Ethan Ho captures the team’s first podium at Mid-Ohio, while Carson Etter continues to progress in the USF Juniors series
DC Autosport scored its first USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires podium last weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as Ethan Ho captured a third-place finish in race two of the weekend doubleheader.
Rookie teammate Carson Etter continued his forward progress this past weekend, putting the knowledge he gained at the iconic road course one week ago in the USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires series.
"We had good pace all weekend,” said team principal Don Conner. “The team was gutted when Ethan's car had an issue while starting on the front row in race one, but getting a solid podium in race two was well deserved. Carson continued improving, fighting higher in the field which is great to see, running solidly in the top 10."
Both Ho (Los Angeles) and Etter (Villa Park, Calif.) competed in last weekend’s USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires, gaining valuable knowledge and track time at Mid-Ohio. Through three practice sessions on Thursday, the duo worked on setup up, with Ho setting the second quickest time in the first session – only to find the barrier in turn nine, which kept him out of the second test. Ho made up for lost time, however, setting the quickest time in test session three.
The team came out of the box with a purpose, with both drivers building pace through the 20-minute session and looking for his second pole position of the season. On his last lap, Ho set the second-quickest time, starting second only to series points leader, Nicholas Giaffone. Etter continued his progress in the series, closing the delta to the leaders to start in 11th.
Less than an hour later, the field took the green flag for the 20-lap race one. Ho tried to get on the throttle – to no avail, as the car experienced a fuel system issue. He wisely moved off the racing line and the safety was able to tow him to pit lane.
Meanwhile, Etter made good use of his Mid-Ohio knowledge, moving up to 11th position as the full course caution came out. He fell back to 12th on the restart, but refused to relent, fighting his way into the top 10 at the midway point. Shortly after, a car off track brought out a second caution flag. The green came out with six laps to go, with Etter back on a charge. When the checkered flag flew, he had captured an eighth-place finish.
Ho qualified third for race two, with Etter 13th. With thunderstorms on the radar, organizers moved the race two start time up 25 minutes to avoid the worst of the weather. The field took the green flag under threatening skies, and Ho got a solid jump, side-by-side with Quinn Armstrong through the first several corners but wisely slotting back into third. The pair continued the battle, with Ho able to make the pass stick in turn two, lap two, but Armstrong was able to get back around.
But on lap three, two cars came together with one going into the gravel in turn 5, bringing out the yellow. The green came back out but only briefly, with two cars coming together in the same spot, with Ho in third and Etter in eighth. Track crews worked quickly and the field went back to racing on lap 10 as Ho took a look on the outside of Armstrong in turn one, sliding onto his gearbox as he looked for an opportunity as Etter was swarmed on the restart and fell to 10th, then 12th on lap 11.
Armstrong grabbed the lead on lap 12, putting pole sitter Hudson Schwartz into Ho’s sights, until another yellow flew for a car off in turn four. The green flew once again on lap 16, with Ho and Etter both looking to make a move – but unable to make a pass stick, as Ho came home in third, earning his first series podium, and Etter in 11th.
Next up for DC Autosport and the USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires will be the tripleheader at Road America, August 11-13. Tune into USFJuniors.com for all the action!
QUOTEBOARD
ETHAN HO – No. 68 Triple S Suspensions
Race 1: Start – 2nd / Finish – 14th
Race 2: Start – 3rd / Finish – 3rd
Championship standing: 8th (134 points)
“We went into the weekend feeling confident. We were in the top three almost every session, so really confident going into the first quali and race. We had an issue starting race one so the car stalled on the very first lap, so we were super disappointed about the result. Race two we were battling the entire time but everyone was so close that we ended up finishing where we started. Overall, the weekend was much better than some of our previous ones, happy to get our first podium!”
CARSON ETTER – Priority Workforce
Race 1: Start – 11th / Finish – 9th
Race 2: Start – 13th / Finish – 11th
Championship standing: 13th (102 points)
“Racing the USF2000 car at Mid-Ohio last weekend was a help but the biggest help was learning the ins and outs of the track – I was able to start pushing right away as opposed to working up to it. But race one was a struggle, pretty much just trying to keep my nose clean and work my way up the order while also trying get faster and improve lap times. Race two was going well until about halfway through the race, when I made a mistake while trying to overtake Lucas Fecury and dropped way back in the order. It was a frustrating race for the most part because I feel I could've gotten a solid top five and it ended up as a missed opportunity. I am happy with my progression so far but obviously it's not exactly where we want to be. I'm hoping to be firmly in the top five by the end of the year so we have a better basis for USF2000 next year.”
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