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The weekend got off to a slow start in the three practice sessions on Thursday, ultimately leading to a disappointing 13th place qualifying position. And the struggles continued with a DNF in Race 1 after someone else’s mistake in the very first corner ended his race before it really even started. Race Two looked promising for the rookie later that afternoon with a solid start moving up the field into the top 10 until contact from an overly aggressive defender pushed him too wide into the concrete barriers sending him down the order once again.
But the third and final race gave d’Orlando one more opportunity to prove he is a contender in one of the world’s most competitive development series. Lining up in another difficult 18th position due to a qualifying rule for Races 2 and 3, chaos once again commenced at the front of the grid at the start forcing most of the field to take evasive action. Some would make it through the opening turns but the rest of the field, including d’Orlando’s misfortune, were forced to take the safety route around the mess. Falling back into line in 15th he kept his head down with focus to complete the mission for race laps and garner valuable racing experience. His performance was flawless, making clean passes when possible while ultimately working his way up to an impressive ninth place finish.
“Wrapping up the season in Portland unfortunately did not go as I’d hoped or expected in the first two races but I’m happy to finish the season gaining the most positions in a race thus far with a P18 to P9 charge.” states d’Orlando. “It was a pleasure working with Exclusive Autosport once again, and I am gaining much needed experience and knowledge that I will be able to carry on into next season. I am also super happy for my brother, Michael, for the greatest feat of the weekend and claiming the USF2000 championship, so congratulations to him. It’s been fun competing against him again after all these years and I look forward to what next year has in store for Team d’Orlando.”
That puts a cap on the 2022 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. Nicholas d’Orlando and his d’Orlando Enterprises LLC squad will look to develop and raise the budgets required to prepare for and return to the series full time in 2023. Stay tuned for future developments throughout the “Silly Season.”
Partners are an important part of Nicholas d'Orlando's development and d'Orlando Enterprises would like to send a special thanks to all our partners for the 2022 season, including DB Collaborative, Focused Project Management, Rising Star Racing, MotorMedia USA, Pierpont Mechanical, MG Engineering, Dino Luzzi Energy Drink, UFC Gym - Mamaroneck NY, Signature Elevator Maintenance, AME Inc, Celtic General Contractors, LMEC Electric, JVN Systems Inc, Totality Wallet and Sumcoin.
d'Orlando Enterprises LLC develops unique and remarkable VIP experiences, behind the scenes access, and other entertainment opportunities for their partners at all of these events including the Indy500. We also provide an expansive network for business development and B2B opportunities. To be a part of our growing network of partners and for more information on these experiences, our drivers or alternative partnership opportunities, contact Art Wilmes of Rising Star Racing at art.wilmes@risingstarracing.com or Sherri d'Orlando at info@dorlandoracing.com.
Stay tuned to Nicholas d’Orlando social media and website (www.dorlandoracing.com) for continued updates and more information. Follow him on Instagram (dorlandoracing, nickdorlando), Facebook (Nicholas d'Orlando Racing) and Twitter (dorlandoracing and nickdorlando) for all the latest information.
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