Barrichello, Gold Share USF2000 Honors at Indianapolis - Speedway Digest

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Indy Grand Prix wrapped up today with another exciting pair of all-green races to comprise Rounds Seven, Eight and Nine of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. Brazilian Eduardo Barrichello continued his excellent form from yesterday by winning again this morning for Pabst Racing, while Floridian teenager Reece Gold earned his own breakthrough maiden victory this afternoon for Cape Motorsports. Gold’s triumph came as the result of a heartbreaking late error by Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports), from Carmel, Ind., who slid off the road in Turn One while holding a tenuous lead.

Miller earlier finished a fine second in the day’s opening race, chased by Christian Brooks (Exclusive Autosport), from Santa Clarita, Calif., who also claimed his first podium finish. Brooks backed up that performance by finishing second in Race Three ahead of Brazilian Kiko Porto (DEForce Racing).

A busy morning for the USF2000 contenders began with a qualifying session bright and early at 8:00 a.m. For the second day running it was Porto who set the pace, taking advantage of the cool, crisp conditions to circulate within a couple of tenths of a second of Braden Eves’ track record. Porto thereby secured his second Cooper Tires Pole Award, edging fellow Brazilian and close friend Barrichello by just 0.0390 of a second.

Barrichello, however, turned the tables by gaining a better run away from the start and taking the lead at Turn One. Miller also made a good early move, driving around the outside of Porto in Turn Seven to take over second place.

The unfortunate Porto found himself shuffled all the way back to sixth place by the end of the opening lap behind points leader Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development), Brooks, up from sixth on the grid, and Gold.

Barrichello turned a string of rapid laps – including the fastest of the race which earned him the pole position for the final event of the triple-header weekend – to extend the gap to Miller to over 1.7 seconds by the halfway point of the 15-lap race. The Brazilian then managed his pace perfectly, and even though Miller closed to within just over a half-second by the checkered flag, Barrichello’s second successive victory never looked in doubt.

Brooks claimed his best result of the season thus far following a race-long scrap with Rasmussen and, later, Porto, who repassed Gold on the fifth lap and moved up to fourth on Lap 13 following a textbook pass on Rasmussen at Turn 12.

Michael d’Orlando, from Hartsdale, N.Y., also found a way past Gold, his Cape Motorsports teammate, to snag sixth.

A little further down the order, Christian Bogle (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Covington, La., claimed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after making his way from 20th on the grid to 15th.

The final race of the week saw Barrichello once again take off confidently into the lead. Behind, second-place starter Rasmussen was inadvertently hit from behind by d’Orlando, who had lined up directly behind him on row two. As those two plummeted down the order, Barrichello led from Miller, with Gold slotting into third ahead of Brooks.

With two laps in the books, Miller gained the advantage of the draft to close right up onto Barrichello’s tail as they headed toward Turn One. Barrichello instinctively defended the inside line in the braking area, whereupon Miller executed arguably the overtake of the weekend as he drove all the way around the outside to claim the lead for the very first time.

A little later on the same lap, in Turn Seven, Gold also made a move on Barrichello, dropping him to third, just ahead of Brooks.

Miller drove superbly until the very last lap when, with Gold closing, the leader left his braking a fraction too late at Turn One and slid straight on into the escape road. Gold needed no second bidding, slipping through into the lead and then completing one final lap of the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit to secure an emotional victory.

Brooks capped his excellent weekend by inheriting second place, and although Miller crossed the finish line in third, he was relegated to fourth behind Porto by the stewards for an unsafe return to the race track in Turn Two following his excursion through the gravel trap.

Barrichello slipped back to a distant fifth at the conclusion, narrowly ahead of Cape Motorsports’ Josh Green, from Mount Kisco, N.Y., who posted a fine drive from 14th on the grid to earn the Tilton Hard Charger Award.

Australian Cameron Shields capped his first race week with DEForce Racing by claiming seventh ahead of Miller’s teammate, Max Kaeser, from Keystone, Colo., who also enjoyed a strong week with a trio of top-10 finishes.

Augie Pabst III and the Cape brothers, Dominic and Nicholas, each took home a PFC Award as the winning car owners.

Subject to final confirmation, the USF2000 contenders are expecting to be back in action next weekend for another triple-header event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio in conjunction with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES – an event which was postponed from earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
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.