Escorpioni wins wild USF Juniors opener at Portland

Leonardo Escorpioni took another step toward winning the USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire championship with a flag-to-flag victory in Friday’s 14th of 16 rounds – and the first of three races which will conclude the season in the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Portland. The Florida-based Brazilian survived an early scare when the majority of the 21-car field was involved in an incident at the first corner during a wild restart, then edged clear after the ensuing restart to secure his fifth race win of the season for Zanella Racing.

Fellow Brazilian, Joao Vergara eventually finished second for VRD Racing, while Finland’s Vilho Aatola completed the podium for DEForce Racing.

Escorpioni, the championship leader, made clear his intentions for the final weekend during the solitary qualifying session Friday morning as he posted a series of fast laps to be sure at least of his fourth Continental Tire Pole Award of the season. Escorpioni’s best time of 1m14.5951s, an average speed of 94.784mph, established a new record after last year’s qualifying for the inaugural USF Juniors event was held in wet conditions.

Zanella Racing teammate Ty Fisher, joined him on the front row of the grid for this evening’s first of three races, with the other main title contender, Jay Howard Driver Development’s Liam Loiacono, lining up behind them on row two.

The drama began early, at the first corner, when several cars were forced into the escape road and a full-course caution was necessitated after rookie Rahim Alibhai (Zanella Racing) ground to a halt in the escape road.

The race-defining incident came at the ensuing restart with three laps already in the books. Escorpioni held the lead as the pack entered the heavy-braking zone for the first corner, with primary title rival Loiacono and Fisher in his wheel tracks. Fisher, in third, was the first to lock up his brakes, pushing Loiacono into Escorpioni and causing all three cars to take to the runoff area. Worse, immediately behind, Patricio Gonzalez lost control as he turned into the right-handed corner and clattered into older brother Rodrigo. Everyone else behind was forced to take evasive action. In other words, it was carnage.

Miraculously, Escorpioni somehow survived in the lead, followed by Vergara, Aatola and, incredibly, Rodrigo Gonzalez.

The race was restarted with eight of 15 laps completed, and it didn’t take long for Escorpioni to cement his authority on the proceedings. Aatola, though, jumped Vergara at the restart into Turn 1, which further aided Escorpioni’s cause.

As Escorpioni edged away, Vergara made his move for second on lap 13, leaving Aatola to settle for third, with Fisher hot on his heels at the finish.

“It was a difficult race, honestly. I don't know what happened in [Turn] 1. I kind of got punted by Liam I felt like, and I just went straight. I tried my best to keep going and do the corner, but it was impossible. After that, we had another restart and I was able to pull away. And, I mean, it was amazing. We were so quick and I’m just thankful for everything that happened. And I'm really thankful for the team. They were amazing.”

JT Hoskin finished fifth for Jay Howard Driver Development, followed by Gonzalez and Michael Suco (InterMS), who claimed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after having started 17th.

Israel’s Matan Achituv (VRD Racing) recorded the best finish of his rookie season in eighth as Brenden Cooley (Exclusive Autosport) and Diego Guiot (Zanella Racing) completed the top 10.

Jose and Jessica Zanella picked up another PFC Award as the winning car owners. They were also able to celebrate clinching the teams' championship with an unassailable 89-point edge over VRD Racing.

The title tussle will continue into Saturday, the final day of the season, with Escorpioni having extended his advantage to 37 points over Loiacono. Another pair of 15-lap races will finally determine who will win this year’s USF Juniors championship and a scholarship valued at almost $250,000 to graduate onto the next step of the USF Pro Championships ladder, USF2000, in 2026. The first green flag is set to fly at 2:30pm local time, with the season finale at 6:20pm.

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