Max Garcia finished the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire season in the best possible way with a pair of victories for Pabst Racing in the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Portland doubleheader. After clinching the championship – and a scholarship to move up to INDY NXT in 2026 – last month in Toronto, the youngster from Coconut Grove, Fla., equaled the record for the number of wins in a single season, nine, established by current NTT INDYCAR SERIES star Kyle Kirkwood in 2019.
Alessandro de Tullio, from Miami, Fla., finished second for Turn 3 Motorsport, with Garcia’s teammate Jacob Douglas, from Christchurch, New Zealand, eventually prevailing after a spirited scrap for third.
“It was a crazy race,” commented Douglas. “I wasn’t sure who was on what lap there at the end. A big thanks to the Pabst Racing crew. We managed to navigate our way through and finish the year on the podium. It was great.”
In Saturday’s Round 17 race, Douglas finished in fifth with Garcia winning ahead of Mac Clark and Frankie Mossman.
Sebastian Manson, from Auckland, New Zealand, earned his second Tilton Hard Charger Award of the year, rising from 13th on the grid and fighting off a race-long challenge from Exclusive Autosport’s Joey Brienza, from Golden, Colo., to finish ninth. Manson went on to finish fifth in Race 2.
Douglas finished fifth overall for the season with Manson 12th.
Provisional championship points after 18 of 18 rounds:
1/ Max Garcia, 495
2/ Ariel Elkin, 347
3/ Mac Clark, 346
4/ Alessandro de Tullio, 342
5/ Jacob Douglas, 329
6/ Max Taylor, 268
7/ Michael Costello, 211
8/ Frankie Mossman, 203
9/ Cooper Becklin, 197
10/ Nicholas Monteiro, 185.
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