ST. PETERSBURG, Fl. – The torrential rains and weather that plagued last weekend’s Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park had the most effect on the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The second race of the doubleheader was forced into cancellation due to the flooding of the track and a subsequent schedule adjustment for the Verizon IndyCar Series. It was a rough weekend all around for JDC MotorSports’ Pro Mazda drivers, as after a disappointing opening race early Sunday morning, all three of the team’s pilots were looking forward to retribution during the second event that was to be held later in the day. Raoul Owens had the best run in the rain-soaked Race 1, recovering from a spin to finish 12th, while Kyle Connery came back from a hard wreck on Friday to cruise home to 14th. The third member of the JDC squad – rookie Parker Nicklin – finished 15th. The chance for the trio to redeem themselves was scuttled when the second race of the doubleheader was cancelled, forcing all three to re-focus on the next rounds of the championship at Barber Motorsports Park next week.
Heading into the New Orleans event, the JDC MotorSports drivers were excited about their prospects after showing great pace in St. Petersburg during the series opener. Owens was extremely quick during Thursday’s promoter test sessions, finishing up fifth overall. Friday’s official practice sessions were run in dry conditions, and it was Connery who would go quickest in the second track session, although he would also bring out the red flag to end to the time period when he made hard contact with the frontstretch wall. Connery was taken to the local hospital as a precaution, but he was released that evening and return to the seat of his #91 Hi-Tide Boat Lifts Pro Mazda on Sunday morning.
In Saturday morning qualifying, Owens was not able to match his early weekend pace and posted the 10th fastest time. Nicklin was 14th in the order, while Connery was forced to miss the session after his Friday incident. The first race of the doubleheader was scheduled to run on Saturday afternoon, but the race was moved to early Sunday morning when heavy rain flooded parts of the track, making it unsafe for competition. Race 1 was completed in continual rain as the first session on Sunday, challenging the drivers to step up their games. Owens advanced to seventh early on, but was hit by a fellow competitor, sending him backwards in the order, but he fought forward to 12th in the final tally. Connery was forced to battle through the race with a damaged front wing that occurred at the start and he limped home to 14th, while Nicklin experienced his first wet Pro Mazda session and gained valuable experience in completing all 11 laps enroute to a 15th place finish.
The second race was cancelled when the Verizon IndyCar Series moved their race up in the Sunday schedule, which eliminated the team’s chance to come back strong. They will now turn their attention to the fifth and sixth races of the schedule, which will be held on April 24-26 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. The series plans to add the cancelled event to one of the weekends later in the year.
JDC MOTORSPORTS – PRO MAZDA DRIVER STATS AND QUOTES
Kyle Connery - #91
Qualified: DNQ
Race #1: 14th
Race #2: Postponed
Driver Quote: “NOLA was certainly not the weekend we hoped for. The track itself was a lot of fun once I got up to speed. It's an open wheel track, without a doubt - fast corners, and slow speed corners onto long straights, and plenty of passing opportunities. Friday was one of those days where I was definitely the bug, not the windscreen. I made a mistake in the last corner, which lead to the car being heavily damaged, and what felt like an eternity in the hospital. Thankfully, we race with an incredible safety team that was there on scene moments after the crash. You always feel bad when you make more work for the guys, especially with a crash like that. I was able to drive in the first race, in which my only goal was to bring the car back in one piece. Thankfully, Barber is just around the corner and it's a track I greatly enjoy. I am hoping that the series host a third race there, which should help us regain some positions in the championship. From now until I arrive at Barber, it's going to be flat out preparation making sure that when I show up to Barber that I'm fully present and ready to go.”
Raoul Owens - #19
Qualified: 10th - 1:35.510 (+0.682 secs)
Race #1: 12th
Race #2: Postponed
Driver Quote: “The weekend for myself, and the team, was very frustrating overall. We had good pace during both practice days and we were confident going into qualifying. Qualifying didn't quite produce the result we expected or hoped for and we ended up 10th on the grid. The bad qualifying result set us on the back foot for the race, which was held in horrendous conditions. The spray was a big problem for me and the standing water made it even trickier. I managed to make it up to seventh before I was tagged in a battle with Dalton Kellett. After that, I made a couple of errors that were no one’s fault but my own, which dropped me to 12th. My pace in the race wasn't bad, but needless to say, myself and the team weren't totally thrilled with how the weekend panned out. We will be working very hard in preparation for the next round at Barber Motorsports Park, where things will hopefully go our way!"
Parker Nicklin - #26
Qualified: 14th – 1:37.612 (+2.785 secs)
Race #1: 15th
Race #2: Postponed
Driver Quote: “The torrential rain in NOLA made my race weekend challenging since I’ve had less experience with tracks this wet in the past two years. Qualifying so far at the end of the pack put me at a competitive disadvantage. Waiting for good weather, race cancellations and my spin out in the lap 1 were ingredients that created my poor performance. There was one bright spot. I came up with content for my #JustLetItRing, Distracted Driving Education course, integrating unsafe wet road conditions into the curriculum taught to high school students. Thank you to my sponsors and family for hanging in there with me. Looking forward to changing my game in Birmingham, AL at the end of the month.”
About JDC Motorsports:
Involved in formula car racing since its inception in 1994, JDC Motorsports has established itself as one of the leading junior open-wheel teams in North America. Initially making its mark in the F2000 class of club racing competition, JDC Motorsports was soon a team worth watching in the pro ranks. Competing in the Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship, the team not only won races, but also helped develop multiple young drivers. In 2005, JDC Motorsports expanded its efforts, entering the Star Mazda Championship. Quickly becoming one of the top teams in the series, JDC captured both the driver and team titles in 2007, as well as Rookie of the Year honors, with Dane Cameron scoring a series-high three wins. In 2008, JDC Motorsports was the runner-up in the Star Mazda Championship and finished fourth in its inaugural season of F2000 Championship Series competition. The Minnesota-based team won the Star Mazda Championship title with Rookie of the Year Adam Christodoulou, and the F2000 Championship Series title with Chris Miller in 2009. The following year, JDC continued its winning ways, earning the Rookie of the Year award in the Star Mazda Championship with Connor De Philippi, and scoring a non-points win in the USF2000 National Championship. In 2011, the Minneapolis-based squad captured its third Star Mazda Championship title with Tristan Vautier, scored a win in the USF2000 National Championship, and made its Prototype Lites Championship debut, earning five podium finishes. JDC Motorsports added to its Star Mazda Championship win tally, USF2000 Championship podium total, and finished as the Prototype Lites Championship runner-up in 2012. Last year, the squad continued its run of Pro Mazda and USF2000 podium finishes, and was third in the Prototype Lites title fight.