McElrea Takes USF2000 Championship Lead With Portland Sweep

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Hunter McElrea and Pabst Racing enjoyed a stellar weekend at Portland International Raceway by sweeping both 25-lap races which comprised the Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix Presented by Allied Building Products for Pabst Racing. The California-born Australian-raised New Zealander’s third race win in succession vaulted him from a nine-point deficit into a six-point advantage over Braden Eves in the battle for this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. Also at stake is a scholarship valued at over $300,000 to move up one step on the Road to Indy to the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires in 2020.

Eves, from New Albany, Ohio, minimized the damage for Cape Motorsports this afternoon by once again finishing second to McElrea, while Zach Holden, from Greenfield, Ind., completed the podium for Legacy Autosport.

This afternoon’s race saw McElrea make full use of his fourth straight pole position by moving immediately into the lead. Impressively, all 18 cars made it through the tight Festival Curves complex of corners relatively cleanly, although a minor brush between Eves and Christian Rasmussen, who had qualified third for Jay Howard Driver Development, unfortunately resulted in a flat tire for the Danish challenger. Rasmussen rejoined after a pit stop to change the damaged wheel and proceeded to turn the fastest laps of the race but could manage no better than an unrepresentative 17th at the finish.

Eves had no answer to McElrea’s pace, and indeed had his work cut out to fend off a late charge from Holden, who had fought his way past Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing) on the fourth lap and then chased for all he was worth for the remainder of the race.

Darren Keane, from Boca Raton, Fla., and Jak Crawford, from Houston, Texas, completed the top six for Cape Motorsports, which, for the first time since early in the 2014 season, has now endured a streak of five races without a victory.

DEForce teammates Manuel Sulaiman, from Puebla, Mexico, and Eduardo Barrichello, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, finished seventh and eighth, with Sulaiman also claiming the Tilton Hard Charger Award after fighting his way from 12th on the starting grid.

Bruna Tomaselli, from Caibi, Brazil, was next at the finish, earning her ninth top-10 finish of the season, while 16-year-old F1600 Championship Series contender Josh Green (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Mount Kisco, N.J., completed a promising first weekend in a proper downforce car by fighting past Reece Gold (Cape Motorsports) in the late stages.

A spectacular weekend for McElrea’s car owner, Augie Pabst, brought not only his fourth PFC Award of the season but also the lead in the coveted Team Championship. Pabst Racing has now leapfrogged Cape Motorsports and will take a three-point advantage, 320-317, to the final two races of the season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, Calif., on the weekend of September 21/22. Pabst will be looking to secure his third consecutive Team Championship as well as his first ever driver championship.

Adam Sinclair
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