Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
DEForce Racing’s Quinn Armstrong took a win and a second place from round four of the USF Juniors season at Mid-Ohio.
DC Autosport’s Ethan Ho had topped pre-event testing on Thursday with a 1m25.824s, putting him 0.180 seconds ahead Armstrong. He then topped practice on Friday by 0.010s over Ho.
However when it came to qualifying it was Armstrong’s points-leading team-mate Nicolas Giaffone who led the way, a 1m25.275s earning him pole by 0.226s over Ho. Velocity Racing Development’s Ethan Barker was 0.348s back in third, and Armstrong was 0.389s off Giaffone in fourth.
Giaffone converted pole into a sixth win of the season, making a strong start while Ho did not even complete lap one due to a mechanical issue. That led to a caution period, and on the lap five restat Giaffone twice came under attack from Barker.
Max Taylor passed Barker at turn two on the next lap, but at the end of lap eight he began to slow and dropped down the order to 12th before returning to racing speed.
There was a second caution period on lap 12 due to Lucas Fecury going off at turn seven, and on the lap 15 restart Giaffone came under threat. Barker tried first, then Armstrong, but to no avail.
Giaffone pulled away after that, finishing the 20-lapper 1.980s clear of Armstrong. Barker fell down the order and Jack Jeffers took third, but he had to resist lots of attacks from Jimmie Lockhart to hold on to the position.
Taylor recovered to seventh before spinning back down the order and finishing 11th, whiole Barker made his way back up to seventh. Brady Golan dropped from eighth to 12th in the results due to a 30s penalty for avoidable contact.
Schwartz narrowly claimed pole for race two in Saturday qualifying, heading Armstrong by 0.009s, Ho by 0.036s and Jeffers by 0.081s.
Armstrong and Ho fought over second in the race until Giaffone flew over the rear of Barker and into the gravel, prompting a caution period. The restart after that was short-lived as Joey Brienza and Taylor collided, sending the former into retirement and earning Taylor a drive-through penalty.
After the next caution period, Armstrong passed Schwartz for the lead through turns four and five. Later there was another caution period, caused by Lockhart going off, then five laps of green flag action before the finish. The top three spread out slightly, with Armstrong winning, while Jeffers held off Barker for fourth.
Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Nicolas Giaffone DEForce Racing 34m30.144s
2 Quinn Armstrong DEForce Racing +1.980s
3 Jack Jeffers Exclusive Autosport +6.762s
4 Jimmie Lockhart Velocity Racing Development +7.153s
5 Hudson Schwartz Velocity Racing Development +7.772s
6 Joey Brienza Exclusive Autosport +8.436s
7 Ethan Barker Velocity Racing Development +9.892s
8 Carson Etter DC Autosport +13.453s
9 Erick Schotten Exclusive Autosport +13.882s
10 Giovanni Cabrera Exclusive Autosport +38.056s
Pole: Giaffone, 1m25.275s
Fastest lap: Giaffone, 1m26.285s
Race 2 (20 laps)
1 Armstrong 38m15.701s
2 Schwartz +0.579s
3 Ethan Ho DC Autosport +1.033s
4 Jeffers +1.710s
5 Barker +2.032s
6 Max Taylor Velocity Racing Development +2.396s
7 Lucas Fecury DEForce Racing +4.287s
8 Brady Golan DEForce Racing +5.984
9 Schotten +6.219s
10 Cabrera +19.825s
P: Schwartz, 1m27.041s
FL: Schwartz, 1m27.048s
Championship standings
1 Giaffone 270 2 Armstrong 204 3 Brienza 192 4 Jeffers 188 5 Lockhart 159 6 Fecury 151 7 Taylor 143 8 Ho 134 9 Barker 131 10 Golan1 26