Lexington, Ohio – Christian Rasmussen completed a grand slam in the first race of a Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course double-header weekend for the Jay Howard Driver Development Indy Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires team. After winning his third Cooper Tires Pole Award of the season by a margin of more than four tenths, Rasmussen led from flag-to-flag on Saturday, setting the fastest lap of the race for good measure. The win marked his sixth of the season out of 12 attempts.
In Race 2, Wyatt Brichacek showed race pace comparable to the leaders and brought the #5 JHDD Indy Pro 2000 machine home for his second top-10 finish of the weekend. Rasmussen fell from P3 to P5 at the start but showed maturity, staying clean in traffic and securing valuable points. His points total now sits at 306, extending his championship lead to a margin of 39 over Braden Eves in second place.
For the JHDD USF2000 team, it was an up-and-down weekend full of learning moments and experience gains. Bijoy Garg kicked off the triple-header with a brilliant drive, securing the team’s best finish of the year with P6. Strategy came into play in Race 2, where Jackson Lee and Peter Vodanovich each encountered trouble on track. Both drivers pitted for fresh sticker Cooper Tires in order to set better lap times and improve their grid positions for Race 3.
The plan worked beautifully, as Jackson went purple, placing him P5 for the start on Sunday morning. Vodanovich went second quickest, landing himself P6, respectively. In the third and final race of the weekend, Vodanovich converted the improved grid position into a team-leading P8 finish. This weekend also marked JHDD Formula 4 driver Chase Hyland’s USF2000 debut. He showed pace, making overtakes in all three races.
“It was a solid weekend here at Mid-Ohio,” said team owner Jay Howard. “Rasmussen extended his championship lead, and the USF2000 boys all showed some strong pace throughout the weekend. Big effort from all the boys. It’s been a long week, but everyone gave it their all. Looking forward to the next Indy Pro 2000 event at Gateway.”
Indy Pro 2000 returns to action at World Wide Technology Raceway on August 21, before both series compete at New Jersey Motorsports Park on August 28-29. Catch the live streams on RoadToIndy.TV, the Road to Indy TV App and the series’ websites, indypro2000.com and usf2000.com. Find @followJHDD on social for news, updates and highlights.
WHAT THE USF2000 DRIVERS SAID:
#6 Bijoy Garg
Round 11 – P6; Round 12 – P27; Round 13 – P18
“Pretty promising weekend. We were top-10 fastest throughout practice. Qualifying came around and we made the decision to put a second set of Cooper Tires on and went P6, which was really good. We managed to maintain the position for the first race, which was fantastic. However, due to the qualifying format that values the second fastest lap more than the fastest for Races 2 and 3, we were forced to start further back than we would have liked. We tried to set the fastest lap in Race 2, switching to a new set of tires at the end, but things didn’t go our way. Onto the next one in New Jersey. Looking forward to it.”
#8 Jackson Lee
Round 11 – P18; Round 12 – P26; Round 13 – P13
“Glad I got the chance to show our pace this weekend! Proud of running the fastest lap in Race 2 and showing our progression. Thanks to everyone who made this weekend possible. Thanks to Prime 47 Steakhouse in Indianapolis and Dr. Chernoff Cosmetic Surgery, along with Browning Chapman, Spruce Haven Farm, Doug Mockett & Company and Caldwell Realty.”
#9 Peter Vodanovich
Round 11 – P15; Round 12 – P28; Round 13 – P8
“Happy with the weekend. Finished P8 in the last race. It is really cool to crack into the top 10. The team did a great job with strategy in Race 2, to go out and set a fast lap so we could start P6 for the final race. Unfortunately, we missed out a bit on qualifying, but made a good recovery in Race 1 moving up from P24 to P15. It was good fun. Bring on New Jersey.”
#7 Chase Hyland
Round 11 – P26; Round 12 – P24; Round 13 – P23
WHAT THE INDY PRO 2000 DRIVERS SAID:
#1 Christian Rasmussen
Round 11 – P1; Round 12 – P5
“I think we accomplished what we should at Mid-Ohio this weekend which is extending the championship lead. We got max points in Race 1 with a win. Even though Race 2 didn’t exactly go to plan, it’s all about maximizing points at this stage in the season. Now we have a little break until we go oval racing in a little over a months time”
#5 Wyatt Brichacek
Round 11 – P10; Round 12 – P10
“First of the Mid-Ohio weekends in the books. We are really strong when it comes to the race pace, lapping the same times as the leaders. We just need to focus on getting qualifying locked down. Looking forward to another shot at Mid-Ohio later this year!”