Second generation racer Oliver Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., was the other big winner. The younger brother of Sebastian Wheldon, who finished third in the 2024 title-chase, earned three podium finishes to take an early lead in the quest for a scholarship valued at almost $250,000 to graduate next year into USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire.

This morning’s 50th race in the short history of USF Juniors saw Escorpioni secure a fine maiden victory both for himself and Zanella Racing, with Australian Liam Loiacono (Jay Howard Driver Development) just fending off Wheldon for second.

Later in the afternoon, Fisher capped a perfect day for the Zanella Racing squad by leading Wheldon and Saturday winner Joao Vergara (VRD Racing), from Miami, Fla., to the checkered flag.

A second qualifying session on Saturday saw each driver’s best lap establishing the starting order for Race Two this morning. Thus, it was Loiacono who snagged his first Continental Tire Pole Award with a new lap record ahead of Wheldon, with Fisher and Escorpioni sharing the second row of the grid.

A good start saw Loiacono maintain his advantage into Turn One, only for Wheldon to stay on the high line and make a pass for the lead on the outside. He was followed through by Escorpioni, who promptly ducked to the inside of Loiacono for second in Turn Three.

Wheldon completed the first lap in the lead, but Escorpioni was on a mission. The Florida-based Brazilian pulled off a nice move to displace Wheldon from the lead in Turn Four, with Loiacono also taking advantage of Wheldon’s loss of momentum to sneak back into second.

Escorpioni quickly made his escape at the front of the field, taking advantage of the in-fighting behind to stretch out a comfortable lead which he happily maintained to the finish.

Loiacono, Wheldon and Fisher enjoyed a thrilling battle for second throughout the all-green 12-lap race. Fisher, who had earlier set a new record fastest lap, made a move to the inside of Loiacono at Turn Nine on the final lap, only to run wide into the runoff area. Luckily for him, Wheldon and Loiacono also lost some time as they raced wheel to wheel, such that Loiacono eventually took the checkered flag in second ahead of Wheldon and Fisher. Saturday winner Vergara, DEForce Racing’s rookie Vilho Aatola, from Turku, Finland, and Diego Guiot (Zanella Racing), from The Woodlands, Texas, also were in close attendance at the checkered flag.

DEForce Racing’s Thomas Nordquist, from Omaha, Neb., claimed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after making up six positions from 21st on the grid.

The third and final race of the weekend saw Fisher clinch his first Continental Tire Pole Award by virtue of having posted the best second-fastest lap among all drivers during the second qualifying session on Saturday. He was joined on the front row by teammate Escorpioni.

The Zanella pair led the way through Turn One on the opening lap, whereupon Escorpioni dived to the inside under braking for Turn Three to wrest away the advantage. But any hopes Escorpioni might have had of a Sunday sweep sadly evaporated almost exactly one lap later when his car abruptly slowed on the exit of Turn Two.

As a crestfallen Escorpioni parked out of harm’s way, Fisher gratefully reclaimed the point and led the remainder of the 12-lap race. After two clean and green 12-lap races, today’s finale was interrupted by a pair of incidents, the last of which caused the race to finish under caution.

So, as Fisher cruised to the win, Wheldon capped an impressive maiden weekend – just two weeks after his 14th birthday – as a trio of podiums proved enough to move him into the championship lead with a two-point edge over Fisher.

Vergara also enjoyed a solid start to his campaign with a win, a third and a fourth, while young Finn Aatola once again impressed with a fine run to fourth place in the final race. DEForce Racing teammate Rodrigo Gonzalez took fifth ahead of Loiacono.

England’s Harry Moss took home the final Tilton Hard Charger Award of the weekend after working his way from 20th on the grid to 12th for Jay Howard Driver Development.

The banner day for Zanella Racing enabled Jose Zanella and his team manager and wife Jessica to clinch both PFC Awards as the winning car owners.

The intensely competitive USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire field will return to action in support of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at the challenging Barber Motorsports Park road course, near Birmingham, Ala., for another tripleheader event on May 1-3.

Provisional championship points after three of 16 races:

1. Oliver Wheldon, 74

2. Ty Fisher, 72

3. Joao Vergara, 70

4. Liam Loiacono, 56

5. Leonardo Escorpioni, 54

6. Rodrigo Gonzalez, 46

7. Diego Guiot, 42

8. Vilho Aatola, 40

9. Brenden Cooley, 33

10. Karel Staut, 31

Race Two Quotes:

Leonardo Escorpioni (#55 Qwilt/Peer 1/Mensalize-Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “I'm really happy – to finally get my first win after a full season last year and, especially, for the first win of the team. I've been with the team since 2021, a long time, and, honestly, it's just amazing. I saw Oliver go off when I passed him and after that, I had to put my head down and put together four or five good laps. I did that and after I saw them battling, I knew I had it. I want to thank my family and the whole Zanella team and my sponsors Quilt, Mensalize and Peer 1.”

Liam Loiacono (#6 Heli America Inc.-Jay Howard Driver Development Tatuus JR-23): “It was a good race. Starting on pole, it would have been nice to win it but I didn’t quite get the jump I needed. We’ll take second and the good points.”

Oliver Wheldon (#98 Gainbridge/Big Machine Racing-VRD Racing Tatuus JR-23): “The race was pretty good in the beginning for the start. I was able to get around Liam in Turn One. After that, I kind of made a big mistake and went off and that's when Leo passed me and then Liam got by me again. I tried to catch back up to Leo but Liam was really quick and it was just a battle from there.”

Race Three Quotes:

Ty Fisher (#37 Cedar Coast/Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “This feels amazing. I am really happy for the team – two wins today. My starts weren’t as good as the past two races, but as soon as I got into the lead I knew I had the pace to stay there and maybe pull away. And that’s how it worked out for me. The car was really good; it was a beast – super gripped up and I wasn’t sliding. Everything felt amazing with the car. I have to thank the whole Zanella team, my family, my coach and everyone that’s helped me and who’s here with the team this weekend. Thank you to all of them.”

Oliver Wheldon (#98 Gainbridge/Big Machine Racing-VRD Racing Tatuus JR-23): “It was a good race. I got a pretty good start. I think I slotted into, well, the same place I started. And then I saw that Leo had a mechanical and there was a full-course yellow. I just wanted to get a good restart, maybe see if I can pass Ty. But, good job to him. He was really quick and he pulled away a little bit. My tires just kind of fell off in the end and with a little bit of overdriving, too. Just an overall good weekend with three podiums in three races.”

Joao Vergara (#10 Cross/Carecode/Son Boronat/Arai-VRD Racing Tatuus JR-23): “We started a little bit behind because of Qualifying Two. It wasn’t the perfect qualifying for us, so we had to move through the field a little bit. But, it’s a long, long championship. We couldn’t risk too many moves right now and have a DNF. The focus was just picking one by one and making sure we got upfront. Unfortunately, Ty was a little bit too fast for us, but, you know, it is what it is and we'll be back stronger for Barber.”