Rising young American star Spencer Pigot strengthened his lead in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda by winning the traditional “Night Before the 500” at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis after a thrilling duel with Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing teammate Matthew Brabham.

Brabham, 19, had qualified on pole position – his third of the season – and held off a strong challenge from Pigot into the first corner. The race went under yellow shortly thereafter when Heamin Choi lost control of his No. 21 Afterburner Autosport Van Diemen-Mazda, triggering a massive pile-up between Turns 1and 2 on Lap 2, which sidelined eight of the 21 starters, including all three JDC MotorSport entries. Choi, who had qualified an impressive sixth, was transported to Methodist Hospital as a precautionary measure and was released.

After a lengthy clean-up, the race was restarted with 19 laps in the books. Brabham looked to have made a good jump to maintain his advantage, but Pigot had other ideas. The youngster from Orlando, Fla., dived to the inside line in Turn 1 and emerged onto the back straightaway in the lead. But Brabham fought back immediately, and the pair spent most of the next seven laps in an entertaining side by-side fight for supremacy.

“Racing side by side with Matt was awesome,” Pigot said. “It was some of the best racing I have ever had. We were both pushing hard and I think some of my fastest times were when we were side by side.”

The pair made light contact on Lap 27 on the back straightaway, Pigot was able to make a slight break and cement his position out in front.

Pigot survived a couple of close moments while lapping some slower traffic to claim his fourth win of the season. Brabham had to be content with second but gained some consolation by claiming the bonus point for fastest lap – by a scant 0.070s – and trails Pigot by only six points in the championship battle, 146 to 140, after five rounds.

“I am happy with my first oval race,” Brabham said. “It was lots of fun. I had a good battle with Spencer most of the race and we were running side by side. It was very exciting and, unfortunately, I made a little bit of contact and bent my steering and it was out for the rest of the race. I still had a pretty good pace and I am happy with second. It is good for the championship points and I am pleased with how it went but I am a bit disappointed about getting second.”

Belardi Auto Racing’s Roman Lagudi drove another strong race to claim his fourth podium finish in five races. Lagudi has yet to finish outside the top five to date this season.