Kaylee Countryman scores double top-10 finish in USF2000 Portland return
- RACERS
- 3 minutes ago
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Kaylee Countryman enjoyed her strongest USF2000 weekend of the season at Portland International Raceway, overcoming a challenging qualifying position to produce two determined recovery drives and secure a pair of top-10 finishes in the Portland Grand Prix weekend.
Kaylee Countryman enjoyed her strongest USF2000 weekend of the season at Portland International Raceway, overcoming a challenging qualifying position to produce two determined recovery drives and secure a pair of top-10 finishes in the Portland Grand Prix weekend.
The F1 Academy driver returned to USF2000 action as the championship supported the IndyCar weekend in Portland, continuing a busy 2026 campaign that has seen her compete on both sides of the Atlantic. Countryman is contesting her rookie F1 Academy season with support from the Haas F1 Team, having begun the year in UAE Formula 4 as preparation for her first full international single-seater campaign.
Her progress in F1 Academy has included a breakthrough weekend in Montreal, where she scored her first championship points with seventh place in Race 1 before producing an outstanding drive in the reverse-grid Race 2 to finish second and claim her maiden podium in both F1 Academy and single-seaters.
Countryman has also continued to gain experience in USF2000, where she had already recorded a season-best ninth place at Indianapolis before adding a 13th-place finish at the same event and three further top-20 results at Road America. After missing the Mid-Ohio round due to a calendar clash, she returned to the series at Portland, a circuit she already knew from previous USF Juniors and USF2000 appearances.
The weekend began with Countryman setting the 20th-fastest time in the sole practice session, recording a 1:12.6828 around the technical Portland circuit. She then made steady progress during qualifying, initially matching her practice pace before lowering her benchmark to 1:12.3 and subsequently finding another tenth with a 1:12.2093.
A red flag with two minutes remaining interrupted the session, and although qualifying resumed, another stoppage immediately followed. Countryman therefore had only one final opportunity to improve, but was unable to find another tenth and ultimately qualified 20th, although her second-best lap of 1:12.3316 demonstrated a consistent pace across her qualifying runs.
Race 1 immediately presented a major challenge, with the extremely tight opening chicane producing chaos as the field arrived for the first time. Several cars became involved in contact, with four drivers forced out of the race.
Countryman negotiated the incident intelligently, using the escape road to avoid the multi-car crash and emerging unscathed. The subsequent neutralization promoted her to 14th before racing resumed at the end of lap five.
The JHDD driver remained in the midfield battles after the restart, initially fighting with Mohrardt while also keeping Pasiewicz behind. She defended her position well through the opening laps before settling into her rhythm and gradually building a small advantage over Mohrardt.
As the race developed, further incidents began to work in Countryman's favour. Evan Cooley was forced into the pits with front-wing damage, moving her back into 14th, before Saleh suffered contact and went off at the final corner. Countryman inherited another position to run 13th.
The drama continued when championship leader Eddie Beswick stopped with suspension damage, triggering another full-course yellow and moving Countryman into 12th with four laps remaining.
Once racing resumed, she again avoided trouble through the opening corners and found herself fighting just outside the top ten. A further incident involving Sebastian Garzon promoted her to 11th, while Countryman continued to keep Mohrardt behind and began closing in on the top-ten battle.
She crossed the line in 11th, just outside the top ten, but a post-race penalty for Cahan subsequently promoted Countryman to 10th place, giving her a second top-ten finish of the USF2000 season.
Starting Race 2 from 19th, Countryman once again faced a significant recovery job. The opening chicane was considerably cleaner than in Race 1 and she immediately gained a position, moving to 18th. She remained closely involved in the midfield, initially running behind teammate Naim Saleh while keeping an eye on Mohrardt and Cahan behind.
As the race progressed, Countryman once again demonstrated her ability to capitalize on mistakes ahead: Cuthbert was forced into the pits with damage, while Saleh went off at the final corner, moving Countryman into 16th.
Further drama allowed her to climb even higher. Beswick in fact made a mistake at the final corner while running near the front, and Countryman moved into 14th by lap seven.
She subsequently became involved in a close fight with Mohrardt, with the two drivers repeatedly exchanging positions. Although the battle cost them some ground to the cars ahead, Countryman continued to push, setting a 1:12.7 and closing back onto Mohrardt.
A full-course yellow for Martella's incident interrupted the race with Countryman running 15th. When racing resumed with nine laps remaining, she continued fighting with Nanji, Beswick and Mohrardt before eventually reclaiming 15th.
The closing stages once again demanded sharp reactions: Cahan spun immediately ahead of Countryman, forcing her to take evasive action, but she avoided the incident and gained another position. She then capitalized on another mistake from Nanji at the final corner to move into 14th.
A late Full Course Yellow following Nordqvist's crash at Turn 1 set up a one-lap dash to the finish. Countryman survived another hectic restart and crossed the line in 12th place, completing another strong recovery drive from deep in the field. Post-race penalties once again promoted Countryman to 10th place and giving her a remarkable double top-10 result.
The Portland weekend therefore represents by far Countryman's most productive USF2000 outing of 2026. Starting 20th and 19th, she consistently avoided trouble, capitalized on opportunities and fought her way through the field in both races, demonstrating good racecraft.
Countryman's USF2000 programme continues almost immediately, with the driver heading to the Streets of Markham in Ontario for the next round before returning her focus to F1 Academy's next round at Zandvoort on August 22-23.
