Weir and Kohlbecker Show Strong Race Runs at Road America

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship drivers Christian Weir and Spike Kohlbecker showed strong race runs at this weekend’s Road America race event with both drivers racing their way into the top 10 and passing a combined 29 cars over the double-header event.
 
Rookie Christian Weir qualified 15^th and 18^th for Race 1 and Race 2 following a disappointing qualifying session that didn’t reflect the capability of the #32 car program. With the work cut out for him, Weir climbed his way up to a seventh place finish in Race 1 and an 11^th place finish in Race 2, showing his racing capability and improving a total of 15 positions.

“This was a rough weekend but we still came out unscathed,” said Weir. “We were struggling on pace all weekend and didn’t know where to find it. Through our frustrations, we still ended up being competitive during the races. With not very many opportunities, we ended up lower than where we wanted, but there is always another time where we can show our true potential. I just want to thank the whole team for helping persevere through these hard times. These are the weekends that we can learn a lot from.”
 
Teammate Spike Kohlbecker also started deeper in the field for both races, but like Weir, knew he had the package to be racing at the front. Kohlbecker rose to the challenge, passing a total of seven cars in Race 1, finishing P9, and setting himself up for another solid run in the #33 car in Race 2. In Race 2, Kohlbecker had a great start and gained five positions up from P17 on the opening lap alone. Following an impressive drive in the 12-lap contest, Kohlbecker crossed the start/finish line in P10 to round out the weekend.

“Road America was definitely a learning weekend for me,” said Kohlbecker. “As a team, we struggled, but we all kept our heads up and tried to learn as much as we could through the weekend. I’m looking forward to the next event at Mid-Ohio in a couple of weeks!”
 
“We headed in the weekend with high expectations after a very good test here last year, but unfortunately the weekend proved quite challenging to give the drivers the balance they needed,” said Team Owner Peter Dempsey. “They both struggled in each qualifying session which left them on the back foot for the races, but I’m proud of the efforts they put in to drive the cars forward, and we gained a lot of positions in both races. We will regroup as a team and make sure we go to Mid-Ohio with a stronger program to allow the drivers to show their true potential.”
 
Next up for USF2000 is Rounds 11/12/13 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course June 30 – July 3.