Road to Indy Category

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Pabst Racing Services, World Speed Motorsports and Carlin have all added to their Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires rosters with driver announcements that add to each of the three series that make up the MRTI. Pabst announced that Calvin Ming will be joining the team to pilot one of their cars in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda.  The Guyanan driver started his career in karting in 2012 before moving up to winning races in F1600 andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The grid for the 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires is starting to come together after the Friday’s confirmations of Matheus Leist and Juan Piedrahita to join the field for Carlin and Team Pelfrey. For Leist, this represents a move back across the pond to race in America after leaving his home of Brazil to race in the UK. The 19-year-old raced in Brazil in the 2014 Formula 3 Light category, finishing second in the championship with two wins and nine podiumsRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Victor Franzoni has had one of the more interesting journeys in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires. After having run the 2014 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda for Afterburner Autosport, Franzoni returned to Afterburner in 2015 looking to contend for the USF2000 championship. Those plans didn’t come to fruition as Franzoni was disqualified after a top five finish at the second race at Barber Motorsports Park and a decision was made by the series to sit theRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Exclusive Autosport’s inaugural campaign in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda has been bolstered with the signing of 2016 series runner-up Parker Thompson. Thompson will drive the No. 90 Tatus USF-17 in his third season in USF2000. The Red Deer, Alberta native is coming off a runner-up finish in the standings to former Cape Motorsports teammate Anthony Martin. “This was easily one of the hardest off seasons I have had in my motorsport career thus far,” Thompson admitted. “I honestly didn’t know ifRead More

Like good friend Colton Herta, Chandler Horton grew up at Verizon IndyCar Series races. His father Jeff is the longtime INDYCAR Director of Engineering, and young Chandler played with many a race car in paddocks across the country. Starting out on dirt bikes then progressing from karts to formula cars, the 19-year-old now moves into the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, driving for RJB Motorsports in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Here, Horton details his other racing passion (cycling), how he became the familyRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer The grid for the 2017 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda has gotten more solid with Thursday’s announcement that 2016 Rookie of the Year Robert Megennis will rejoin the team for this year’s championship. “Welcoming Rob back to the Team Pelfrey family for a third straight season in yellow says a lot about this partnership. Rob, his family and his partners believe in us, and we have absolute faith in Rob’s abilities,” said Team Pelfrey’s General Manager, Jonny Baker. “The wayRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Oliver Askew is no ordinary teenager. The 19-year-old Floridian represented Team USA at the Formula Ford Festival in England, finishing second at the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy Race at Silverstone and won the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout. With that win, he earned a $200,000 Mazda Racing scholarship to fund a drive in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda for 2017. The craziest part of this whole situation is that before going over to race in England in November, Askew hadRead More

To say that Colton Herta was born to be a race car driver is probably not too far off the mark, as the son of 1993 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires champion (and two-time Indianapolis 500-winning car owner) Bryan Herta began racing soon after he learned to walk. Swiftly moving from karts to open-wheel, including the Pacific F1600 series (which he won in 2013), Herta first joined the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires in 2014. He missed the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda seasonRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Team Pelfrey announced that it has re-signed TJ Fischer for the 2017 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. The 23-year-old found himself on the second ladder of the Mazda Road to Indy after running the first part of the season in USF2000 – moving up to replace the departing Weiron Tan in the third car. Of the final nine races, Fischer scored top six finishes in seven of them. “It is with great excitement that we welcome TJ back to Team Pelfrey. Not only isRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Nicolas Dapero began the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires as an unknown in the paddock. The Argentinian finished sixth in the 2015 Brazilian F3 Championship with five podiums and a fastest lap in 12 races before going to race in the United States. After an interesting 2016 season, Dapero will be moving up to Indy Lights for 2017 with the same team he raced with in Pro Mazda in Juncos Racing. Dapero began 2016 with pairs of tenths, seventhsRead More