SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Turn 3 Motorsport celebrated a breakthrough weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix where Cooper Becklin secured his first podium in the USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Continental Tire with a remarkable second-place finish following an impressive drive in Race 3. Teammate Nicholas Monteiro also impressed in his debut with the team, earning three consecutive Tilton Hard Charger Awards and achieving his career-best finish of sixth place in all three races.

 

Tyke Durst claimed his second top-10 finish of the season in Race 1, showing determination and consistency despite a challenging weekend overall. Although a tough qualifying run put him on the back foot going into the races, Alessandro de Tullio displayed strong pace and fought hard at the front in every race; unfortunately, incidents in all three prevented him from achieving the results he was striving for in the triple header.

 

After taking the test day to get acclimated to the car, Brady Golan's qualifying run saw him starting at the back of the field for all three races. Despite the further back starting positions, Golan pushed forward into the top 10 in the first two races, but incidents in each race kept him from securing a strong finish that showed his progress throughout the weekend.

 

In Race 1, de Tullio started from P5 and showed aggression at the start, moving up to fourth before settling back to his original starting position on the opening lap. Meanwhile, Golan made an impressive jump from P18 to P12 on Lap 1, Monteiro gained five positions to run up to P11 by the end of the first lap, Becklin dropped from P8 to P10, and Durst, after surviving some chaos on Lap 2, fell back to P18.

 

On Lap 8, Becklin found himself in the runoff at Turn 1 which dropped him back in the field. Despite the setback, the 20-year-old managed a recovery to finish P11 in Race 1. As the race progressed, De Tullio found himself in a tough battle with championship leader Max Garcia, which led to a damaged left rear and a pit stop, ultimately dropping him out of fifth place and out of contention.

 

After starting P18, Golan had worked his way into the top-ten before contact at Turn 2 with seven laps to go ended his race prematurely, causing him to finish 16th in his USF Pro 2000 debut.

 

Monteiro continued his forward momentum, climbing to P6 and earning his highest career finish and first Tilton Hard Charger Award of the weekend for gaining the most positions during the race. And although Durst’s race started off iffy, the 21-year-old climbed his way up to P10 by the checkers, marking his second top-ten result of the season.

 

In Race 2, de Tullio started from P7 and made quick progress, moving up to P5 in the opening laps. However, his move on Max Garcia for fifth happened while being pushed outside the white lines, leading to a penalty that forced him to give the position back to Garcia and drop back into P6.

 

Meanwhile, Golan started P14 and immediately advanced to P11, once again showing promising speed in the second race of the weekend. Unfortunately that progress was once again short-lived as the 17-year-old made contact with teammate Cooper Becklin just past the halfway point while the two were running 10th and 11th, resulting in a drive-through penalty for Becklin who finished P16. Brady, in turn, ended up finishing Race 2 in P19.

 

On Lap 12, de Tullio made contact with the 84 car of Frankie Mossman, causing him to spin at Turn 13 and dropping him back into a ninth place finish. Although he fell outside the top five, de Tullio continued to push and recorded the fastest lap of the race by .3 seconds in spite of the damages done earlier.

 

After starting 19th, Durst made steady progress to finish P14 even with the chaotic race happening around him. Monteiro demonstrated resilience once again, charging from P16 to P6 yet again and securing his second consecutive Tilton Hard Charger Award.

 

In Race 3, de Tullio made an incredible start from P7, charging up to P2 by the first corner. Unfortunately, that success was very short lived as the 18-year-old was quickly caught in an incident in the first couple of corners, ending his race right then and there. Also caught up in the opening lap contact was Golan, making both drivers the first two out of the race and marking a disappointing end to his debut weekend in USF Pro 2000.

 

On the flip side, Becklin made an exceptionally strong start, moving from P11 to P5 in the first lap and setting his sights on achieving his first career podium. Following a yellow flag for the opening lap damages, a restart on Lap 7 saw Becklin take over fourth place, and when some of the leaders ran into issues during the midway point, Becklin seized the opportunity to take over second place. The impressive and calculated run allowed Becklin to earn a second place finish at IMS, his best career result to date.

 

Monteiro once again showcased his strong racing ability, climbing from P16 all the way up to fourth by Lap 14. It wasn’t long before the #18 car of Max Garcia came up behind Monteiro, challenging him for position—but a blocking penalty was served to Garcia soon after overtaking Monteiro, forcing him to give fourth back to the 21-year-old. Upon recission, the door was opened for Mac Clark to sneak past as well, causing Monteiro to fall back to sixth where he finished for a third time over the weekend and secured his third consecutive Tilton Hard Charger Award.

 

After starting 19th, Durst worked hard to manage a consistent race and fight for one more top-ten to finish the weekend strongly. At the end of 25 laps of racing, Durst narrowly missed another tenth place finish, ending up P11 in the final race at IMS.

“The weekend was a great learning experience for me. Each session gave us new insights, and we kept making progress every time we hit the track. Bringing home second place in Race 3 felt incredible and was a huge confidence boost. I’m really proud of how the team pulled together to make it happen. Now I’m looking forward to carrying this momentum into the oval and seeing what we can accomplish there!”

“Having three races in one weekend gave us a lot of opportunities to push forward. I’m really happy with how we capitalized on that. Finishing P6 in all three races and taking home the Hard Charger Award each time was a great way to show what we can do. I’m looking forward to carrying this momentum into the next race!”

“It was a rough weekend all around in the racing capital of the world. But at least we leave with all four wheels attached and something to build on. We’ll be breaking down what happened and learning from our mistakes. With lots of testing coming up, we’ll be sure to improve going forward.”

“It was a difficult weekend at IMS. We had the speed, just not the luck this time. I had some setbacks throughout the races that took us out of contention for good results. Now it’s time to regroup and bounce back at the next race.”

“Indy was a tough weekend. We got taken out of all three races by other drivers’ mistakes, which is never easy to swallow. The pace was there, and we were making progress, but luck just wasn’t on our side. Still, weekends like this are part of the journey, and there’s always something to learn. The oval is up next, and I’m excited to reset, refocus, and show what we’re capable of. It can only get better from here.”

“It was a difficult weekend for us as a team. We didn’t perform at the level we needed in qualifying in order to be in the front. It made the three races more difficult for us having to come up from mid-pack. That being said, I’m super proud of the team and drivers for the effort they put in. I’m especially proud of Cooper (Becklin) and Nick (Monteiro) for the performances they put in throughout the weekend. Now we focus forward to the Mid-Ohio test this week and the rest of May at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.”

Turn 3 Motorsport will be testing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this week ahead of the oval race at the latter May 22-23.