McNeilly launches USF2000 season with St. Petersburg win

The new USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire season began Friday on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. Jay Howard Driver Developments’ Liam McNeilly, from London, England, secured an early points lead by winning the first of two 20-lap races which will comprise The Foundation Building Materials Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, finished close behind in second place on the devilishly tricky 1.8-mile temporary circuit which makes its way around city streets and the adjacent Albert Whitted Airport runway. Jeshua Alianell, from The Woodlands, Texas, completed the podium for DEForce Racing.

The first Continental Tire Pole Award of the new season had been claimed earlier in the day by Pabst Racing rookie Caleb Gafrarar (pronounced “guh-fair-uh”). The former karting star from Charlotte, N.C., ended the 20-minute session a scant 0.0566s ahead of McNeilly with Alianell and Jeffers also within a mere 0.1s of the pacesetter. The fact that the top eight positions on the grid were blanketed by just 0.2331s – and all of them rookies – suggested an exciting race was in prospect.

It did not disappoint. After the first half of the race was interrupted by a few incidents and full-course cautions, the closing stages featured an intense battle for the lead which left a sun-drenched crowd cheering in appreciation.

Gafrarar held the lead from the rolling start, but the race soon went under caution following an incident at Turn 1 which left fifth fastest qualifier Bradley Majman (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Melbourne, Australia, on the sidelines with a broken right-rear suspension.

Soon after the restart, with Gafrarar defending his lead on the wide main straightaway – which for 362 days of the year doubles as an airport runway – McNeilly took the opportunity to brake deeper on the preferred outside line heading into Turn One and take a lead he never relinquished.

McNeilly maintained his advantage through a couple more restarts, but remained under constant pressure from Jeffers. The two leaders were both front-runners last year in USF Juniors before stepping up this season to USF2000. They also had in common the fact they had tasted the USF2000 waters in a one-off event last year to prepare for their graduation along the USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire ladder.

“The race was pretty hectic,” McNeilly said. “We had three full-course yellows that really shook things up a little bit. On one of the first cautions, I managed to get a good restart and passed Caleb into Turn 1. Then I really just had to control the race with two further full-course yellows and managed to do so. Jack put some pressure on mid to end of the race. I just had to hold on really and brought it home. Good points and a good start to the championship.”

McNeilly’s previous experience had come on the Streets of Toronto last fall, when he finished second. He used that knowledge to excellent effect as he held off an impressive challenge from Jeffers, whose own previous outing at this level had come one year ago in St. Petersburg.

Alianell’s performance in finishing third was especially meritorious given that this was his very first USF2000 race – and his first time on a street course.

Jeffers’ teammate Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., finished a strong fourth ahead of Pabst Racing’s G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif., with Canadian Anthony Martella (Jay Howard Driver Development), Brazilian Lucas Fecury (Exclusive Autosport) and 14-year-old Christian Cameron (VRD Racing), from Sonoma, Calif., hard on their heels.

Martella earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award after fighting his way from 13th on the grid to sixth, while Jay Howard claimed the PFC Award as the winning team owner.

The second race of the weekend will take place Saturday with the green flag set to fly at 12:30 p.m. EDT.