STEAM CORNERS, Ohio — The battle for the USF2000 Offered by Continental Tire championship couldn’t be nearer.
Unique Autosport’s Jack Jeffers claimed a hard-fought victory Sunday morning within the third and remaining race of the PFC Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio weekend, and is now tied on factors with native driver Thomas Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, who completed scorching on his heels in second place for VRD Racing.
Jeffers at the moment holds the favor of a tie-break on the premise of another race win – three to 2 – than Schrage.
Teddy Musella, from Orlando, Fla., additionally was within the battle for the victory on the finish of an exhilarating race which ended with the highest 5 vehicles separated by a mere 1.4595 seconds after 20 laps across the undulating 2.258-mile, 13-turn street course.
For the third day operating, Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, lined up on the head of the sphere for the beginning having earned his third Continental Tire Pole Award of the season by advantage of posting the very best of every driver’s second-fastest laps throughout the lone qualifying session on Friday.
He hoped for fairly higher fortune than the previous two days, and all appeared effectively as he maintained his benefit for the primary two laps, albeit beneath intense stress from Jeffers, who once more had began second.
On Lap Three, Jeffers executed a superb cross for the lead beneath braking on the finish of the lengthy again straightaway, heading into Flip 4, and for some time he appeared to be in a category of his personal.
Jeffers was merely imperious throughout the first 10 laps, rapidly opening up a niche of six seconds to the pursuing pack, which was nonetheless led by Schrage.
However the complexion of the race modified utterly when the Tempo Automobile was scrambled following an incident in Flip 9 when Ryan Giannetta (VRD Racing), from Redondo Seaside, Calif., misplaced management on the exit. Giannetta, sadly, was collected by Canadian Anthony Martella (Jay Howard Driver Improvement), who himself had made a mistake earlier whereas operating tenth and was making an attempt to get well positions.
The restart got here with seven laps remaining, and this time Jeffers was unable to shake off his pursuers. Schrage appeared to have marginally the sooner automobile, however Jeffers was inch good and held on to attain one other fantastic victory, his third of the season.
Jeffers set his quickest lap of the race final time round, though his hopes of gaining an additional championship level have been foiled by Unique Autosport teammate, Evan Cooley, who snagged the additional level on the ultimate lap.
Musella was very a lot a part of the lead battle in third, as have been Brazilian Lucas Fecury, who drove by far his greatest race for Unique Autosport, and Friday race winner Caleb Gafrarar (Pabst Racing), from Charlotte, Calif., who had misplaced out to Fecury in Flip 4 on Lap 14.
The DEForce Racing duo of Jeshua Alianell, from The Woodlands, Texas, and Sebastian Garzon, from Neiva, Colombia, have been solely a second additional again in sixth and seventh, having exchanged positions on Lap Six, with Christian Cameron (VRD Racing), from Sonoma, Calif., G3 Argyros (Pabst Racing), from Newport Seaside, Calif., and Cooley all snapping at their heels.
