Telitz wins exciting U.S. F2000 race

From left, Franzoni, Telitz and Eidson

Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing's Aaron Telitz passed both Jacob Eidson and Victor Franzoni in the closing laps to win today's Cooper Tires U.S. F2000 Powered by Mazda race at Barber Motorsports Park. It was the second career U.S. F2000 win for the Wisconsin native and first of 2015.

Franzoni was able to get ahead of pole sitter Nico Jamin, who stalled in a gravel trap after the start. Franzoni would then lead 18 of the 20 laps with Eidson and Telitz in hot pursuit.

Telitz would overtake Eidson, who swept the St. Pete race weekend, on lap 17 and then follow that move up on the subsequent lap by overtaking NOLA Race 2 winner Franzoni on lap 18.

The green flag for the second U.S. F2000 series race is scheduled for 5:20 p.m. CT tomorrow.

Aaron Telitz

Aaron Telitz (#3 Rice Lake Weighing Systems-Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing): "I was behind Victor at the start and he ran a little wide in Turn One. They ended up touching and Nico (Jamin) got the worst of it, which is disappointing. You never want to see your teammate in a gravel trap. But a bad race will happen to all of us at some point this year. I was able to get around Jake (Eidson) in Turn Five, which seems to be the only place I can make any passes here! Victor (Franzoni) was having a hard time getting around Turn Three, since he had a big push. I had a really good run on him and he defended on the bottom, so the only choice I had was to go on the outside of him. I broke late; I think we both had our tires locked up and came out of there side by side and I got on the inside by the next corner. You always have the championship in the back of your mind, but there's a long way to go. We just have to keep having good finishes."

Victor Franzoni (#17 Novac Sports/XYV Talents/E-QUAL-Afterburner Autosport): "I knew I had to get the lead on the first lap because I wasn't the quickest today. I tried in Turn One and we were side by side and Nico put me in the grass. I couldn't brake in the grass so I went straight and I just touched his rear tire and he spun. My tire was damaged; it was OK for the first 10 laps, but then it started to understeer and I couldn't hold the position. But I'm happy with the final result."

Jake Eidson (#22 OMP/Bell Helmets/1st Bank/SAFEisFAST.com/Team USA Scholarship-Pabst Racing): "I could see Victor trying to get to the inside of Nico and, obviously, Nico didn't want that to happen. You could almost see it coming, from the angles they were at, and sure enough, Nico went off. But it's racing; you're trying to do everything you can, especially on a track like this where it's so hard to pass. So I understand their predicament but I was glad I was able to stay out of it. I was able to get pretty close to Victor through the race, but just wasn't able to get a pass done. Meanwhile, Aaron caught me off guard in Turn Five. But I just wanted come away from this race with a podium and good points."

Brian Carroccio reporting for AutoRacing1