USF2000 Tag

By Road to Indy ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – Dutch teenager Rinus VeeKay had been knocking on the door of Victory Lane during the opening six races of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season. Now, in the space of 24 hours, just over 70 miles from his Pabst Racing team’s home base in Oconomowoc, Wis., VeeKay has broken through comprehensively, adding another accomplished win this afternoon to his maiden triumph yesterday. VeeKay’s teammate, Calvin Ming, from Guyana, South America, doubled team owner Augie Pabst III’s delight by finishingRead More

By Road to Indy ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – A dramatic first of two Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Road America Powered by Mazda races this afternoon ended with Dutch teenager Rinus VeeKay claiming an emphatic maiden victory for the locally based Pabst Racing team. Chicago’s David Malukas, in just his second USF2000 weekend, qualified on pole and finished second for BN Racing, while Brazilian youngster Lucas Kohl drove by far his most impressive race since joining Pabst Racing this season by finishing in third. Making light of difficult, dryingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer SPEEDWAY, Indiana — In what has become his trademark this year, Oliver Askew led from pole and won the first Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda race of the weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. At the start there was a three car incident between Parker Thompson, Kory Enders and Kris Wright, eliminating Enders and Wright on the spot and making Thompson pit for brief repairs. The race restarted with just under 12 minutes to go and Askew gotRead More

By Road to Indy It would be an understatement to say the past eight months have been a whirlwind for Oliver Askew. The 20-year-old Floridian has gone from wondering how he was going to make a permanent move from karts to race cars, to impressing on an international stage in England, earning a scholarship into the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and taking a commanding lead in the championship with three victories in the first four races. Askew began karting at the age of 7 and by ageRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama- After a chaotic start to the second race for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda at Barber Motorsports Park, Oliver Askew was able to sweep the doubleheader weekend in USF2000 after surviving constant pressure from Kaylen Frederick. The Cape Motorsports entry led from pole but the first half of the race was run under the safety car after three separate incidents knocked four cars out of the race and another car out of contention. On the restart, FrederickRead More

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

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