With the entire top 10 of last year’s championship gone, USF2000 kicks off 2025 with an even fresher grid than usual. In this final season preview before St Petersburg, Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about the middle rung of the USF Pro Championships ladder.

By Jeroen Demmendaal

If you thought USF Pro 2000 was heavy on newcomers, think again. The 2025 USF2000 field has undergone almost a complete reworking, as all of the top 10 drivers from the 2024 season have moved on to the next level or will not return for other reasons. That means that the veterans of this year all come from the midfield of last year’s championship, while the rest of the field contains the best and brightest from USF Juniors and elsewhere.

No fewer than eight drivers have made the step up full time from Juniors this season, meaning the new ladder system devised by development director Rob Howden and his colleagues does precisely what it is supposed to do. Another exciting development is the addition of two new teams to the 2025 grid. As per usual, the champion gets a hefty scholarship – worth $405,050 this year – to move up to USF Pro 2000.

The calendar

In terms of venues, the schedule mirrors the one for USF Pro 2000, which means all venues are the same as in 2024. USF2000, however, runs only two races on the Indianapolis road course and at Road America and instead has triple-headers at Mid-Ohio and Portland. All this means the championship is still contested over 18 races.

• Races 1–2: Streets of St Petersburg, Florida (28 February–1 March, street circuit)
• Races 3–5: NOLA Motorsports Park, Louisiana (10–13 April, road course)
• Races 6–7: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Indiana (8–10 May, road course)
• Race 8: Indianapolis Raceway Park, Indiana (22–23 May, oval)
• Races 9–10: Road America, Wisconsin (19–22 June, road course)
• Races 11–13: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Ohio (3–6 July, road course)
• Races 14–15: Streets of Toronto, Canada (18–20 July, street circuit)
• Races 16–18: Portland International Raceway, Oregon (7–10 August, road course)

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, the fastest race laps from race two are used to determine the grid for race three.

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

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 polesitter gets an additional point, as does the driver leading the most laps and the driver who 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.

Pabst Racing

Pabst Racing had a stellar year in 2024, securing their second consecutive drivers’ title with Max Garcia ahead of teammate Sam Corry. The entire line-up from last year has moved on, meaning Augie Pabst and his team start 2025 with two new drivers as they look for a hat trick.

G3 Argyros (#23) may be only 15 years old, but the Californian racked up a lot of miles last year. He finished seventh overall in USF Juniors with Jay Howard’s outfit, while also adding 10 races in USF2000 to his schedule. If his victory at the season finale in Portland was any harbinger of things to come, 2025 should be a stellar year for Argyros – especially now that he has a championship-winning car in his hands.

His teammate, 16-year-old Caleb Gafrarar (#24) from North Carolina, is new to the USF Pro Championships ladder. In 2024 he raced in FF1600 competition in the UK, but he already caught Pabst’s eye a few years ago because of his excellent results on the American karting scene. Based on Pabst’s track record, don’t be surprised if he turns out to be the next Max Garcia, coming out of relative obscurity.

Usually Pabst fields a third USF2000 car, but thus far no driver has surfaced for that car. Recent reports in the Finnish press claimed that Pabst was in talks with Vilho Aatola, who has also raced a USF Juniors car with Jay Howard Driver Development in the YACademy Winter Series, but Feeder Series understands that the Finnish youngster is still some ways away from a deal.

VRD Racing

VRD were Pabst’s biggest challengers in 2024 with Max Taylor, and for 2025 the team have signed another sophomore in Thomas Schrage (#2). The 2022 Team USA scholarship winner and F1600 champion was supposed to run a full season in 2024 after a partial campaign in 2023, but the 20-year-old Ohioan missed a handful of races in what was a generally disappointing campaign with Exclusive Autosport. Taylor showed last year that the VRD car is capable of winning, so it is now up to Schrage to follow his example and challenge for victories.

The other two VRD cars are for rookies. Christian Cameron (#19) steps up from USF Juniors after finishing 10th in his first season on the ladder. The Californian comes with racing pedigree, as his father Steve is a two-time 24 Hours of Daytona class winner and his uncle Dane a four-time and reigning IMSA SportsCar champion. 

Teddy Musella (#25) comes over from the entry-level Ligier JS F4, which he won last year with five wins and seven further podiums. Having said that, competition in USF2000 is set to be considerably stronger than in Ligier JS F4, so the 15-year-old will have his work cut out for him.

At St Petersburg, VRD will field a fourth car for Ryan Giannetta (#99). The 15-year-old Californian has already been signed for VRD’s USF Juniors squad this season and can only benefit from the additional experience. He finished fourth overall in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series in 2024.

Jay Howard Driver Development

JHDD bring no fewer than three USF Juniors graduates into the series this year, and the most exciting of that set is Liam McNeilly (#6). Generally seen as a title favourite from the get-go, McNeilly missed out on the USF Juniors title by just five points but adapted quickly to the American scene after his transfer from GB4. This writer has the Briton on his short list of possible title contenders for 2025; now it’s up to McNeilly to live up to those expectations.

French-born Californian Timothy Carel (#8) and Canadian Anthony Martella (#9) are the other USF Juniors drivers making the step up. Carel finished 11th overall last year with JHDD and will look to build on that result, while Martella joins the team after a partial USF Juniors campaign with Exclusive in 2024. Both will be focused on learning and improving throughout the season.

The same goes for Brad Majman (#7), one of two new Australian recruits to the USF2000 grid. Like Musella, Majman raced in the Ligier JS F4 series and finished fifth overall. He needs to gain consistency, but his sweep of all three races at New Jersey shows that he has bags of raw talent. Another indication of his rising stardom is that he was picked up by Fernando Alonso’s A14 driver management firm.

DEForce Racing

There’s no doubt that DEForce Racing would have liked to mount a title run with a sophomore Nicolas Giaffone. Unfortunately, the 2023 USF Juniors champion announced last fall that he was forced to leave the USF Pro Championships because of funding issues, while fast Australian Quinn Armstrong is also not coming back. That leaves DEForce with a considerably weaker line-up for 2025.

Returning driver Brady Golan (#18) is arguably the best placed of the team’s trio. The 17-year-old from Texas clocked a lot of miles in USF Juniors without much success in 2022 and 2023 before finishing 13th overall in USF2000 last year. Golan is doing double duty in 2025 by competing in Formula Regional Americas as well.

Another USF Juniors graduate in Jeshua Alianell (#11) takes the secondthird car, but his 18th-place finish overall in 2024 raises the question of whether the 20-year-old would have been better off doing another year in Juniors.

The third fourth car is for Sebastian Garzon (#12), a 15-year-old from Colombia who won the 2024 Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series. He has also made a name for himself on the North American karting scene, notably winning both the X30 Junior and KA100 Junior titles on the same day at the 2024 SKUSA Supernationals.

Maxwell Jamieson, another Texan, was announced in January to come back for a third year in USF2000 after taking 16th place in 2023 and 15th place in 2024. But he missed Spring Training and was not included on the team’s entry list for St Petersburg. At the time of publication, it is unclear whether he will return at all in 2025.

Exclusive Autosport

Exclusive Autosport bring three cars to St Petersburg for one sophomore and two rookies. Lucas Fecury (#91) followed in the metaphorical slipstream of teammate and countryman Giaffone last year but had a quiet first season of USF2000 with DEForce and finished 14th overall. The 21-year-old will hope that a switch to Exclusive results in more success in 2025.

Jack Jeffers (#92) already ran two USF2000 races with Exclusive at St Petersburg in 2024, but he then focused on USF Juniors. After finishing third in 2023, the 18-year-old was no doubt looking for the series title in 2024 and in February, he secured the YACademy Winter Series title in USF Juniors machinery. But in many ways the main season was weaker as he won no races and finished fifth overall. Still, he had little to gain from staying in USF Juniors and now moves up to full-time USF2000 competition.

The rookie in Exclusive’s squad is Evan Cooley (#90), the 18-year-old son of new team investor and co-owner Joshua Cooley. He was 13th overall in USF Juniors last year, collecting a few top-five finishes, and would normally be unlikely to trouble the frontrunners this season. On the other hand, he ran four USF2000 races at the Indianapolis Road Course and in Toronto in 2024, collecting two poles and a podium finish. 

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development

SFHRD will continue with a one-car operation in 2025. After Elliot Cox moved up to USF Pro 2000 following three years with the team, SFH have been testing young South African Wian Boshoff (#67) in the off-season and made him their next prospect. Boshoff, a 15-year-old karter, faces a steep learning curve.

Benchmark Autosport

That leaves the first of two new teams. Benchmark are basically a family operation for Ayrton Houk (#58) and are owned by his father Kevin in partnership with Don Conner. As such, they are in many ways a continuation of DC Autosport, which was owned by Conner and ran Houk in USF2000 last year. Houk, 21, is another former Team USA Scholarship winner and finished 11th overall in USF2000 in 2024 despite missing two races.

Synergy Motorsport

The other new team on the grid is an all-Australian combination, as Synergy Motorsport bring Eddie Beswick (#30) to the United States following their Australian Formula Ford title win. Synergy are a staple of the Australian racing scene and have won multiple championships, and the question is now whether they can be as successful in America. Beswick, 19, got a first taste of USF2000 at Toronto last year with Exclusive Autosport and will now mount a full-season challenge.

Header photo credit: Gavin Baker