ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – The battle for this year’s USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire championship has intensified following this weekend’s Elite Engines Grand Prix of Road America tripleheader. Liam Loiacono, from Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, this morning completed a clean sweep for Jay Howard Driver Development, although Brazilian Leonardo Escorpioni, from Windermere, Fla., maintained his points lead following an excellent charge to second place after starting back in 14th for Zanella Racing.
Patricio Gonzalez, from Mexico City, Mexico, was credited with third for DEForce Racing after a five-second post-race penalty was assessed on Escorpioni’s teammate, Ty Fisher, from White Rock, B.C., Canada for avoidable contact.
Loiacono once again started at the front of the field as a consequence of having set the best second-fastest lap of all drivers during the solitary qualifying session on Friday. He therefore ensured a clean sweep of Continental Tire Pole Awards and was intent upon repeating that feat in the race.
The long straightaways at Road America usually provide plenty of opportunities to overtake, and that is precisely what transpired during the 10-lap race. However, most of the action was centered on a massive scrap for second place, which allowed Loiacono to drive as he pleased at the front of the field.
He needed no second bidding, and despite a brief full-course caution midway through the race when InterMS’ Michael Suco, from Auburn, Ala., found the tire wall in Turn 14, Loiacono never relinquished his advantage.
After claiming his first-ever podium finish yesterday, rookie Evan Cooley (Exclusive Autosport), from Mokena, Ill., held onto his second-place starting position for the majority of the race before finding himself shuffled down the order in the closing stages.
Instead, remarkably, it was Escorpioni who emerged to take the runner-up spot. Despite problems in qualifying which led him to start way back in the pack, Escorpioni made up five positions within the first two laps before finding himself shuffled back down again to 12th. No problem. The gifted Brazilian vaulted immediately from ninth to fifth at the restart, then picked off those in front to grab second from teammate Fisher with a couple of laps to go.
Loiacono by then was already out of reach, but second place – for the second race in a row – represented an impressive comeback. Escorpioni’s performance also earned him the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
Fisher followed him home in third, although later was assessed a penalty following a clash on Lap Eight in Turn Six with VRD Racing’s Oliver Wheldon, who fell all the way to 17th. Fisher was eventually credited with ninth, thereby keeping alive his slim title aspirations.
The battle for what turned out to be the final podium position saw three cars virtually abreast of each other at the checkered flag with Gonzalez capping a breakthrough weekend by narrowly edging out DEForce Racing teammate Vilho Aatola, from Turku, Finland, and the unfortunate Cooley.
Connor Aspley (Pole Position Motorsports), from O’Fallon, Mo., and Diego Guiot (Zanella Racing), from The Woodlands, Texas, also were right in the mix at the finish line as third through seventh were blanketed by a scant 0.2304 of a second. Rahim Alibhai (Zanella Racing), from Miami, Fla., completed a strong debut weekend just a half-second back in eighth.
Jay Howard mirrored Loiacono’s feat by sweeping the PFC Awards as the winning car owner.
The championship will be decided during a final tripleheader event at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Ore., on August 7-9. USF Juniors will compete alongside the other two rungs on the USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire open-wheel racing development ladder, USF2000 and USF Pro 2000, and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Five drivers remain mathematically in contention for a scholarship to graduate to USF2000 in 2026.
Provisional championship points after 13 of 16 races:
1. Leonardo Escorpioni, 310
2. Liam Loiacono, 296
3. Joao Vergara, 237
4. Ty Fisher, 231
5. Oliver Wheldon, 224
6. Vilho Aatola, 198
7 Rodrigo Gonzalez, 179
8. Patricio Gonzalez, 159
9. Diego Guiot, 156
10. JT Hoskins, 128
Liam Loiacono (#6 Heli America Inc./JW Winco-Jay Howard Driver Development Tatuus JR-23): “A great job by the whole team at Jay Howard Driver Development. Spencer made sure that thing didn't fall apart when I was absolutely destroying those curbs. So, big thanks to them. I couldn't have done it without them. The momentum we are building is quite incredible. I just knew I could pull away and stay away from all the battling and try to pull away and let the chaos unfold behind me. Big thanks to Heli America, JW Winco and Fitzgerald Equipment for coming out, the whole family back home in Australia, my mom for coming out – it’s a long way from home. Thanks to all of them.”
Leonardo Escorpioni (#55 Qwilt/Peer 1/Mensalize-Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “This one was definitely the hardest one for sure. It was a struggle, honestly. Vergara was leaking a lot of oil and I was behind him. I couldn't see anything for the first like four laps. I was stuck there and then, thankfully, the yellow came out. I was able to get by then and I was able to rip off all the tear-offs. After that, I mean, it was a good race. We were able to move up through the field from ninth or eighth to P2 in two or three laps. I felt like we had the pace to challenge for the win, but qualifying didn't help us. We'll be back in Portland. I want to get back on the top step. I think this is the second weekend that I haven't won a race. It’s been a good season, but I want more.”