By Christopher DeHarde

Lucas Oil School Formula Car Series champion Prescott Campbell led spring training for the 2020 USF2000 field at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The 19-year-old turned a fasteast lap of 1 minute, 23.6719 seconds to average 95.086 mph around the 2.21 mile road course. Campbell is parlaying a $75,000 scholarship into a full season drive with Exclusive Autosport and the No. 1 Tatuus USF-17.

“This is a big confidence booster going into St. Pete,” said Campbell. “Coming into this Spring Training test, I didn’t know what to expect from myself compared to my competitors. It’s the first time we’ve tested against the full grid. I think I surpassed my expectations and some other expectations as well.

“There will be a lot to learn next weekend but, of course, the goal will be to keep the car clean. It’s a great opportunity to perform in front of a crowd and it will be great to be part of such a huge event.”

Second on the combined results was Eduardo Barrichello. The son of 2012 Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year Rubens Barrichello was just three one-hundreths of a second slower than Campbell in the No. 22 Pabst Racing Services entry with a fastest lap of 1 minute, 23.7074 seconds.

“My car was very, very good,” said Barrichello. “The crew members on the Pabst team are very clever and they did a great job. We have long debriefs after every session so we make sure we know what we want and they’ve learned so quickly how I like the car. I already feel at home with the team and I’m very thankful for the opportunity. It is only testing so we’re not completely sure how things will go, but to be quickest in three of the five test sessions means we’re very competitive.”

Barrichello drove last year in USF2000 competition for Miller Vinatieri Motorsports before switching to DEForce Racing for the last four races of the season.

Third fastest was Exclusive Autosport’s Christian Brooks ahead of Jay Howard Driver Development’s Christian Rasmussen and Cameron Shields for Legacy Autosport. The top five were all within a quarter of a second of each other.

The first on track action for the 2020 USF2000 championship will be at noon on Thursday, March 12th with the solo practice session on the streets of St. Petersburg.