PORTLAND, Ore. — Oliver Wheldon couldn’t seem to buy any good fortune once he joined the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire series for the third and fourth races of the season at Indianapolis.
Now he has developed into a dominant force. Too young to contest the opening rounds on the streets of his hometown, St. Petersburg, Fla., the 15-year-old son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon followed up his maiden victory yesterday by leading from flag to flag in today’s second leg of the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Portland for VRD Racing.
Sebastian Garzon, from Neiva, Colombia, padded his championship lead by finishing second for DEForce Racing, while Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., placed third following a penalty for title contender Brad Majman (Pabst Racing), from Melbourne, Australia.
Wheldon earned his series-leading fifth Continental Tire Pole Award of the year by virtue of having posted the best of each drivers’ second-fastest laps during the lone qualifying session on Friday. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Majman with Pabst Racing teammate and fellow Aussie Eddie Beswick and Garzon on row two.
Wheldon withstood intense pressure during the opening stages of the 25-lap race. Beswick and Garzon both jumped Majman at the start, then exchanged positions a couple of times while remaining hot on Wheldon’s heels.
Beswick seemed to have settled into second place after the initial skirmishes, only to lose control at the exit of the Turn 10/11 chicane on lap seven, sending his car into a lurid slide. He joined a distant 18th.
Wheldon then managed to eke out a slight but appreciable advantage over Garzon, in second, until the caution flags waved following an incident farther down the field.
Another late caution left enough time for only a one-lap dash to the checkered flag, and once again Wheldon was up to the challenge. The teenager displayed enough confidence to not even adopt a defensive line under braking for the tight Turn One/Two chicane on the final lap, and was rewarded with another fine win.
Garzon also comfortably retained second following the restart. The Colombian also earned the first-ever GhostLap Fastest Race Lap of the Weekend Award.
Behind, though, there was mayhem as Majman dived to the inside under braking for Turn One and came into contact with VRD Racing’s Ryan Giannetta, from Redondo Beach, Calif. Giannetta had slipped past Majman shortly before the final caution period after Majman had lost a little momentum while attempting to pass Garzon in Turn Seven, but the Californian was the unfortunate loser from the last-lap contact, which sent his car high into the air and cost him the opportunity for a third consecutive podium finish. The incident earned Majman a 30-second post-race penalty for avoidable contact.
Cooley therefore inherited the final podium position ahead of Joao Vergara, from Miami, Fla., who recorded his fourth consecutive top-five finish for VRD Racing.
Wian Boshoff, from Johannesburg, South Africa, finished fifth on the road for PFH Racing only to fall well down the order after being assessed a post-race penalty for avoidable contact earlier in the race.
Beswick recovered strongly after his earlier incident to claim fifth ahead of USF Juniors championship leader Karol Pasiewicz, from Lodz, Poland, who capped an impressive first-ever USF2000 weekend for himself and Olivia Racing.
