Cape Motorsports battles back at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 19, 2023) – Cape Motorsports showed its determination and tenacity in last weekend’s INDY NXT by Firestone event at Road America, coming back from a difficult qualifying session to capture a hard-fought top 10 finish on Sunday.
Drivers Enaam Ahmed and Jagger Jones battled hard through the 20-lap race on the legendary 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course, but with both experiencing flat spotted tires. Timing of a yellow flag meant that Jones was able to get to pit lane for a change of a Firestone tire, but Ahmed was not able to duck in, meaning he remained on that tire. The British-Pakistani Ahmed worked hard, bringing the car home in 17th while Jones blasted his way through the field on the new tire, taking the checkered flag in 9th – his second top 10 finish of the season (finished second in Detroit).
“Everyone on the Cape team put forth an outstanding effort last weekend,” said Nicholas and Dominic Cape. “The crew and the drivers worked hard to find setups that would handle the new racetrack. We were in a similar situation at Indy, trying to get the car right and the drivers comfortable at the same time. But we gathered data that will help us down the road, since Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca are repaving as well. We’re good on the street courses and we’re still working on the ovals, so if we can figure this out, it will really take us forward.”
Road America brought another significant challenge for a rookie team that was already learning a new series, new car, and new tires: a brand-new racing surface, as Road America completely repaved the racetrack over the off season. So job one in Friday’s first practice session was coming to grips – literally – with an entirely new. On Saturday morning, the second session garnered much more data for both drivers, with both drivers happy with the balance of their pair of Dallara IL-15s.
Both drivers came out flying in qualifying, with only eight minutes on the clock to set a quick time on the lengthy road course. Jones’ first lap put him P6, with Ahmed P9, quickly settling into a rhythm. But as the track continued to warm and change, neither driver could find the pace they’d had in practice, fighting for traction and battling oversteer in the Carousel. To make matters worse, a red flag came out late in the session, shutting down Ahmed’s quick lap. The field was given one timed lap at the end of the session, but both Cape drivers found it difficult to bring their tires up to temperature quickly.
The INDY NXT field took the green flag Sunday morning just two hours ahead of the INDYCAR main event, with Ahmed starting 17th and Jones 18th but determined to press forward. Ahmed took advantage of the inevitable chaos at the front of the field in turn one, making moves into 15th on the opening lap and into 13th on lap two as Jones moved up a position as well. On lap four, Ahmed slid inside of Josh Green in turn five and set his sights on Josh Pierson and Danial Frost ahead.
But while dicing for position, both drivers flat spotted their left front tire. When points leader Christian Rasmussen found the turn 12 wall just after the midway point of the race, the team took the opportunity to bring Jones to pit lane for a new tire – but Ahmed had passed the pit lane entrance and was unable to do the same. The green flag flew again on lap 14 and Jones immediately began carving his way through the field – and by lap 15, was on the rear wing of his teammate for 12th.
Jones made the pass on Ahmed, who struggled for grip on the damaged tire, and turned his attention to Green, making a nice move in turn two to take 11th. He continued to make those moves, climbing to 9th position at the checkered flag, with Ahmed coming home 17th.
Cape Motorsports and the INDY NXT by Firestone series head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in two weeks as part of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ Honda Indy 200. Practice and qualifying sessions will be broadcast on INDYCAR LIVE and INDYCAR Radio, with both races live on Peacock.
QUOTEBOARD
ENAAM AHMED – No. 47 Surgery Center Development Company Dallara
Start – 17th / Finish – 17th
Championship standing: 11th
“The team worked really hard all weekend – we had a good car in practice but the changes we made sent it the wrong way in quali. We made a lot of changes to the car overnight and they really worked, the car was really good until I got the flat spot. I was really able to come forward until that point. Kudos to Jagger for being able to get into pit lane, we just couldn’t get around before the green came back out. We’ll take what we learned this weekend and put it to use at Mid-Ohio.”
JAGGER JONES – No. 98 Total Sim/Mecum Auctions Dallara
Start – 18th / Finish – 9th
Championship standing: 14th
“With the heavy fuel load early, I just made a mistake and flat spotted the left front really bad and I thought our race was over. We don’t ordinarily have pit stops in our series but the team called me in to change it. From there, I was launched. I made the same move on four different drivers in turn two to make the passes and made the most of other drivers’ mistakes.
“Up until that point, it was one of my most challenging race weekends. The team worked hard but sometimes, you don’t get it completely right. We didn’t have the pace that some of the guys in front of us had, but that’s what counts. It’s what you make with what you have, and I feel like we put it all together in the second half of the race. It was cool to get a top 10!”
