ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Quinn Armstrong sped to his third win of the season and second in succession for DEForce Racing as the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Road America tripleheader kicked off this afternoon with an eventful 10-lap race.
After starting from pole position, Armstrong, from Newcastle, N.S.W., Australia, narrowed the deficit to championship-leading teammate Nicolas Giaffone to 49 points with five races remaining on the season.
The Exclusive Autosport pair of Jack Jeffers and Joey Brienza finished second and third.
The high level of competition in this year’s USF Juniors field already had been amply demonstrated prior to qualifying earlier this afternoon. Carson Etter (DC Autosport), Ethan Barker (VRD Racing) and Jeffers all had enjoyed a share of the limelight by leading one of the three test sessions on Friday, while this morning during official practice it was VRD’s Max Taylor who set the fastest time thus far at 2:15.609.
When it mattered in qualifying, Armstrong became the fifth different driver — from four different teams — to top the timing charts when he sliced well over four seconds from the USF Juniors qualifying lap record to secure his first ever Cooper Tires Pole Award.
Armstrong’s best time of 2:15.003 was enough to edge Taylor by a scant 0.072 of a second. The previous mark, using a different equipment package, was established last year by eventual series champion Mac Clark at 2:19.578.
Armstrong took off into the lead at the start but was unable to break the draft on the long Road America straightaways as Taylor, Hudson Schwartz (VRD Racing), Jeffers and Jimmie Lockhart (VRD Racing) remained close behind during the early stages.
Taylor took the lead with a nice move under braking for Turn 12, Canada Corner, on the third lap, although Armstrong soon regained the advantage and was out front when the caution flags waved following an incident in the midfield at Turn 5.
Soon after the restart, Jeffers made a move on Taylor for second at Turn 5. Unfortunately, the pair then made contact at the next corner, which left Armstrong with a clear lead which he had no trouble in retaining until the finish. Taylor was forced to make a pit stop to replace a damaged front wing.
Teammate Lockhart also fell out of contention when he lost control and spun while the melee unfolded at Turn 6.
Jeffers was left alone in second, chased by teammate Brienza, who picked up the Tilton Hard Charger Award after having started in ninth.
Barker also profited from the dramas to claim a personal best fourth-place finish, well clear of Giaffone who could only salvage a distant sixth following an incident at the first corner which caused him to fall from fourth to the tail of the field .
DEForce Racing’s David and Ernesto Martinez took home their ninth PFC Award as the winning car owners.