WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Persistence paid off today at the historic Milwaukee Mile as Thomas Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, led throughout the VP Racing Grand Prix of Milwaukee to secure his first USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire victory in style.
It was also a well-deserved first win of the season for TJ Speed Motorsports.
In an all-green 75-lap race that had been postponed a full day by inclement weather, Florida-based Brazilian Leonardo Escorpioni went some way toward erasing the disappointment of being unable to contest the recent doubleheader weekend in Canada by finishing second for Turn 3 Motorsport.
Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., once again displayed his oval prowess by finishing third in just his third USF Pro 2000 start for Exclusive Autosport.
Budgetary constraints prevented Schrage from taking part in the open test session at the Milwaukee Mile in June, although he wisely opted to make the trip to Wisconsin anyway so he could learn as much as possible.
The decision stood him in good stead. Schrage turned his very first laps of the challenging 1.015-mile oval during practice on Friday, then used the experience to excellent effect during a thrilling single-car qualifying session by turning the fastest lap and securing an overdue first Continental Tire Pole Award.
Schrage narrowly edged Cooley, already a proven winner this year in USF2000, with Escorpioni and Cooley’s teammate, Anthony Martella, from Woodbridge, Ont., Canada, all blanketed within a mere 0.0512 seconds of the polesitter.
On a track that held its first auto race – on a dirt surface – way back in 1903, Schrage made a perfect start to launch directly into the lead.
Behind, having been forced to skip the Markham doubleheader due to visa constraints, Escorpioni lost no time in working his way past Cooley into second.
The three leaders ran in close formation for the opening 20 laps or so with Martella settling into a relatively lonely fourth.
Escorpioni continued to pile the pressure on Schrage as Cooley slipped away in third, and that only intensified as lapped cars entered the equation shortly before the halfway point.
Schrage, though, kept his cool and continued to circulate with admirable consistency. There were some anxious moments over the final dozen laps as Schrage hauled up behind the eighth-place battle between Peru’s Andres Cardenas (JHDD powered by ECR) and Brady Golan (Turn 3 Motorsport), from Austin, Texas, but nothing could stop the Ohioan on this day as he edged away to win by 1.2791 seconds.
Championship leader Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, finished sixth for Exclusive Autosport, and with one-and-a-half-times the usual points on offer at the oval, he now holds a slender 17-point edge over Escorpioni heading into the final tripleheader weekend of the season.
