Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
There were three different winners in USF2000’s three races on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course this weekend.
Velocity Racing Development’s Nikita Johnson topped qualifying, leading Exclusive Autosport’s Jacob Douglas by 0.2489 seconds. Johnson held the lead at the start of race one, as Douglas spun at turn one and was collected by Jorge Garciarce.
Elliot Cox attempted to take the lead at turns one and seven, but could not find a way past before the pace car was called out. There had been multiple incidents, one involving Zack Ping who was pitched into an airborne spin.
Racing resumed on lap five, and Johnson and Simon Sikes went side-by-side for the lead at turn one. Johnson defended turn seven too, but on the next lap conceded first place at turn one and got passed by Lochie Hughes too at turn three.
The pace car was back out shortly after, as Max Garcia had ridden over the rear of Max Taylor and then Cox before smashing into the turn seven tyre barriers.
On the lap 10 restart Johnson went off at turn one and so Sikes led Hughes until the latter passed him at turn seven. But Hughes’ time up front was short-lived as Mac Clark passed Sikes and then him next time by.
Clark led Sikes until the penultimate lap when both went too deep into turn one while fighting, went way off onto the grass, and VRD’s Sam Corry came through to win from 12th on the grid.
Hughes pipped Johnson to second across the line by 0.0336s and take the points lead from Sikes, with Danny Dyszelski just behind after he had initially held off Johnson for third.
Clark finished fifth before getting a 30s penalty for avoidable post-race contact. Douglas finished ninth and got the same penalty, with the pair dropping to 14th and 15th.
The race one fastest laps set race two’s grid and Johnson got pole ahead of Sikes. They retained their positions at the start as Dyszelski jumped from sixth to third. Clashes further back led to debris that required a quick caution period, by which point Johnson had fallen to third.
Sikes handled the restart, and then another following a second caution period, to win by 1.6738s. Clark joined Hughes and Johnson’s fight for second in the final segment of the race, and Hughes prevailed over Johnson.
Fastest lap for Sikes put him on race three pole, but he was swamped at the start by Jay Howard Driver Development pair Evagoras Papasavvas and Hughes.
The pace car was out on lap one after Garciarce hit Douglas and several other drivers had incidents, and Hughes passed his team-mate on the lap four restart for a lead he would not give up.
Johnson got into second as Papasavvas moved up and down the order before the next caution period brought about by Cox having a big crash. Corry also retired.
Papasavvas struggled on the restart again, losing places while Sikes attempted an ambitious around the outside move on Hughes at turn one and almost pulled it off. Hughes ended up victorious by 0.3586s over Johnson, with Sikes third and Garcia fourth. Clark lost fifth to a five-second penalty for blocking.
Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Sam Corry Velocity Racing Development 31m49.3779s
2 Lochie Hughes JHDD +1.1502s
3 Nikita Johnson Velocity Racing Development +1.1838s
4 Danny Dyszelski Velocity Racing Development +1.9367s
5 Chase Gardner Exclusive Autosport +4.3955s
6 Jorge Garciarce DEForce Racing +6.9211s
7 Al Morey JHDD +7.3735s
8 Ethan Ho DC Autosport +7.7561s
9 Zack Ping Velocity Racing Development +8.7025s
10 Maxwell Jamieson DEForce Racing +9.2395s
Pole: Johnson, 1m35.6295s
Fastest lap: Johnson, 1m26.8396s
Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Simon Sikes Pabst Racing 26m51.2815s
2 Hughes +1.6738s
3 Johnson +2.0073s
4 Mac Clark DEForce Racing +3.4268s
5 Corry +5.3674s
6 Jacob Douglas Exclusive Autosport +6.2336s
7 Elliot Cox SFHR +8.9404s
8 Dyszelski +10.3937s
9 Evagoras Papasavvas JHDD +10.3947s
10 Garciarce +10.9323s
FL: Sikes, 1m26.3253s
Race 3 (15 laps)
1 Hughes 29m01.6226s
2 Johnson +0.3586s
3 Sikes +1.5911s
4 Max Garcia Pabst Racing +1.9069s
5 Ho +3.5790s
6 Papasavva +3.9701s
7 Dyszelski +4.6668s
8 Max Taylor Velocity Racing Development +4.9895s
9 Gordon Scully Velocity Racing Development +7.5463s
10 Clark +7.6457s
FL: Sikes, 1m36.559s
Championship standings
1 Hughes 185 2 Sikes 171 3 Johnson 144 4 Papasavvas 108 5 Corry 94 6 Clark 92 7 Garciarce 85 8 Dyszelski 79 9 Gardner 74 10 Douglas 71