PALMETTO, Fla. – USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire kicks off a brand-new campaign this weekend on the unforgiving streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., in support of the opening round of a new NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. As has become traditional, two 20-lap races will make up the event, with the second leg of the Foundation Building Materials/Andersen Interior Contracting Grand Prix representing a milestone 250th race since the series was reinstated in 2010 following a three-year hiatus.

This will be the 17th consecutive year that USF2000 has raced on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary circuit comprised of downtown streets and one of the runways at the adjacent Albert Whitted Airport. Coincidentally, the very first race of the modern era also was held at St. Petersburg and was won by Andretti Autosport’s Sage Karam merely three weeks after his 15th birthday.

Other previous St. Pete race winners who later progressed to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES include Florida natives Spencer Pigot (three times in 2011 and 2012), RC Enerson (2014), Oliver Askew (2017) and Kyle Kirkwood (2018). Current INDY NXT competitors Myles Rowe, Lochie Hughes, Nikita Johnson and Max Garcia also have won USF2000 races in St. Petersburg.

USF2000 is the middle step on the USF Pro Championships ladder. It stands between USF Juniors, which was introduced in 2022 as the entry point to the professional ranks of auto racing, and USF Pro 2000, the final stepping stone to INDY NXT and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. USF Pro Championships is unique in the world of auto racing in providing scholarships for its championship-winning drivers to graduate onto the next level.

Nevertheless, defending champion team Exclusive Autosport boasts an extremely strong roster which includes Evan Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., who placed fifth in the 2025 title-chase and was fastest in the Fall Combine post-season test at Indianapolis last October, and Canadian Anthony Martella, who finished seventh after scoring a dominant victory at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with JHDD.

Sebastian Garzon and Eddie Beswick also will be back after placing among the top 10 in 2025. Colombian Garzon, 16, who, like Cooley, impressed last year in St. Petersburg with a fourth-place finish, returns with DEForce Racing and has claimed early bragging rights after posting the fastest time among those who attended the recent Spring Training pre-season test at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Garzon, incidentally, is coached by 2023 USF2000 champion Simon Sikes.

Beswick, a former Formula Ford champion in his native Australia, has joined Pabst Racing which seeks to bounce back after winning the championship in both 2023 and 2024.

Other likely contenders will include the top three USF Juniors protagonists from last year, Leonardo Escorpioni, Liam Loiacono and Joao Vergara.

Escorpioni, a Florida-based Brazilian, was a clear championship winner with six wins to his name. He graduates to the next level in partnership once again with Zanella Racing, which will make its bow at this level. Australian Loiacono makes the step with Jay Howard’s team, which proudly boasts a fresh alignment with NTT INDYCAR SERIES team Ed Carpenter Racing, while Vergara, another Florida-based Brazilian, graduates with VRD Racing, which won the USF2000 Teams Championship in 2025.

A strong entry of 23 cars also includes the top three FRP F1600 Championship Series contenders from last year: brothers Gabriel and Ayrton Cahan, from Santa Fe, N.M., who make their debut with Exclusive Autosport, and Wesley Gundler, from Holly Springs, N.C., with the new ENVE Motorsports team. Incredibly, all three were blanketed by a mere two points following their 20-race campaign.

The schedule for USF2000 will comprise practice, qualifying and the first race on Friday, with the green flag set for 11:30 a.m. EST. Race two will start after the headline event at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

                        

Complete coverage can be found on the free USF Pro Championships App, YouTube channel and series website, usf2000.com.