Nico Jamin of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing edged Victor Franzoni for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda Cooper Tires Winterfest title following five races over a seven-day span at NOLA Motorsports Park near New Orleans and Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing also earned the team championship.

"Everyone at Cape Motorsports worked so hard all week, and I'm so happy to get the last win of Winterfest and the championship,” said Jamin, of France. “I didn't trust it when the team told me.

“This gives me a lot of confidence going into the season. I can't wait for St. Petersburg, but this is very high competition, with the second-year guys who are really fast and the rookies that are coming closer, race after race. It's going to be a very exciting championship."

The USF2000 regular season begins March 28-29 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., in conjunction with the Verizon IndyCar Series and the two other Mazda Road to Indy series.

Franzoni, of Brazil, won the first race Feb. 26 at Barber in an Afterburner Autosport car, with Jake Eidson of Pabst Racing finishing second and Jamin third.

Eidson, 19, from Littleton, Colo., posted the fastest race lap, ensuring him of pole position and an additional two championship points entering the mini-series finale. Allied to his pair of wins last week at NOLA Motorsports Park, Eidson needed only a seventh-place finish to secure the series crown.

But the car came to a stop on the opening lap, dashing his title hopes.

After another full-course caution, Franzoni held onto his lead at the restart but he couldn't shake Jamin. Then, with three laps remaining, a mistake by Franzoni at the final corner gave Jamin the opportunity to get past and go on to win by 2.1 seconds. Anthony Martin, who finished fourth in the first race of the day, earned third place in the finale for John Cummiskey Racing.