Running at the challenging, high-speed Road Atlanta circuit for the first time in his short career, Gooden snagged the pole for Saturday’s first race of the weekend with a new lap record of just over 107 mph in his Quantum Van Diemen.
 
In the race, Gooden and championship points leader Robert La Rocca traded the lead repeatedly throughout the 18-lap contest before La Rocca edged away to a 1.1-second victory.  Gooden’s runner-up result was the best of his still-young F2000 career.
 
“I can’t complain for it being my first time at Road Atlanta,” Gooden said at the finish.  “It was a pretty tight battle for the lead, and Robert raced me close and hard, but clean.  I’m really starting to get a better understanding of how to drive this car.”
 
For Sunday’s second race of the weekend, the qualifying results were reversed, with Gooden starting on the outside of the front row, alongside La Rocca.   After a four-wide run to the first turn at the start, the contest again turned into another duel between Gooden and La Rocca until a mid-race full-course caution.
 
Shortly after the restart, contact with another car sent Gooden off course.  He returned to the track in fifth, but clawed his way back to third, and his second podium finish of the weekend. 
 
“On that restart, I learned you can’t go around the outside of Turn One,”  Gooden said.  “It was a lot of hard work to get back on the podium at the end.”
 
In 2011, Gooden went four-for-four in Quantum’s F1600 Van Diemen Honda, winning two races apiece at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen, his only appearances in the series.  He also started from the pole in three of the four races, and set fastest race laps in three of the four rounds.  These were his first open-wheel races, after just one year of sedan racing in the 2010 Jetta TDi Cup.
 
The 14-race 2012 F2000 Champions Series resumes later this month with the May 25-26 double-header weekend at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.

quantumracingservices.com
5701 SW 21st Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73128
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(405) 681-8561

Gooden Goes F2000 With Quantum
Breakout Star from 2011 F1600 to Chase F2000 Championship  

Oklahoma City, OK (February 22, 2012) – Wyatt Gooden, the surprise star of the new F1600 Formula F Championship Series last year, will move up to the F2000 Championship Series in 2012, paired once again with Quantum Racing Services of Oklahoma City.
 
In 2011, Gooden went four-for-four in Quantum’s F1600 Van Diemen Honda, winning two races apiece at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen, his only appearances in the series.  He also started from the pole in three of the four races, and set fastest race laps in three of the four rounds.  These also were his first open-wheel races, after just one year of sedan racing, in the 2010 iRacing Jetta TDi Cup.
 
 “Last year was incredible, working with Quantum and the results we achieved in F1600 really put my name on the map,” Gooden said, “But now I’m looking forward to remaining with Quantum and taking the next step up the ladder.  We tested the F2000 at the end of last year and I loved the additional speed.  I can’t wait for the 2012 season to get started!”
 
This year, Wyatt will campaign a Quantum Van Diemen Zetec in the 14-race F2000 Championship Series, which starts April 14 at Virginia International Raceway.
 
 “Wyatt’s ‘immediate’ success last year was the result of a lot of hard work by both he and the team,” said Wendell Miller, Quantum owner and team principal. “That being said, it was quickly apparent that he is ready for the next level. Wyatt did a great job of adapting to the F2000 car at the test we ran last November, and we are really excited about the coming season.”

Starting out in karts at age 10, on a local track near his Cleveland-area home, Gooden soon graduated to the national WKA karting circuit, where he became a regular podium finisher.

He discovered the growing world of online racing in 2004 and then got his first big break while taking part in the iRacing Jetti TDi Series.  Gooden bested 1,163 competitors to win the online championship, then excelled during a three-day evaluation at Las Vegas International Raceway to earn a full season of real world competition in the TDi Cup for 2010. Two race victories, at Mid-Ohio and Autobahn; another pair of podium finishes at Road America and the Amozoc circuit in Mexico; and four more top-10 finishes in the 10-race championship saw Gooden finish third overall and was named series Rookie of the Year – all in his first year of car racing.

Last year, Gooden’s four F1600 victories, his only appearances in the series, was enough to earn the 22-year-old sixth in the final drivers’ championship standings and first in the eformulacarnews.com F1600 series year-end driver rankings.

Quantum has been a leader in the development of the Honda Fit engine for F1600 competition, completing the first Van Diemen Honda package for SCCA Club Racing in 2010.  In addition to its four pro series victories with Gooden in 2010, the team scored Honda’s first SCCA National Club Racing victory in a multi-car field last year at Motorsports Park Hastings in Nebraska.

In 2010, Quantum’s most recent season in F2000, the team took Australian series rookie Dan Erickson to two race wins, three second-place finishes and three poles in six races together.

Quantum plans a multi-car professional open-wheel racing program for 2012, with entries in both the F2000 Series Championship and the F1600 Formula F Championship Series.  The team will make additional driver announcements in the near future.

Wyatt Gooden commented: “That was another good one. I have the track down 100 percent now and really tried to push myself. Chris (Keller) pressured me on the start but after the restart I pulled a gap and the pressure was off.”

An early race full course caution flew for Chris Keller, who got turned around in the bus-stop chicane and needed to be retrieved. Keller started second.

Ryan Leach finished second for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing in the Spectrum/Honda for the third straight race. Jim Goughary came home fourth, with Jeremy Grenier close behind ahead of Kautz, Art Foster, Colin Thompson, Forrest Hull and Steve Oseth.

In the final standings, Valet and Kautz are one and two, followed by Jim Goughary, Art Foster, Colin Thompson, Wyatt Gooden, Caitlin Johnston, Forrest Hull, John Robinson and Steve Oseth.

Kautz, driving the No. 88 Piper/Ford, added: "You can't win them all, that's the way it goes. I did not have the power to run up front, we didn't have the motor to play this weekend."

The race for the SOS Children’s Villages Cup went to Valet, who amassed the most points over four races at Watkins Glen.

The season-long CellMark Paper Hard Charger Award was clinched by Ed Callo, who improved 30 places throughout the season.

Colin Thompson won the end-of-season Alegra Motorsports F2000 Championship Series test award, which goes to the highest placing driver in the final standings under the age of 21. Thompson’s best finish of the year came at Lime Rock Park, where he notched his first career podium in the No. 5 Swift/Honda.

The inaugural season of F1600 competition saw four different race winners, engine equality with both Honda and Ford powerplants, and 50 different drivers scoring Championship points over the 10 race tour.

Race 2 Results:

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