I would like to thank my Andretti Autosport crew for all their hard work and always doing their best to help me both on and off the track. Also, thank you to Exclusive Management and Dairy Queen for all of the support. I am really happy to be racing with this team, it is definitely a dream come true. In the first race, I began fourth and had a pretty great start. Halfway through the race, it started drizzling a little bit and I was able to catch up. It was a really close finish and I was able to maintain fourth position. I started fourth again for the second race and ended up finishing in eighth. I learned a lot in the second race which will definitely help me in future races. Thank you to my coach Michael for all of his support. We have our work cut out for us, but I know it will be a great year.” — Thomas McGregor, #7 Andretti Autosport

It was great to see Matthew Di Leo running so well this week. He improved his finishing position by one spot each of the three races. In Race #1, he finished in P6, Race #2 in P5, and in the late afternoon Race #3 today he finished in P4 while racing for his own team, MDL Racing. Matthew suffered two broken wrists, a broken heel, broken fingers, and a concussion after his kart’s throttle broke sending him into the barriers while competing at Super Nats in mid-November. This was the first time that Matthew has been back racing in competition since his injury.

WinterFest continues this weekend at the Palm Beach International Raceway.

Official Results for the Cooper Tires Winter Fest Race #2 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 12 2:11.339 6 2:04.524 > 12 < > 12 < 12 2 Active 0.000 0.000 25:19.051
2 83 CHP Matthew Brabham 12 2:10.293 6 2:03.892 0.079 0.079 0 3 Active 0.000 0.000 25:19.130
3 3 CHP Trent Hindman 12 2:10.202 6 2:04.011 2.813 2.734 0 1 Active 0.000 0.000 25:21.864
4 7 CHP Thomas McGregor 12 2:09.777 5 2:04.809 2.890 0.077 0 4 Active 0.000 0.000 25:21.941
5 56 CHP Matthew DiLeo 12 2:11.660 4 2:05.250 12.973 10.083 0 5 Active 0.000 0.000 25:32.024
6 15 CHP Luigi Biangardi 12 2:10.797 7 2:04.822 15.308 2.335 0 9 Active 0.000 0.000 25:34.359
7 8 CHP Shelby Blackstock 12 2:11.482 5 2:05.432 17.316 2.008 0 7 Active 0.000 0.000 25:36.367
8 4 CHP Roman Lagudi 12 2:11.267 7 2:05.589 19.369 2.053 0 13 Active 0.000 0.000 25:38.420
9 38 CHP Scott Hargrove 12 2:10.193 7 2:05.655 19.694 0.325 0 11 Active 0.000 0.000 25:38.745
10 23 CHP Jason Wolfe 12 2:09.682 7 2:06.252 29.507 9.813 0 16 Active 0.000 0.000 25:48.558
11 19 CHP Neil Alberico 12 2:12.390 6 2:06.498 32.137 2.630 0 12 Active 0.000 0.000 25:51.188
12 5 CHP Dalton Kellett 12 2:11.162 7 2:07.243 33.317 1.180 0 8 Active 0.000 0.000 25:52.368
13 93 CHP Zac Silver 12 2:12.813 5 2:07.349 38.787 5.470 0 10 Active 0.000 0.000 25:57.838
14 14 CHP Scott Anderson 12 2:17.850 4 2:06.862 46.905 8.118 0 6 Active 0.000 0.000 26:05.956
15 11 CHP Colin Thompson 12 2:23.987 3 2:06.782 1:11.664 24.759 0 14 Active 0.000 0.000 26:30.715
16 54 CHP Michael Johnson 12 2:48.564 7 2:08.304 1:25.580 13.916 0 15 Active 0.000 0.000 26:44.631
17 97 NAT Paul Asbach(FE) 10 5:35.162 2 2:12.534 2LAPS 2LAPS 0 20 Active 0.000 0.000 26:14.565
18 6 NAT J.R. Smart(FC) 9 2:16.975 2 2:12.146 > 9 < 1LAP 0 17 Active 0.000 0.000 20:12.012
19 12 NAT James Dayson(FC) –.— No Time 0 19 Grid 0.000 0.000 –.—
20 9 CHP Luca Forgeois –.— No Time 0 18 Grid 0.000 0.000 –.—

 


Official Results for the Cooper Tires Winter Fest Race #2 at Sebring International Raceway

P No CLS DRIVER NAME LAP LAPTIME FL BESTIME DIFF GAP LED ST STATUS LSPEED BSPEED ELAPSED
1 83 CHP Matthew Brabham 12 2:05.749 9 2:03.778 > 12 < > 12 < 10 1 Active 105.925 107.612 24:58.520
2 2 CHP Spencer Pigot 12 2:05.049 10 2:03.800 2.502 2.502 0 2 Active 106.518 107.593 25:01.022
3 3 CHP Trent Hindman 12 2:05.051 10 2:04.199 3.774 1.272 0 3 Active 106.517 107.247 25:02.294
4 56 CHP Matthew DiLeo 12 2:06.972 8 2:04.724 12.821 9.047 0 4 Active 104.905 106.796 25:11.341
5 8 CHP Shelby Blackstock 12 2:05.573 9 2:04.403 13.526 0.705 0 7 Active 106.074 107.071 25:12.046
6 15 CHP Luigi Biangardi 12 2:05.397 11 2:04.696 15.506 1.980 0 5 Active 106.223 106.820 25:14.026
7 4 CHP Roman Lagudi 12 2:05.257 11 2:04.856 17.644 2.138 0 6 Active 106.341 106.683 25:16.164
8 7 CHP Thomas McGregor 12 2:05.019 10 2:04.434 17.996 0.352 0 11 Active 106.544 107.045 25:16.516
9 11 CHP Colin Thompson 12 2:06.082 10 2:05.456 28.014 10.018 0 13 Active 105.646 106.173 25:26.534
10 19 CHP Neil Alberico 12 2:08.619 9 2:05.610 28.595 0.581 0 9 Active 103.562 106.043 25:27.115
11 14 CHP Scott Anderson 12 2:07.636 9 2:05.888 31.674 3.079 0 12 Active 104.359 105.808 25:30.194
12 23 CHP Jason Wolfe 12 2:07.367 7 2:06.303 35.967 4.293 0 10 Active 104.580 105.461 25:34.487
13 93 CHP Zac Silver 12 2:07.423 9 2:06.578 39.558 3.591 0 14 Active 104.534 105.232 25:38.078
14 5 CHP Dalton Kellett 12 2:10.778 8 2:06.307 45.281 5.723 0 15 Active 101.852 105.457 25:43.801
15 38 CHP Scott Hargrove 12 2:34.326 7 2:05.213 49.594 4.313 0 8 Active 86.311 106.379 25:48.114
16 54 CHP Michael Johnson 12 2:12.219 10 2:07.747 1:27.878 38.284 0 17 Active 100.742 104.269 26:26.398
17 97 NAT Paul Asbach(FE) 12 2:25.294 7 2:13.384 2:11.037 43.159 0 16 Active 91.676 99.862 27:09.557
18 12 NAT James Dayson(FC) –.— No Time > 0 < 11LAPS 0 0 Grid 0.000 0.000 –.—
19 9 CHP Luca Forgeois –.— No Time 0 0 Grid 0.000 0.000 –.—
20 6 NAT J.R. Smart(FC) –.— No Time 0 0 Grid 0.000 0.000 –.—

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