Nico Jamin was hopeful that he would turn his pole position for Race #1 of the Mazda Grand Prix of Indianapolis into a calm and steady victory in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. However, it was anything but a calm day around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, as a thoroughly entertaining first race of the weekend featured action throughout the field. With a dramatic last lap pass, Jamin somehow managed to finish the race in the same position he started, claiming his third win of the 2015 season.

Jamin started on pole in his Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing machine alongside his teammate Aaron Telitz while the Pabst Racing duo of Jake Eidson and Yufeng Luo were just behind in Row 2. Jamin held a narrow advantage at the start, with the rest of the top four settling into place over the first three laps. Telitz, though, would not be content to sit in second. On Lap 4, Telitz made the move on Jamin, claiming the lead and bring Eidson along with him.

In the middle portion of the race, Telitz began to build an advantage over Eidson, holding a four second advantage when it all began to unravel for Telitz. A brief yellow flag for an incident allowed the field to close up and then the race was on. Telitz, Eidson, and Jamin all battled for the lead when the green flag flew, but Telitz was on the losing end of that battle. Telitz would be forced back to fifth, while Eidson jumped into the lead with Jamin behind and John Cummiskey Racing’s Anthony Martin elevated to a podium position.

It wasn’t over, though, as Eidson was desperate to claim his third win of the season—and first since St. Petersburg—at the hallowed grounds of IMS. Behind he and Jamin, Telitz was on a charge, first overtaking Luke Gabin for fourth and them reclaiming a spot on the podium by quickly dispatching Martin. At the front, Jamin was stalking Eidson, waiting for the right time to make the move for the win. That move came on the final lap, with Jamin able to just squeeze past Eidson and claim the win.

The incredibly close racing of the USF2000 field will return to the road course at IMS tomorrow for the second race of the weekend, with the green flag scheduled to fly at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Race 1 Results

1. Nico Jamin
2. Jake Eidson
3. Aaron Telitz
4. Anthony Martin
5. Luke Gabin
6. Ayla Agren
7. Garth Rickards
8. Nikita Lastochkin
9. Sam Chastain
10. Augie Lerch
11. Tyler Hunter
12. James Dayson
13. Bill Abel
14. Parker Thompons
15. Keyvan Andres Soori
16. Max Hanratty
17. Yufeng Luo