Jeffers secures USF Pro 2000 title at Road America with dominant sweep

There was no denying Jack Jeffers this year’s USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship. The young man from San Antonio was never seriously challenged all weekend at Road America as he added two more race wins to the one he scored yesterday for Exclusive Autosport, placing the title far beyond his rivals’ reach.

Jeffers thus became the fifth driver after Matthew Brabham, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Rasmussen and Max Garcia to claim back-to-back championship titles in USF2000 and USF Pro 2000.

Leonardo Escorpioni (Turn 3 Motorsport) chased home Jeffers this morning after finding a way past TJ Speed Motorsports’ Thomas Schrage, while the Pabst Racing pair of G3 Argyros and Colin Aitken completed the podium in this afternoon’s final race of the season.

Jeffers earned his sixth and seventh Continental Tire Pole Awards by virtue of producing the best second-fastest lap of the entire field during the lone qualifying session on Friday.

He was joined on the front row this morning by Schrage, who shadowed the champion elect during the opening five laps without ever looking likely to be able to make a pass. Jeffers’ car was simply too strong. Thereafter, Jeffers pulled away at will.

Schrage instead fell into the clutches of Escorpioni, who made an excellent exit to Turn 5, drove alongside Schrage on the uphill run to Turn 6, then calmly slipped past into second place.

After 15 laps of green-flag racing, Escorpioni finished just over 7.5s in arrears of Jeffers, who was finally able to celebrate his championship win in the best possible style.

Schrage rounded out the podium in third, well clear of Aitken and Argyros. Teddy Musella finished a couple of seconds in arrears, just ahead of VRD Racing teammate Frankie Mossman. Sebastian Manson (Turn 3 Motorsport) and JT Hoskins (JHDD powered by ECR) completed the top 10. Hoskins also earned his second Tilton Hard Charger Award in as many days.

The season finale once again was all about Jeffers, who again led from flag to flag. Only this time there were a couple of interruptions, firstly due to a multi-car incident at Turn 1 which brought out the red flags, and then another when Turn 3 Motorsport teammates Tyke Durst and Brady Golan tangled in Turn 5. All drivers escaped without injury, although both debutant Clemente Huerta (JHDD powered by ECR) and Golan were assessed post-race penalties for incident responsibility.

Schrage once again started second, only to fall by the wayside after two laps when his car’s left-rear suspension abruptly failed in Turn 8, thereby bringing his fine streak of four podiums and 16 top-10 results to an end.

Argyros found his car much more to his liking in the final race and actually took the challenge to Jeffers, finishing only a half-second behind. Aitken, too, chased hard, while Escorpioni also was in close attendance with Mossman completing the top five.

Escorpioni’s finish clinched the Team Championship for Turn 3 Motorsport.

TJ Speed Motorsports’ Jeshua Alianell, from The Woodlands, Texas, mopped up the final Tilton Hard Charger Award of the season after climbing from 13th to seventh.

Jeffers capped his magnificent campaign by securing two more PFC Awards for car owners Josh Cooley and Michael Duncalfe. He also claimed the GhostLap Fastest Race Lap Award this morning.

Jeffers will have an opportunity to celebrate his championship – and a scholarship valued at almost $600,000 to advance to INDY NXT in 2027 – at tomorrow’s season-ending banquet, after which attention will switch toward next year with the upcoming USF Pro Fall Combine Test at Indianapolis Grand Prix road course on October 17/18.

Provisional championship points after 18 of 18 rounds:

1. Jack Jeffers, 430

2. Leonardo Escorpioni, 381

3. G3 Argyros, 359

4. Thomas Schrage, 317

5. Frankie Mossman, 289

6. Andres Cardenas, 279

7. Teddy Musella, 228

8. Colin Aitken, 215

9. Brady Golan, 214

10. Sebastian Manson, 185

RACE 2 RESULTS