Schrage wins in Portland to keep USF2000 title hopes alive

Thomas Schrage kept alive his slim hopes of winning the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship with a hard-fought victory Friday evening for VRD Racing in the first of three races that will comprise the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Portland.

Jack Jeffers (Exclusive Autosport) kept the pressure on Schrage throughout the 25-lap race to maintain a healthy points lead, while Schrage’s teammate, Teddy Musella, finished a distant third.

Schrage began the weekend with the clear understanding that he needed to qualify up front in order to maintain his title aspirations. He duly delivered earlier Friday by laying down a best lap of 1m10.9490s, only fractionally shy of Rasmus Lindh’s long-standing lap record of 1m10.9038s set back in 2018. Schrage duly earned a series leading fifth Continental Tire Pole Award, narrowly out-pacing championship leader Jeffers and Musella.

Schrage opted to keep an extremely tight inside line heading into the first corner, with Musella hot on his heels. Jeffers, behind, took advantage of the extra space to take a wider approach, which almost allowed him to drive around the outside of both VRD cars heading into the extremely tight right-hand corner at Turn 1. But, wisely, rather than risk contact, Jeffers opted to take to the escape road, which cost him several positions.

Fortunately for him, the point was rendered moot mere moments later when the red flags waved following a frightening incident when Jay Howard Driver Development’s Timmy Carel vaulted off the rear of a rival and into a violent series of cartwheels. Thankfully, Carel emerged unscathed, but the incident ensured that all remaining cars were brought into the pits. The restart order was determined by the positions in which the cars had crossed the previous timeline – which was start/finish.

Jeffers was therefore able to line up in second for the single-file restart. From there, the two leaders immediately began to pull clear of Musella. It was a fitting contest – the top two title contenders going head to head.

Schrage seemed to have marginally the edge in the opening half of the 25-lap race. He even established a new race lap record on lap 14, narrowly eclipsing the mark set by Kyle Kirkwood in 2018. But a couple of tire lock-ups under braking allowed Jeffers to close in once more.

The pair remained in tight formation for the remainder of the race, with Schrage prevailing by just over half a second for his third win of the season.

“Starting from pole last year, I blew Turn 1 in the wet, so I made sure I didn't do that," said Schrage. "I got hit from behind but I just kept focusing forward. All we can really do is win races and just see how the championship falls. We'll come back at it tomorrow. I think we're starting fourth, but we have a quick car. I was impressed with how well the car hung through 25 laps. That's the first time that the car has really stayed there for me. So, good progress for VRD and thanks to Dan [Mitchell] and all the guys.”

Musella initially came under attack from both Sebastian Garzon, who was enjoying one of his best outings of the season for DEForce Racing, and Pabst Racing’s Caleb Gafrarar. But the in-fighting soon allowed Musella to pull clear. In his wake, Garzon and Gafrarar exchanged places several times before Gafrarar was able to make the position his own.

Former Australian Formula Ford champion Eddie Beswick finished sixth for Synergy Motorsport, narrowly ahead of 15-year-old Christian Cameron (VRD Racing), with another Australian, Brad Majman claiming the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 14th on the grid to ninth behind teammate Anthony Martella.

The PFC Award went to Dan Mitchell as the winning car owner.

Jeffers finds himself with a 43-point advantage heading into the final two races of the season, while today’s result moves VRD narrowly back ahead of Exclusive Autosport, 391-385, in the battle for the teams' championship. Next up is Round 17 Saturday at 3:25pm local time, with the season finale due to start at 3:55pm on Sunday.

RESULTS