USF2000 kicks off the 2024 season with a fresh crop of rookies from USF Juniors, some veterans who really need a title run and a new triple-header in Louisiana. In this last season preview before St. Petersburg, Feeder Series tells you all you need to know.

By Jeroen Demmendaal

The most striking thing about this year’s USF2000 field is that it demonstrates how well the new USF Pro Championships ladder works. Car counts in USF2000 have fallen slightly compared with a few years ago, but that was fully by design. The introduction of USF Juniors in 2022 was made to be as an extra step for drivers that weren’t quite ready yet for USF2000.

The idea was that the best USF Juniors drivers would take the step up to USF2000, while others continued to hone their driving skills in F4-like material. That is exactly what is happening now. USF Juniors is teaming with entries – the 2024 field will count over 30 cars once the season gets underway in April – while USF2000 is settling at a solid 20 cars or so.

No less than eight drivers are making the step up from Juniors this season, which means the new ladder system devised by Series Development Director Rob Howden and his colleagues does precisely what it is supposed to do. As per usual, this year’s champion gets a hefty scholarship worth slightly over USD $450,000 to move up to USF Pro 2000.

As in USF Pro 2000, 2024 is the first season in which USF2000 uses tires from new series partner Continental Tire. After many seasons on Cooper rubber, drivers in all three series in the USF Pro Championships will have to get used to Continentals. While pre-season testing hasn’t presented any obvious issues, it will be interesting who best adapts to the new tires.

The calendar

The schedule – which mirrors the one for USF Pro 2000 – has largely undergone the same changes as for its larger sibling series. Sebring is gone, a triple-header at NOLA is in and the Indianapolis Road Course goes from three to two races. Though the championship is still contested over 18 races.

• Round 1/2: Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida (8-10 March)
• Round 3/4/5: NOLA Motorsports Park, Louisiana (5-7 April)
• Round 6/7: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Indiana (9-11 May)
• Round 8: Indianapolis Raceway Park, Indiana (24 May)
• Round 9/10: Road America, Wisconsin (6-9 June)
• Round 11/12/13: Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course, Ohio (4-7 July)
• Round 14/15: Streets of Toronto, Canada (19-21 July)
• Round 16/17/18: Portland International Raceway, Oregon (22-25 August)

The format

The road course and street circuit rounds usually comprise two practice sessions, and a qualifying session. At rounds with two races, the grid for the second race is usually set based on the fastest race lap in race one or the second fastest lap in qualifying – whichever is quicker. At three-race rounds, fastest race laps in race two are used to determine the grid for race three.

The schedule for the oval race at Indianapolis Park, the only oval on the calendar, consists of one practice session and an individual two-lap average qualifying run for each driver.

Race points are handed out to the top 20 finishers, with a race win generating 45 points and a clear premium on finishing in the top five. The pole winner gets an additional point, as does the driver leading most laps and the driver that sets the fastest race lap.

Where to watch

To watch the USF2000 sessions and races this year, check the USF Pro Championships YouTube channel. It will broadcast all sessions free of charge. For live timing and extra content, download the USF Pro Championships app.

Teams and drivers

Pabst Racing

Ever since Cape Motorsport decided to leave the series for Indy NXT, Pabst has been the dominant force in USF2000 and clinched the driver championship in the last two seasons. With this year’s crop of drivers, Augie Pabst and his people will no doubt aim for a hattrick.

On paper, new recruit Sam Corry (#23) is the most likely candidate to make that happen. A rookie with VRD last year, 16-year-old Corry finished a strong seventh overall with a win and two podiums. Seeing as all drivers from last year’s top six (apart from Evagoras Papasavvas) have moved on, that makes Corry an immediate title favourite for 2024.

Max Garcia (#24) is a year younger than Corry and even had to skip the opening round at St. Petersburg last year because he did not meet minimum age requirements yet. Once in the car, however, it was clear that Augie Pabst had found another diamond in the rough. A regular top six driver during his rookie season, Garcia should be the sophomore to watch.

The third Pabst driver is Hudson Schwartz (#22), who graduated from USF Juniors where he finished eighth overall last year. Still only 14 years of age, Schwartz is looking at a learning year but has chosen a good team to develop in during his rookie season.

Jay Howard Driver Development

While Sam Corry is an obvious title candidate, that is even more the case with Evagoras Papasavvas (#6). After finishing fourth overall in 2023, his first full season in the series, the Cypriot-American driver is gunning for a championship this year. The raw speed is absolutely there, but Papasavvas still has a bit to gain in terms of consistency. If he does win the title, it would be a return to form for JHDD, who missed out with Lochie Hughes last year.

The second full-time JHDD car is for Michael Costello (#8), who comes over from F4 US where he won three races in 2023 and came fifth overall in the championship. For Costello this is a logical next step in his development, also because JHDD has left the F4 US Championship. He also did well in pre-season testing, consistently running up front.

Another F4 US refugee is Tanner DeFabis (#7), who will do a partial season in 2024. Given that he was 24th overall in F4 last year, it would be unfair to expect too much from him. Finally, Jace Bacon was announced earlier this winter on a full-time campaign, but he has decided to focus on his studies for now and will not race in USF2000 for the foreseeable future.

VRD Racing

Purely on experience, Nico Christodoulou (#2) should be a title challenger in 2024. The Canadian already has several seasons in GB3 and other Formula Regional cars under his belt, and at 19 is one of the older drivers in the field. When he showed up for a guest USF2000 appearance at the Toronto round last year, he immediately won a race. Keep an eye on him.

Max Taylor (#3) is another USF Juniors graduate, who grabbed one race win on his way to sixth overall in 2023. On top of that he also did a select USF2000 programme, clinching several top 10 finishes. That makes his graduation to full-time USF2000 competition a natural progression, and Taylor tips himself for a championship run.

The third VRD car is for Xavier Kokai (#19), the latest young Australian to cross the pond after spending two seasons in Australian Formula Ford. A race winner and fourth overall in that championship last year, Kokai is an unknown quantity on US soil but has been solid in pre-season testing.

Finally, Cole Kleck (#14) joins the VRD squad in USF2000 in a fourth entry. Kleck has some F4 US experience with VRD and did a decent job in pre-season testing, but is not predicted to trouble the front runners any time soon.

DEForce Racing

To find the best illustration of why USF Juniors works as intended, look no further than DEForce Racing. The team led by David and Ernesto Martinez takes no less than four drivers from Juniors into USF2000 in 2024, including the 2023 champion and the runner-up.

That champion, Nicolas Giaffone (#1), comes into USF2000 with high expectations, not least from the ever-enthusiastic Brazilian fanbase. The 19-year-old son of former IndyCar driver Felipe dominated the first half of the Juniors season, after which he more or less coasted to the championship in the second half. Whether he can repeat that performance in USF2000 remains to be seen, but Giaffone was a frontrunner in pre-season testing.

The runner-up in Juniors last year, Quinn Armstrong (#11) also graduates to the next level. The Australian had a considerably better second half of the season than Giaffone, but it was not enough to close the gap. Overall though, Armstrong had a much more consistent season than his teammate and that consistency might help him this year.

The third Juniors graduate in the DEForce stable comes to USF2000 with slightly lower expectations. Lucas Fecury (#10) was a regular top seven finisher in 2023, but finished ninth overall in USF Juniors. Expect the Brazilian to be a mid-field runner this season.

The fourth and final formally announced DEForce driver is Maxwell Jamieson (#12), who returns for a second season in USF2000 with the team. His rookie year generated little success and a 17th place overall, so he will at the very least aim for more regular top 10 finishes.

Brady Golan (#18) has also been named as a driver for DEForce, at least for the first round in St. Petersburg. The Texan already made his series debut at Mid-Ohio last year and was 10th overall in USF Juniors last year.

Exclusive Autosport

After doing a handful of USF2000 races last year, Joey Brienza (#91) now graduates to full-time in the series. A race winner and multiple podium finisher in USF Juniors last year and fifth overall in the championship, Brienza is definitely ready for the next step as part of his multi-year agreement with Exclusive.

His teammate is Thomas Schrage (#92), who did well in the six USF2000 races he contested in 2023. Two top 10 finishes at Mid-Ohio and a fourth place at Portland showed plenty of promise, and the former Team USA scholarship winner and 2022 F1600 champion is now back for a full season.

While Exclusive has a strong pairing already with Brienza and Schrage, Texan Jack Jeffers (#90) is one of several drivers that will run a part-time schedule in 2024. Jeffers is focused on USF Juniors this season and will be a clear championship favourite there, but he will also race in some USF2000 rounds, including St. Petersburg.

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development

Like last year, SFH continues with a one-car operation for Elliot Cox (#67). It will be the Indiana youngster’s third season on the Road to Indy, after finishing 11th in USF Juniors in 2022 and 12th in USF2000 last year. Cox has shown plenty of speed at times, but going up against multiple-car teams on your own will always be a struggle.

DC Autosport

DC fields another USF Juniors graduate, as Carson Etter (#57) stays with the team but moves up the ladder after finishing 12^th overall in Juniors in 2023. It is unlikely that DC and Etter will feature up front a lot this USF2000 season, but as Ethan Ho illustrated last year, surprise results are possible now and then.

A second DC car has been reserved for Ayrton Houk (#58), another Team USA scholarship winner. He was a championship challenger in both F1600 and the Lucas Oil School of Racing Series in recent years, and has now finally found the budget to move into USF2000.

Future Star Racing

Future Star Racing’s foray into USF2000 last year lasted exactly one weekend. After a decent showing by both Andre Castro and Trey Burke in St. Petersburg, funds dried up and FSR was not seen anymore all season. The team still has two USF2000 cars and has been searching for drivers, but at the time of writing those efforts were still unsuccessful. As a result, the team is unlikely to race in St. Pete but may join the field later this season.

Header photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography