Beasley with Late Pass for Win
Wampum, PA – Sam Beasley capped his Championship-winning 2015 F2000 Series season by passing Eric Filgueiras for the race lead on a late-race restart at Pittsburgh International Race Complex to take the win in the final F2000 event of the year. On a wet track, Quinlan Lall finished second while David Grant completed the podium.
Tricky qualifying conditions saw the No. 4 of Beasley come from seventh on the starting grid.
“It wasn’t an easy race this weekend,” said Beasley. “The car has been phenomenal. I would like to thank the team for all the hard work they have done this weekend.”
Eric Filgueiras was the dominant driver for the early part of the race for his Spencer Racing sqaud, leading from pole and defending against Trent Walko and Steve Bamford at Pittsburgh.
While Walko followed Filgueiras early, Bamford chased, with Brandon Dixon closing from fourth and John McCusker in fifth, while Beasley and Lall followed.
A full course caution flew soon after for an incident involving Beasley, Bamford and Walko. It would end Bamford’s day as his Citation found the tire wall. Walko would drop back to eighth, before retiring to the paddock two laps later while the race was still under a full course caution for cleanup.
The incident gave Beasley the real estate back he needed to challenge Filgueiras on the restart, passing him for the lead. Filgueiras would drop off in the closing stages, fighting to finish fifth.
Lall and his Van Diemen marked their best points-paying finish yet and ended the season on a high note with a second place run.
“It was a brilliant run this weekend,” said the Momentum Motorsports driver. “The weather was just constantly changing and the team just got the setup absolutely right. It was a brilliant way to finish the season and a great reward for everyone on the team.”
Grant completed the podium to end his 2015 campaign which saw a win in the season-opener at Road Atlanta.
John McCusker followed in fourth, while the already-mentioned Filgueiras as fifth. Austin McCusker was sixth and Bob Reid was seventh, with his move through the field netting him the year-end CellMark Paper Hard Charger award in the R-Sport Metrik.
Front-running Brandon Dixon retired mid-way through the race.
Full results are available on www.F2000Series.com under the Results tab.
Sam Beasley is the 2015 F2000 Championship Series Champion after an impressive 14-race campaign. Formula Race Promotions will announce its 2016 schedule for F2000, F1600 and Atlantic in the coming weeks.