Indianapolis, Ind. – After a scoring a breakthrough podium finish at the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season opener in St. Petersburg, Darren Keane will look to build on that performance as he returns to returns Indianapolis Motor Speedway with that same momentum in his No. 36 Newman Wachs machine.

In only his second year in the open wheel ranks, Keane has continued to impress against the tough competition that has been established as a benchmark in the Mazda Road to Indy. Having learned his way around unfamiliar circuits quickly, Keane is ready to put that experience to use in his second season of competition.

The trip to Indianapolis will mark Keane’s second time competing at the iconic 2.439-mile road course for the IndyCar GP against some of the nation’s best up-and-coming drivers participating in the Mazda Road to Indy ladder series.

The double-race weekend event is part of the run-up to the Indianapolis Grand Prix as the Verizon IndyCar Series launches the month of May with Saturday’s race.

After a solid run to the podium in St. Petersburg, Keane is amped to rejoin his Newman Wachs squad and the USF2000 field to hopefully cross the bricks victorious.

"The road course here at IMS is one of the coolest tracks I've driven when you consider it's an oval/road-course,” said Keane. “It is equally as fun to drive as some of the other road courses we go to. There is so much prestige about coming to Indy, especially with the city hanging posters and everyone getting behind racing – it is just awesome. Already we have found some consistency in the car here with being near the top of the field and we hope to continue that through the entire of the weekend."

Keane will participate in Thursday’s test day leading up to the double header race weekend which will stage Round 3 on Friday and Round 4 on Saturday.