Cooper Tires USF2000 Category

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Oliver Askew continued his charge for the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda crown by capturing his second win of the season at Barber Motorsports Park in the first race of the doubleheader weekend. Askew led from the start in his No. 3 Soul Red Mazda for Cape Motorsports but was never able to relax. Team Pelfrey’s Kaylen Frederick had his No. 81 Mazda in Askew’s mirrors the entire race but the 14-year-old wasn’t able to overtake.Read More

PALMETTO, Fla. – Rinus VeeKay introduced himself to American open-wheel fans late in 2015 when, after earning a Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda test as part of the MAXSpeed/Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires Driver Advancement Program, he steadily made his way up the timing charts at Circuit of the Americas to finish third in the final session, with two seasoned veterans in front. The 16-year-old Dutchman has an impressive karting resume, with numerous championships in Holland and Europe, including Dutch Minimax and Junior titles andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Now that we’ve had a week to digest all of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires action from the streets of St. Petersburg, it’s time to reflect on some interesting observations. Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Aaron Telitz won the first Indy Lights race of the season with nearly the largest margin of victory for an Indy Lights car ever at St. Petersburg, in what was an impressive showing for the Wisconsin native. J.K. Vernay’s winning margin inRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Robert Megennis (Team Pelfrey) and Oliver Askew (Cape Motorsports) shared the limelight today as the new-look Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda kicked off in style on the streets of St. Petersburg. The brand-new Mazda-powered Tatuus USF-17 chassis provided some spectacular action as the talented young American duo each claimed a race win during today’s season-opening double-header. Last year’s top rookie, Megennis, from New York, N.Y., secured his first win this morning despite a late charge from former karting star Askew, from Jupiter, Fla., whoRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kicked off today with practice and qualifying for four of the six races which comprise the start of a new campaign for the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires. A dramatic qualifying session for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the highest rung on the acclaimed open-wheel development ladder which offers Mazda Scholarships to enable talented drivers to reach all the way from the grassroots of the sport to the Verizon IndyCar Series, ended with Aaron TelitzRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda season starts this weekend with the doubleheader race day on Saturday at the Streets of St. Petersburg. It will mark the culmination of a massive changing of the guard in the first step on the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires. A new chassis makes its debut in St. Petersburg as the Tatuus USF-17 will replace the aged Van Diemen DP08 in the championship class. The Van Diemen has been inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda, quite a few drivers have their eyes set on the Mazda  scholarship award that will move them up to the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires.  However, each driver has something working against them, so let’s take a look at five drivers who could win the USF2000 championship, and why they might not. Oliver Askew Askew has many years in karting and represented Team USA in the Formula Ford Festival and atRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. (March 8) – Cooper Tire and Mazda today announced the renewal of the MRTI Hashtag Program that encourages drivers and teams to utilize the #MRTI and #TeamCooperTire hashtags through their social messaging on Twitter and Instagram. The social media program originated in 2014 as an initiative by Cooper Tire in cooperation with the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, and was designed to encourage drivers and teams to give their fans an inside look at the life of an up-and-coming race car driver, bringing out theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer During the offseason after the 2016 racing season, Cape Motorsports underwent some changes both big and small. The largest change was that the team decided to expand their operations further down the ladder by expanding into the F4 United States Championship.  Team co-owner Nicholas Cape explained the teams’ reason for expanding during the F4 U.S. testing at NOLA Motorsports Park. “Well, pretty much it’s for our internal ladder system.  There’s a gap between karting and USF2000- USF2000’s quite a big step soRead More

PALMETTO, Fla. (March 7, 2017) – The eyes of the open-wheel auto racing world will be focused firmly on St. Petersburg, Fla., this weekend as the Verizon IndyCar Series and all three levels of the acclaimed Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires begin their new season on the challenging 1.8-mile, 14-turn downtown street circuit. More than 50 ambitious drivers literally from around the globe will converge on the scenic waterside track, each and every one of them looking to make a strong start to their campaigns in pursuitRead More