LEEDS, Ala. — Nicolas Giaffone and DEForce Racing have taken control of the USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires title chase following an emphatic performance on Friday at Barber Motorsports Park.
Giaffone, 18, cruised to victory in both 20-lap races. The Sao Paulo, Brazil native holds a relatively comfortable 21-point edge in his quest for a Discount Tire Driver Advancement Scholarship, valued at $241,890, which will enable the series champion to progress onto the next step of the USF Pro Championships ladder in 2024.
DEForce Racing teammate Quinn Armstrong finished second in both races. Brazilian Lucas Fecury, aboard a third DEForce Tatuus JR-23, and VRD Racing’s Jimmie Lockhart, each earned a third-place finish.
DEForce Racing first served notice of its intentions when Giaffone, Fecury and Armstrong topped the timing chart in official practice on Thursday afternoon. The Texas-based team’s dominance continued into the pair of qualifying sessions — one yesterday and the other bright and early this morning — as the trio once again was fastest, and in the same order.
After securing his first Cooper Tires Pole Award, Giaffone paced the 15-car field into the first corner in this morning’s opening round and was never seriously under threat for the entirety of the 20-lap race.
The first four laps were run behind the Pace Car following a pair of minor incidents, after which Giaffone took charge of the proceedings. His teammates, Armstrong and Fecury, exchanged positions moments after the start. While Armstrong remained within a second of Giaffone for the first half of the race, the Brazilian soon stretched his legs and edged clear.
Giaffone eventually took the checkered flag a comfortable 4.721 seconds clear of the Australian.
Armstrong finished a similar distance clear of Fecury, who had to fight off a determined challenge toward the end from former points leader Joey Brienza. Lockhart had an eventful race before crossing the line in fifth. He lost one position at the start, quickly gained two, then lost them again with a mistake on the seventh lap before once again rising up the field and overtaking Taiwanese American Ethan Ho with a handful of laps remaining.
VRD Racing’s Ethan Barker picked up the Tilton Hard Charger Award, rising from 12th on the grid to ninth, while DEForce Racing principals David and Ernesto Martinez claimed their second PFC Award of the young season as the winning car owners.
The picture-perfect day for Giaffone continued this afternoon.
Giaffone took full advantage of his second Cooper Tires Pole Award of the day by once again leaping into the lead at turn one. As was the case earlier, Armstrong muscled past teammate Fecury on the opening lap, but there was no topping Giaffone, who displayed a devastating mixture of pace and consistency as he romped to another clear victory.
Armstrong again was untroubled in second, while Lockhart quickly moved up from sixth on the grid to challenge Fecury, whom he passed with a slick move on lap seven. VRD stablemate Max Taylor was also on the move, climbing from ninth on the grid to finish fifth and claim his first Tilton Hard Charger Award of the season.
The PFC Award to the winning car owners once again fell the way of David and Ernesto Martinez, whose DEForce Racing team now holds a commanding 37-point edge over Exclusive Autosport as the series heads next to VIRginia International Raceway, in Alton, Va., for a triple-header event on June 3-4.