ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – After a challenging start to the USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire season finale at Road America this past weekend, Exclusive Autosport’s USF2000 drivers stepped up their game in the trio of races around the 4.014-mile track, earning three podiums, four top-five results, and 11 top-10s to finish off the season on a high note. Evan Cooley led the way with two podium finishes, and these results cemented his position in fourth in the final championship standings. Gabriel Cahan scored his second podium of the year with a runner-up finish in Race 2, and he finished all three races in the top 10, as did Connor Aspley, who delivered the best weekend of his young career. Brenden Cooley posted a pair of top-10 finishes in his official full-time move to USF2000, while Ayrton Cahan’s results do not come close to showing his pace, as an impressive fourth in Race 1 would certainly have been followed by more had he not been punted off the track at the start of Race 3 going for the lead in Turn 1. Overall, it was a very strong performance by EA’s USF2000 drivers to cap off the season.

“I am really proud of the way our USF2000 group finished the season,” said Michael Duncalfe, Founder, Co-Owner and CEO. “We had five cars showing strong pace throughout the weekend, and to come away with three podiums and have all five of our drivers inside of the top 10 at different points shows the depth of this program. Evan put together another strong weekend to secure fourth in the championship, Gabriel earned a great podium, Connor had his best weekend of the year, and both Ayrton and Brenden showed tremendous pace that wasn’t necessarily reflected in the final results. There is a lot of young talent in this group, and I am extremely proud of the progress they made throughout the season. A huge thank you to our entire USF2000 crew for all of their hard work this year. We’re excited to carry that momentum into our testing program and begin building toward 2027.” 

The weekend began on Thursday with a pair of test sessions, and the team focused on improving overall pace through testing and official practice. Friday qualifying set the starting point for the weekend with the team drivers locking in Race 1 grid positions in order from ninth to 13th, led by Evan Cooley. All five EA drivers advanced in the opening race of the tripleheader, filling the top-10 after great performances. Evan Cooley scored his seventh podium of the year, finishing a strong second. Ayrton Cahan fought hard for the podium but ended just off it with an impressive fourth-place run, while Aspley earned his best career finish in USF Pro competition with a sixth, kicking off a fantastic weekend. Gabriel Cahan and Brenden Cooley finished seventh and ninth, respectively.

In Race 2, a final-lap incident opened the door for Gabriel Cahan to escape the carnage with a stellar runner-up finish, tying his top result from the Freedom 75 at IRP in May. Aspley turned in another competitive drive to finish seventh, bouncing back from a mid-race restart incident. The remainder of the team did not fare so well. Evan Cooley found himself on the sidelines early due to an on-track incident, while Ayrton Cahan was forced off track on the exit of turn 13 when a competitor took him out as they raced side-by-side for fifth on lap five. Continuing the run of unfortunate luck, Brenden Cooley was taken out on the ensuing restart after another competitor’s car hit the back of Aspley coming to the green flag in Turn 14, leaving Brenden with nowhere to go.

In the final race of the year, Ayrton Cahan’s goal of a podium was ended on the opening lap when contact in Turn 1 left him with suspension damage as he was gunning for the race lead. This left Evan Cooley to record a highlight-reel moment, driving from seventh to the lead on the opening lap with passes around the outside of Turn 1 and then using a little of the grass on the run down to Turn 5. Evan held the lead for a lap and once again led the EA crew, eventually scoring his second podium of the weekend in third, locking down fourth in the USF2000 championship standings in the process. Aspley wrapped up his best career USF Pro weekend to complete his set of three top-10 finishes, running as high as fourth and ultimately finishing seventh. Gabriel Cahan and Brenden Cooley were again in the top 10, finishing ninth and tenth, respectively.

In the final championship standings, Cooley led the way in fourth, while the Cahans wrapped up their rookie USF2000 seasons with Gabriel in eighth overall, and Ayrton in 11th. On the strength of his three wins before moving up to USF Pro 2000, Anthony Martella made it three Exclusive Autosport drivers in the top 10, finishing 10th overall, just four points out of ninth.

With the 2026 season now complete, the team will turn its focus to testing for the 2027 season and the upcoming USF Pro Championship Fall Combine test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on October 17-18.

Qualifying: 9th – 2:08.8924

Race 1: Start – 9th / Finish – 2nd

Race 2: Start – 13th / Finish – 18th

Race 3: Start – 7th / Finish – 3rd

Driver Quote: “It was a solid end to the year despite a tricky weekend. I wrapped up fourth in the championship standings with two podium finishes this weekend. While it was a difficult year overall, I’m proud to end on a high note and keep the momentum rolling into next year! Huge thanks to the team all year long for pushing through the adversity, especially my engineer Lou, driver coach Oliver, mechanic David, all my sponsors, and most importantly my parents for their incredible support. Preparing for next year starts now!”

Qualifying: 10th – 2:08.9658

Race 1: Start – 10th / Finish – 6th

Race 2: Start – 12th / Finish – 7th

Race 3: Start – 6th / Finish – 7th

Driver Quote: “Best weekend yet for the entire EA crew. We really couldn’t have asked for much better; Driver Championship in USF Pro 2000, a new race winner in USF Juniors, and a career-best finish in USF2000 for me. Glad I was able to have such a great weekend with the team I consider family.”

Qualifying: 11th – 2:09.2444

Race 1: Start – 11th / Finish – 9th

Race 2: Start – 9th  / Finish – 15th

Race 3: Start – 10th / Finish – 10th

Driver Quote: “Road America was a challenging weekend for us, with mechanical issues limiting our track time and making it tough to put everything together. Despite that, we showed really strong pace in the races and made some good progress throughout the weekend. It was a lot of fun racing at such an awesome track, and there are plenty of positives to take away. Huge thanks to the team for all their hard work throughout the weekend.”

Qualifying: 12th – 2:09.3414

Race 1: Start – 12th / Finish – 7th

Race 2: Start – 11th / Finish – 2nd

Race 3: Start – 11th / Finish – 9th

Driver Quote: “The season finale at Road America went better than I expected. I had gearbox and brake issues to start the weekend in the first two practices, and that later carried into qualifying. However, our pace was strong in the races, and I managed to come away with a podium in Race 2. I also secured P3 in the rookie standings. I can’t thank the amazing people at Exclusive Autosport enough for their tremendous support and commitment all year long. Glad we could end it on a high note.”

Qualifying: 13th – 2:09.4085

Race 1: Start – 13th / Finish – 4th

Race 2: Start – 10th / Finish – 16th

Race 3: Start – 3rd / Finish – 18th

Driver Quote: “Road America was definitely a bittersweet weekend for sure. I showed really great speed, but didn’t get the result that I wanted. Getting taken out in Race 2, as we went purple, was a devastating blow. Then, starting up front for Race 3, and challenging the lead into Turn 1, wheel-to-wheel contact broke my suspension and that pretty much sums up our luck for the weekend. Huge thanks to everyone at Exclusive Autosport for their hard work all season long. Especially Michael, Josh, Kyle, Robert, Oliver, Elliot, Dave, and Alycia for all their continued support of me.”

Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with a great company - Corpay Cross-Border Solutions (https://cross-border.corpay.com/exclusive-autosport/), which specializes in helping companies of all sizes power their international payments, manage their currency risk and support their global growth.

Exclusive Autosport is also happy to partner with the state-of-the-art establishment of Autobahn Country Club and their Autobahn Driver Academy (https://autobahncc.com/driver-academy/). This collaboration will offer aspiring racers comprehensive training in open-wheel racing, leveraging EA’s proven track record of success in developing talent from grassroots levels to professional racing careers. The academy will benefit from EA’s innovative coaching techniques and its commitment to driver excellence.