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 of a second 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.
Schrage’s effort also ensured the PFC Award for Tim Neff as the winning car owner.
In addition to finishing second, Escorpioni pocketed the GhostLap Fastest Race Lap Award along with what could prove to be a crucial championship point.
Cooley capped an excellent weekend with third place, well clear of Pabst Racing’s G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif., who found a way past Martella for fourth with eight laps remaining. Argyros’ fine effort netted him the Tilton Hard Charger Award after having lined up eighth on the starting grid.
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.
The outcome of this year’s USF Pro 2000 championship and a scholarship valued at almost $600,000 to advance to INDY NXT in 2027 will therefore be determined only an hour or so to the north of Milwaukee at the scenic Road America track in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on September 25/26.
Provisional championship points after 15 of 18 rounds:
1. Jack Jeffers, 332
2. Leonardo Escorpioni, 315
3. G3 Argyros, 297
4. Andres Cardenas, 266
5. Thomas Schrage, 263
6. Frankie Mossman, 247
7. Brady Golan, 189
8. Teddy Musella, 185
9. Colin Aitken, 172
10. Michael Costello, 166
Thomas Schrage (#26 Doug Mockett & Company/Airport Electric-TJ Speed Motorsports Tatuus IP-22): “Obviously, we won today, so it feels a little bit better than the rest of the year. I said back at Markham that we needed to win here, so we did it. I didn't test here, so it's really tough to get into a groove when you only have two 30-minute sessions to get used to a track you never drove. But just having the chance to reset the next morning and go into qualifying and make some changes to the car – a lot to my driving more than the car – and just give it my all knowing that if qualifying went well, the race would go well. We qualified on pole and TJ Speed gave me a great car. I can't thank them enough and all my sponsors Doug Mockett, Airport Electric Service, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Cincinnati, and the Team USA Scholarship. So, hopefully Tim's [Neff] happy today, and we can move on to Road America in September.”
Leonardo Escorpioni (#4 Data Pioneer Solutions/Corix/Peer 1-Turn 3 Motorsport Tatuus IP-22): “It was a good race. We were able to go into second at the start. I messed up a little bit in qualifying, so that kind of hurt us starting third. Overall, it was a super difficult race, managing through traffic and dirty air, but I'm super happy. I'm a little disappointed too because after two oval races [this year], I was P2 both times. I wanted to win this time, but it is what it is. It was good for the points, and I'm ready for Road America now.”
Evan Cooley (#90 Brown Brothers Harriman/Exclusive Autosport Tatuus IP-22): “Great race overall for my first oval in USF Pro 2000. I want to give a huge thanks to the team. The car was really fast from the moment we loaded off the trailer. I settled into third at the race start and was just saving tires hoping for a yellow and that didn't happen. I tapped the wall a little bit later in the race, so just managing to bring it home in third is a really great result. I gained a lot of experience this weekend, and I'm excited to take what I've learned into next year.”