Minor Takes 2013 Championship, LaRue Wins Race
Lexington, OH - John LaRue took his first F2000 Championship Series victory in the No. 17 Citation, finding a way past Tim Minor in the closing stages of round 12 at Mid-Ohio. Minor would finish second and officially clinch the 2013 F2000 Championship Series title with two races remaining on the schedule. The Ski Motorsports driver marks his first F2000 Championship with a dominating season full of wins and podiums. David Grant completed the podium for Polestar.
“It’s been a great season, I can’t thank my crew enough and the people that helped and supported us. Quicksilver and Hoosier, and many more. It’s been incredible, we’ve had a good run and been consistent. We drove the car we had and I congratulate John, he drove a great race. It’s fun to race with people like this, it’s a great group of individuals,” said Minor, who also took the first ever Championship in F2000 for a non-Van Diemen with the No. 88 Citation chassis.
Minor becomes the first ever Masters Class driver to win the overall F2000 title, and marks an impressive accomplishment, dominating the season over a mix of the latest generation of aspiring racers from major teams.
Minor’s title helps underline the Series as not only a proving ground for youngsters but in addition, as a destination for established drivers looking for some of the best formula car competition in the country.
LaRue won the race in the first ever F2000 one-two finish for the Citation chassis, and the veteran driver sat on pole for Saturday’s race. LaRue said in victory circle that he plans on coming to more races in 2014.
Grant notched yet another podium while doing double-duty and also racing in the F1600 Series.
Joey Selmants finished fourth, only competing on Sunday at Mid-Ohio, and setting the fastest lap of the race, while rookie Santino Ferrucci was fifth for HP-Tech, battling through clutch issues in morning qualifying.
Kyle Connery had to settled for a disappointing sixth after a win on Saturday kept him alive in the Championship. Connery continues to be in second in points but Grant remains in striking distance.
The race ran all 18-laps, despite an incident for John McCusker. Federico Mosconi also failed to finish after an opening lap incident with another car.
Jim Libecco charged through the field from 20th to finish seventh, while Kevin Kopp rebounded from a Saturday crash to come home eighth. Steve Bamford and Tim Paul completed the top ten.
Roberto Lorena crossed the line in 13th after falling to dead last after the first few laps.
The King of the Buckeyes Championship, awarded to the driver scoring the most points in the four Mid-Ohio races this season, also went to Minor. The prizes include a trophy, commemorative poster, gift cards, test day voucher, and various other items from series partners.
The 2013 F2000 Championship season comes to a close with two more races in just two weeks, at Summit Point, August 23-25.
Race Results
PosNo.NameLapsBest TmMake/ModelDiff 1 17 John LaRue/M 18 1:24.577 Citation Zetec - 2 88 Tim Minor/M 18 1:24.576 Citation Zetec +1.887 3 29 David Grant 18 1:24.701 Van Diemen Zetec +3.411 4 28 Joey Selmants 18 1:24.477 Van Dieman Zetec +4.399 5 10 Santino Ferrucci 18 1:25.739 Van Diemen Zetec +13.838 6 91 Kyle Connery 18 1:25.398 Van Diemen Zetec +14.523 7 98 Jim Libecco 18 1:25.463 Van Diemen Zetec +16.245 8 22 Kevin Kopp 18 1:26.619 Van Diemen Zetec +27.502 9 71 Steve Bamford/M 18 1:26.483 Van Diemen Zetec +28.005 10 06 Tim Paul 18 1:26.386 Van Diemen Zetec +28.711 11 70 Tom Fatur/M 18 1:26.276 Van Diemen Zetec +29.252 12 67 Dave Weitzenhof/M 18 1:26.663 Citation Zetec +32.026 13 9 Roberto Lorena 18 1:25.851 Van Diemen Zetec +32.515 14 21 Jose Armida 18 1:26.935 Van Diemen Zetec +33.929 15 0 Keith McCrone/M 18 1:27.032 Metrik Zetec +37.181 16 83 Charles Finelli/M 18 1:27.249 Van Diemen Zetec +39.436 17 86 Jim Hanrahan/M 18 1:27.233 Radon Zetec +46.303 18 51 Dan Denison/M 18 1:26.039 Van Diemen Zetec +51.373 19 1 Kem Lall/M 18 1:28.245 Radon Zetec +1:10.465 20 73 Vaughn Horvath 18 1:27.436 Van Diemen Pinto +1:31.662 21 69 Paul Farmer/M 17 1:27.456 Radon Zetec 1 Lap 22 90 Robert Wright/M 16 1:27.436 Radon Zetec 2 Laps 23 7 Brent Gilkes/M 10 1:27.177 Van Diemen Zetec 8 Laps 24 68 Steve Jenks/M 9 1:28.306 Van Diemen Zetec 9 Laps DNF 01 John McCusker 2 1:31.463 RFR Zetec 16 Laps DNF 00 Tim Dunn/M 2 1:49.871 Metrik Zetec +17.267 DNF 99 Federico Mosconi 0 -.--- Van Diemen Zetec 18 Laps DNS 16 Peter Gonzalez/M 0 -.--- Radon Zetec - DNS 72 Francis Kennette 0 -.--- Mygale Zetec -