INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires rookie Devlin DeFrancesco endured a bittersweet experience in his first race events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

DeFrancesco entered the weekend as the championship leader after his win for Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport last weekend. While he came away with his first Indianapolis road course podium in race two, he was unable to replicate that performance in the first and last events of the triple header Indy Pro 2000 schedule.

With only one practice session prior to qualifying, the Italian-Canadian qualified only eighth for the opening race but quickly asserted himself in race conditions. He gained two positions on the start before suffering slight contact but was able to hold sixth place. DeFrancesco was up to fifth before a late race full course yellow brought an early end to the race. He was later promoted to fourth following a fellow competitor's post-race penalty.

Already learning and improving after Thursday's race one, DeFrancesco qualified fourth fastest and made an awesome jump to second in turn one. He would hold that position all the way to the flag for his first Indianapolis podium.

With the fastest lap in race two setting the grid for race three, DeFrancesco started the final event from third and again was super aggressive in turn one, almost taking the lead. Sadly, contact on the opening lap while battling for second forced DeFrancesco off track – dropping him to eighth.

Damage from the contact hindered his progress and he crossed the line in eighth place, pushing him to second place in the championship by 16 points.

DeFrancesco’s Indy Pro 2000 campaign is supported by Kimoa - the fashion, clothing, and accessories brand founded by Fernando Alonso; world-class racing simulator manufacturer Allinsports; Apple’s largest premium retail partner, Simply Mac; Engine Media; Pure Kana and One Plant Merchandise.

DEVLIN DE FRANCESCO

"I have mixed feelings from today. Race three was a bit of a bad start with being packed up tight before the green flag.

“Then lap one carnage and I was shoved off [track] wide. That was tough to accept.

“It was one of those days. The Andretti Steinbrenner guys did a very good job through the week considering I had never driven here with this car before.

“I think we need to keep our heads up and fight on. It’s definitely not over. We have several races left and a lot more racing to come.

“It was nice to stand on the podium in race two, but I certainly wanted more.”