ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pabst Racing with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe once again displayed his immense capability this afternoon on the Streets of St. Petersburg by scoring a magnificent victory in the Andersen Interior Contracting Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Rowe, who started fifth, immediately began to work his way forward, taking the lead on lap 10 and edging away to claim his first win in USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires on his debut weekend. Rowe, a university student based in Brooklyn, N.Y., also won last year at St. Petersburg in USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires.
Brazilian Kiko Porto finished second for DEForce Racing for the second straight day, while Rowe’s Pabst Racing teammate, Jace Denmark, from Scottsdale, Ariz., completed the podium.
“It was a blast, honestly. My opponents made it really hard for me,” Rowe said. “Coming from fifth, I had to get around Lirim, who didn’t make it easy at all that first couple of laps. Then I had to get by Jace, who always makes it hard on me, which is great. And then Francesco who made it very difficult and pushed me all the way down to the inside in the marbles, but somehow I got it done.
“I capitalized on a little error from Kiko and luckily ran away with it. Pabst just gave me an amazing car to keep the lead and stretch it out a bit. Credit to Bob (Perona), my driver coach, and all my sponsors – Penske Entertainment, Force Indy, Pabst Racing, Sparco, Bell, SimCraft. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible so I am just super blessed.
“I am really thankful for my family being here so they got to see it and I am looking forward to going home and enjoying it with them.”
After setting the fastest race lap in yesterday’s race, quicker even than the best lap time from official qualifying on Friday, Francesco Pizzi earned his first Cooper Tires Pole Award, which afforded him the opportunity to lead the 20-car field toward the green flag this afternoon.
The race start was delayed due to extensive cleanup following the NTT IndyCar Series headline event, and when the green flag finally flew, perhaps a few drivers were a little too anxious to get going. A couple of incidents in the midfield ensured a couple of early caution periods, but even with the limited running, Rowe already was on the move.
Porto initially took the lead with a bold late-braking move around the outside of Pizzi in turn one, while Rowe also made up a position on the opening lap at the expense of Albanian Lirim Zendeli to run fourth behind Denmark, whom he passed on the very next lap.
Immediately after the first restart, Rowe also displaced Pizzi from second place before the yellow flags flew once more.
When the race went green again with nine of 25 laps in the books, Rowe lost no time in finding a way past Porto, then turned a series of increasingly fast laps to leave the field firmly in his wake. Rowe eventually took the checkered flag a tick over three seconds to the good.
Porto, who had secured his first USF2000 win in St. Petersburg back in 2020, chased him gamely in second, despite some pressure from Denmark in the closing stages.
After losing a couple of positions at the final restart, Pizzi battled hard with T.J. Speed Motorsports teammate Zendeli before having to settle for fifth position behind the Albanian, with yesterday’s winner Christian Brooks hot on his heels for Turn 3 Motorsport.