Palmetto, Fla. – Less than two weeks after thrilling road course encounters as part of the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis, all three steps on the Mazda Road to Indy – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires – will return to the Indianapolis area this week for some oval track competition. The most senior level, Indy Lights, will perform as part of the “Carb Day” activities prior to the 98th Indianapolis 500 on Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Freedom 100, while Pro Mazda and USF2000 will thrill the crowds on Saturday night at nearby Lucas Oil Raceway for the 69th Annual Visit Hendricks County Night Before the 500 and the Allied Building Products Pro Mazda and USF2000 Oval Challenges.
Championship leaders Spencer Pigot (Pro Mazda) and RC Enerson (USF2000) each encountered difficulties on the road course, resulting in their previously commanding point advantages being eroded dramatically. Both young men are anxious to return to their winning ways and rekindle their challenges for MAZDASPEED Driver Development scholarships which will assist the respective champions in moving up to the next level of the Mazda Road to Indy in 2015.
Hargrove Fastest in Recent Lucas Oil Raceway Test
In Pro Mazda, three different drivers topped the timing charts during a three-session, one-day test at the 0.686-mile oval on May 13. California-born Pigot, now a resident of Indianapolis, was the first to shine for Juncos Racing, returning to the form that had seen him sweep to victory in each of the first four races this season. Young teammate Kyle Kaiser, from San Jose, Calif., bested Pigot by a mere 0.0025 second in Session Two, while man-of-the-moment Scott Hargrove, who swept both races on the IMS road course earlier this month for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing, continued his strong form by posting the fastest lap of the day, 20.5274 seconds (an average speed of 109.610 mph), in the final session before rain curtailed activities for the day.
Pigot, who took the pole on the IMS road course but was involved in a series of incidents which restricted him to a pair of eighth-place finishes, finished second in the corresponding event at Lucas Oil Raceway last year, while in 2012 he triumphed in a memorable USF2000 battle with eventual champion Matthew Brabham. Hargrove, meanwhile, established a new USF2000 qualifying record at LOR in 2013, en route to the season championship.
Hargrove, Pigot and Kaiser were joined by Garett Grist (Andretti Autosport), Hargrove‘s teammate Neil Alberico – who won last year’s USF2000 encounter – and veteran Team Pelfrey stand-in Anders Krohn in circulating within 0.2 seconds of the fastest time at the May 13 test. Other likely contenders will include Shelby Blackstock (Andretti Autosport), who finished third last year, and Michael Johnson (JDC MotorSports), from Flint, Mich., who was ninth quickest at the test, less than a half-second off the ultimate pace despite using hand controls after being paralyzed from the chest down in a motorcycle racing accident at age 13.
After three test sessions on Friday, May 23, and two more practice sessions on Saturday afternoon, qualifying for the Allied Building Products Pro Mazda Oval Challenge will start at 4:55 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, followed by the 90-lap (or 45-minute) race at 8:25 p.m.