Mid-Ohio was the centre of activity among North American junior single-seaters this weekend, with all five levels of the IndyCar ladder converging at one venue for the first time this year.

By Feeder Series

Independence Day weekend in the United States brought plenty of fanfare around the country – including on track at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The celebrations included the crowning of the first junior series teams’ champions of 2025 excluding winter championships, with Pabst Racing taking the honours in USF Pro 2000.

As for fireworks, frenetic activity across all levels of the ladder illuminated the 13-turn, 3.634-kilometre road course. In Indy NXT, Dennis Hauger took his fifth win of the season to extend his points lead to nearly a full race’s worth, while Pabst’s lead driver Max Garcia put one hand on the USF Pro 2000 title by winning both races.

The championship very much hangs in the balance in USF2000 and USF Juniors, however. Jack Jeffers and Thomas Schrage left Mid-Ohio tied in points atop the standings of the former, while the top four in USF Juniors are separated by 43 points after race two winner Ty Fisher’s disqualification.

If you’re interested in the other racing from the past few days, you can read our takeaways from F2 and F3 at Silverstone as well as our review of the other European and Asian junior single-seater racing that took place this weekend.

1. Indy NXT: Hauger takes fifth win as Murray, Escotto scape scary crash
2. USF Pro 2000: Pabst Racing crowned teams’ champions as Garcia takes maximum points
3. USF2000: Jeffers denies Schrage victory at Mid-Ohio and creates tie for points lead
4. USF Juniors: Escorpioni extends lead after Fisher stripped of race two win

Indy NXT: Hauger takes fifth win as Murray, Escotto scape scary crash

Dennis Hauger took his fifth Indy NXT victory of the 2025 season at Mid-Ohio in a race neutralised by a heart-stopping accident early on involving Cape by Andretti teammates Sebastian Murray and Ricardo Escotto. With that result, the Norwegian driver opened up a 47-point advantage over Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes.

Hauger did not lead either of the two practice sessions, but he was imperious in qualifying on Saturday, initially setting a 1:09.9458 before usurping his own best with a 1:09.7431, the new track record in the series. Title rival Lochie Hughes was second in the first group, while Road America race winner Caio Collet put himself on the front row by topping the second group with a 1:09.8612.

Hauger held the lead at the rolling start as the drivers behind tussled. Hughes pressured Collet for second into the first braking zone at Turn 4, but he came under pressure from Josh Pierson by the time the drivers reached Turn 6. Pierson then tried to hang on around the outside but in doing so opened the door for Salvador de Alba to slip through for fourth at Turn 9.

The field began settling into their positions after three laps. On the fourth tour, Escotto, running 13th, drew alongside Murray at the Turn 3 kink on the back straight. The cars interlocked wheels and speared into the barrier at full speed. The impact launched Murray’s car into an end-over-end flip, with one of its loosened wheels clipping the flag stand. Fortunately, both drivers walked away.

The race was red-flagged so that the barrier could be repaired and the two heavily damaged cars could be removed from the circuit. After a nearly 40-minute wait, the race began again behind the safety car, with green-flag conditions resuming the next lap.

Hauger was then in a race against time as the limit of one hour and 20 minutes loomed. Regardless, the 22-year-old’s lead was never under threat, and he held off 2024 Mid-Ohio winner Collet until the chequered flag fell on lap 33, two laps before the race’s scheduled conclusion. Hughes ran a lonely race to third as Hauger’s dominant victory dented his title ambitions.

De Alba made it three Andretti cars in the top four and put himself one point behind Pierson, who finished one place behind him on track.

Callum Hedge was sixth ahead of Jordan Missig, who passed the fast-starting Juan Manuel Correa for seventh at Turn 4 on lap 17. Evagoras Papasavvas finished ninth in his home race and final scheduled appearance this season, while Myles Rowe recovered to 10th after being forced off track on lap one while battling Jack William Miller.

Report by Michael McClure

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying, Group 1	Dennis Hauger, 1:09.7431	Lochie Hughes, +0.2463s	Salvador de Alba, +0.6485s
Qualifying, Group 2	Caio Collet, 1:09.8612	Josh Pierson, +0.1703s	Callum Hedge, +0.3876s
Race (33 laps)	Dennis Hauger, 42:36.1474	Caio Collet, +3.3220s	Lochie Hughes, +5.9216s

Standings	Drivers	Rookies
P1	Dennis Hauger, 371	Dennis Hauger, 371
P2	Lochie Hughes, 324	Lochie Hughes, 324
P3	Caio Collet, 288	Sebastian Murray, 140
P4	Myles Rowe, 236	Liam Sceats, 126
P5	Josh Pierson, 224	Evagoras Papasavvas, 117
P6	Salvador de Alba, 223	Tommy Smith, 111
P7	Callum Hedge, 189	Juan Manuel Correa, 108
P8	Jack William Miller, 153	Hailie Deegan, 107
P9	Jordan Missig, 152	Nikita Johnson, 55
P10	Sebastian Murray, 140	Max Taylor, 37

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF Pro 2000: Pabst Racing crowned teams’ champions as Garcia takes maximum points

With two rounds left in the 2025 USF Pro 2000 season, Pabst Racing were crowned teams’ champions following Max Garcia’s double win and Jacob Douglas’ second place in the second of two races at Mid-Ohio. Garcia himself was in his strongest form yet, topping all but one session all weekend and taking 66 of 66 possible points.

Garcia was dominant in qualifying, bettering his own fastest lap five times without being toppled. His final effort, a 1:16.8023, was the only lap all weekend below the 1m17s barrier and nearly half a second faster than second-placed Ariel Elkin’s best time, which was still slower than Garcia’s three fastest laps.

Garcia led the field at the start as outside championship contenders Mac Clark and Alessandro de Tullio made contact at Turn 5 while fighting over third, sending Clark spinning into the grass and to the back of the pack. On lap five, Logan Adams and George Garciarce spun on the exit of the Keyhole, but while the former rejoined the race without issues, Garciarce hit the wall to bring out the safety car.

Out front, Pabst Racing’s Garcia remained unchallenged from the restart on lap eight through the rest of the race, taking his fifth win of the season ahead of Ariel Elkin and Max Taylor. Behind them, Clark rebounded to 10th after his lap one spin.

Garcia was once again on pole for race two and began pulling away from teammate Douglas as soon as the race began. Nicholas Monteiro pitted on the opening lap, while Sebastian Manson spun at Turn 12 and made a stop of his own right after.

The safety car was called onto the track on lap nine after debutant Nick Gilkes’ car broke down at Turn 8. Though the field bunched up as a result, Garcia dominated the rest of the race, finishing 9.6659 seconds ahead of teammate Douglas as Clark rounded out the podium.

In the drivers’ standings, Garcia now leads by 97 points ahead of Elkin, who finished fifth in race two; 105 ahead of Clark; and 117 ahead of De Tullio. With 132 points on offer in the remaining two rounds of the season, only those four remain in contention for the title, which Garcia could clinch as early as race one in Toronto in two weeks’ time.

While the teams’ title has already been won by Pabst Racing, whose 172-point advantage at the top of the standings is insurmountable, the runner-up spot has yet to be decided. Turn 3 Motorsport, TJ Speed Motorsports, Exclusive Autosport and VRD Racing are separated by 80 points and are all in with a chance of taking the spot with 160 points still on offer.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Max Garcia, 1:16.8023	Ariel Elkin, +0.4755s	Alessandro de Tullio, +0.5062s
Race 1 (30 laps)	Max Garcia, 41:38.6686	Ariel Elkin, +7.3545s	Max Taylor, +10.1170s
Race 2 (30 laps)	Max Garcia, 41:02.7329	Jacob Douglas, +9.6659s	Mac Clark, +11.7777s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Max Garcia, 384	Pabst Racing, 435	Max Garcia, 384
P2	Ariel Elkin, 287	Turn 3 Motorsport, 263	Ariel Elkin, 287
P3	Mac Clark, 279	TJ Speed Motorsports, 236	Jacob Douglas, 243
P4	Alessandro de Tullio, 267	Exclusive Autosport, 215	Max Taylor, 237
P5	Jacob Douglas, 243	VRD Racing, 183	Michael Costello, 169
P6	Max Taylor, 237	Jay Howard Driver Development, 61	Joey Brienza, 141
P7	Michael Costello, 169	Comet/NCMP Racing, 55	Sebastian Manson, 115
P8	Nicholas Monteiro, 162	DEForce Racing, 54	Carson Etter, 88
P9	Cooper Becklin, 156	FatBoy Racing!, 48	Owen Tangavelou, 74
P10	Joey Brienza, 141		Tanner DeFabis, 70

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF2000: Jeffers denies Schrage victory at Mid-Ohio and creates tie for points lead

Jack Jeffers won two of the three USF2000 races at Mid-Ohio to take back first place in the standings with two rounds left. He enters Toronto level on points with Thomas Schrage, who finished on the podium twice but had a challenging race two.

Schrage took pole ahead of Jeffers in the sole qualifying session and led the field on the opening lap. On lap four, Jeffers made an aggressive move on Schrage at Turn 4 to take the lead. The VRD Racing driver dipped two wheels onto the grass on exit and lost another position to Caleb Gafrarar in the process.

The safety car was then brought out on lap six for Giannetta’s stranded car at Turn 6. During the yellow flag, Jeffers was ordered to return the position to Schrage, but in doing so he also relinquished a spot to Gafrarar, who was promoted to the lead ahead of the restart on lap nine.

Jeffers overtook Schrage on the restart at Turn 4, this time without earning a penalty, and began pursuing Gafrarar, but the Exclusive Autosport driver couldn’t find a way past. Gafrarar thus took a dominant maiden series win ahead of Jeffers, with Schrage coming home third.

Schrage led the field for race two as a multi-car crash at the start involving Sebastian Garzon, Ayrton Houk and Ryan Giannetta immediately neutralised the race. At the restart at the end of lap three, Jeffers took the lead before the start-finish line and began pulling away as Schrage started to fall down the order.

Anthony Martella got past Schrage into the Keyhole but locked up at the next braking zone and careened off track into the gravel. He got back on track but pitted and lost a lap.

The safety car was called again on lap seven after a collision between Eddie Beswick and Christian Cameron left the latter stranded at the Keyhole with a broken rear-left suspension.

The last 11 laps ran under green, and Jeffers withstood the pressure from Gafrarar and Teddy Musella, who swapped places with four laps remaining, to take a hard-fought second win of the season. Schrage pitted under the second safety car period before a late-race spin that left him 11th, a minute behind first-time top-10 finisher Wian Boshoff.

In race three, Schrage led at the start and staved off Jeffers’ early attacks. His defence, however, came to an end on lap three as Jeffers made a last-second dive at Turn 4 to take the lead away.

Jeffers pulled a six-second gap on Schrage before the race was neutralised on lap 10 because of a crash between Giannetta and Martella at the exit of Turn 9. In the race’s second half, Jeffers held off the attacking Schrage to take another win as Musella completed the podium in third.

While Jeffers and Schrage sit at 288 points, Musella is 32 back in third, followed by G3 Argyros and Gafrarar, 69 and 76 points off the lead in fourth and fifth respectively.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Thomas Schrage, 1:21.2201	Jack Jeffers, +0.1985s	Caleb Gafrarar, +0.2665s
Race 1 (20 laps)	Caleb Gafrarar, 29:53.4512	Jack Jeffers, +2.0586s	Thomas Schrage, +3.3168s
Race 2 (20 laps)	Jack Jeffers, 32:15.4616	Caleb Gafrarar, +0.3954s	Teddy Musella, +2.0346s
Race 3 (20 laps)	Jack Jeffers, 30:27.5664	Thomas Schrage, +0.3827s	Teddy Musella, +0.9026s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Jack Jeffers, 288	VRD Racing, 325	Jack Jeffers, 288
P2	Thomas Schrage, 288	Exclusive Autosport, 307	Teddy Musella, 256
P3	Teddy Musella, 256	Jay Howard Driver Development, 244	Caleb Gafrarar, 212
P4	G3 Argyros, 219	Pabst Racing, 240	Evan Cooley, 190
P5	Caleb Gafrarar, 212	DEForce Racing, 95	Liam McNeilly, 163
P6	Evan Cooley, 190	Benchmark Autosport, 74	Anthony Martella, 156
P7	Liam McNeilly, 163	Synergy Motorsport, 70	Sebastian Garzon, 147
P8	Anthony Martella, 156	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development, 69	Christian Cameron, 137
P9	Lucas Fecury, 148		Jeshua Alianell, 127
P10	Sebastian Garzon, 147		Eddie Beswick, 126

Read the previous round’s report here.

USF Juniors: Escorpioni extends lead after Fisher stripped of race two win

Leonardo Escorpioni won race one in the second Mid-Ohio round of USF Juniors to extend his advantage in the drivers’ championship over fellow Brazilian João Vergara with two rounds remaining. The Brazilian duo are separated by 24 points, while Liam Loiacono in third and Oliver Wheldon in fourth are level on points a further 19 behind.

Ty Fisher had a narrow advantage in the first part of the weekend, taking pole by less than a hundredth of a second and leading the early stages of the race.

There were two safety car periods, one for Kaylee Countryman and Hudson Potter’s collision at China Beach on lap three and another for Thomas Nordquist’s spin at Turn 1 on lap eight. Fisher held the lead at the first restart but lost it at the second restart on lap 11 to teammate Escorpioni after a battle that lasted several corners.

After rival Wheldon ran wide exiting Turn 13 at the end of the lap, Vergara also blew past Fisher into Turn 4 on the next lap. Escorpioni never looked back and kept Vergara at bay to take his fourth win of the season, while Fisher rounded out the podium.

Fisher once again led the field for race two, but shortly after it got underway, a safety car was called for two separate crashes. On the front straight, Loiacono spun Matan Achituv into the barrier, whilst Oliver Wheldon and Rodrigo Gonzalez collided in Turn 4, sending the former into the wall at high speed.

Fisher kept the lead at the restart on lap six, pulling away from Escorpioni, who was overtaken by Vergara into Turn 4 and Loiacono at the same spot two laps later. On lap 14, the Australian got past Vergara at Turn 4 to take second place.

Up ahead, Fisher led all 20 laps to win ahead of Loiacono and Vergara, but the Canadian driver was disqualified after the race for a technical infringement. Loiacono thus earned his second win of the season from eighth on the grid, while Vergara and Escorpioni completed the podium ahead of Brenden Cooley in a season-best fourth.

On Monday, Zanella Racing posted a statement on social media to request a formal review of the penalty, which they said lacked ‘both procedural foundation and sporting justification’.

“The nonstop pressure and complaints from competing teams has become increasingly difficult to ignore. It is unfortunate that this atmosphere has contributed to an inconsistent application of the rules,” the team alleged in their statement. 

As a result of the disqualification, Fisher fell from second to fifth in the points, four behind Loiacono and Wheldon. Zanella Racing still retain their lead in the teams’ standings with 304 points, 34 ahead of VRD Racing and 129 ahead of DEForce Racing.

Elsewhere in the field, USF Juniors debutant Chase Fernandez finished seventh in race two, ahead of Kaylee Countryman, who took her second top 10 in three races ahead of Michael Suco and  Gonzalez.

Report by Marco Albertini

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Ty Fisher, 1:25.0836	Leonardo Escorpioni, +0.0097s	Oliver Wheldon, +0.0260s
Race 1 (20 laps)	Leonardo Escorpioni, 33:13.3847	João Vergara, +0.7921s	Ty Fisher, +1.2052s
Race 2 (20 laps)	Liam Loiacono, 33:31.2879	João Vergara, +2.0017s	Leonardo Escorpioni, +2.4097s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Leonardo Escorpioni, 241	Zanella Racing, 304	Liam Loiacono, 198
P2	João Vergara, 217	VRD Racing, 270	Oliver Wheldon, 198
P3	Liam Loiacono, 198	DEForce Racing, 175	Ty Fisher, 194
P4	Oliver Wheldon, 198	Jay Howard Driver Development, 155	Vilho Aatola, 160
P5	Ty Fisher, 194	Pole Position Motorsports, 47	Brenden Cooley, 86
P6	Vilho Aatola, 160	InterMS, 45	Emma Scarbrough, 63
P7	Rodrigo Gonzalez, 145	Exclusive Autosport, 44	Karel Staut, 61
P8	Diego Guiot, 119		Connor Aspley, 53
P9	Patricio Gonzalez, 101		Matan Achituv, 53
P10	Michael Suco, 101		Kaylee Countryman, 50

Read the previous round’s report here.

Header photo credit: James Black / Penske Entertainment