Junior Open Wheel Talent

This weekend the F2000 Championship Series had two first time series winners: Kyle Marcelli and Niki Coello.

Niki Coello was the driver to beat all weekend, outpacing the field on his home track by a large margin in nearly every session. Unfortunately for Coello and series points leader Anders Krohn, Coello went too deep into turn one on the start of Saturday's race, taking both drivers out of the event. Marcelli had a good start and managed to battle back and forth with JDC Motorsports front runner Chris Miller. Both Miller and Marcelli are rookies to the series but have shown great promise this year. I have seen nothing but improvement from Kyle, who earlier in the year at times seemed to overdrive his car and let his emotions get the best of him. With that being said, he has also had more than his fair share of bad luck. Determined to not let a few bad results get the best of him, Kyle has really come on strong in the last few events; showcasing his talent and poise. For those interested in further reading, I strongly recommend checking out Kyle's Rookie Report.

Wisconsin native, Niki Coello recovered nicely from Saturday's DNF, returning in fine form for Race #2. After Sunday morning qualifying; he sat on the pole nearly 1.5 seconds ahead of the second fastest qualifier. I have to say it would be real interesting to see Niki put together a full F2000 program for 2009. Looking back at his days in karting and racing Spec Miata's with the SCCA, he has always been a contender. He has spent the last few years developing his craft, focusing on the SCCA Runoffs and national events. It seems to me a F2000 Championship effort might be the logical next step after so much success at the national level.

In Race #2, Coello led flag to flag, with a hard charging Marcelli only trailing by 1.053 seconds. Another Road America native and Skip Barber guru, Revere Greist, took the final spot on the podium driving for Arms Up Motorsports. A solid run for the 34 year old, who has no lack of track time.

The next event for the F2000 Championship will be held 8/24/08 at Mosport. The F2000 Championship series has done a nice job of selecting their circuits for the 2008 season. We should all be so lucky to drive these great tracks in one year.