PALMETTO, Fla. – An unusual start to a new season of USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire will regain a sense of normalcy this week as both USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 return to action on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course. After commencing their campaigns independently for the first time since 2013, the two top rungs on the acclaimed open-wheel ladder system will share the same bill – alongside the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT – on May 7-9 at the 2.439-mile 14-turn former home of the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix.

The Tatuus Grand Prix of Indianapolis will comprise two races for the senior level, USF Pro 2000, and a tripleheader for USF2000.

Honors were shared when the USF Pro 2000 title-chase kicked off on the streets of Arlington, Texas, in March with highly rated rookies Leonardo Escorpioni and Jack Jeffers each claiming a race win. Consistency, however, proved even more beneficial for series veteran Frankie Mossman, who snared an early advantage in the quest for a scholarship valued at $593,056 to ease the graduation to INDY NXT in 2027.

Mossman, from Newport Beach, Calif., parlayed a pair of podium finishes in Texas – one second and one third – for VRD Racing into a slender three-point championship advantage over Windermere, Fla.-based Brazilian Escorpioni, who heads a strong five-car contingent from Turn 3 Motorsport.

Escorpioni, one of the youngest drivers in the field at age 16, won last year’s USF Juniors championship and will be competing at Indianapolis for the first time

Jeffers, 19, from San Antonio, Texas, not only has previous racing experience at the hallowed Speedway road course, it was also the scene of his maiden USF2000 victory one year ago for Exclusive Autosport, and ultimately propelled him toward the coveted championship crown. Jeffers took advantage of that impetus by qualifying on pole for the first race of the new season at Arlington, and seemed set for a fairy-tale debut victory until encountering a downshift problem which instead resulted in him collecting one of the omnipresent walls. Jeffers rebounded magnificently to win Race Two later in the day and will seek to maintain that momentum this week.

Michael Costello (Turn 3 Motorsport), from Naples, Fla., and Pabst Racing’s G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif., also earned podium finishes at Arlington, while Peruvian Andres Cardenas endured a challenging debut race weekend but has already proven his ability by setting the fastest times for the newly rebranded JHDD powered by ECR team both at the Fall Combine test at the end of last season and a recent Indianapolis series test.

Others to watch will include Pabst Racing’s Jacob Douglas, from Christchurch, New Zealand, who secured his first USF Pro 2000 win at Indy in 2025, and the TJ Motorsports pair of Thomas Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, who likewise claimed his first USF2000 win one year ago, and Christian Cameron, from Sonoma, Calif

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Mayer Deonarine, who hails from Toronto, Canada, with Trinidad and Tobago descent, will make his USF Pro 2000 debut with Pabst Racing.

A pair of 50-minute test sessions on Thursday, May 7, will precede 30 minutes of official practice at 5:20 p.m. EDT for the 20-car field. A single qualifying session at 11:20 a.m. on Friday will set the starting order for a pair of 25-lap races at 8:55 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. on Saturday. 

The USF2000 season also began with a street circuit doubleheader event, at St. Petersburg, Fla., where Colombian Sebastian Garzon went two-for-two with DEForce Racing and consequently holds a commanding championship lead as the series heads to Indianapolis.

Garzon struggled a little during the recent pre-event test in Indianapolis, posting only the seventh fastest time, so he can expect plenty of challengers, especially since the top 14 drivers at the test turned laps comfortably within a second of the best time recorded by Exclusive Autosport’s Anthony Martella.

Both Martella, from Woodbridge, Ont., Canada and teammate Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., hope to rebound after a difficult weekend in Florida, and the door has been left open for various other title contenders due to the fact that last year’s USF Juniors champion, Leonardo Escorpioni, has chosen to concentrate his efforts on USF Pro 2000 despite securing a pair of USF2000 podium finishes at St. Petersburg.

After securing a race win and two more podium finishes one year ago, VRD Racing also will arrive at Indianapolis with high expectations. Miami, Fla.-based Brazilian rookie Joao Vergara currently holds third in the points table after finishing second and sixth on the opening weekend. He will be joined by the rapid recently-turned-15-year-old second-generation racer Oliver Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., who was a close second at the test after being too young to compete at his home event.

Former Australian Formula Ford champion Eddie Beswick and countryman Brad Majman, along with Canadian former karter Lucas Nanji will fly the flag for Pabst Racing, perennial frontrunners at Indianapolis. Yet another Australian, USF Juniors graduate Liam Loiacono, also is expected to be a challenger at the front end of the field with JHDD powered by ECR.

Watch out, too, for steadily improving Indianapolis-based South African Wian Boshoff, who drives for the locally based Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team, and El Paso, Texas, native Wesley Gundler, who will fly the colors for ENVE Motorsports.

The USF2000 schedule will closely mirror that of USF Pro 2000 with the addition of one more race at 2:45 p.m. on Friday to precede the pair of Saturday encounters which are set to see green flags at 8:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Coverage can be found on the free USF Pro Championships App, YouTube channel and respective series websites, usfpro2000.com and usf2000.com, with live steaming of qualifying and the race events.