Long before Timmy Carel was on the cusp of moving into USF Juniors or open-wheel racing in general, his family made the decision to move from France to America.

Carel joked that the family moved due to being fed up with the bad weather of their home country. He was only seven at the time. His father, Chris Carel, was a racer himself who drive in Ferrari Challenge North America through 2019. Attending his dad’s races, Timmy Carel was eventually led into taking up racing himself.

“We would always go to car meets and I would name all the cars and know everything,” Timmy Carel said. “My dad’s like, ‘Do you want to try and start this stuff?’”

Timmy Carel enthusiastically agreed and jumped at the opportunity to get involved. However, he was 12 at the time by the time he he began karting, years older than many of the drivers he will race against now that he has moved into open-wheel racing. 

Now living in Los Angeles, Carel raced for five years in karts and also had a chance to partake in prototype racing through the National Auto Sport Association division based in Southern California. He won the Super Unlimited class title in 2023 while his father also contested in three race weekends.

This progress culminated in tests throughout the Fall of 2023 in a USF Juniors car with Jay Howard Driver Development. The announcement that Carel was signed by the team for 2024 in USF Juniors came on Oct. 16.

Carel’s dad asked him about making the move to USF Juniors and the two heard great things about driving for Jay Howard through the successes of fellow Californian Frankie Mossman, who scored multiple podiums in the Formula 4 United States Championship this year before eventually finishing out his season in USF Pro 2000.

Since Carel has signed for the team, he has praised how Howard, a former INDYCAR driver and Indy Lights champion, has made him rethink how the setup and driver inputs affect the car.

“Every time I understeer through a corner, I used to blame it on the car,” Carel said. “The things he taught us about controlling the pedals and how that affects the grip of the car has been a real game changer. I’ve learned so much about how to take a corner, how to brake into a corner and how much throttle (to input).”

Another resource which Carel gets to rely on as he continues to close the gap of experience between himself and some of his competitors who have spent longer either in karting or racing is his dad.

Carel said the role of his father in his racing career has developed over his time in karting as he began to find ways to assist his development as a driver.

“Not to be egotistical, but he knows I’m better than him and he’s like, ‘I can’t really coach you if you’re better than me,’” Carel said. “In the cars though, he’s just involved in asking a lot of questions about the car and how everything’s running because he’s just genuinely curious.”

Carel specifically mentioned a discussion he had with his dad recently about tire heating as they discussed the new Continential Tire that USF Juniors will run on in 2024. Drivers who are experienced in the series are saying will take around 6-7 laps at most circuits to heat up.

He has gotten the chance to test on the new tires as part of the testing program he has undergone to get ready for the upcoming season. Carel has been able to test at tracks like Barber Motorsports Park and NOLA Motorsports Park as he continues to move closer and closer to his debut season.

One track that he has not raced at that he is excited to do so is Road America, one of the places Carel has gotten to visit throughout his karting career that he has not raced on the full-sized track yet. USF Juniors will be racing on the circuit this upcoming August for their 11th, 12th and 13th races of the season.

As far as his goals for the season, Carel is looking forward to taking 2024 as a chance to embrace the opportunity he has been given and focus on improving as much as he can.

“It’s (an opportunity) that most people would never see in their lives,” Carel said. “This is just the start of open wheel, but it’s still such a huge achievement for any racer to go into. I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”