LEEDS, Ala. – Mac Clark continued his USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires mastery by leading all 20 laps on his way to victory in the Andersen Interior Contracting Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
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Clark and the DEForce Racing team are now unbeaten in three races this season.Â
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Sam Corry, who started fifth, moved up impressively to finish second. Velocity Racing Development teammate Nikita Johnson, the youngest driver in the field at age 13, completed the podium.
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After sweeping both races from the pole last weekend at Ozarks International Raceway in the inaugural USF Juniors event, Clark maintained his form in qualifying by posting the fastest lap and securing his third consecutive Cooper Tires Pole Award.
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Clark immediately leapt into the lead at the start, with a train of cars keeping him honest. Andre Castro, who set the fastest time in the lone morning practice session before annexing a front row position in qualifying, held second in the early going ahead of Johnson and Corry, who managed to sneak past another VRD teammate, Alessandro De Tullio, on the opening lap.
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The top four eked out a small advantage over De Tullio in the first few laps, but Clark was biding his time out front, anxious not to overwork his tires too soon. Corry moved up one more place on the seventh lap by out-braking Johnson in turn five, and then made quick work of Castro, to vault into second.
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Corry then put the race leader under intense pressure before making a mistake on the half-distance lap. Clark, at the same time, posted his fastest lap of the race, and suddenly his once tenuous lead had ballooned to a relatively comfortable 1.7 seconds over Johnson, with Corry recovering from his error and slotting in behind.
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Clark continued to increase his margin before backing off in the closing stages as he coasted to victory, giving another PFC Award to David and Ernesto Martinez as the winning car owners.Â