VRD Racing splits Saturday USF2000 wins at Road America

VRD Racing teammates Thomas Schrage and Teddy Musella claimed a victory apiece during Saturday's hotly contested USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire doubleheader.

Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, padded his championship points lead with a fine win Saturday morning in his first ever race at the famed 4.014-mile road course set in the rural Kettle Moraine countryside near Elkhart Lake, Wis. Musella, from Orlando, Fla., came through for second ahead of Pabst Racing’s G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif.

Later in the day, Musella held off a concerted challenge from Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., for his long overdue maiden USF2000 victory. Harley Keeble, from Grimsby, England, capped a memorable debut by finishing third for Jay Howard Driver Development.

Regularly among the fastest cars during the recent series test at Road America, Exclusive Autosport carried on its good work when the Elite Engines Grand Prix began in earnest. Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, snagged his first-ever Continental Tire Pole Award during qualifying on Friday, while teammate Cooley circulated only 0.0347s slower to ensure a front row lockout for the Brownsburg, Ind.-based team.

Jeffers maintained his lead at the start but remained under intense pressure as a gaggle of cars squabbled in his wake. Musella immediately jumped into second place on the opening lap, followed by Pabst Racing’s Caleb Gafrarar, from Charlotte, N.C., Cooley and a third Exclusive Autosport entry driven by on-form Brazilian Lucas Fecury. Schrage, who experienced a suspension breakage in qualifying, and Ayrton Houk (Benchmark Autosport), from McCordsville, Ind., also were locked in combat.

Drafting always plays a significant role at the ultra-fast Road America venue, so it came as no surprise on lap four to see Musella vault his way into the lead as the pack jostled for position on the long front straightaway.

Unfortunately, while Jeffers clung gamely to the outside line at Turn 1, contact with Musella at the exit of the corner sent the title contender’s car hard into the tire barriers and out of the race. Miraculously, no one else was involved as the pack ducked and dived in avoidance. Cue the first of two full-course cautions.

Schrage used the draft at the start to nip past teammate Musella on the approach to Turn 1, with Gafrarar also following him through. Gafrarar then took his turn out in front before another incident a little further down the field resulted in the Honda Civic Type R Safety Car being scrambled again.

There was time for only one lap of racing once the track had been cleared, and poor Gafrarar was a sitting duck as the snarling pack raced toward Turn 1 for the final time. Schrage timed his run to perfection and moved clearly into the lead, followed by Fecury, but behind there was chaos as Gafrarar was tipped into a spin. 

Schrage was free and clear as he romped away for his second win of the season. Musella fought past Fecury for second at Turn 6 as Argyros, aboard the second Pabst Racing Tatuus, took advantage of the shuffling to complete the podium in third.

Christian Cameron, from Sonoma, Calif., the youngest driver in the field at age 15, completed a magnificent morning for VRD Racing by finishing a career-best fourth ahead of Fecury and Houk.

A little further back in 10th, South African rookie Wian Boshoff rebounded from a major accident during testing to claim the Tilton Hard Charger Award for the hard-working Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development team after starting 19th.

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Race two Saturday afternoon saw Jeffers once again starting at the front of the field with his second straight Continental Tire Pole Award by virtue of setting the best of every driver’s second-fastest laps during the sole qualifying session on Friday. That was the good news. The bad news was that he would be driving a different car – that of teammate Brenden Cooley (younger brother of Evan) – after his primary chassis had been badly damaged earlier in the day.

A change of car didn’t seem to faze Jeffers – at least in the early stages – as he maintained his lead at the start and, along with teammate Cooley, Gafrarar and Musella began to edge away from the rest of the field.

That luxury didn’t last for long as the race once again was interrupted by a couple of brief cautions due to various incidents among the extremely competitive 21-car field.

Following some remarkably swift work by the AMR IndyCar Safety Team, the final restart came with a couple of laps remaining. Musella held the lead at this stage, and even though he immediately came under intense siege – due to the draft – at the restart, a brave late-braking maneuver on the inside line enabled him to somehow retain his slight edge at Turn 1. He never looked back.

Cooley raced home close behind in second for his career-best result, while Keeble not only impressed, he also drew perhaps the biggest cheer of the day as he arrived at the podium celebrations.

Gafrarar had to be content with fourth, while series leader Schrage chose to play things safe, finishing in 13th after having been obliged to line up 15th on the grid following his qualifying woes. 

Schrage’s main title rival, Jeffers, made a couple of mistakes in the closing laps, costing him valuable championship points as he slipped from third to eighth, although he was able to regain one of those positions on the final lap.

Colombia’s Sebastian Garzon earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award for DEForce Racing after rising from 16th on the grid to ninth.

VRD Racing’s Dan Mitchell claimed both PFC Awards as the winning car owner. Mitchell’s fruitful day also saw his team vault into the lead of the Teams Championship for the first time this year.

USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire will return to action in two weeks’ time, once again in support of the NTT IndyCar Series, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on July 4-6.

RACE 1 RESULTS

RACE 2 RESULTS