One day after celebrating his 18th birthday with a resounding victory at Portland International Raceway, Reece Gold emerged victorious once again in this afternoon’s Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires season finale. Gold led through the 30-lap Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Portland for Juncos Hollinger Racing to secure second place in the championship standings.
Last year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship winner Kiko Porto improved one position from yesterday with a solid second place behind the wheel of his DEForce Racing Tatuus PM-22. His teammate Nolan Siegel completed the podium in third place.
Gold once again started from inside the front row of the grid and never looked back. Newly crowned champion Louis Foster (Exclusive Autosport) made an attempt to cap off his remarkably successful rookie season in North America with a daring pass into the Festival Curves chicane on the first lap, but he couldn’t pull it off. Instead, he was forced to take the escape route and dropped almost to the end of the field.
Gold completed the first lap with a 1.1s margin over Porto, who was in turn chased by Siegel, Enaam Ahmed (Juncos Hollinger Racing) and Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri Motorsports).
The leadership positions remained unchanged as Gold gradually pulled away from his pursuers. The gap grew to 3.7 seconds before Gold slowed him down a bit once he knew the win, his fourth of the season, was assured.
“Turn one is always a bit chaotic, but we were able to come out clean,” Gold said after his triumphant weekend. “Thank you everyone at Juncos for giving me a great car and The Ticket Clinic. It was a great way to end the season and I’m really looking forward to next year.”
Siegel chased after him in third place, though he was never able to shake off Ahmed’s attentions.
Miller finished a solitary fifth place, well ahead of the recovered Foster, who posted the fastest lap of the race during a stunning comeback that culminated in his outclassing the defense of Mexico’s Salvador De Alba (Jay Howard Driver Development) in the final lap.
Jordan Missig (Pabst Racing) won his second Tilton Hard Charger award in as many days, and third of the season, after moving up from 13th on the grid to ninth.
After wrapping up the team championship yesterday, Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger secured their fourth PFC award of the season as winning car owners.
Today’s race closed out on-track activities for this season’s Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires. Tomorrow, however, more than $1.2 million in scholarships and prizes will be distributed at the traditional championship celebration, while preparations for the 2023 season begin with the Road to Indy Fall Combine open test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 22. . -23.
RESULTS