Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Jace Denmark left it late to secure his place on the 2025 USF Pro 2000 grid, as he was announced as joining TJ Speed six days before the season begins.

The 20-year-old joins the Australian-owned team after two seasons with Pabst Racing, and will likely be a title favourite for this campaign.

In 2023 he came seventh in the standings with three podiums and a pole, then last year he was third in the championship. Although he failed to win, he claimed another pole and was on the podium nine times.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Tim [Neff, team owner], TJ Speed, and all my partners who have helped make this programme possible,” Denmark explained.

“My ultimate goal in 2025 was to secure a seat in Indy Nxt, but after some testing, it became clear that my budget wouldn’t allow for a competitive ride. I reached out to some key people in motorsport, reconnected with Tim —whom I had spoken to in the past about racing with — and together we worked out a deal that gives me the chance to compete in 2025.”

While he has not been able to make it into Indy Nxt, Denmark has become a development driver for Indy Nxt team HMD Motorsports. He will work with them on non-clashing weekends against his USFP2000 commitments, and plans to race for HMD in 2026.

Also recently announced as part of TJ Speed’s line-up is Ariel Elkin. The 17-year-old Israeli came 17th in Italian Formula 4 two years ago with a best finish of seventh, and he made the podium in a United States F4 cameo.

Last year he raced two steps below USFP2000 in USF Juniors, and came fourth in the standings with three victories and four poles. He was also fourth in the Motorsport Games F4 event.

Turn 3 Motorsport now has five drivers signed for 2025, although its two latest additions are only confirmed for the St. Petersburg season opener.

Titus Sherlock, 20, was the 2021 Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series runner-up, came eighth in USF Juniors in 2022, was 2023 US F4 runner-up and came fourth in Formula Regional Americas last year. He won five races during the year, and was only a few points off being runner-up in yet another championship.

His one-off team-mate will be Elliot Cox, who is 17 and has spent the last two years in USF2000. In 2024 he came sixth in the standings and made the podium three times.

The post Denmark commits to staying in USFP2000 after missing out on Indy Nxt appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Becoming the first driver since 2007 to score more than 600 points in a year, Louis Foster’s charge to the 2024 Indy Nxt title was the kind of season that couldn’t be ignored and what he needed for an IndyCar chance

Through the first three Indy Nxt events of 2024, it looked like a title fight would play out between Abel Motorsports’ Jacob Abel and HMD Motorsports’ Nolan Siegel. The latter was the highest-placed returnee from 2023, when he won twice en route to third in the standings, while Abel had gone two seasons without winning but had finally clicked with Indy Nxt’s car.

Fast forward a further three events, and Andretti Global’s Louis Foster was 35 points clear at the top after taking pole, victory and leading every lap of both races in the Laguna Seca double-header and Siegel was no longer racing after signing a multi-year deal with McLaren to become one of its IndyCar drivers.

Despite Siegel’s departure, the title fight was still wide open. HMD’s Caio Collet had been on the podium four times and Andretti’s Jamie Chadwick had won at Road America as she continually improved in her sophomore campaign.

There was also another huge factor that was yet to come into consideration, and one that can do more for IndyCar ambitions than season-long brilliance: oval pace.

After Laguna Seca, there were two more road courses on the schedule but four ovals. That was twice as many as 2023, with Abel and Foster finishing second at Iowa Speedway and Gateway respectively that year. Like the rest of the field, both were new to the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway.

The last time Indy Nxt had three oval races was 2018, a number it had maintained after dropping down from five in 2013.

Qualifying on an oval with a two-lap average speed of 170mph (as was the case at Iowa) is hard enough, but running at a similar pace for lap after lap while sharing the track with everyone else is a different level of pressure and tiny mistakes on ovals have big consequences.

Absolute pace

Pos.	Driver	Pace	Pos.	Driver	Pace	Pos.	Driver	Pace
1	Foster	100.242%	9	Brooks	101.193%	18	Browne	101.751%
2	Abel	100.465%	10	Hedge	101.241%	N/A	Porto	101.785%
3	Collet	100.627%	11	de Alba	101.245$	19	Missig	101.907%
4	d’Orlando	100.664%	12	Sundaramoorthy	101.337%	20	Allaer	101.972%
5	Siegel	100.752%	13	Mason	101.343%	21	Miller	102.385%
6	Chadwick	100.786%	14	Rowe	101.444%	22	Escotto	102.649%
7	Roe	100.907%	15	Gold	101.547%	23	Koolen	102.658%
N/A	Jones	100.913%	16	Bogle	101.595%	24	Brewer	104.570%
8	Aron	101.058%	17	Pierson	101.612%	25	Ferns	109.600%

Driver did less than three rounds. No average when only one event attended

Foster was frank that his approach was to nullify those factors mentally, and romped to the title by winning all four oval races.

“I am quite thoughtful in things I do. I think a lot about things I say and do and how I act both on and off the track,” he said.

“People say they perform better under pressure; I disagree completely. I don’t think anyone does. I think if you could take pressure off, you’ll perform better. So that’s my way of going about things. I try and take pressure off in situations, look at big pictures and kind of spell it out for myself in a way. To compute information better. To get it all clear in my head. Of what I need to do and the situation that I have, and how to deal with that.

“So pressure-wise, for me it’s keeping [it] off of myself as much as possible. Because I think you perform better when you’re less stressed. Because no one likes being stressed.”

His team-mate James Roe Jr beat to him pole at Iowa by 0.0054 seconds, but Foster passted him for the lead with six laps to go for victory after focusing on tyre management from the very start of the race while sitting in his mirrors. There had been extreme concern about tyre durability after drivers suffered from blistering in practice, and the race length was shortened from 75 to 55 laps.

The pace car’s two interventions in the race helped alleviate the issue further, but denied Roe a shot at victory as yellow flags waved shortly after Foster’s pass. There were two other gifts for the points leader, as Collet caused the first caution period by spinning out early, and Abel retired mid-race with a slashed rear-right tyre.

Oval pace

Pos.	Driver	Pace	Pos.	Driver	Pace
1	Foster	100.058%	11	Sundaramoorthy	101.519%
2	Chadwick	100.423%	12	Rowe	102.163%
N/A	d’Orlando	100.611%	13	Pierson	102.357%
3	Abel	100.627%	N/A	Escotto	102.672%
4	Collet	100.975%	14	Browne	102.815%
5	Hedge	101.043%	15	Miller	102.999%
6	Roe	101.069%	N/A	Koolen	103.012%
7	Aron	101.116%	N/A	Allaer	103.263%
8	Brooks	101.187%	N/A	Missig	103.279%
9	de Alba	101.228%	16	Gold	103.378%
10	Bogle	101.379%	17	Ferns	109.600%

Driver did less than three rounds. No average when only one event attended

If Laguna Seca hadn’t been the turning point of the season, then that race certainly was as Foster led lights-to-flag in the next three oval races. Combined with Iowa that came to 236 laps in front, with Roe leading for 49.

On the road and street courses, Foster took wins on Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the streets of Detroit to accompany his Laguna Seca double, was second at three other venues and only off the podium at Barber Motorsports Park and in race one of two at IMS (when he finished a season-low seventh).

Abel and the HMD trio of Callum Hedge, Christian Bogle and Jonathan Browne were also classified as finishers of every race, but Abel came home outside of the top 10 twice and the HMD drivers never even led a lap. Hedge did come fourth in the standings through his consistency, but only made the podium in Detroit.

Foster also led 126 laps away from the ovals, bettering Abel’s 105, while Collet spent 59 laps in front (leading early on in IMS race two then taking with a lights-to-flag win at Mid-Ohio), Siegel led from start-to-finish in the 45-lap St. Petersburg season opener and Chadwick’s Road America win came by navigating various challenges to stay at the front for all 20 laps.

If you take away laps spent behind the pace car, then Foster still led over 200 laps of green flag action on ovals and over 100 elsewhere, the kind of form that put him in contention for an IndyCar seat as much as the $850,000 prize he had for becoming champion and could spend on IndyCar testing and entries into the Indianapolis 500 and one other event in 2025.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing signed Foster not only for next season but on a multi-year contract, and before he had even tested their car, while Abel is relying on impressing teams up close in the cockpit in his attempt to secure an IndyCar graduation as his impressive 2024 existed firmly in the shadow of Foster’s sublime one.

USFP2000 has top title fight, but where are next Indy Nxt stars?

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Lochie Hughes would likely have been USF2000 runner-up as a rookie in 2023 if not for a disastrous weekend at Mid-Ohio, and having proven himself at that level he stepped up to USF Pro 2000 for this year and won on debut.

But the Turn 3 Motorsport driver then sank to sixth in the standings while Velocity Racing Development’s Nikita Johnson surged ahead. He had five races of experience from 2023, winning two of them, and he was victorious in four of the first six races of this season. That run was ended when he was disqualified from victory in race two on IMS’s road course due to having a modified component on his car, not just losing the 30 points for winning but being docked 30 points too.

His lead went from 55 to 15 points, with TJ Speed’s Hunter Yeany his closest rival. Johnson was then handed a gift as Yeany had run out of budget and promptly dropped off the grid, so he instead had a 22-point margin over Hughes who after a single top-10 finish at the NOLA Motorsports Park triple-header had been on the podium in all three races at IMS.

The momentum was swinging back into Hughes’ favour, and next up was the year’s sole oval race which awarded significantly more points to the top 16 than any other contest. Hughes finished the Freedom 90 at Indianapolis Raceway Park in third, Exclusive Autosport’s Braden Eves won and Johnson was classified 17th after crashing out. Now 24 points split the top four.

Johnson led by a point over Hughes, who two weeks later at Road America won all three races as Johnson lacked pace. He started outside of the top 10 twice, but his recovery drives were not enough to prevent Hughes romping into a 50-point lead.

He responded at Mid-Ohio with victory in both races, and as Hughes finished fourth and seventh the gap closed back down to 26 points with two rounds to go and with Pabst Racing’s win-free Jace Denmark a further six behind.

The top two were split by 0.0905s in Toronto practice, but the gap grew to 0.459s in the first qualifying session with Hughes in second and Johnson eighth. They returned to the top in Q2, split by 0.1114s and with Denmark 0.0767s behind Johnson.

Average start and finish positions

Rank	Driver	Start	Rank	Driver	Finish
1	Hughes	4.22	1	Hughes	4.94
2	Johnson	4.72	N/A	Aron	5.00
3	Denmark	5.33	2	Denmark	5.56
4	Yeany	5.60	3	Yeany	5.75
5	Sikes	6.00	4	Johnson	6.00
N/A	Aron	6.00	5	Brooks	6.65
6	Brooks	6.36	6	Sikes	8.61
7	Sceats	7.61	7	Sceats	8.89
8	Clark	7.81	8	van Berlo	9.00
9	van Berlo	8.00	9	Dyszelski	9.67
10	Dyszelski	9.00	10	Mossman	9.78

Driver did less than three rounds. No average when only one event attended

Johnson ploughed into the back of TJ Speed’s Liam Sceats at the opening corner of race one, and Hughes pitted at the end of lap one but charged back up to fifth from 14th. Simon Sikes took victory over team-mate Denmark, who cut Hughes’ lead by two points. Hughes led lights-to-flag in race two, and Denmark passed Johnson early before they swapped places again.

After a lengthy period sat in Hughes’ mirrors, Johnson had his first go at taking the lead undone by yellow flags. When pressuring again a few laps later a spin turned into a race-ending crash, and Denmark lost second to Sceats late on but retained his status as effectively Hughes’ only title rival as Johnson only just remained in contention.

Taking pole for both races of the Portland finale kept Johnson’s title hopes alive, and he held off a charging Sikes to win a wet race one. But Hughes’s run to sixth was enough to crown him champion as a spin, puncture and pitstop left Denmark in 14th.

Another lights-to-flag win for Johnson in race two ahead of Hughes, Sikes and Denmark meant he snatched back the championship runner-up spot and ended the season 40 points behind. Had VRD provided him with a legal car in race two at IMS, then finishing 10th that day would’ve been enough to claim title honours come season-end.

Hughes still step up to Indy Nxt with Andretti in 2025, Johnson will look beyond VRD and America by racing in Formula Regional Oceania and GB3, and Denmark’s plans are undecided (but he’s unlikely to spend a third year in USFP2000).

Ricardo Escotto will solely focus on Indy Nxt after competing there part-time this year alongside coming ninth in USFP2000, and at the time of writing the highest-placed driver confirmed to be continuing on the third rung of the USA’s single-seater ladder is Alessandro de Tullio who did the last three rounds of the 2024 USFP2000 season and came 20th in the standings.

Pabst’s Christian Brooks skipped the last two rounds after also stepping up to Indy Nxt mid-season, but has no 2025 seat at present, while Bryce Aron stepped down to USFP2000 for the Freedom 90 to get some oval experience.

It’s a big contrast to last year, when the top four in the points and seven others graduated to Indy Nxt in some capacity for 2024.

The post The ferocious Indy Nxt form from Foster that IndyCar couldn’t ignore appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Jace Denmark and Hunter Yeany shared the pole positions in USF Pro 2000 qualifying at NOLA Motorsport Park.

Denmark was fastest in the first qualifying session with a 1m31.0488s, just over a tenth of a second quicker than Yeany.

The TJ Speed driver bounced back in the second session to take race two pole, while Denmark went fourth fastest.

Both Q1 and Q2 ran green throughout, with the field managing to stay on the circuit for the duration of the 20-minute sessions.

Nicolas Baptiste set the pace after the opening laps in Q1, but was soon knocked down the order by Nikita Johnson and Denmark in turn.

Denmark was leading the way at the mid-point, and improved twice more to keep first place out of reach of Yeany and Mac Clark.

Although Clark was in third place when the chequered flag waved, late flying laps from Ethan Ho and Simon Sikes knocked him down to fifth, ahead of Baptiste. 

Nicholas Monteiro also improved late to go seventh quickest. Nikita Johnson, Christian Brooks and Liam Sceats completed the top 10.

In Q2, Yeany went top in the first five minutes, but Denmark looked as if he would take a double pole as he set a 1m31.6984s. He later improved, only for Yeany to knock him off the top spot in the closing minutes. His 1m31.1144s secured him pole by 0.1537s over Baptiste, with Sikes in third.

Denmark was 0.2401s off the pace, with Johnson and Clark close behind him in fifth sixth. Free practice pace-setter Brooks qualified seventh, ahead of Sceats, Ricardo Escotto and Ethan Ho. 

It was two difficult qualifying sessions for championship leader Lochie Hughes, who was 13th in Q1 and 12th in Q2.

Qualifying round-up
Q1 results
1 Jace Denmark Pabst Racing 1m31.0488s
2 Hunter Yeany TJ Speed +0.1260s
3 Ethan Ho Turn 3 Motorsport +0.1348s
4 Simon Sikes Pabst Racing +0.1495s
5 Mac Clark DEForce Racing +0.1647s
6 Nicolas Baptiste BN Racing +0.1750s
7 Nicholas Monteiro DEForce Racing +0.2969s
8 Nikita Johnson VRD +0.2985s
9 Christian Brooks Pabst Racing +0.3385s
10 Liam Sceats TJ Speed +0.3888s

Q2 results
1 Yeany 1m31.1144s
2 Baptiste +0.1537s
3 Sikes +0.1677s
4 Denmark +0.2401s
5 Johnson +0.2644s
6 Clark +0.3847s
7 Brooks +0.5665s
8 Sceats +0.5669s
9 Ricardo Escotto BN Racing +0.5684s
10 Ho +0.5722s

The post Denmark and Yeany share poles at NOLA in USF Pro 2000 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Jace Denmark will remain with Pabst Racing for his second season in USF Pro 2000, which will mark his fourth year with the team.

The 19-year-old American spent two campaigns in USF2000 driving for Pabst, making the podium once as a rookie then winning four races and coming third in the standings in 2022. He stepped up to USFP2000 this year with the team and finished seventh in the third-tier championship.

His best race result was a second place at Mid-Ohio, and he claimed two third places and a pole position from the first six races of the campaign.

“Super excited to be back with Pabst Racing for the 2024 USFP2000 season,” said Denmark.

“I can’t wait to start the work needed to make our next season great with my family at Pabst. Coming back for a second year with tons of seasoning will be a great step forward towards my career and the legacy of Pabst Racing.”

Team owner Augie Pabst added: “Having Jace return for 2024 is a testament to the team and driver relationship that we’ve developed since he started with us in 2021. I can’t wait to see Jace atop the podium throughout the coming season.”

Pabst ran two full-time entries this year, and Denmark is the first driver to be confirmed as being on the 2024 grid. Yet to announce his plans for next year is Simon Sikes, who tested with Pabst post-season and earned a $433,200 (£347,756) scholarship to race in USFP2000 after winning the 2023 USF2000 title with the team.

The post Jace Denmark stays at Pabst Racing for second year in USF Pro 2000 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Jace Denmark pipped Pabst Racing team-mate Myles Rowe to pole in USF Pro 2000 qualifying at Sebring.

Rowe had started the day by edging Denmark to top spot in free practice by 0.011 seconds with a 1m58.609s lap, and Jay Howard Driver Development’s Reece Ushijima had been 0.269s back in third place.

TJ Speed’s Francesco Pizzi started qualifying as the fastest driver, with a gap of 0.134s to Rowe.

Denmark went fastest next time around, a 1m59.340s lap putting him 0.390s clear of Rowe and 0.592s ahead of Pizzi. Exclusive Autosport’s Salvador de Alba was running out of sync with most of the field and he then went second fastest with a 1m59.681s laptime.

The top two improved on their third efforts, with the gap shrinking to 0.121s between them, and Jordan Missig made it a Pabst 1-2-3 after lapping just 0.188s slower than Denmark.

They did not improve on their fourth laps, but Turn 3 Motorsport’s Michael d’Orlando and Pizzi did to go second and fourth.

There was further change to the order in the final eight minutes of the 25-minute session, as Rowe became the first driver to lap in the 1m58s and put himself on provisional pole while Denmark also improved but was now in second place.

He regained top spot with four-and-a-half minutes remaining on the clock, setting a 1m58.602s to better an improving Rowe by 0.016s. Over 0.6s slower but jumping back up to third was Missig, until he was shuffled down to fourth a minute later by Exclusive’s Joel Granfors.

He responded by topping the times with a 1m58.536s lap, but Denmark then set a 1m58.405s to reclaim provisional pole. Pizzi knocked Missig down to third with a 1m58.522s lap, while Rowe also went faster but stayed in fourth place.

Rowe improved again after the chequered flag, but it was not enough for pole as he was 0.072s slower than Denmark.

Just 0.05s covered Pizzi, Missig and d’Orland in third, fourth and fifth, with the next four cars all within two third of a second of pole.

Absent from proceedings was Christian Brooks, who won the opening race of the season in St. Petersburg for Turn 3 but was competing on a one-weekend deal.

Qualifying results

The post Denmark pips Pabst team-mate Rowe to USF Pro 2000 pole at Sebring appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: James Black

Two series have been rebranded, there are big names moving up and down the single-seater ladder, and the calendara contains new and returning challenges for IndyCar’s support series this year

Although IndyCar has grown in popularity worldwide over recent years, its support series haven’t always followed it on an upward trend. Indy Lights suffered from small grids and had one season cancelled entirely, the Freedom 100 race on the hallowed Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval became a race of the past and the progression into IndyCar seats for the Indy Lights champions has become harder despite the long-running system of providing a handy scholarship fund.

That last point is on a lot of minds as 2022 champion Linus Lundqvist is without a drive, following the decision by the series’ new promoter Penske Entertainment to overhaul the scholarship and therefore not provide the cash required for the step up.

But there were positives to takes from Penske’s first year in charge, and heading into 2023 it is making more changes to bring the series closer to IndyCar, which it owns. The first, to end the long-running partnership with Cooper Tires and bring in Firestone, means the United States’ two top single-seater series now have the same spec tyre supplier.

This winter it announced a name change, with Indy Lights now known as Indy Nxt. Penske says the series is now “guided by an ethos” aiming to “relate to Generation Z [people born in the mid- to late 1990s and 2000s]”. But rather than grow its social media presence, as IndyCar did, it instead moved more broadcasting behind paywalls to match IndyCar’s television presence.

The positive mood in the paddock has proven to be well-placed though, as the grid has boomed for this year and team boss Michael Andretti told Formula Scout that “finally the IndyCar scene [has realised] how important Indy Nxt is to their future”. Several IndyCar teams now have their own young driver development programmes, and the Indy Nxt scholarship fund being changed again to guarantee $850,000 to the champion to spend on two IndyCar events in 2024 including the Indianapolis 500 and the rookie orientation tests at the IMS and Texas ovals.

So with these changes in mind, what and who should we be looking out for on the IndyCar support bill in 2023?

How Firestone’s tyres will change the pecking order

Teams got their first taste of the all-new rubber in a ‘private’ test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in January, and the feedback from what is considered a high-degradation track was that they have a very different compound to get used to.

HMD Motorsports’ Josh Green said the tyres deliver more grip at the start of a run, and don’t have an extreme drop-off on a short run, which suggests that drivers who push hard at the start of a race may not suffer as quickly as they would have in previous years. However the drop-off in pace from the tyre could still be huge once the tyre gets to a certain age.

With nine cars on the grid, HMD will have a huge amount of data to pool from and it already sounded like in testing that the team was making quick progress in learning the tyres. Andretti Autosport has a four-car line-up and no other team has more than two cars, so expect HMD to take the early advantage when the season gets underway.

The impact of grid growth

There are already 18 drivers confirmed for the 12-round season, meaning it could start with the largest grid in over a decade.

Three rounds take place on street circuits, and having more cars on track could lead to more drama. It may also be a noticable factor in the two oval races, as it’s unknown how drivable the tyres are on ovals, and could lead to more costly driver errors.

Having more cars on track will perhaps be felt most though in qualifying. HMD should be able to co-ordinate to make sure their drivers don’t get in the way of each other, and they will need to be on top of their strategy when it comes to drivers coming in and out of the pits as there are only so many cars the team can service or change the tyres of at once.

Utilising the tow at tracks with long straights will also be something HMD can put time into while other teams’ drivers may simply be looking for some space on track to be able set a flying lap without traffic.

Indy Nxt grid size

Jamie Chadwick

After four years and three titles in Formula Regional, the Williams junior finally moves up the single-seater ladder. Some say she’s more than proven herself by now, but others think her time in W Series has posed more questions than answers.

For all that the all-female W Series did for visibility and providing seats for drivers without needing them to bring hundreds of thousands of pounds to race, the centrally-run championship’s reputation for actual driver development was scant.

Using a lighter steering rack than the standard one for the FRegional car left Chadwick in particular unprepared for when she raced in other championships in the same category, engineers who joined for occassional events found a lack of technical freedom as the series sought to have as equal machinery across the grid as possible, and after her first Indy Nxt test Chadwick immediately noted the “amount of adjustability within set-ups” after “being quite restricted” in W Series.

Her enthusiasm about all aspects of the Dallara IL-15 shows her willingness to integrate herself into its demands and find the way to be fast, and even if that does not translate into top results then she will still be bringing eyes from around the world onto the series.

“It starts quite top-heavy. St. Petersburg and then Barber, two of probably the tougher tracks on the calendar, but still it’s good to throw yourself into it and looking forward to that,” Chadwick shared when she announced her Indy Nxt move.

“The physically is definitely tough. The thing that’s the toughest part, or the biggest step up, is the duration of the races. I definitely feel capable for one lap, but now looking at 45 minutes to an hour is going to be the challenge. Something that I definitely feel is achievable with training.

“I’ve driven the car now enough to know what I need to do, and that’s where the winter is going to be busy. But still something that I feel capable of doing.

“It will change a little bit with the tyre change maybe, but it felt like the actual weight of the steering was quite a lot lighter than I’ve been used to, it’s just the fact that it’s quite busy.

“You’re fighting the car a lot, so general cardiovascular, things like that, is higher. So I’ve been working on that over this winter and will continue to work. Hopefully that’s something that isn’t an issue come the first race. And also actually worth noting, Andretti as a team have been super good in terms of trying to help me with steering wheel grips, things like that, they’ve supported a lot because my hands are smaller and everything so that’ve been great.”

The best way to judge Chadwick’s season will be against her three team-mates, who have varying levels of experience.

Andersen’s own series revamps

There was no indication that had Indy Nxt remained under Andersen Promotions’ control then any of the changes over the past 12 months would have happened. But IndyCar’s owner was exerting its influence regardless, so perhaps it was a direction the series was bound to be headed in.

However, nobody was expecting it to make similar moves with the two rungs below for 2023.

The collective ‘Road to Indy’ banner encompassing IndyCar and its three support series has now been dropped, with USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 existing together now with USF Juniors as the ‘USF Pro championships’.

USFP2000 was known as Indy Pro 2000 until last October, and the removal of Indy from its name is symbolic of the separation between the top two series and the ones that sit below it now. At the same time it highlights how interconnected the USF Pro series are, with all three actually using cars with the same underpinnings for 2023, but that runs the risk of each not having individual identities and USFP2000 and USF2000 sounding so alike in name that they can be mistaken for each other.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

The 2023 calendar also moves USFP2000 away from IndyCar, with races at Sebring (for the first time since 2010) and a first-ever trip to Circuit of the Americas under the jurisdiction of the United States Auto Club. One of the two oval races is lost, and the remaining Indianapolis Raceway Park round continues to run as a standalone oval event.

USF2000 also heads to Sebring, as the expense of Barber Motorsports Park where USF Juniors will be supporting IndyCar.

Proven drivers choosing to race at a lower level

Having won the title in what was then a Formula 4-spec USF Juniors series last year, Mac Clark [pictured below] had a scholarship to spend on racing in USF2000 for 2023. The thing is the Canadian teenager, who was US F4 and YACademy Winter Series runner-up in 2021, has already shown he’s more than ready to race at a higher level.

Clark drove for DEForce Racing in F4 through 2022, and the team added him to its USF2000 line-up for the season finale. The James Hinchcliffe protege finished fourth on debut, then won his second race.

You can’t rest a case on one weekend in USF2000, but Clark also raced in FRegional Americas in 2022 and won on debut. Two more podiums put him sixth in the points, after missing a round, and only added to the impression he is a driver who deserves to be at the next level. As his 2023 focus is USF2000, with DEForce once more, he should be one of the title favourites.

On the rung above in USFP2000 is another driver who has already proven their abilities further up the open-wheel ladder.

Former Sauber junior Lirim Zendeli has signed with TJ Speed, which is debuting in the series with the cars previously campaigned by Juncos Hollinger Racing, and the 23-year-old German brings experience from FIA Formula 3 and Formula 2. The 2018 ADAC F4 champion spent two years in F3, where he claimed two poles and a win, then raced in F2 through 2021 before his budget ran dry with two rounds to go. Last year he made cameo appearances in both series.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Zendeli did a Super Formula Lights test in November organised by the Monaco Increase Management company that looks after his career and was also responsible for bringing Alex Palou to Indycar. That he and his management then settled on racing in America made sense, but to step down to USFP2000 with a debuting team is a risk that has to return a big reward.

Denmark, d’Orlando and Rowe do battle again

One of the most thrilling championship battles in all of motorsport last year was in USF2000, where Cape Motorsports’ Michael d’Orlando and Pabst Racing duo Jace Denmark and Myles Rowe had a close fight not just in the points table but also wheel-to-wheel on track.

Sometimes it got too close between them, but those incidents added to the drama of the rivalry and ultimately it was d’Orlando who triumphed with victory in the final race of the season.

Denmark and Rowe stay with Pabst for the step up to USFP2000, with Force Indy backing Rowe after Penske Entertainment provided the funding to keep him on the USF2000 grid through last year, and d’Orlando has signed with Turn 3 Motorsport.

Although there are the likes of Zendeli and returning race-winners Kiko Porto (DEForce) and Salvador de Alba (Exclusive Autosport), and even other overseas additions in GB3 runner-up Joel Granfors (Exclusive) and former F3 racer Francesco Pizzi (TJ Speed), there will be a lot of attention on the three USF2000 graduates after the show they put on in 2022.

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Photos: Gavin Baker Photography

The margins were usually super tight in USF2000 this year, setting up a dramatic three-way title decider 

On this week’s Formula Scout Podcast, USF2000 champion Michael d’Orlando joins to talk through a title campaign that was fought by the closest of margins against a stacked field of talent. Listen to the episode on Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Castbox, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or below, and read on for some of the highlights!

“I’m a firm believer that, as much as the US sometimes get the bad rep by fans, that USF2000 is really stacked, and every single year that I’ve been racing in it it’s been just extremely close competition,” says d’Orlando.

“I’m quite happy to say that I was the champ of what I believe to be one of the hardest series in the ladder of formula cars. I’m kind of ecstatic about it.”

To present an example: “There’s been a couple of qualifying sessions where I got nicked by like less than a thousandths, and I’m like ‘are you kidding me?!’.”

He’s not wrong, for the St. Petersburg season opener he was 0.1006 seconds off pole position, but qualified seventh, and was pipped to top spot by 0.0532s at Mid-Ohio.

USF2000’s pole margins in 2022

St. Petersburg 0.0084s, Barber Motorsports Park 0.1248s, Barber race two 0.0113s, Indianapolis Motor Speedway 0.0656s, Indianapolis Raceway Park 0.1350s, Road America 0.1064s, Road America race two 0.2294s, Mid-Ohio 0.0532s, Toronto 0.2460s, Toronto race two 0.0416s, Portland 0.0805s

2022 USF2000 standings

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Photo: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

Jace Denmark will step up to USF Pro 2000 with Pabst Racing in 2023, after fighting for the USF2000 title with the team this year.

The 18-year-old joined the team last year, coming 11th in USF2000 with one podium. He upped his game for 2022, winning the season opener, claiming his first pole a race later and was in title contention until the final race following two wins late in the season.

He eventually finished third in the points, just behind team-mate Myles Rowe who will also be stepping up to USFP2000 with Pabst in a car with Force Indy branding.

“Super excited to extend my relationship with Pabst Racing for the full 2023 season,” said Denmark.

“This step up in my career is big, the car is so much fun to drive. I believe that we can make strides in our USF Pro programme with what I have to offer. Lots of preparation is in order to make it great.”

Augie Pabst, the eponymous team boss, commented: “Jace has grown tremendously as a driver in our USF2000 programme over the past two seasons. We’re absolutely thrilled to see him progressing to our USFP2000 programme for 2023.”

Elsewhere on the USFP2000 grid, the incoming TJ Speed team has signed 16-year-old Christian Weir.

This year Weir finished eighth in USF2000 with Turn 3 Motorsport, taking one pole and two podiums, and also drove in the series aged 14 in 2021 with the disrection of IndyCar.

He also has Formula 4 experience, coming seventh in the YACademy Winter Series and winning the Eastern F4 series in 2021.

“I am excited to join TJ Speed in 2023 and thank Tim [Neff] and his entire staff for the opportunity,” said Weir.

“In the end, the ultimate goal is to be a professional in motorsports, and I think the TJ Speed programme allows me to continue that path.”

TJ Speed team principal Tim Neff said “we are expecting big things” from Weir in 2023, and that he is “confident that with our experience, knowledge, and driver development efforts, we will be able to further harness his abilities and better his results this coming year”.

He added: “This is not a hobby for us as I look to add to our team’s results resume. Christian is the perfect fit for our programme and that is noted just from his time spent at the shop. He is precise about what he wants and determined more than most. I think he will be a success story next year.”

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Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Jace Denmark moved to within four points of the USF2000 championship lead with victory in the opening race in Portland.

The win came as title rivals Myles Rowe and Michael d’Orlando ran into issues during the 25 lap race.

Denmark led from start to finish. On the opening lap, Thomas Nepveu jumped up to second while Nikita Johnson fell backwards. But before Nepveu could challenge Denmark, the race was neutralised due to an incident further back.

Nicholas d’Orlando and Dylan Christie were two of a number of drivers involved in an incident at the first corner and both were taken out of the race.

The field got a clean restart and Denmark pulled out of reach of the rest of the field. He was comfortably at the front of the order when the yellow flags were waved again, this time after Jagger Jones had run into the back of Christian Weir and both drivers spun. Spike Kohlbecker had his own incident just behind them and also spun. Weir and Kohlbecker were able to continue but Jones was left stranded on track.

On the restart, Rowe was on the move. He had already climbed up to third before the caution, but took second from Nepveu when racing resumed. He put Denmark under pressure, which allowed the recovering Johnson to close onto the back of the lead fight.

Rowe then found himself under attack and was forced wide as he tried to deny Johnson the move. Rowe took to the grass and the escape road but tumbled down the order.

Denmark now had a comfortable gap to second and took the chequered flag more than two seconds clear of Johnson, who was just ahead of Nepveu.

Rowe moved up to 10th on the final lap, but his lead was now reduced to four points with two races to go.

Michael d’Orlando also had a difficult race. He was on the move after qualifying at the tail end of the top 10 and had made it up to fifth when a trip through the grass at turn four dropped him backwards. D’Orlando restarted his climb, this time from outside the top 10, and managed to get up to seventh by the chequered flag.

Mac Clark, making his debut in the series, fell backwards in the opening lap drama but climbed up the order to finish fourth ahead of Jacob Douglas and Danny Dyszelski. Behind d’Orlando came Nicky Hays and Jorge Garciarce.

Race result (25 laps)

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Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Jace Denmark claimed pole position for the first race of the USF2000 championship decider in Portland.

The Pabst Racing driver was less than a tenth of a second quicker than Nikita Johnson but comfortably ahead of his title rivals.

Championship leader Myles Rowe led the way early on and was consistently at the sharp end of the field. Rowe hit the top of the order early on, but slipped backwards after improvements for Denmark, Johnson and Thomas Nepveu.

Rowe couldn’t improve in the final minutes of the session and finished qualifying fourth, 0.1065s off the time set by team-mate Denmark, who is now 23 points away from the lead after gaining one point for pole.

Second in the championship, Michael d’Orlando had a more difficult qualifying session. After hitting P2 early on, he slipped back down the order. He continued to find improvements, but couldn’t match the times his title rivals were settling and qualified ninth, ahead of Dylan Christie.

Jagger Jones also had a difficult session. He only managed nine laps, compared to the 14 laps completed by most of the field, and qualified P14.

Team-mate Nicky Hays was the quickest Cape Motorsport driver, placing fifth overall ahead of Mac Clark.

Jacob Douglas improved on is final lap of the session to go seventh, ahead of Exclusive Autosport team-mate Billy Frazer.

Qualifying result

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