ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Max Taylor of VRD Racing captured his third win of the season this afternoon in the PFC Grand Prix of Road America – a crucial tripleheader round leading up to the season finale in two week’s time. Taylor, from Hoboken, N.J., entered the weekend with a slim nine-point lead over five other drivers who still have a mathematical chance for a shot at the USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire championship title and scholarship to advance to USF Pro 2000.
Five title contenders sprung to the fore during the lone qualifying session this morning as Taylor ultimately secured his first Continental Tire Pole Award of the season. Taylor’s best time of 2:14.7230 (107.260 mph) established a new qualifying lap record, with early season points leader and teammate Sebastian Wheldon also circulating faster than the old standard.
Wheldon, from Coral Gables, Fla., thus clinched a starting position for Race One on the outside of the front row ahead of Liam McNeilly (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Brentwood, England, and Ariel Elkin (InterMS), from Haifa, Israel. Elkin’s teammate Augusto Soto-Schirripa, from Miami, Fla., and Evan Cooley (Exclusive Autosport), from Frankfort, Ill., rounded out Row Three.
What started with a lot of positives did not end well for three of the top championship rivals.
Taylor held the lead at the start as he, Wheldon and McNeilly soon began to pull away. Misfortune struck Elkin first with an off in Turn 11 on Lap 2, dropping him to the tail of the field where he finished a disappointing 20th.
By Lap 4, Taylor and Wheldon had amassed over a two-second lead to the field as McNeilly fought to hold off a closing pack. That margin was eradicated on the next tour when a yellow came out for an incident involving G3 Argyros (Jay Howard Driver Development), of Newport Beach, Calif., and Bruno Ribeiro (DEForce Racing), of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in Turn 8. A red flag quickly followed during the clean up to preserve racing laps.
The race resumed on Lap 6 with a great battle in the lead group. Trouble for both Wheldon and McNeilly found its way on Lap 9 with Wheldon going off course on the exit of Turn 5 as McNeilly spun dropping them to ninth and 15th respectively in the end results.
Taylor romped off to a 1.8-second margin of victory with Soto-Schirripa, who was shuffled back at the start, rebounding to claim his fifth podium finish in second and Cooley in third.
Cooley was subsequently assessed with a post-race penalty for avoidable contact dropping him to 15th. As a result, Jack Jeffers (Exclusive Autosport), from San Antonio, Tex., was credited with his fifth podium finish of the season and teammate Joao Vergara claiming his best result in fourth. Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing), from Windermere, Fla., rounded out the top five.
Patricio Gonzalez, from Mexico City, Mexico, took home the Tilton Hard Charger Award with a gain of nine positions for DEForce DD. Dan Mitchell pocketed the PFC Award as the winning car owner.
The weekend will conclude with another pair of 10-lap races tomorrow with the green flags set to fly at 9:30 a.m. and 2:50 p.m. CDT.
Provisional championship points after 11 of 16 races:
1. Max Taylor, 242
2. Liam McNeilly, 208
3. Sebastian Wheldon, 198
4. Augusto Soto-Schirripa, 192
5. Ariel Elkin, 186
6. Jack Jeffers, 179
7. Joao Vergara, 112
8. Bruno Ribeiro, 109
9. G3 Argyros, 108
10. Ayden Ingratta, 101
Max Taylor (#33 PINK ETF/Susan G Komen Foundation-VRD Racing Tatuus JR-23): “Awesome day here and awesome first race at Road America. I had almost maximum points and was just a tenth away on the fastest lap although I was all alone so the pace is absolutely amazing with the VRD car. The full course yellow didn’t help too much, but I am still happy to get the win. It was a lot of hard work from all the VRD boys and this car is just rapid because of it and I can’t thank them enough.”
Augusto Soto-Schirripa (#24 InterMS Tatuus JR-23): “I need to score points. I am pretty far back in the championship. I’m fifth at the end of that train that is battling for the championship and this is going to help me big for sure. At the end of the day, there are still five races left and for me a top-five finish today was good enough. The opportunity presented itself for a P2 without risking too much and I am over the moon with it.”
Jack Jeffers (#92 Corpay Cross-Border Solutions-Exclusive Autosport Tatuus JR-23): “It was a solid race for us here at Road America. We were able to move forward and after penalties grab a a third-place finish. The whole race was just about utilizing the draft to get past my competitors quickly and efficiently. The crew gave me a fast race car, so I'd like to give a big thanks to the whole Exclusive Autosport team, Michael Duncalfe, Josh Cooley, Anthony Crabtree, Corpay Cross-Border, and my parents.”