74 • RACE CONTROL
the escape road, no one else was caught up in the melee and Baron
was unscathed.
One lap later, with the field still running under caution as a result of the
first-turn incident, Nate Aranda (Team E-JAY) also crashed heavily in Turn- When Aranda reported that he was experiencing some back pain,
officials displayed the red flags while the rookie was extracted from his
damaged car. He was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg for
precautionary X-rays.
Eves maintained his composure at the front of the field at the restart
and held onto his lead ahead of Sulaiman, who had started third, and the
recovering McElrea. Next in line was Danish rookie Christian Rasmussen, who
had vaulted his Jay Howard Driver Development entry from ninth on the grid.
Rasmussen lost a position to Indianapolis native Zach Holden (BN Racing)
at the restart, then gained it back following another brief full-course caution
after Mexican Manuel Cabrera (Exclusive Autosport) crashed in Turn Eight.
One more single-car incident involving Jack William Miller (Miller Vinatieri
Motorsports) left enough time for merely a one-lap dash to the finish during
which Eves comfortably held off Sulaiman, who was delighted with second
place after his team worked late last night to repair his car following an
incident in the second qualifying session. McElrea, last year’s Australian
Formula Ford champion who earned his drive after winning the Mazda Road
to Indy USF2000 $200k Scholarship Shootout last December finished third
ahead of Rasmussen, who held off Holden to ensure five different teams were
represented in the top five positions.