At nine years old, Joao Vergara defied his mother’s wishes when he snuck out with his uncle, 24 Hours of Daytona winner Ozz Negri, to get his first taste of karting at age nine.

Then living in Brazil, Vergara, now 16, drove that day on the karting circuit adjacent to the Formula One circuit at Interlagos. What followed after was six years of karting that led to Vergara working his way into the USF Pro Championships. He is signed by Exclusive Autosport to race in USF Juniors in 2024.

One crucial part of Vergara’s development as a racer was his family’s move to Miami after he had begun karting. Vergara said that his family was planning the move for a while and said a part of it was that his brother, who currently attends UC Berkeley, wanted to attend college in the United States.

After karting at major events across the country, Vergara started his car racing career by finishing second in the Lucas Oil School of Racing Formula Car series after receiving a scholarship to compete.

Vergara said that there were lots of things that he learned from his time in the Lucas Oil Race Series including how to drive cleaner.

“Racecraft was a big thing,” Vergara said. “Lucas Oil has a rule that any contact will give you a 30-second penalty. That helps us learn to race with respect and I think that was also a big, big part of the (series).”

Despite falling short in the championship to USF2000 driver Hudson Schwartz, Vergara had five wins and fourteen podiums in fifteen races.

There was an existing connection between Vergara and Exclusive Autosport through a previous working relationship between engineer Lou D’Agostino and Negri from Negri’s days in racing. Vergara got to meet team owner Michael Duncalfe at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before eventually testing with the team at Mid-Ohio. Vergara was announced to be driving for Exclusive Autosport this upcoming season on Nov. 21.

“We tested at Mid-Ohio and it was great,” Vergara said. “My relationship with Lou was great, the way we work together and having my uncle also working with us this year is awesome.”

Vergara said the relationship between himself and his uncle and having him around supports him on the mental side of racing.

Before races, Negri would tell Vergara to relax and focus.

“He says I’m a pretty coachable driver,” Vergara said. “He makes sure I am calm and I’m ready to do what I have to do.”

Exclusive Autosport is a team which has experienced success in USF Juniors. Vergara will enter the team and will be driving alongside teammates with more experience than him in the series including Jack Jeffers and Giovanni Cabrera.

When it comes to catching up with the drivers who have more experience than them, Vergara is relying on the testing experience that he will pick up before the season begins.

“Exclusive has put up a great program for me,” Vergara said. “(My teammates) have a bit of an advantage with their second season but I still believe I can fight for the championship and be up to speed with them.”

As part of that program, Vergara got to recently test at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama where he got the chance to experience driving in the rain.

While racing in the rain is something that Vergara had experience with in karting, it is a skill he will continue to have to adapt to during his time racing in cars.

“At the Barber test, I was just getting used to how the car behaves in the rain,” Vergara said. “I feel like I made good improvement.”

Heading into the USF Juniors this season, Vergara aims to put himself in the championship fight.

He sees making it to this level as another step on his road to eventually reaching his dream, driving in the IndyCar series.

“I do believe I can win,” Vergara said. “I joined Exclusive and we are making a great team so far.”