Leeds, Ala. – The Jay Howard Driver Development stable of three Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship teams and three Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires teams took on Rounds 3 and 4 of their respective seasons this weekend at Barber Motorsport Park. The highlight of the weekend was a second-place podium by Braden Eves in Indy Pro 2000 Race 2.
Eves missed out on pole position for the second race by mere thousandths of a second, but drove a stellar race to finish in his starting position. He leaves Alabama holding third place in the drivers' standings. Indy Pro teammates Wyatt Brichacek and Salvador De Alba each suffered reliability issues throughout the weekend, but both drivers kept their heads high and took valuable lessons away from the second race weekend of the year.
In USF2000, Danny Dyszelski, Yeoroo Lee and Jorge Garciarce each put forth a solid effort throughout the weekend. All three rookies are learning and progressing with each new session and will look to take what they’ve learned into the month of May. Their first chance to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as Road to Indy competitors will happen later this month.
“Overall, a mixed up-and-down weekend,” said team owner Jay Howard. “It was good to end the weekend on the podium with Braden and solidify his position in the championship. On the USF2000 front, we have young kids with no experience and, as they expected, got stronger and stronger as the weekend went on. I’m hoping that when we go to IMS, we’ll have a little more track time. That should help their progression. On the Indy Pro side, it was an up-and-down event. We had a few challenges to work through this weekend, which is actually a bit disappointing because we were so strong in testing here a few weeks ago. It is what it is. We’re happy with our podium, we’ll keep fighting and move-on to Indy."
The Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 championships return to action at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 12-14.
WHAT THE INDY PRO 2000 DRIVERS SAID
#4 Braden Eves
Round 3 – P5;
Round 4 – P2
“Qualifying 1 was a little bit of a struggle. We could’ve gotten a better result, but I think that the red flag hurt us more than it did everyone else because we made a big leap forward on our second tire run and only ended up getting one lap on that set. The race wasn’t bad though. We actually ended up getting a pretty good result in that race, but we were really focused on getting a better qualifying result in Q2. I knew I could. We were looking for a little bit more out of the car, and the team did a great job finding it. We were just .007s short of pole, which I honestly have to put on myself. I’m feeling like I’ve learned a lot in these past two weekends and I feel like the momentum is building. I’m really excited for Indy.
“I can’t thank my sponsors enough. Community Choice Financial, Addison Holdings LLC, Coastal Local Seafood, Mayer Shank Racing, and everyone who helps out. I’m looking forward to the next race.
#5 Wyatt Brichacek
Round 3 – P12;
Round 4 – P13
“What can I say? I love being at Barber Motorsports Park, especially with a sold out crowd. Our weekend just did not go our way, with an engine change in practice, to issues with the car all weekend long. I’m really bummed after such a successful test a few weeks prior. We will bounce back and be ready for IMS.”
#6 Salvador De Alba
Round 3 – P15;
Round 4 – P8
“It has been a very tough weekend. We’ve been struggling with the car since we got here. The team worked on the car a lot to figure out what was going on. In Race 2, our pace was shown on track. I made some positions at the start and kept speeding up, lap by lap. It was nice to recover that speed and confidence in the car. Now, it’s time to focus and prepare ourselves for the next race.
“A special thanks goes to my sponsors Grupo Indi, Macano, Red Cola and ZMotors for making this happen. And also a big, big thanks to the guys on the team for taking the car apart and putting it back together again in one day.”
WHAT THE USF2000 DRIVERS SAID:
#8 Danny Dyszelski
Round 3 – P19;
Round 4 – P19
“Barber was a great learning opportunity for me. Between the increased competition levels and hanging out around the IndyCar paddock, I was able to learn so much from the competitors. We had struggles on track, but avoided any damage which was the ultimate goal of my first weekend. I’m excited to get back behind the wheel in Indianapolis in two weeks and improve my performance!”
#7 Yeoroo Lee
Round 3 – P18;
Round 4 – P16
#9 Jorge Garciarce
Round 3 – P14;
Round 4 – P13