Max Taylor kept a clear head while many of his rivals lost control in treacherous conditions Friday afternoon to take a well-deserved victory for VRD Racing in the opening race of the Tatuus Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio tripleheader. Taylor, 16, of Hoboken, NJ, moved into third place in the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire points standings with his third win of the season.
Championship leader Max Garcia of Coconut Grove, Florida, overcame a yellow flag spin to finish second for Pabst Racing, while 2023 USF Junior Champion Nicolas Giaffone of Sao Paulo, Brazil, secured third place for DEForce Racing.
Jay Howard Driver Development’s Evagoras Papasavvas of Loveland, Ohio, set the tone for his weekend early Friday morning by setting the fastest time in practice. He then continued his form in qualifying to secure his first Continental Tire Pole Award of the season. Both sessions were held under clear, sunny skies, but by the time it was time to race, the weather and track conditions had changed dramatically due to persistent rain showers throughout the afternoon.
The 3.618-kilometer track was still wet as Papasavvas led the field toward the green flag. All 18 cars were now equipped with Continental grooved tires. But it wasn’t long before the double yellow flag was waved for the first time due to two separate incidents.
Unfortunately, the field spent most of the 40-minute race behind the Honda Civic Type-R pace car, but Taylor took the lead before the first lap was even completed, despite starting the race from seventh place.
Taylor maintained his lead throughout the numerous additional full-course incidents and cemented his position by picking up an additional championship point after setting the fastest lap of the race following a one-lap sprint to the chequered flag.
Garcia, who had dropped to 10th place in the middle stages, fought his way back into second place just before the final full-course money brake to extend his championship lead to 42 points over Pabst Racing teammate Sam Corry of Cornelius, North Carolina, who finished fourth behind Giaffone.
“I was able to lead the entire race and control the field on the restarts. I just had incredible pace with the VRD car,” said Taylor. “Thank you to everyone involved. It was an incredible race.”
Hudson Schwartz of Arlington, Virginia, won the Tilton Hard Charger Award after avoiding the carnage and working his way from 15th on the grid to fifth.
Dan Mitchell of VRD Racing picked up another PFC Award as the winning team owner.
The USF2000 contenders will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. EDT for their second race of the tripleheader weekend, which concludes with a third and final race at 9:15 a.m. Sunday.
RESULTS
