After Adam Fitzgerald’s karting career began in Ireland in 2019, he moved to racing in Britain and eventually all across Europe in a rapidly evolving span of only four years. Now, in 2024, he’ll race on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Fitzgerald, 20, is traveling to America to compete in USF Pro 2000 with Turn 3 Motorsport in 2024. Fitzgerald will race on entirely new tracks and will test himself against drivers he has not raced against before.

Fitzgerald is part of an increasing group of Irish drivers who have not only moved to America to race in USF Pro 2000, but have all done so under the banner of Turn 3, owned by former Irish racing driver Peter Dempsey.

Fitzgerald said that motivation within the team is one thing that really has stood out to him, a quality he attributes to Dempsey’s leadership.

“It’s a great environment to be in,” Fitzgerald said. “Everyone is very talented and very good at their job from the engineers to the mechanics to Peter.”

Fitzgerald’s move to America comes after he competed in the Formula Regional European Championship, commonly abbreviated to FRECA, for the first four rounds of the season. 

His time in the series was cut short due to a months-long recovery from an injury sustained in a multi-car collision at Spa which resulted in the tragic passing of fellow competitor Dilano van ‘t Hoff.

Setting his sights initially on a second campaign in FRECA in 2024, Fitzgerald foresaw potential obstacles in the future. He looked at the costs it would take to compete in FIA Formula 3 or Formula 2 and how much more he said it would cost than a year in a series like INDY NXT.

“We’re just thinking that even if I did well in FRECA next year, we don’t think we’d even get the sponsorship or budget to move up to FIA F3,” Fitzgerald said. “Rather than just going down a dead end, we decided to make that jump sooner rather than later.”

Now that Fitzgerald has made it over to America, the challenges he faces now include learning the circuits that the USF Pro 2000 calendar will run in 2024. Fitzgerald will be racing at tracks like Indianapolis, Mid-Ohio and Road America. Additionally, he will be racing on an oval for the first time during the Carb Night Classic at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Fitzgerald competed in three of the six sessions that the USF Pro 2000 drivers completed at Sebring on Dec. 12 as part of his testing. The series will not race at Sebring in 2024 but it provided a chance to see how Fitzgerald would stack up against a majority of the field.

As the session went on, Fitzgerald quickly improved. Initially 13th in the first session, he umped up the timesheets to 7th and then eventually 2nd. In the final session, he was 0.166 seconds off of leader Nicolas Monteiro’s time.

“I think I’ve gelled quite well with the car,” Fitzgerald said. “It comes quite naturally to me, how to get the most out of this car. Probably a bit to learn when it comes to maximizing the new tires.”

Fitzgerald pointed out that while the Pirelli tires he ran in Europe would wear very easily, the Continental Tire can go on much longer runs once they heat up. The 2024 season marks the first year that the USF Pro Championships will use the Continental Tire.

A driver moving over from Europe to America, Fitzgerald sees the growth of the drivers making the transition and credits that to the growth of the sport in the United States.

“I think it’s on an upward trajectory,” Fitzgerald said. “The Road to Indy and obviously, the Road to F1, has seen massive growth because of Drive to Survive and I think America is on the same trajectory. It’s gonna get better for years to come.”