HARTSDALE, NEW YORK  – The first two rounds of the USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires season are in the books for Nick d’Orlando and his DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports team.  Although the results and race weekends didn’t exactly go to plan, it was valuable experience for the 19-year-old Hartsdale, NY native in his first year in a formula race car with downforce.  And experience in this sport, is critical.

The first round commenced at the brand new facility of Ozarks International Raceway in Gravois Mills, MO, with its drastic elevation changes, high-speed blind corners and limited runoff area conditions.  d’Orlando quickly put himself in the top three of the first two practice sessions but it all became a challenge from there.

In the qualifying session, he ended up off-track and into the barrier coming out of the high-speed off-camber Turn 10 which resulted in a difficult 12th place qualifying position for Race 1.  The car was not repaired in time for Race 1 and continued to be compromised for Race 2 later that afternoon.  Ultimately, in an interesting turn of events, Race 3 the following day would be cancelled for weather and unsafe driving conditions.

Trying to put the disappointment from Ozarks behind him, d’Orlando turned his focus to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL just a few days later.

Returning to Barber, where he earned two victories in the Formula Race Promotions F1600 series in 2021, d’Orlando put himself in the top four in the only practice session.  However, plagued by problems continuing from Ozarks and the timing of a red flag in the qualifying session, he would be set in a challenging 10th position for the two races to follow.

d’Orlando’s relentless perseverance and determination to overcome anything that comes between him and his success on the race track was evident in his performance in his first head-to-head competition in uncompromised conditions. His eighth-place result in Race 1 and sixth-place result in Race 2 don't justify the veteran-like effort and his incredible ability to setup and execute passes on a track known to be a difficult circuit for these aspects.

"The first two race weekends didn’t exactly go to plan but we were able to show a little raw speed." explained d'Orlando. "After the issues at Ozarks and in qualifying at Barber, we were able to put that raw speed to good use to move up the field and to secure the second fastest lap in the final race. This is nice recovery and helps build some momentum going forward."
 
The opening rounds for d’Orlando were made possible by our very important partners at DB Collaborative, Focused Project Management, Rising Star Racing, MotorMedia USA, Pierpont Mechanical, MG Engineering, Dino Energy Drink, UFC Gym - Mamaroneck NY, Signature Elevator Maintenance, AME Inc and Celtic General Contractors.    

Stay tuned to Nicholas d’Orlando social media and website (www.dorlandoracing.com) for continued updates and more information.  Follow him on Instagram (dorlandoracing, nickdorlando), Facebook (Nicholas d'Orlando Racing) and Twitter (dorlandoracing and nickdorlando) for all the latest information.