U.S. F2000 ALUMNI CAPTURE PODIUM FINISHES OVER WEEKEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. F2000 ALUMNI CAPTURE PODIUM FINISHES OVER WEEKEND

	FAIRFIELD, N.J. (July 2, 2001)—This past weekend the U.S. F2000 National
Championship Presented by Speedvision once again showed why it is considered
North America’s premier open-wheel training series, as series alumni
captured podium finishes in four different races.
	In the Czech Republic, former U.S. F2000 driver and current Grand-Am SR2
champion, Larry Oberto, captured his second consecutive class win in the FIA
Sports Car Championship. Driving the Team Sweden Lola-Nissan, Oberto
finished eighth overall, capturing the SR2 win on the challenging Brno road
course. The win extended Oberto’s lead in the championship in his rookie
year.
	At the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland, the CART FedEx Championship race
featured two U.S. F2000 alumni. In only his second race of 2001, Memo Gidley
drove a stellar race. Starting fourth, Gidley quickly established himself as
the quickest driver on the circuit and took the lead on lap 21. Driving for
Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Gidley retained the lead for a large portion of
the race until a late race pit stop demoted him to second. The podium finish
is the first of Gidley’s career in CART. In addition to Gidley, fellow U.S.
F2000 alumni Alex Tagliani drove a strong race. Tagliani finished tenth,
capturing Player’s/Forsythe Racing third top-10 finish of the year.
	In the Saturday afternoon feature race, three alumni took the green flag.
Starting ninth, T.J. Bell drove the best race of his young CART Toyota
Atlantic career. Bell worked his way through traffic to finish third and
capture his first career podium finish. David Rutledge, who had led the
championship standings prior to the race, battled all race long to finish
sixth. The finish moved Rutledge to second in the championship, just two
points behind the leader. Driving in his third career race, Guy Cosmo moved
up from his 14th starting position to finish tenth.
	At Richmond, Sam Hornish Jr. continued to show why he’s a title contender
in the Indy Racing Northern Light Series. Hornish Jr., started sixth on the
tight oval and drove hard all race to finish second. The podium finish is
Hornish Jr.’s fifth of the season and extended his lead in the series point
standings to 50 points.
	The U.S. F2000 National Championship resumes its training of the world’s
best young drivers, July 8, 2001, at Road America, with Rounds Nine and Ten
of the 2001 schedule.

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Allan Craighead
Director of Public Relations
U.S. F2000 National Championship
P.O Box 11024
87 Fairfield Rd.
Fairfield, NJ  07004
(973) 575-2626
(303) 883-8521 Cell
www.usf2000.com