PORTLAND, Ore. - With the 2019 Indy Pro 2000 by Cooper Tires championship season nearing its end, Parker Thompson arrived at the Grand Prix of Portland looking for a fight. 

Driving with rookie team Abel Motorsports, Thompson has performed admirably all year. Entering the weekend ranked 3rd in the overall standings, Thompson's hopes for the Indy Pro 2000 championship title were shrinking fast. With two strong performances in races this weekend, he continues to demonstrate that he is one of the top drivers on the Road to Indy series. 

A chaotic start to Race 1 saw a complete re-order of the field after a collision among the front group on the opening lap. Having qualified in fourth position, Thompson found himself in the ninth spot after taking a by-pass route to avoid a collision himself. In one of his best drives of the season, the twenty-one year-old Alberta native worked his way through the field to take the final podium position.

The second race of the weekend saw Thompson and the championship leader heading into the weekend, Rasmus Lindh, go head-to-head for the full duration of the race. The two exchanged positions multiple times early in the contest while running in P3 and P4. Lindh would make the final pass and hold Thompson off for the remainder of the race despite a very narrow gap.

With the final rounds of the championship series taking place later this month at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Thompson remains focused on proving that he and Abel Motorsports are a force to reckon with.
 
Parker Thompson
"We never gave up this weekend and we got rewarded with a podium finish. Any time you get shuffled to the back of the field but still manage a top three, it's a bonus. We deserved that one though. The team did some great work preparing for the race and keeping things focused when it didn't go exactly as planned. We are looking forward to the next event, and are excited to end the season on a high note.”