In what has to go down as one of the most dramatic weekends in junior American open-wheel racing history, saw a drive of a lifetime for a championship and a heartbreaking mechanical failure.
Mexican Jose Gutierrez won the season finale but it was the drive done by his teammate Spencer Pigot that got the California-native the Pro Mazda title after a massive first lap set back. Scott Hargrove held on to the lead on lap one with Pigot being spun by Hargrove's Cape Motorsports teammate Neil Alberico, dropping Pigot to last place.
Hargrove continued to lead while Pigot worked his way up to seventh place before a lap fourteen caution for Pigot's Juncos teammate Kyle Kaiser. On the restart, Hargrove suffered a mechanical failure that ended his race and gift wrapped the championship to Pigot.
Gutierrez led the final four laps on the way to victory, holding off Nicolas Costa. Shelby Blackstock finished third for his sixth podium of the season. Jack Aitken finished fourth in his lone weekend of the 2014 Pro Mazda season. Spencer Pigot managed to finish fifth ahead of Joey Bickers and Alex Keyes. Julia Ballario finished eighth with Canadians Garett Grist and Dalton Kellett rounding out the top ten.
Hargrove ended up in nineteenth with fastest lap as nothing more but a consolation prize. Hargrove was set to become the first Canadian to win the Pro Mazda title.
Pigot's championship comes after years of second fiddle. He finished second in the U.S. F2000 championship twice, to Finn Petri Suvanto in 2011 and by seven points to then-Cape Motorsports teammate American Matthew Brabham in 2012. In 2013, Pigot won one race in Pro Mazda and finished tied for third in the championship with Shelby Blackstock behind Brabham who set a Pro Mazda record for victories in a single season and Diego Ferreira.
Pigot's 2014 championship featured five victories, six podiums, eight top fives and thirteen top tens. Pigot started five races from pole position, scored seven fastest laps and led the most laps on six occasions.
Hargrove may have finished second in the championship but he is coming off a U.S. F2000 title and is currently leading the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Canada. His Pro Mazda season ends with three victories, ten podiums, eleven top fives and twelve top tens. Hargrove started on pole three times, scored four fastest laps and led the most laps on three occasions.
Juncos Racing picked up the title and won eight of fourteen races in 2014.
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