The Gold Coast-born driver this year made the switch from Europe to North America, joining HMD Motorsports..
It’s been a relatively low-key season so far, though the recent round at Road America foreshadowed promise with finishes of fourth and sixth.
He improved again at Mid-Ohio with finishes of third and second.
“It was a really good weekend,” said Beeton.
“We struggled a lot at the start of the year. We’ve known we’ve had potential the whole time. The pace has been good. We just haven’t put it together.
“But to start finally putting it together – we’re getting our best results in Road America in the top five, and then now a double podium here, third yesterday, second today – I’m really happy with how the event has gone.”
Enzo Fittipaldi surged into the lead of the series with back-to-back Mid-Ohio wins, moving 17 points ahead of Tymek Kucharczyk and 20 points clear of Nikita Johnson.
“Obviously Enzo has been really, really fast all weekend, so he has been hard to beat,” said Beeton after his runner-up result on Monday.
“I was trying to be a bit strategic, saving my tyres the whole race because I knew he was too far.
“I was thinking maybe I could get him at the end, but a Safety Car never came.
“We had three yesterday and none today, so I was a bit surprised. I didn’t end up getting it, but really happy to come away second.”
Asked where he had made the biggest gains, Beeton identified qualifying as a sore spot this season..
“The biggest thing in racing is qualifying, right? If you’re going to start at the front, there’s a lot less people you have to overtake,” said Beeton.
“That’s where I struggled at the start of the year. I was never really putting it together in qualifying.
“When you are starting outside even the top 15 some races, it’s a lot harder to get up the front.
“This weekend we had a good qualifying, also Road America. You see when you start at the front, it’s a lot easier to stay there. That’s definitely been the biggest thing.
“We’ve worked hard as a team to maximize qualifying, and I think we’re finally starting to get there.”
Five races remain in the season. Beeton sits 156 points away from Fittipaldi, occupying eighth in the standings.
Beeton said he hoped to continue his upward trajectory as the series heads to Nashville Superspeedway on July 20 (AEST).
“We’re starting to show some good form,” said Beeton.
“Hopefully next weekend I can say that’s the best one of my career in Nashville and we just keep building on this, building on this the rest of the season, and try to finish strong.
“We know we’ve been quick. Like last week in Milwaukee, I was quickest in the morning, Enzo was quickest in the afternoon.
“HMD, we definitely have a good qualifying car. We’ll work on the racing. We’re good racing drivers, and I’m sure we can race to the front and stay there if we start there.
“Going into Nashville and Milwaukee, super excited. The ovals are really cool. You’re racing at really high speeds. It will be super fun.”
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