Reid First at VIR
Alton, VA - A move on a mid-race restart gave Bob Reid the race lead, with the R-Sport driver hanging on to take his first career F2000 Championship Series victory in the 2016 season finale race at VIR on Sunday morning. Reid held off John McCusker, who finished second, while Tom Fatur, Reid's R-Sport teammate, finished third.
For Reid, VIR has been home to career-best finishes, with a pair of fourth places earlier in the year, only bettered by two laps in the lead and a third place finish on Saturday and upped significantly by Sunday's race victory in the No. 12, the first victory for the Metrik chassis in F2000 competition.
"After all of this it's so gratifying to bring home the first win for the Metrik," said Reid. "Everyone on the team did a fantastic job. The team calling the green on the restart really got me the win. We were all stacked up on the restart and I jumped on it, going in the grass to get by. I managed to gap them and hang on."
For Saturday winner McCusker, it was a hard-earned second place with half the front wing missing. McCusker started from pole and went wheel-to-wheel with his younger brother, Austin, for the F2000 lead on the opening laps. Soon after, however, Austin would retire from the lead while John's No. 01 Dotworks Van Diemen was wounded.
"We had a little bit of a brake check by an Atlantic car, which knocked my wing off and punctured by brother's tire. That aside, we finished second in the points so that is good," said McCusker, who mounted an impressive end-of-season string of results.
After starting in second and leading early, a potential strong result for Austin McCusker in the No. 90 ADSA/Wright Racing Radon was brought to an early end with the punctured tire. McCusker got the call to drive the car on Saturday morning, with the race only being his second-ever session in the No. 90.
Fatur marked his best result of 2016 with a third place finish in the No. 70 R-Sport Van Diemen. "All season has been on and off with some issues, it was really nice to have it all come together and have a good race at the end of the season," said Fatur.
Peter Gonzalez finished in fourth in the No. 16 Radon, while Nick Palacio rounded out the top five after running for a podium spot earlier in the race.
Despite a visit to the pits during the full course caution, Jenna Grillo finished sixth for K-Hill Motorsports.
Kaylen Frederick was involved in an opening-lap incident with Dave Weitzenhof, with both cars failing to finish.