TORONTO — Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers took a commanding lead in the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire championship Saturday at Toronto’s Exhibition Place.
Jeffers qualified only fifth on the tight and challenging 1.786-mile, 11-turn circuit that wends its way around Exhibition Place, just a few kilometers from downtown Toronto.
But he began to march forward almost immediately, then grasped the lead in opportunistic style, taking title rival Thomas Schrage (VRD Racing), from Bethel, Ohio, by surprise with a late lunge to the inside under braking for Turn Nine. Jeffers pulled inexorably away to secure his fourth win of the season – and, crucially, his third in a row.
Australian Eddie Beswick emerged from a chaotic final few laps to finish a career-best second for Synergy Motorsport, while VRD Racing’s Teddy Musella, from Orlando, Fla., had to settle for third.
Jeffers and Schrage had arrived in Toronto tied on points at the top of the championship standings.
Schrage fired the opening salvo during qualifying on Friday afternoon by securing a valuable championship point by virtue of his fourth Continental Tire Pole Award in a row.
Ironically, Jeffers’ teammate Evan Cooley qualified a fine second, with Jeffers back in fifth behind Musella and sandwiched by the two Pabst Racing entries of Caleb Gafrarar and G3 Argyros.
The drama began to unfold even before the green flag when the unfortunate Cooley was stranded out on the circuit by a fuel pump failure.
Schrage took advantage of the vacant slot alongside him on the grid to lead from the start, although the race soon was neutralized by a full-course caution due to a variety of incidents further down the field.
Schrage again led at the restart and looked likely to edge away until making a slight mistake which immediately saw him under increasing pressure from teammate Musella and a determined Jeffers, who had quickly found a way past a fast-starting Argyros.
Soon afterward, Musella was adjudged by Race Control to have contravened the rules while trying to defend from Jeffers. He was instructed to move aside and let the young Texan past. He duly did so on Lap 10.
Jeffers wasn’t done. On the very next lap, he took advantage of a slight slip by Schrage through the fast-sweeping corners in Turns Six and Seven, then glimpsed an opportunity under braking for Turn Nine.
The two leaders made contact, causing damage to Schrage’s front wing, but Jeffers was through and away.
Schrage instead was unable to shake off Musella, and with three laps to go and struggling with an increasingly loose car, Schrage was passed on the exit of Turn One by Musella who then promptly left his braking too late while defending at Turn Three.
As Musella’s car snapped sideways, Schrage ducked back to the inside, only to be slammed from behind by a close-following Argyros.
In the ensuing melee, with Schrage hobbled by a flat tire and Argyros with a shattered front wing, Beswick, who had been hot on their heels, ducked through into a fine second place.
Musella recovered to run third and tried every which way to find a way past the former Australian Formula Ford champion, but Beswick held firm.
Argyros limped home in fourth, barely ahead of another Australian, Brad Majman, who had enjoyed a race-long scrap with Jay Howard Driver Development teammate Anthony Martella.
