Liam McNeilly of Jay Howard Driver Developments claimed victory in the season-opening USF2000 race at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The British driver led an action-packed 20-lap Foundation Building Materials Grand Prix, holding off Jack Jeffers and Jeshua Alianell.

Pole-sitter Caleb Gafrarar led early before McNeilly made a decisive move on the airport runway straight, braking late on the outside line into Turn One to take the lead. Despite multiple caution periods and constant pressure from Jeffers, McNeilly maintained his advantage to the finish.

The competitive nature of the field was evident in qualifying, with the top eight positions – all rookies – separated by just 0.2331 seconds. Gafrarar had secured pole by a mere 0.0566 seconds over McNeilly.

Jack Jeffers finished a close second, while Jeshua Alianell impressed with third place in his first-ever street course race. Evan Cooley and G3 Argyros rounded out the top five.

"The race was pretty hectic with three full-course yellows that really shook things up," said McNeilly. "I managed to get a good restart and passed Caleb into Turn 1. Then I just had to control the race and bring it home."

Anthony Martella earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award, advancing from 13th to 6th position. Jay Howard received the PFC Award as the winning team owner.

The second race of the weekend is scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

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