GRAVOIS MILLS, Mo. – The opening two races of the USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires, a pre-step to the internationally acclaimed Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, were dominated by Mac Clark at Ozarks International Raceway.
The DEForce Racing driver established his mastery from the moment he took to the undulating 3.97-mile, 19-turn race track for the first time in testing on Friday.
After securing the inaugural Cooper Tires Pole Award with a lap more than a full second faster than his rivals, Clark made no mistake at the start and immediately began to exert his authority.
In race one, the 17-year-old Canadian completed the first of 12 laps a full 2.1 seconds clear of fellow front row starter Sam Corry and continued to drive away from the field.
Clark’s advantage had grown to a whopping 14 seconds by lap 10, when the yellow flags flew for the first and only time as a result of an incident involving Jacob Bolen (IGY6 Motorsports) at the back of the field.
Clark’s huge lead was erased immediately, but there were no concerns as the final lap and a half were completed behind the safety car.
Later on in race two, Clark repeated his form. This time the race was interrupted by an incident on the opening lap which eliminated Jeremy Fairbairn, Jake Bonilla (DEForce Racing), and Alan Isambard.
After a red flag stoppage to allow the track to be cleared, Clark carried on from where he left off, romping clear of the pace to take the checkered flag with a sizable margin of 8.6 seconds.
Nikita Johnson, who started second, seemed set to maintain that position until spinning in turn seven halfway through the race which dropped him to seventh.
Corry took up the chase of Clark, but he had bigger concerns with teammate Alessandro De Tullio looming large in his mirrors. The pair went into the final lap virtually side-by-side, with De Tullio making the move stick in turn one and emerging to take second place.