A thrilling USF2000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this afternoon saw Braden Eves claim his third straight victory for Cape Motorsports following a race-long duel with Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship winner Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing). The pair exchanged the lead several times over the last couple of laps before Eves, from New Albany, Ohio, edged out McElrea, from Gold Coast, Australia, by just under three-tenths of a second.
Manuel Sulaiman, from Puebla, Mexico, maintained his impressive start to the season by finishing third for DEForce Racing.
The excitement began early as the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship resumed following a lengthy hiatus since the opening two rounds of the season on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., with Indianapolis Colts star Adam Vinatieri – co-owner of two USF2000 race cars – waving the green flag to commence Round Three. After edging out Cape Motorsports teammate Darren Keane to the pole this morning, Eves made an excellent start to head the immensely competitive 21-car field toward Turn One.
McElrea, after starting third, tucked in behind the race leader, but there was chaos in their wake as 14-year-old debutant Jak Crawford (DEForce Racing), from Houston, Texas, ran out of racing room and tagged the rear of Keane’s Tatuus USF-17 at the apex of Turn One. Mexico’s Manuel Cabrera (Exclusive Autosport) was among several other potential contenders to be caught up in the incident.
The fracas enabled Eves and McElrea to pull well clear of the chasing pack. Sulaiman, after qualifying eighth, somehow emerged in third, chased by local youngster Jack William Miller, who started ninth for Miller Vinatieri Motorsports, and Australian Cameron Shields (Newman Wachs Racing), up from 13th on the grid.
McElrea shadowed Eves in the opening laps and was clearly in a mood to challenge. On lap 8, McElrea glimpsed the tiniest of openings at Turn One and grasped his opportunity with both hands. Eves, meanwhile, was intent upon regaining his early advantage. The pair continued to circulate in close company before the battle intensified dramatically over the last couple of laps. Eves regained the point on lap 13, only for McElrea to snatch back the lead as the two leaders began the final lap. And yet still it wasn’t over. An excellent exit from Turn Seven enabled Eves to draw alongside McElrea through the right-left flicks at Turns Eight and Nine before hanging on around the outside to take the lead for one final time around the outside line at Turn 10 to secure a magnificent victory.
The in-fighting allowed Sulaiman to finish right behind McElrea in third, while Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing), from Homer Glen, Ill., worked his way from seventh in the opening stages to finish fourth ahead of the impressive Shields, whose fine effort was rewarded with the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
Brazilian Eduardo Barrichello (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports) also took advantage of the first corner melee to rise from 15th to sixth, and looked set to finish in the same position until encountering gearbox problems on the penultimate lap, causing him to slide off the road in Turn Seven. Unfortunately, teammate Miller, who inherited the position, also hit trouble on the final lap when he tangled with the recovering Crawford in between Turns One and Two. Their incident allowed Keane to inherit sixth place at the finish after a brilliant drive from the back of the field during which he established a new USF2000 lap record of 1:14.8876 (103.436 mph).
After claiming yet another PFC Award as the winning car owners, brothers Dominic and Nicholas Cape can look forward to the possibility of another one tomorrow as Eves and Keane once again will start alongside each other on the front row of the grid following a second qualifying session this morning. McElrea, too, can be expected to offer another serious challenge as all three qualified faster than the old lap record.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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