It’s always special to race on your home track, but it’s extra special when that home track is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Two local racers got that opportunity two weeks ago, racing on the IMS road course as part of the USF Pro 2000 series and the USF Pro Championships series.
Greenfield’s Logan Adams, 18, is the grandson of former Greenfield IndyCar racer Mark Dismore. He is racing a USF Pro 2000 car. McCordsville’s Ayrton Houk is part of the USF Pro Championships series.
“It was an honor, awesome,” Adams said. “It’s something everybody dreams for. I feel extremely privileged I am one that was actually able to do it. It was a blast and I loved every second of it. I know we didn’t have the best luck and didn’t get all the time on the track that we could, but I took advantage of every second I got out there.”
“I kicked off May in Indy in the best way possible, racing at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Houk said in a press release following his rounds 6 and 7 races of the USF Pro Championships.
“It was an amazing experience! Racing in my hometown made it possible for so many friends, family and sponsors to attend. For some, this was the first time they had seen me race in person. I’m so thankful for everyone’s support throughout the weekend.”
Adams added that there’s a big difference driving into the world’s most famous racetrack to watch a race than to actually be able to race on it.
“Driving in not just to watch a race but to compete, it’s awesome,” he said. “It’s a different kind of feeling. I was definitely more nervous than I’ve been anywhere else because of the amount of people I know that were there. I’m more nervous and not as confident as I go to other places. (IMS) kind of humbles you a little bit, I guess.”
Adams had three races in his series. He was running well in his opening race, moving up from his ninth starting position to fifth. In a few battles for spots, he got knocked back to eighth and was having good pace and working his way up when the car had an issue.
“I knew I could get seventh, might have got sixth, but on the last two laps our fuel pump lost power and we had to pull off and weren’t able to finish,” he said. “We thought we got the car fixed. When I went to bed that night it was running, and felt confident we were going to be able to go out in the morning. We show up in the morning and the thing wouldn’t start and we were back to square one and ended up missing Race 2.
”We figured it out. It was actually a foot-long wire that ran to the fuel pump that had gone bad, but not all the way. We got it figured out and made it to Race 3. Everything was running, but it felt like we were lacking a little bit of power.”
Adams said his series often pairs with the IndyCar series as part of the weekend racing schedule. He’ll race later this year at Road America, Mid-Ohio, Portland and the street race in Toronto.
In Houk’s opening race at IMS, a tough qualifying run put him 17th for the green flag. He just missed being collected in an early race incident, and worked his way up to eighth place before being spun out by one of the other cars. He got knocked back to 13th, but was able to finish 10th.
In his second race, Houk worked his way up to sixth place with only five laps to go, a bad accident happened right in front of him (a car flipped, but the driver was OK). He ended up fifth at the checkered flag, but was awarded fourth after a penalty. It was his highest finish in the series.
He is second in the series rookie standings and eighth overall. The series is scheduled to race this weekend on the oval at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Houk is hopeful to continue the remainder of the season, but he is only funded through Race 8 — the oval this weekend — of 18. To find out about how to sponsor you can contact him at [email protected] or 317-410-2483.
Adams said he’ll use the remainder of his season in the USF Pro 2000 series as a continued learning experience.
“At the moment, I am just trying to learn,” he said. “Most of the people in my class I’m racing with have been doing these cars for five, six years. It’s only my second full year in cars. I’m taking things slowly and trying to get some time under my belt, some experience. I’m not really going out and fighting for a win quite yet, but trying to get the experience so when it’s time I’m ready for it.”
