Road to Indy Category

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Aaron Telitz tried his utmost to turn the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires season opener into a procession, but fortunately his fellow protagonists failed to follow his script during an otherwise action-packed Mazda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Cooper Tires. As Telitz, 25, from Birchwood, Wis., romped to an impressive debut victory from the pole for Belardi Auto Racing, the remainder of the 15-car field staged a thrilling contest which ended with fellow Americans Colton Herta (Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing) and Neil Alberico (Carlin) completingRead 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. – Anthony Martin began his bid to follow Matthew Brabham as only the second driver to claim back-to-back Mazda Scholarships in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires with a flag-to-flag victory in the Hi-Tide Kids on Track Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The 22-year-old from Kalgoorlie, Australia, driving for St. Petersburg-based Cape Motorsports, remained under pressure virtually throughout the 25-lap, 30-minute race from Brazilian Victor Franzoni (Juncos Racing) before taking the checkered flag to earn victoryRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief One of the most talked about newcomers to the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series, Colton Herta, paced the final few minutes of qualifying en route to his maiden pole for the second race of the St. Petersburg doubleheader weekend. The driver of the No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing Mazda set a time of 1 minute, 06.5465 seconds. Last year’s championship runner-up, Santi Urrutia, will start alongside Herta in his No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing Mazda/Dallara IL-15. Dalton Kellett occupies the third spot with rookie PatoRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires begins with a host of changes. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports closed their Indy Lights team, but their cars were destined to see the grid with other teams. Andretti Autosport and Carlin both expanded to four cars, while Belardi Auto Racing expanded to three cars. Team Pelfrey Juan Piedrahita returns to the yellow and black squad in the No. 2 entry, while Pato O’Ward has the No. 3 machine at his disposal for St. Petersburg. O’WardRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The 2017 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires is undergoing a transitional year. This year is the last year of the older Star-manufactured car before a transition into the new Tatuus PM-18, a car based off of the USF-17 that is running in USF2000 this year. Despite low car counts during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test and the preseason testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the series has managed to have some late additions before heading to St. Petersburg for the first raceRead 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 final step of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires has offered some fantastic racing over the past few years. The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires has seen some close finishes and tighter action with its fair share of dicing passes and chaos behind the wheel. Drivers are looking to move up to the Verizon IndyCar Series with the Mazda scholarship award and a few drivers look like they’re on the right track to do just that. 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