Andretti Autosport driver Spencer Pigot put an exclamation point on the first round of Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda competition at the picturesque Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The 17-year-old from Windermere, Fla., edged series points leader Petri Suvanto for pole by 0.007sec and went on to eventually claim a dominant victory this afternoon, his second of the season aboard the No. 8 Team MAZDASPEED/Skip Barber entry.
It was not smooth sailing in the initial stages of the 12-lap race for Pigot, who lost the lead to Belardi Auto Racing's Wayne Boyd heading into Turn 1 at the start and was shuffled back to fourth behind Suvanto and teammate Zach Veach. The ensuing battle at the front also included 22-year-old Chris Miller, who was making his USF2000 debut with JDC MotorSports in the No. 85 Miller Milling/Red Line Oil entry.
But Pigot was on a mission, moving into second place on lap 4 and passing Boyd for the lead on lap 6. He took the checkered flag with a 5.697sec advantage over the field, setting fastest lap of the race and adding valuable points to his current second-place ranking in the championship.
As positions continued to shuffle behind Pigot, Boyd was issued a stop-and-go penalty for blocking which he served on lap 7. The trip to pit lane dropped the No. 4 TheAppBuilder.com driver to 10th in the final positions. With Pigot off in the distance, the trio of Suvanto, Veach and Miller continued to battle for the final podium spots with Suvanto edging past Veach on the last lap for second and Miller finishing fourth.
Sick Tea Racing's Timmy Megenbier finished fifth in the No. 17 Sick Tea/Rahal Foods/ Caputo/Wiscon Corp car, posting another strong drive after claiming his first USF2000 podium in the last round of competition at Mid-Ohio.
J.R. Smart, a two-time winner at Road America last year, claimed his first National class win of the season with a solid drive in the No. 6 Smart Motor, Inc. entry with Pabst Racing Services. National class points leader Luca Forgeois finished fifth after contact which required service in pit lane for a new front wing.