Beswick wins incident-strewn USF2000 race at Mid-Ohio

Pabst Racing claimed its third win out of the last four USF2000 Presented by Continental Tires races when Eddie Beswick from Sydney, Australia emerged victorious from a messy opening leg of the USF Pro Patriot 250 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio doubleheader.

Florida-based Brazilian Joao Vergara contrived to finish second for VRD Racing, while Pabst Racing’s Brad Majman, from Melbourne, Australia, scorched past polesitter Ryan Giannetta (VRD Racing), from Redondo Beach, Calif., on the final lap to complete the podium. Majman, who started eighth, thereby moved to within 16 points of the championship lead with 10 of 18 races now in the books.

After showing his speed throughout testing on Friday and 30 minutes of practice early this morning, Giannetta repeated the form when it mattered during qualifying to earn his first-ever Continental Tire Pole Award. Exclusive Autosport’s Canadian, Anthony Martella, snagged the outside front row of the starting grid with Australia’s Liam Loiacono, for JHDD presented by ECR, and fellow countryman Beswick in fourth.

Unfortunately, the drama began early. Giannetta, Martella and Loiacono all arrived at Turn 2 virtually together, with Martella diving to the inside in a bold attempt to take the lead. He didn’t quite pull it off as Loiacono’s outside line paid off nicely and Giannetta, in the middle, wisely opted to settle into third.

Just a few car lengths behind, VRD teammates Vergara and Oliver Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., plus Brazilian Lucas Nanji, up from ninth on the grid for Pabst Racing, also attempted to go side by side. Consequently, Wheldon was launched into a series of rolls directly over the top of Nanji, whose race also ended in the gravel trap.

Moments later, as the leaders exited Turn 2 and began to head off down the main straightaway, Loiacono and Martella made contact and spun in unison to the inside of the race track. Thankfully, no one else was involved.

Wheldon, too, emerged without injury from his badly damaged Tatuus. The red flags were duly displayed, and the race restarted after a delay of approximately half an hour due to a power outage which affected Race Control.

Giannetta led at the restart from Beswick, Wesley Gundler (ENVE Motorsports), from Holly Springs, N.C., up from 10th on the grid, and Vergara.

Beswick glimpsed an opportunity to make a pass for the lead soon after the restart and maintained that advantage for the remainder of the race, which was further interrupted by another couple of caution periods for a variety of incidents.

One of them, on the eighth lap, involved points leader Sebastian Garzon (DEForce Racing). The teenager from Neiva, Colombia, was seeking to take advantage of a mistake by Gundler in Turn Four, only for contact to ensue. Garzon was eliminated on the spot and Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., also was collected. Gundler continued, unaware that part of his car’s suspension was damaged, causing him to spin a couple of corners later and take out an innocent Connor Aspley (Exclusive Autosport), from O’Fallon, Mo.

“I was obviously pretty lucky there not to be involved in whatever the first lap was, and pretty happy to be in second there," said Beswick. "I had very low grip and it was very hot. I was able to capitalize on Ryan messing up the restart. I guess with the aero wash and the grip levels, it was just too hard for the others. I just had to stay composed and survive.”

Vergara had fallen to seventh at this point, struggling for grip at the previous restart and losing several positions, only to regain them all – and move back into third – following the incident involving Gundler, Garzon and Cooley.

A five-lap dash to the finish saw Beswick still running out front. Vergara took advantage of his good fortune by slipping past teammate Giannetta at the restart. The young Californian also lost out on the final lap to Majman, who gained what could be another vital championship point by snatching the fastest lap of the race. Fourth place for Giannetta still represented his best so far.

Callahan Peter, from Fishers, Ind., steered clear of the carnage to finish a career-best sixth and take home his second Tilton Hard Charger Award of the year. He had started 19th and last.

Augie Pabst pocketed another PFC Award as the winning car owner.

Race Two of the doubleheader event will take place immediately after NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying tomorrow, the Fourth of July, at 4:20 p.m. EDT.

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