Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon doubled up in the second USF2000 race on the streets of St. Petersburg.

He missed out on pole, as Pabst Racing’s Eddie Beswick second-best laptime from qualifying earned him top spot by 0.0758 seconds over team-mate and race one fastest lap-setter Brad Majman.

Garzon’s best race one laptime put him third on race two’s grid, ahead of Joao Vergara (Velocity Racing Development), Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing), Ryan Giannetta (VRD), Lucas Nanji (Pabst) and Anthony Martella (Exclusive Autosport).

Beswick held the lead into the race’s opening corner, and Escorpioni made one overtake before pulling off another at turn four on Majman who had already lost out to Garzon. Racing was then neutralised due to a turn one crash involving Jay Howard Driver Development by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Cal Peter driving over the rear of Exclusive’s Evan Cooley. Later in the lap, Martella ended his race at turn eight.

The restart was not until lap six, and it did not last long as Exclusive’s Connor Aspley had stopped on track after turn 10 and his car needed recovering. JHDD’s Liam Loiaconi pitted during the next caution period, so was at the back for the lap nine restart.

Garzon was instantly alongside Beswick and swept past on the outside before entering turn one, with Escorpioni following through at turn four. A wide moment at turn five for Escorpioni two laps later allowed Beswick back through, and Garzon began pulling away but could not get more than 1.2s ahead.

The top three held their positions through the race’s second half, and Majman was a lonely fourth. DEForce’s Brady Golan overtook Vergara on the lap nine restart for fifth, with Giannetta chasing them through the rest of the race.

VRD’s Teddy Musella climbed two spots from 13th on lap one, and another two on lap nine. On lap 11 he overtook Exclusive’s Ayrton Cahan for eighth.

Race results (20 laps)

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Photo: Penske Entertainment / Joe Skibinski

Nikita Johnson used a first corner move to take a lead he would not give up in Indy Nxt’s season-opening race in St. Petersburg.

The 18-year-old claimed his and Cape Motorsports’ maiden victory in the championship, and it was a winning start for his team’s partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing.

There was drama pre-race as radio trouble meant Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen did not leave the pits with the rest of the field. He was able to make it out in time to join the race start, when Andretti Global’s poleman Max Taylor led the field up to racing speeds.

He covered the inside line going into the opening corner, while fellow front row starter Johnson went to the outside and had taken the lead before even reaching the apex of turn one.

The field navigated the first braking zones without issue, and HMD Motorsports’ Tymek Kucharczyk overtook Andretti’s Seb Murray and Lochie Hughes for third. Later in the lap, HMD’s Jack Beeton spun then AJ Foyt Racing’s Alessandro de Tullio drove into the rear of Andretti’s Josh Pierson, which led to a caution period.

Racing resumed on lap four of a scheduled 45, and Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe had to hold off Pierson for sixth into turn one.

Two laps later there was another caution-triggering event as Ganassi’s Carson Etter broke his front wing then drove over the top of it and into the barriers exiting turn eight.

The next restart was on lap 10, and Taylor tried reclaiming the lead around the outside of turn one but there was not enough room for him to stay alongside into turn one. Murray fought Kucharczyk twice during the lap, but could not maintain his challenge.

Everyone was setting personal best laptimes, and Taylor was mostly able to match Johnson’s pace until the next caution period when Foyt’s Nicholas Monteiro crashing out exiting turn nine on lap 17.

Murray looked to Kucharczyk’s outside approaching turn one on the lap 21 restart, and Koolen got alongside team-mate James Roe Jr on the twisty stretch between turns two and three. They rubbed wheels, then crashed, and racing was neutralised once more.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Alexander Koreiba and Cape’s Matteo Nannini were deemed to have violated the rules of the restart and sent to the back for the next one on lap 26. This time it took two laps for Johnson to make a 0.9-second gap, with Kucharczyk a further 0.9s back, but Taylor reduced it to 0.7s as the race became a timed encounter that would mean a 42-lap distance.

Taylor set a new fastest lap on lap 33, getting within 0.45s of Johnson, but the leader responded and had a 0.86s margin after lap 35 as he lowered his own pace. The pair continued pushing, and Johnson took the fastest lap next time by. He was now 0.971s ahead, and while Taylor did respond by lowering his own pace, both did on lap 38 and Johnson broke a second clear with another fastest lap. The debuting Kucharczyk, engineered by Tim Neff, was now 4.43s behind.

Taylor reclaimed the fastest lap on the next tour, and saving up his push-to-pass for a late-race attack. But Johnson had used it sparingly too, so as both hit the button over the final two laps it meant Johnson was still able to win by 0.699s.

Kucharczyk fell a further second behind, with Murray close behind but never attacking, and Hughes finished fifth. A lot further back was Rowe, who had continued to hold off Pierson, and HMD’s Salvador de Alba finished eighth after passing Abel’s Max Garcia on lap 26 (having conceded a place to him in a forceful turn one move on lap 11) then overtaking Cusick Morgan Motorsports’ Juan Manuel Correa on lap 31.

Beeton recovered to 11th, and Bryce Aron was Ganassi’s top driver in 18th.

Race results (42 laps)

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Photo: Chris Owens

Andretti Global’s Max Taylor claimed pole almost unopposed for the opening race of the Indy Nxt season in St. Petersburg.

Having topped both practice sessions, Taylor was then quickest in the second qualifying group as the 24-car field was split into two.

His team-mate Lochie Hughes was the driver to beat through the first half of group one’s session, bringing the pace down to 1m06.1041s.

HMD Motorsports’ Enzo Fittipaldi was initially second, then team-mate Salvador de Alba took over the position but was 1.0958 seconds off the pace.

Josh Pierson reduced team-mate Hughes’ advantage to 0.7221s with five minutes to go, at which point Cape Motorsports by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Nikita Johnson was among a group of drivers without a flying lap. Once his first effort did come in, he bettered Pierson by 0.0233s to go straight into second.

Abel Motorsports’ Max Garcia slotted into fourth at the same time, and several others set personal bests while Fittipaldi brought his damaged car back to the pits. He had got loose exiting turn three, tried to save his car but hit a wall that damaged the rear-left of his car.

Hughes lowered the pace to 1m05.9871s a minute later, leading Garcia by 0.4944s, Pierson by 0.5133s and de Alba by 0.6152s. When Johnson next crossed the line, he went from fifth to first as he went 0.0865s quicker than Hughes.

Pierson later also beat Hughes, by 0.0113s, and de Alba improved to 1m06.1391s in fourth. Johnson went even faster next time by, setting a 1m05.5418s, but Hughes responded with a 1m05.4352s. AJ Foyt Racing’s Alessandro de Tullio rose to fifth, posting a 1m06.2881s.

Johnson reclaimed provisional pole by 0.2204s with one-and-a-half minutes remaining, and Pierson improved to 1m05.8319s but remained in third. Hughes similarly found more pace but lapped 0.0957s shy of Johnson’s benchmark in the final minute, and de Tullio was 0.5283s behind in third. Pierson then reclaimed that position, getting within 0.3827s of Johnson.

While Johnson said it took a few laps for the track to rubber in, but remained pretty loose, Hughes say it did not rubber in at all and was very different to pracrtice when he lost running after being pushed into the barriers.

It did not take long for Johnson to lose pole once group two was on track. Taylor’s first flying lap was a 1m06.6478s, and on his next laps improved to 1m05.4337s then 1m04.9993s. His team-mate Seb Murray was closest at first, 0.0676s behind before the gap grew to 0.3807s and later 0.4746s.

Third place traded hands, with Juan Manuel Correa, Myles Rowe and Tymek Kucharczyk all occupying the position in the session’s first half and remaining within a second of the pole pace.

Cape’s Matteo Nannini was next to sit third, but only very briefly as Correa, Kucharczyk and Rowe all then held the position over the next 74s. In his attempt to reclaim the spot, Nannini had a huge crash that began as he exited turn two and led to debris going everywhere. That triggered a seven-minute stoppage and meant his fastest lap was deleted.

Qualifying did restart, and Correa improved at the very end to be fifth in the group. Kucharczyk was third, putting him on row three as each group fills a side of the race’s grid, which the debutant considered “a bit dissapointing”.

Qualifying results

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Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon had a stellar opening day of the USF2000 season in St. Petersburg, taking pole and converting it into victory.

Pole position was only narrowly claimed by Garzon, who pipped Exclusive Autosport’s Anthony Martella by 0.0425 seconds. Pabst Racing’s Eddie Beswick and Brad Majman were 0.1212s and 0.2673s behind in third and fourth, with everyone else more than half a second off the pace. However a second still covered the top 12.

Exclusive’s Evan Cooley, who came sixth in USF2000 last year, was sixth fastest and 2025 championship runner-up Teddy Musella was only 10th on the grid in a new car run by Velocity Racing Development.

Liam Loiacono, USF Juniors runner-up in 2025, set no laptimes in qualifying due to a fuel pump failure so the Jay Howard Driver Development by Ed Carpenter Racing driver lined up 23rd and last on the grid.

Martella and Beswick got ahead of Garzon either side of him on the run down to the race’s opening corner, but Martella spun when he reached it and team-mate Cooley then drove over the top of him.

Others went deep but avoided Martella’s car, while Garzon was alone up front until a caution period was called for as Beswick fell to 12th.

At that point, Garzon led Joao Vergara (VRD) and Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing), up from fifth and seventh, with Majman holding fourth ahead of team-mate Lucas Nanji who had started 11th. After pitting for repairs, Beswick was 20th.

Racing resumed on lap four and Garzon was unvrivalled. He grew his lead on all but three of the laps, and ended the 20-lap encounter 2.5s clear of Vergara.

The top four gradually distanced themselves from Nanji, and further back was a six-car group led by VRD’s Colin Aitken in sixth. Musella was initially in that group, but after some kerb-riding on lap seven he fell to 15th behind Beswick and in a train of cars led by Enve Motorsports’ Wesley Gundler in 12th.

Gundler’s group was approaching the rear of Aitken’s by lap 15, as he faced attacks from behind. DEForce’s Brady Golan looked to get by but contact meant he had to pit, and other squabbles at the final corner led to Exclusive’s Gabriel Cahan and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development’s Wian Boshoff passing Aitken.

Loiacono was now ninth, and Beswick was 12th but had damage and fell to the rear of the field again. VRD’s Ryan Giannetta overtook Loiacono and Aitken next time by, then on the last lap Boshoff and Giannetta cleared Cahan.

Gundler also made an end-of-race move, taking 10th from Loiacono after he had been gapped by Aitken ahead. Musella was right behind him at the finish, and after several laps holding off Exclusive’s Ayrton Cahan, and Golan was a lapped 19th.

Race results (20 laps)

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Photo: Penske Entertainment / Chris Jones

Max Taylor led an Andretti Global lockout of the top three places in the first Indy Nxt practice session of 2026 in St. Petersburg.

The track was immediately busy when the 45-minute session began, and the first benchmark was a 1m09.9265s from Taylor.

His team-mates Lochie Hughes and Seb Murray then lowered the pace in the 1m08s, and once everyone was on track five minutes in the name on top was Abel Motorsports’ Max Garcia. He had set a 1m07.891s, edging Andretti’s Josh Pierson by 0.0329s and Abel with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe by 0.0631s.

HMD’s Salvador de Alba bettered Garcia by 0.0542s a minute later, then Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen edged ahead by 0.1277s.

Andretti was soon back on top, with Murray posting a 1m07.0788s to lead Hughes by 0.187s. Taylor was first to lap sub-1m07s, and his 1m06.4078s effort earned him first place by 0.3722s over Rowe. There was a 0.659s gap to HMD’s Tymek Kucharczyk once he climbed to third, but he was towards the bottom of the top 10 before the 10-minute mark.

Hughes lowered the pace to 1m06.1421s, leading Taylor by 0.2391s and HMD’s Enzo Fittipaldi by 0.4345s. Murray improved in fifth, as all but Rowe in the top half of the field improved and Garcia sat in the pits. When Taylor next crossed the line, he put in an impressive 1m05.8011s and Murray went third fastest but was 0.7513s behind.

More drivers pitted, and Rowe was demoted to sixth despite setting a personal best as de Albra bettered him in fifth.

Cape Motorsports by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Nikita Johnson took third place before red flags waved 15 minutes in. Approaching turn 10, HMD’s Jack Beeton had brushed the outside wall with his rear-right wheel and it sent him spinning into the corner. He broke his rear wing, rear-right wheel and suspension with a rearward impact, and the clear-up required a four-minute stoppage.

Taylor made a small gain of 0.0192s a few minutes after the restart, then improved further to 1m05.4236s as Hughes got within 0.4595s of his new benchmark.

Pierson set a personal best for fifth, then got faster again next time by and rose to third but was 0.8297s slower than Taylor. Garcia, who had headed back on track, jumped to fourth ahead of the improving Rowe with under 20 minutes to go, then Johnson reclaimed third with a 1m05.8925s and Fittipaldi posted a 1m06.1666s to sit fourth.

Taylor still had pace to find, and set a 1m05.2229s before pitting. Fittpaldi became his closest rival not long after that lap was set, but was 0.4788s off his pace, and there were personal bests from Cape’s Matteo Nannini, Murray and Rowe in fifth, sixth and seventh.

The track became far quieter, and Rowe utilised clear to break the 1m06s barrier three times. He rose to fifth, third and then second, lapping 0.3616s shy of Taylor.

Others were also able to string together successive personal bests, and sub-1m06s laps put Cusick Morgan Motorsports’s Juan Manuel Correa and Nannini into the top five and Abel’s Colin Kaminsky into seventh.

Red flags waved again with seven-and-a-half minutes to go as Hughes nosed into the barriers by turn eight. With assistance he returned to the pits sans front wing, and four minutes remained when green flags returned.

Lots of drivers headed out, but some then pitted and forwent the opportunity to improve. Kucharczyk and Koolen went sixth and seventh fastest with a minute remaining, and Murray then took seventh just before the chequered flag. After it flew, Taylor set an unbeatable 1m05.0852s. Pierson jumped from 13th to second, 0.4506s off and 0.001s ahead of Murray.

Free practice results

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Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon was quickest in the first practice session of the USF2000 season on the streets of St. Petersburg.

He pipped Pabst Racing’s Eddie Beswick by a tiny 0.0592 seconds, with a second covering the top 14 in the 24-car field.

Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley was 0.1349s behind in third, and there was a 0.3018s gap to Jay Howard Driver Development’s Liam Loiacono in fourth. Just 0.0447s thenh split Loiacono, Joao Vergara (Velocity Racing Development) and Anthony Martella (Exclusive).

There was a surprise addition to DEForce’s line-up, as Brady Golan was at the wheel. The 18-year-old came fifth in Formula Regional Americas last year, and was 18th in his half-season in USF2000.

He has signed with Turn 3 Motorsport to step up to USF Pro 2000 for 2026, which will rule him out of making further USF2000 appearances due to the two series racing on the same dates on IndyCar’s support bill.

JHDD which has partnered with IndyCar team Ed Carpenter Racing, has a four-car line-up in USF2000 and three of its drivers were announced in the last week.

Swedish racer Erik Holm starts his single-seater career with JHDD, having spent last year in shifter karting. The 20-year-old came 13th in the WSK Super Master Series’ KZ2 kart class, and was 37th in the WSK Final Cup the year before. He has also tested a FRegional-based Eurocup-3 car.

Liacono graduates to USF2000 after being USF Juniors runner-up with JHDD. He won five races and claimed two other podiums, and that followed the YACademy Winter Series where he was ninth in the standings. The 18-year-old Australian spent three years in his home country’s Formula Ford scene prior to 2025.

The team’s line-up is completed by Naim Saleh, who takes two steps up the road to Indy after coming third in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series last year. That uses Formula 4 cars, which he also got experience of on home soil in Brazilian F4’s Formula 1-supporting non-championship round at Interlagos.

The post DEForce’s Garzon tops USF2000 practice, gets extra St. Pete team-mate appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: James Black

Andretti Global’s Dennis Hauger was surprised to start the Indy Nxt season in such imperious fashion in St. Petersburg.

On his first weekend in the championship, Hauger lowered the track record multiple times in qualifying and then won convincingly. Andretti’s pace advantage left HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet feeling his team needed to react quickly.

Hauger was frank about Andretti’s expectations and how easy the race actually was up front.

“Didn’t expect to be straight up there like that, but we definitely had a good weekend as a [wider] team as well,” he said.

“I think the pace was strong for the most of us, and just had a clean run. Tried to keep it clean up front and not do anything crazy. We had a few safety cars and a few restarts, but managed it well and super happy to end the weekend on top.”

He added: “There’s a lot of new things this weekend for me. So restarts: cold tyres, not really sure how the Firestone tyres are reacting. But it went really well. Took about half a lap, a lap, and we were good to go again. It felt nice, and it felt smooth, and Andretti gave me a good car to be up there comfortably, so happy with that.”

Hauger was repeatedly praised the “pure racing” of Indy Nxt already, describing the on-track experience in more positive terms than his previous home of Formula 2.

“I find it really, really funny and enjoyable out there, so having a good time and it’s going good so far,” he reflected.

“It’s all different. The environment, the atmosphere, and the driving style, the car, the tracks. Everything is different! I go in with some experience overall but it’s all complete new to me. And it was just about getting up to speed. The car’s a lot lighter, and that changes your driving style a lot. I think that’s the main thing, and also the Firestone tyres are a bit different. You can push a lot harder through a race, and do a few more laps in qualifying. Which is something different for me as well. So it’s all been about gaining experience and taking it step-by-step, and we’ve definitely had a good run. But I think we’re building on from here.”

The post Hauger “didn’t expect” dominant start to life in Indy Nxt appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Chris Jones

HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet is carrying concern about Andretti Global’s pace advantage in St. Petersburg, even if it is specific to the street circuit.

Dennis Hauger smashed Indy Nxt’s St. Pete track record as he took pole on debut and then converted it into victory, and his Andretti team-mate Lochie Hughes topped the other qualifying group before finishing second in the season-opening race.

Series sophomore Collet was 0.505 seconds slower than Hauger in qualifying, having already trailed him by 0.566s in the first practice session and 0.3625s in FP2 when Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe set the pace.

By finishing the race in third, Collet achieved his target for the weekend. But it did not leave him happy, as he explained to media afterwards.

“For sure it’s good to start on the podium. We aim to be in the top three all year, we want to fight for the championship. So in a way one of our goals we achieved, but for sure we were a step behind the whole weekend, especially behind Andretti as a team. So we just need to keep working hard to match them next race,” mused Collet.

“Very hard [to hold on to third]. I had to burn a bit of push-to-pass, to be honest. The whole race we had together with my engineer to do a good strategy and on P2P to be able to hold [Rowe] off and be in a fight if one of these [top two] guys made a mistake.

“So we did a really good job there, but as a team we struggled a little bit this weekend. For sure we need to come back home to the workshop and manage to improve for Barber [Motorsports Park]. I hope it will be a little bit different.”

Although the same team has won in St. Pete and at Barber as recently as 2023, no driver has taken winning form from the streets of Florida through to the rolling hills of Alabama (when they have been run that way around in the calendar) since Pato O’Ward in 2018.

Collet plans to use in-season tests before round two in May “to be able to do a step to match” Andretti, and as part of a nine-car team he should be able to use time in testing more efficiently than drivers at other teams including Hauger’s own.

“I think it will be different the next few rounds at Barber and Indy. They are road courses, so it’s a little bit different from here, but we need to keep our heads down and working all the time. I think last year also in the ovals we struggled a little bit, so we definitely have some work to do. But apart from that it was nice to start off the season doing a solid weekend in the top three,” concluded Collet.

The post Collet sees deficit to Andretti as big issue even if it’s St. Pete-specific appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Travis Hinkle / Penske Entertainment

Dennis Hauger led his debut Indy Nxt race from lights to flag at St. Petersburg, heading team-mate Lochie Hughes in an Andretti one-two.

The former Formula 2 racer retained the lead from pole position at the start, but the race instantly went under caution after Tommy Smith ran into the back of Niels Koolen and was then hit by James Roe in the chain reaction.

After a trip to the pits, Roe returned to the track a few laps down but crashed in Turn 10 to trigger another caution when the leaders were on lap nine.

Despite the dominant pace he had shown so far this weekend, Hauger was unable to escape from fellow debutant Hughes and the chasing pack on either of the first two restarts.

It was only after a third restart – following a crash for Nolan Allaer – on lap 24 of a scheduled 45 that Hauger began to stretch his legs. By lap 30 he was over one second clear, but continued to trade fastest laps with Hughes.

During the last 10 laps Hauger really started to take command, and his lead stood at 3.5s when Jack William Miller crashed out of fifth position on lap 42 – by which time the race was already due to go to time, with just a couple of minutes left on the clock.

The race therefore ended behind the pace car with Hauger leading Hughes and HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet, who started and finished third.

Miller had actually got up to fourth ahead of Abel Motorsports team-mate Myles Rowe at the start, only for Rowe to repass him at the first restart. Fifth would have been a considerable improvement on Miller’s previous best finish of 10th.

That position instead went to Salvador de Alba, who led Jordan Missig, Jonathan Browne and Callum Hedge. Unable to qualify due to an electrical issue, Josh Pierson charged from 19th place to finish ninth.

St. Petersburg native Nikita Johnson also raced forward on his series debut, starting 18th and finishing 11th.

Liam Sceats, a late addition the grid, was denied the chance to start from fifth, pitting with a rubbing tyre. He did eventually join the race, classified 11 laps down.

Race results

The post Dennis Hauger claims debut Indy Nxt win in Andretti 1-2 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Max Garcia won another incident-filled USF Pro 2000 race on the streets of St. Petersburg to leave with the championship lead.

Alessandro de Tullio gained pole position from Garcia thanks to the fastest lap he set on the way to victory in race one, and retained the lead ahead of his fellow Miami native at the start as Elliot Cox locked up into the first corner but held onto third.

A lap later, Michael Costello challenged Cox around the outside of Turn 1, beating him to the inside of Turn 2 but then hitting the kerb, causing him to make contact with Cox that sent the Turn 3 Motorsport driver into the barriers for his third crash of the weekend. Costello was also forced to retire.

At the restart, Garcia’s focus had to be on defending from Mac Clark, who had lost his podium finish from race one due to a penalty for blocking. Clark started race two back in eighth but made up three spots on lap one, to then benefit from the clash between Costello and Cox.

Another caution followed a lap later when Tyke Durst crashed out in Turn 1 after contact at the rear of the top 10.

This time at the restart, Garcia got down the inside of de Tullio to take the lead, and Clark followed him through around the outside of Turn 2.

De Tullio lost third to Max Taylor three laps later around the outside of the first turn, and after another three laps he crashed straight into the barriers in Turn 4, causing another full-course yellow.

The race restarted with four laps to go, with Taylor defending third from Jacob Douglas, who had passed Cooper Becklin just prior to the previous caution.

When they reached Turn 4, Becklin hit the rear of Douglas and crashed down the run-off area, setting up one last restart with two laps remaining.

Garcia opened up a two-second lead in those two laps as he sealed victory ahead of Clark. Taylor was ordered to give up third to Douglas under the final caution for blocking, and had to settle for fourth. Former Formula Regional European Championship racer Owen Tangavelou finished his debut weekend with fifth.

Race results (25 laps)

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