The 2023 Formula 4 United States Championship season will feature drivers from different backgrounds, experience levels, and teams. With a large field of 29 cars set to take the green flag in New Orleans, Feeder Series explains everything you will need to know ahead of the series’ eighth season.

By Eddie Fuhrer

As always, there is a lot of turnover in the F4 US grid. A lot of drivers who were near the top of the standings in 2022 have taken the next step in their racing careers. Some have moved into the USF Pro Championships, like André Castro or Lochie Hughes, while others opted to venture overseas, like Noah Ping, who is heading to the GB3 Championship.

On the other hand, with so many drivers lasting only one season at the F4 level, there is also a constant new batch of drivers who are coming in. With such a large field, F4 US remains a very healthy series, and the relatively low cost of entry compared to other feeder series in the country means that the numbers always seem to be strong.

We also will see some teams return to the series who have taken a break in previous years or are new to the series’ grid altogether. However, Velocity Racing Development will be leaving to focus on other series in 2023, after finishing second in the constructors’ championship last year.

In New Orleans, the 29 entrants for the weekend will be represented by 13 different teams. But which teams and drivers stand out as the ones to watch?

Jay Howard Driver Development

Jay Howard Driver Development’s Lochie Hughes won the 2022 F4 US championship before he proceeded to make the jump to USF2000. With a line-up of eight drivers heading to New Orleans, they are the team with the most drivers, and also a team that could be in a great position to achieve success in 2023.

One driver to keep an eye on is Michael Costello, who was at the top of the timesheets when the F4 cars travelled to New Orleans for their official series test. He may only be 16, but he carries a wealth of karting experience and has shown that he has pace in the F4 car; recently, he competed in the Homestead round of the Yacademy Winter Series and swept the weekend in the F4 class. 

JHDD have seven other confirmed drivers this season. Frankie Mossman and Michael Boyiadzis stand out as potential frontrunners for the team, given that they both found themselves on the podium in the winter series. 

Meanwhile, Dane Scott, Logan Adams, and Tanner DeFabis will all make the jump from karting to racing in cars, alongside Eric Wisniewski, who took part in an F4 development program with the team last year. Finally, Ava Dobson, a recipient of the 2023 PMH Powering Diversity Scholarship, will join midway through the season due to age restrictions. 

Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport

In the past three years, Crosslink have consistently finished in the top four of the constructors’ standings, after having won the title in 2020. They had a great outing last season, with Bryson Morris finishing second place in the championship. This year, they enter with a bit of mystery, having not shown up at either the official series test or the Yacademy Winter Series.

But as for their driver line-up, we do know that the team will be sending six cars to New Orleans. Their first driver, Titus Sherlock, returns to the team after running a season in USF Juniors and the final round of the 2022 F4 US season at CotA.

He will be joined by Cole Kleck, who finished 5th and 6th in that final round when he also drove as a one-off in the series, and Madison Aust, who ran the full season last year in F4 US with Crosslink Kiwi and returns after finishing 9th at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Australian Jesse Lacey will be coming over after a wealth of karting experience and earning a place as a finalist in the Ferrari Driver Academy, and finally, Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth and American Hannah Greenemeier will both make the jump up from karting.

Gonella Racing

Gonella Racing returns for the upcoming season with the same two drivers that ran all of the races for them last year: Carl Bennett and Tyke Durst.

Bennett racked up 24 points in the 2022 season, with his best finishes coming at Virginia International Raceway, where he finished 6th and 7th. Durst also had a 6th and 7th place finish at VIR, finishing in the top 10 during four races last season.

Jensen Global Advisors

Experienced driver coach Eric Jensen will oversee at least two entries in the opening round of the season. Everett Stack has been testing with the team since the fall and will make his F4 US debut in New Orleans.

Landan Matriano Lim joins the team with experience in prototypes, having raced in the National Auto Sport Association series the previous year.

Scuderia Buell

A new outfit on the grid, Scuderia Buell brings some South American representation to the series with two promising drivers. Chilean Nico Ambiado is accomplished in karting in his home country and has been testing F4 cars in the states since last fall.

Hailing from Argentina, teammate Luciano Martinez will also be in the mix after competing in Formula Nacional in the previous season.

Doran Motorsports Group

While that is all of the entries from teams with multiple announced drivers, there are still more drivers competing in the series for single-car teams.

One of these is Alexander Berg, who will return to Doran Motorsports Group for the upcoming season after achieving three straight podiums at New Orleans and Road America last year. Finishing 5th in the championship, he will be the highest-placing of last year’s finishers to return to the series.

New’t Racing

Kekai Hauanio, the Yacademy Winter Series champion in the F4 class, will be racing with New’t Racing in an entry that should make waves throughout the season. His consistency throughout the winter series shone across the two rounds.

Future Star Racing

Future Star Racing has only announced Pennsylvania native Robert Torres so far this year, but very well could have a second driver announced at a later date. Torres raced in F4 US in 2020 and finished as high as 10th at Homestead.

Momentum Motorsports

Returning to the grid in 2023, Momentum Motorsports will have Garrett Dettman race for them in the upcoming season. Dettman showed top-10 pace throughout the New Orleans testing sessions.

IGY6 Motorsports

Texas native Christopher Parrish will move up from karting to F4 US with IGY6 Motorsports after testing for them over the past two months. 

Bacon Racing

Racing in a family-owned outfit, Bacon Zelenka will also make an appearance in New Orleans after gathering karting experience.

Cara Origin Motorsports

Daniel Cara will also be racing for family-owned team Cara Origin Motorsports. He ran the last two weekends of the 2022 season and finished as high as 8th at VIR.

Calendar

Rounds 1-3: NOLA Motorsports Park (9-12 March)
Rounds 4-6: Road America (18-21 May)
Rounds 7-9: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (22-25 June)
Rounds 10-12: New Jersey Motorsports Park (28-30 July)
Rounds 13-15: Virginia International Raceway (5-8 October)
Rounds 16-18: Circuit of the Americas (2-5 November)

Where to watch

Many of the races throughout the season will be live streamed on the F4 US Championship YouTube channel, with more being uploaded on the SpeedTour TV YouTube channel.

Make sure to also check out the website for the series and their social media accounts to learn more about where to follow along with races.

Header image credit: Gavin Baker Photography