Santiago Urrutia, a somewhat unknown commodity coming into the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, has been a revelation for Team Pelfrey, revitalizing the former championship-winning organization. In today’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis Race 3, Urrutia brought Team Pelfrey their second win of the season and further solidified his hold on the championship points lead. Urrutia led home an all Team Pelfrey and Juncos Racing top five, with Will Owen and Race 2 winner Timothe Buret joining the Uruguayan on the podium.

Much like in the USF2000 race that concluded just before the start of the Pro Mazda event, Urrutia started from pole position and was away at the start. Florian Latorre, who started alongside Urrutia on the front row, was shuffled out at the start, but thankfully kept it upright and on track but fell back to sixth. That moved Owen up to second and Urrutia’s Pelfrey teammate O’Ward was up to third from fifth on the grid. Buret held fourth while Jose Gutierrez moved from seventh to fifth at the start. Buret made the move on O’Ward after several laps to claim third, while a few laps later Gutierrez would also make his way past O’Ward for fourth. That’s how the top five sorted themselves out for the remainder of the race, with gaps ebbing and flowing but the order remaining the same.

Behind Latorre, there was a trio of movers who worked their way up into the top ten. Former points leader Neil Alberico recovered from a disastrous Race 2 to move up to seventh after starting tenth, dragging Garett Grist and Scott Hargrove along the way. Hargrove, who was the championship runner-up last season in Pro Mazda and started the year in Indy Lights with 8Star Motorsports, started 15th but clawed his way up to ninth for JDC MotorSports by the time the checkered flag waved. Two notable contenders who struggled to finish the race were Race 1 winner Weiron Tan, who retired with a mechanical malady, and Victor Franzoni, debuting in Pro Mazda this weekend, who had to make multiple pit stops but still set the fastest lap of the race.

Urrutia extended his lead in the points standings heading into what will likely be his biggest test of the year, his first oval event at the Freedom Festival at Lucas Oil Raceway on May 23.

Pro Mazda Race 3 Results

1. Santiago Urrutia
2. Will Owen
3. Timothe Buret
4. Jose Gutierrez
5. Pato O’Ward
6. Florian Latorre
7. Neil Alberico
8. Garett Grist
9. Scott Hargrove
10. Daniel Burkett
11. Dalton Kellett
12. Raoul Owens
13. Kyle Connery
14. Alessandro Latif
15. Parker Nicklin
16. Kevin Davis
17. Bobby Eberle
18. Bob Kaminsky
19. Victor Franzoni
20. Carlos Conde
21. Weiron Tan