TORONTO — USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires championship leader Myles Rowe overcame a disappointing result on Saturday to take a clear victory for Pabst Racing with Force Indy in today’s Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Toronto.
A fifth win of the season for the 22-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y., stretches his advantage to a whopping 81 points as he chases a Discount Tire Driver Development Scholarship valued at $664,500 to graduate to Indy NXT in 2024.
Lirim Zendeli finished second for T.J. Speed Motorsports. Rowe’s Pabst Racing teammate Jordan Missig matched his career-best result in third. Missig also set the fastest race lap for good measure.
Rowe paved the way for his triumph by starting at the head of the field after earning his fourth Cooper Tires Pole Award of the season and third in succession during qualifying on Saturday morning.
Rowe took full advantage by leading from the start. Behind, a bold move around the outside of turn one by teammate Jace Denmark netted the resident of Scottsdale, Ariz., second place after starting in fourth.
After an early caution following an incident in the midfield, Denmark tried to execute a similar move on Rowe under braking for turn three at the end of the back straightaway. Unfortunately, Rowe slipped a little wide at the exit and made contact with Denmark’s front wing, which immediately became detached, forcing him into the pits and out of contention.
Rowe continued unscathed, and instead soon came under pressure from yesterday’s winner – and the man who narrowly beat Rowe to last year’s USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires championship crown – Michael d’Orlando.
The 25-lap race had started on a slightly damp track, but the pace gradually increased as the surface dried out completely. The two leaders remained in close contact until, quite suddenly, d’Orlando began to lose power shortly after the halfway mark.
The Canadian-American soon slipped into the clutches of the pursuing pack, led by Zendeli who on lap 16 had found a way past d’Orlando’s turn three Motorsport teammate Christian Brooks, from Santa Clarita, Calif., with a nice move at turn three.
The unfortunate d’Orlando eventually tumbled almost to the back of the field, cruelly ending his hopes of taking over second place in the points table.
Zendeli maintained second to the finish, some 4.4155 seconds adrift of Rowe and narrowly ahead of Missig, who had started second and was the fastest man on track in the closing stages.
Indian-American Yuven Sundaramoorthy also displayed strong speed after a difficult season, claiming the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 16th on the grid to eighth.