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
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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 | –.— |