Pigot Completes USF2000 Season with Dominant Display at VIR

Spencer Pigot approached the final weekend of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda with a singular focus – to do the best he could and hope the championship honors would fall his way. The first part of his plan worked to perfection as the rising American star proved to be in a class of his own on the undulating and challenging 3.27-mile Virginia International Raceway road course. Pigot's bright yellow #2 Team Pelfrey/Doug Mockett & Company/E-merging Technologies/Parathyroid.com/ California Scents/Mazda/Cooper Tires Van Diemen-Mazda was fastest in every session, started on the pole for both 14-lap races and was never seriously threatened.

Pigot's title rival, Matt Brabham, could manage only a fourth and a seventh in the two races, and even though Pigot extended his win tally to eight (twice as many as the eventual champion) from the hard-fought 14-race season which featured an average of almost 30 cars at each event, a couple of unfortunate mishaps in recent weeks at Road America and Baltimore left him a scant seven points shy of his ultimate goal.

The 18-year-old from Orlando, Fla., set out as he meant to continue during practice on Thursday, posting the fastest lap in each of the two practice sessions, and maintained that form in qualifying to ensure his fourth pole of the season for Friday's opening race of the weekend. Pigot rocketed into the lead at the start and never looked back, eventually crossing the finish line an astonishing 16.047 seconds clear of his nearest rival. Saturday brought an equally dominant display, although this time he was content to cruise home merely 5.741 seconds to the good.

"The weekend went perfectly," recounted Pigot. "We led every practice session, got pole position, won both races, led all the laps and everything, so the weekend couldn't have gone any better, which was great. It was the best weekend really of the whole season, but unfortunately, because of some bad luck we had earlier, we ended up just a little bit short in the championship. We were still able to close over 30 points in just those two races so we did our best, we did everything we could do, but in the end it was a little bit disappointing not to win the championship having won so many races.

"I really want to thank everyone who has made this year possible for me. I've been fortunate enough to have some wonderful supporters, including Team Pelfrey, Doug Mockett & Company, E-merging Technologies, Parathyroid.com, California Scents, Mazda and Cooper Tire, and all the guys at Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing. I'm so proud of what we have been able to achieve together, and I'll be working hard over the next few weeks and months to finalize plans for next season."