Ava Dobson is taking the next step of her racing career in 2024 when she heads to USF Juniors as the only female driver currently in the USF Pro Championships.

Dobson, 15, is continuing to build on her first season of open-wheel racing.

Previously, Dobson raced in the Formula 4 United States Championship for twelve races during the 2023 season. This came after she competed the first part of the season in the Formula Development Series, a support series for F4 US, due to not reaching the minimum age needed to compete in the series.

Once Dobson was eligible to race in F4 US, she managed to reach eight top-20 finishes while competing as one of the youngest drivers in the field. 

Dobson raced one round as well in USF Juniors last season when she debuted in the series at Road America, finishing 12th twice and 11th once.

Competing against drivers who are older than her is something that Dobson had gotten used to. The Wisconsin-native had always moved up early in karting to try to maximize her development as a driver.

“My dad really cared about moving up and experiencing how to race with people when it gets hard in the mid-pack,” Dobson said. “I feel like that’s where I got my really good racecraft and it definitely (adapts to) cars.”

Dobson began karting at a very young age, when she tried rental karts for the first time.

After being recommended to begin racing, she began traveling with her family to Badger Kart Club in Dousman, Wisconsin, where she continued to fall in love with the sport.

“I would go out and do three laps and come back and be like, ‘I want to go back out,’” Dobson said. “My dad’s like, ‘Just stay out there.’ I was like seven and we did (karting) for a long time.”

Dobson eventually progressed up quickly through the national levels of karting before she found herself a part of Jay Howard Driver Development for the start of her F4 US career. 

As Dobson continued to move up the ranks of racing, she found herself continually as one of the few woman drivers in any given race she was competing in. Dobson was one of two women to compete in a majority of the F4 US schedule last season, alongside Crosslink Kiwi’s Hannah Greenemeier.

With Lindsay Brewer moving up to INDY NXT next season, Dobson is currently the only woman who is set to drive in the USF Pro Championships next season.

“I think (being a female racing driver) is a really big deal,” Dobson said. “Especially now, there’s a lot more women in the sport now and all those younger girls are seeing everyone move up.”

Dobson said that she believes the reason that a lot of girls quit racing is because they get discouraged by people who believe that they will not be able to achieve their goals due to being women.

She credits her family and her dad in particular for encouraging her to push past the criticism she hears and continue to push along toward what she wishes to accomplish in racing.

Her ultimate goal is to eventually reach the INDYCAR series. Before she reaches that, she believes she still has a lot more learn as she continues to rise up the ranks.

“I feel like this can be a struggle for many drivers, describing how you feel in a car and how to express that to your team,” Dobson said. “I feel in karting that’s really what I struggled with.”

She still considers herself in the “learning phase” of her time in cars and is focused on becoming a better driver while learning every weekend what she needs in order to continue her growth. She believes that with her team, Jay Howard Driver Development, she is well-positioned to continue to grow.

This all culminates in the upcoming season where she will compete an entire schedule among drivers who are also looking to prove themselves and head up the ladder.

“I definitely am a little nervous (about next season) but I just want to perform well at all races,” Dobson said.