Seven top-ten results in three wheel-to-wheel races for JHDD
CARMEL, Ind. – It was a trip to the ultra-fast VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) this past weekend as the USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire battled the legendary facility for rounds six, seven and eight of their 2024 season. G3 Argyros earned the best result for the six-driver strong Jay Howard Driver Development (JHDD) program, earning his first podium result as the Indianapolis-based team earned seven top-10 finishes in the three wheel-to-wheel races.
"The pace was exceptional,” explained Jay Howard, Owner of the JHDD program. “Unfortunately, the results posted do not reflect our dominance, so it was a disappointing weekend from that standpoint.”
After a day of practice and testing, Saturday opened with a pair of qualifying sessions before the first race later in the day. Liam McNeilly scored the team’s best qualifying effort for race two, finishing second on the time sheets, while Ayden Ingratta clocked the fifth-fastest lap time and scored the inside row three starting spot for race two. For race one, McNeilly led a quartet of drivers who qualified in the top-10 in seventh as Timothy Carel, Argyros and Ingratta slotted into the eighth, ninth and 10th positions.
The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon, and it was Argyros who was able to claw his way forward and into the top five. Argyros crossed the line in fourth position, one spot ahead of his JHDD teammate Carel in fifth as the Jay Howard program put a trio of drivers inside the top 10. McNeilly finished seventh on the day, adding some valuable championship points to his season-long total. Ingratta battled hard early but ultimately crossed the line 13th while Hudson Potter and Michael Boyiadzis both improved on their qualifying efforts to come home 17th and 18th respectively.
Back to the track Sunday morning, and for the final day of the weekend, JHDD drivers hit the track for races two and three led by Argyros. Rocketing his way into podium contention, Argyros took advantage of his recent USF2000 experience, scoring his first USF Juniors podium, and celebrated with the JHDD crew on the second step of the podium. Behind him, it was Carel in 10th, McNeilly in 14th, Potter and Boyiadzis who continued their moves forward in 15th and 16th while Ingratta was forced to retire and eventually classified in the 23rd position.
Ingratta rebounded in race three and, from his fifth place starting spot, managed to maintain his position close to the front of the field and earned his best result of the weekend in fifth. The young Canadian hopes this result will lead to momentum for the rest of the season. Carel was next best of the JHDD contingent adding another top-10 result in seventh with Boyiadzis claiming his best result in 11th. McNeilly and Argyros were P14 and P15 when the checkered flag flew while Potter retired early.
Howard added, “We did get some good results, G3 on the podium, Ingratta and Carel with some of their best finishes of the season. We will look to carry this pace over to Mid-Ohio in a couple of weeks.”
Next up for JHDD will be a trip to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where they will have their full fleet of cars on track. With the entire USF Pro Championships program competing, stay tuned for JHDD’s driver lineup for USF Juniors, USF2000 and USF Pro 2000.