ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A sweep of The Andersen Companies Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has catapulted 14-year-old Max Garcia into an early lead in the quest for this year’s USF2000 presented by Continental Tire title chase.
The top prize also includes a scholarship valued at $458,400 to progress onto the next level of the USF Pro Championships ladder in 2025.
Pabst Racing’s Garcia executed a bold pass for the lead just before the midway point in this afternoon’s second race of the weekend and maintained his advantage to the finish.
Pabst Racing teammate Sam Corry also slipped past early leader Evagoras Papasavvas (Jay Howard Driver Development) for second place to ensure a reversal of their finishing positions from yesterday’s opening race of the season.
Garcia once again started at the front of the pack after claiming his second Continental Tire Pole Award, but for the second successive day found himself behind after the first corner as Papasavvas, a second-place finisher also in 2023, used his prior experience to fine effect by slipping into the lead.
Canadian Nico Christodoulou also made a fast getaway for VRD Racing, jumping from sixth to third at the start, although he was unable to hold that position for long as Corry, who had started second, made his way back into third on lap three.
Garcia heaped the pressure on Papasavvas in the early laps, prior to a full-course caution due to an incident farther back in the field, although as the leaders began their ninth lap, Garcia made a fully committed lunge under braking for turn one and was able to wrestle away the advantage.
The resulting loss of momentum also allowed Corry to clip through into second, which is where he remained.
The race ultimately finished behind the Safety Car following an incident in turn four with just a couple of laps remaining after Ayrton Houk was forced to abruptly slow when the fire extinguisher in his DC Autosport Tatuus unexpectedly discharged. Even more unfortunately, Lucas Fecury was caught unawares in his DEForce entry and also forced out of the race.
Up front, the two Pabst cars completed another excellent weekend for the Oconomowoc, Wis.-based squad by claiming a one-two finish. Papasavvas remained in third, while Elliot Cox completed a strong weekend by taking fourth once more for the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development team.
Christodoulou ended the day in fifth, just ahead of Exclusive Autosport’s Thomas Schrage, who overcame some difficulties in yesterday’s race to charge impressively from 17th on the grid to sixth.
Quinn Armstrong (DEForce Racing) finished seventh again as Joey Brienza (Exclusive Autosport), Hudson Schwartz (Pabst Racing) and Xavier Kokai (VRD Racing) rounded out the top 10.
Schwartz pocketed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after moving up from 22nd on the grid following an accident yesterday, as team owner Augie Pabst claimed yet another PFC Award.