Clark leads team with a third-place finish at NOLA Motorsports Park
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Exclusive Autosport headed to the ‘Big Easy’ of NOLA Motorsports Park this past weekend for a tripleheader event, and the team’s USF Pro 2000 trio was led by Mac Clark, who scored an impressive third-place finish in the opening race of the weekend. Clark’s fortunes turned in the other direction in the final two races, but he still remains in the top-five in the championship standings as the squad re-focuses on the month of May at Indianapolis. Joey Brienza began the weekend with a strong top-10 finish, while Carson Etter was forced to battle a shoulder injury as he soldiered through the event.
“I am very happy with the podium in Race 1 from Mac,” said Michael Duncalfe, Co-Owner and CEO. “Collectively the weekend was tough for EA. As a team, we had solid pace, however we had some unfortunate events happen on track that prevented better results. We will keep moving forward and looking towards the month of May.”
The weekend kicked off on Thursday with testing before official business started Friday morning with one practice session, followed by the first of two qualifying sessions. Saturday morning began with the second and final qualifying session before the opening race of the tripleheader weekend, which took place later in the afternoon. From their starting positions inside the top-10, Clark and Brienza went immediately into attack mode. After lap one, Clark had moved up from sixth to fourth with a bold outside move in Turn 4. Brienza was also able to move up a spot in this very competitive field, fighting every lap to move forward. Mac pushed hard throughout the 18-lap race, passing Michael Costello for third on lap two to drive to his second podium finish of the season. Joey would finish in eighth, his best USF Pro 2000 finish thus far. Although Etter was battling an injury, he pushed hard the entire race, posting faster and faster lap times.
Race 2 started just after the noon hour under the blazing sun on Sunday. EA’s three drivers had some work to do, as Qualifying 2 didn’t go exactly as planned. Unfortunately, while quickly advancing on the opening lap, Clark was pushed off the track in turn four, dropping him to the tail of the field. The offending competitor was penalized, but the damage was already done. The event was green to checker without a caution, which Mac needed to get back in the fight, and he ultimately ended 17th in the final tally. Brienza had a strong start, moving himself up all the way up to 13th from the 16th starting position. Joey fought hard, finishing in 12th. Carson finished in the 18th position.
The final race of the weekend was one that could be classified as character building for the EA squad. Due to hitting a curb early in the race, Clark was forced to retire after his fire bottle was activated, causing him to be unable to see through the residue. Brienza was hit on Lap 1 in his rear, cutting the tire and sending him to pit lane. Joey rejoined the race but finished a lap down in 16th. Etter delivered a gutty performance all weekend, fighting with his shoulder pain, and he retired early, unable to continue.
With NOLA now in the rearview mirror, the team has headed back to the shop in Brownsburg to prepare their USF Juniors cars for their second round of the season at Barber Motorsports Park, where Kaylee Countryman and Brenden Cooley will make their NTT INDYCAR SERIES weekend debut on May 1-3.
Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with a great company - Corpay Cross-Border Solutions (https://cross-border.corpay.com/exclusive-autosport/) - who specialize in helping companies of all sizes power their international payments, execute plans to manage their currency risk and support their growth around the world.
Exclusive Autosport is also happy to partner with the state-of-the-art establishment of Autobahn Country Club and their Autobahn Driver Academy (https://autobahncc.com/driver-academy/) - our collaboration will offer aspiring racers comprehensive training in open-wheel racing, leveraging EA’s proven track record of success in developing talent from grassroots levels to professional racing careers. The academy will benefit from EA’s innovative coaching techniques and its commitment to driver excellence.
EXCLUSIVE AUTOSPORT – DRIVER RESULTS AND QUOTES
USF PRO CHAMPIONSHIPS – ROUNDS 3-5 – APRIL 10-13, 2025
MAC CLARK - #90
Qualifying 1: 6th - 1:30.477
Qualifying 2: 7th - 1:29.823
Race 1: Start - 6th / Finish - 3rd
Race 2: Start - 7th / Finish - 17th (Contact)
Race 3: Start - 8th / Finish - 18th (Mechanical)
Driver Quote: “It was definitely a roller coaster weekend here at NOLA Motorsport Park. I was pumped to bring home a podium for the team in Race 1 after charging from P6 on the grid in the #90 Exclusive Autosport Corpay Cross-Border Solutions car. We had the pace all weekend, but some tough breaks in Races 2 and 3 kept us from showing it. I was pushed off the track in Race 2, but at least the driver was penalized. Then, my fire bottle system was activated in Race 3 after I hit the curb. I couldn’t see and had to retire. It was horrible luck and so disappointing to DNF for something outside of our control. Still, the team and I learned a ton, and we’re more fired up than ever heading into May. Huge thanks to Exclusive Autosport and my amazing 2025 partners: Corpay Cross-Border Solutions, Clubine Motorsports, Actuarial Risk Management, TNG Exotics and Road to Racing Canada—for the support. We’ll keep pushing!”
JOEY BRIENZA - #91
Qualifying 1: 9th - 1:30.815
Qualifying 2: 16th - 1:30.800
Race 1: Start - 9th / Finish - 8th
Race 2: Start - 16th / Finish - 12th
Race 3: Start - 14th / Finish - 16th (Contact)
Driver Quote: “I got my first top-10 in USF Pro 2000, and we made great progress throughout the weekend. I am very grateful to my entire #91 crew and all of Exclusive Autosport for their incredible work all weekend long. We keep improving each race and I’m very excited for my home race at IMS coming up in a month.”
CARSON ETTER - #92
Qualifying 1: 18th - 1:32.239
Qualifying 2: 17th - 1:31.263
Race 1: Start - 18th / Finish - 17th
Race 2: Start - 17th / Finish - 18th
Race 3: Start - 17th / Finish - 19th
Driver Quote: “This weekend was a massive struggle. Going into it, I knew it was going to be a challenge as we knew I had an injury, but we didn’t know how much it would affect me. Unfortunately, it was an instant factor. From the beginning of the first session, I knew it was going to be a long weekend. All we can do now is find out the extent of the injury and see what we can do to fix it. I just have to give a huge thank you to the entire team for their support and understanding of my current situation! We are going to get this fixed and come back stronger!”