Braden Eves today made a perfect return to the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, scoring a dominant victory from the pole in the first of two races which will comprise the Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires. Eves, 21, from New Albany, Ohio, controlled the pace in the early stages before edging clear of Exclusive Autosport teammate Artem Petrov, from Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Rookie Reece Gold, from Miami, Fla., completed the podium after his Juncos Racing teammate Manuel Sulaiman, from Puebla, Mexico, was disqualified for an infringement discovered during post-race technical inspection.

“That was just amazing,” said Eves. “It’s so hard to pass here so I knew that if I got through the first lap, I should be okay. Winning the season opener is big when you’re making a championship bid and that’s what we’re after this season. Before my USF2000 title, I won the first race as well and while I’d love to go four-for-four this year, like I did then, it’s going to be tough tomorrow. But I’m so happy, incredible job by Exclusive Autosport. Our first front row lock-out and our first one-two finish so massive thanks to the team. Thanks as well to Artem. We’ve worked hard all off-season and it really helps to have a good teammate to push each other. It’s so great to be back here with the NTT IndyCar Series and with all the fans here – it adds a lot of emotion to the win.”

Eves, the 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 Champion who won in only his third Indy Pro 2000 start last year before being sidelined by a neck injury sustained in a crash on the Indianapolis Grand Prix road course, set the ball rolling yesterday by beating Parker Thompson’s three-year-old lap record to grab the Cooper Tires Pole Award.

The checkers fly and Braden Eves is your victor! 💯🏁

Indy Pro 2000 Race 1 Podium Finishers
P1 Braden Eves @ExclAutosport
P2 Atrem Petrov @ExclAutosport
P3 Manuel Sulaiman @juncosracing #RoadToIndy | #TeamCooperTire | #HIGPA pic.twitter.com/ahU76wyBlR

— Indy Pro 2000 (@IndyPro2000) April 17, 2021

Eves was content to be cautious in the opening laps, secure in the knowledge that overtaking is notoriously difficult on the sinuous 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park road course and anxious not to put too much strain on his Cooper tires. He gradually built up his speed, turning faster laps on each of the first nine laps by which time he had managed to stretch his margin over Petrov to just over a second. Eves continued to extend his lead before taking the checkered flag 4.2740s clear of his teammate.

“I tried to get Braden in Turn Five but I couldn’t make the pass,” said Petrov. “There really aren’t many places to pass, so I focused on staying behind him to see if I could get him to make a mistake. It was a good race, and I’m happy for the team!”

Eves’ performance earned Exclusive Autosport team principal Michael Duncalfe his first PFC Award of the year as the winning car owner.

Sulaiman moved up one position on the third lap after finding a way past New Zealander Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing). He was never able to put any serious pressure on Petrov but remained just a second or so ahead of teammate Gold, who drove a strong race on his Indy Pro 2000 debut to become the best-placed rookie finisher, well clear of fellow USF2000 graduate Cameron Shields (DEForce Racing), from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

English rookie Enaam Ahmed, driving for the Italian-based RP Motorsport USA team, which was making its return to the series after being unable to travel last year due to the pandemic, earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award after making his way from 13th on the grid to fifth at the finish. Ahmed’s final victim, a handful of laps from the end, was the unfortunate McElrea, who had been struggling with handling difficulties following an early incident. The disappointed Kiwi finished just ahead of Pabst Racing teammate Colin Kaminsky, from Homer Glen, Ill.

Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports), from Louisville, Ky., Flinn Lazier (Legacy Autosport), from Vail, Colo., and Hunter Yeany (Velocity Racing Development), from Virginia Beach, Va., completed the top 10.

Last year’s USF2000 champion, Christian Rasmussen, from Copenhagen, Denmark, finished an unrepresentative 13th for the Jay Howard Driver Development team, although he had made his way from sixth to fourth in the opening few laps before some incidental contact necessitated a pit stop to change a cut tire.

Rasmussen did claim some consolation with The Ticket Clinic Fastest Lap Award, also worth an extra championship point, as he annihilated the old lap record with a new best of 1:16.8238 (107.779 mph). Rasmussen also will start Race Two from the pole position by virtue of claiming the second Cooper Tires Pole Award of the season during a separate qualifying session on Friday afternoon.

The race will take place tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. CDT.

RESULTS

Provisional championship points after 1 of 18 rounds:
1. Braden Eves, 32
2. Artem Petrov, 25
3. Reece Gold, 22
4. Cameron Shields, 19
5. Enaam Ahmed, 17
6. Hunter McElrea, 15
7. Colin Kaminsky, 14
8. Jacob Abel, 13
9. Flinn Lazier, 12
10. Hunter Yeany, 11