INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Singapore star Danial Frost scored his first Road to Indy win and first victory of the 2019 Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires season at the prestigious Carb Night Classic, topping the field in the Cooper Tires Freedom 90.
The 17-year-old took to the high-speed 5/8th-mile banked Lucas Oil Raceway oval just a week after an official series test at the track, where he topped all the charts every session. Frost rode the momentum of his pace into the race weekend, again dominating every session, posting the fastest two-lap qualifying speed before checking out during the 90-lap race to win by over four seconds.
“Danial put in an incredible drive at the Carb Night Classic,” enthused Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal. “He was composed and focused and didn’t put a wheel wrong all race. To capture his first Indy Pro 2000 pole and first Indy Pro 2000 win on the oval is incredible. He captured valuable points in the championship standings. I am so proud of his effort and the effort of the whole team. Team Manager Mirl Swan and the entire EA crew did an amazing job. The fleet of EA Tatuus cars were fast from lap 1 here at the series test a week ago. We will work hard to capitalize on this momentum as we move into Road America.”
The event started on Thursday afternoon after severe rain came through the area, changing the track ever so slightly from the series test a week prior. Danial took to the track Thursday and immediately posted the fastest time in the first practice and then followed it up with a strong run during his single-car two-lap qualifying session. Frost’s Tatuus PM-18 was on rails as he eclipsed his competition posting laps that we’re a half-second faster than the next competitor, giving him the fastest average speed of 120.454 mph. Race day on Friday began in the afternoon with one final practice session, followed by the race that started just over three hours later as the crowd has settled in for an exciting evening.
As soon as the green flag flew for the Freedom 90, Frost immediately began to pull away from the field, working up to a three-second gap before the first yellow flag came out on lap 51. Throughout the race, Danial’s lead grew and he worked through lapped traffic to extend the gap. At the checkered flag, he had amassed a 4.804-second cushion to score the victory. With his pole position, fastest race lap and flag-to-flag victory, Frost adds the three available bonus points to the 30 points logged from the win, giving him 33 points from the event. This full points haul has moved Danial to second in the Indy Pro 2000 championship standings, just nine points behind the leader.
The next stop of the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will take the Exclusive Autosport team to the beautiful Road America road course in Elkhart Lake, WI. Rounds 6 and 7 of both the Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 Championship series will be held on the June 20-22 weekend.
Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with great companies, such as AERO™ Advanced Paint Technology (www.rethinkpaint.com), which is used on all their race cars.
EXCLUSIVE AUTOSPORT – DRIVER RESULTS AND QUOTES
INDY PRO 2000 – ROUNDS 5 – MAY 23-24, 2019
COOPER TIRES FREEDOM 100
LUCAS OIL RACEWAY – CLERMONT, IN
DANIAL FROST - #68
Qualifying 1: 1st – 40.997 (two-lap total time / 120.484 mph)
Race 1: Start – 1st / Finish – 1st
Driver Quote: “From the start of the week, our car had been excellent and the team had done a great job preparing the car. We finally managed to deliver the win that we needed. Since the start of the season, we have been looking for it and we finally managed it. Getting that win has made me over the moon and I’m super ecstatic. Throughout the entire race, we were pretty comfortable and only at the start and restarts did I feel a little pressure, but as soon as I got away, the other drivers could barely keep up. I cannot thank the team enough for all their hard work and now I look forward to Road America to see how it goes.”