Photo Credit: Gavin Baker Photography

It’s only year three of the USF Juniors series and growth of the series’ field has not only continued, it has rapidly accelerated.

As of right now, a series-record 26 cars are expected to race at Louisiana’s NOLA Motorsports Park next weekend to kick off the season. The drivers in the series will be competing for a scholarship valued at $263,700 which will allow them to move up to USF2000, the next level of the USF Pro Championships ladder.

The series is racing at NOLA for the first time, replacing Sebring International Raceway as the opening race. Additionally, in a move which has excited multiple drivers that have spoken to USOpenWheelNation, the series will support the IndyCar series at their dates at Mid-Ohio and Portland International Raceway. This adds on to their existing IndyCar support date at Barber Motorsports Park.

New teams are joining USF Juniors. DEForce Racing opened a second team to utilize their resources for an expanded number of drivers called DEForce Racing Driver Development. 

One of the shocking stories of the Formula 4 United States season last year was the incredible second-half run of International Motorsport, who are re-joining USF Juniors this year after a 2022 campaign. Inter MS had four wins and eight podiums in only fifteen races of F4 US, twelve of which they only had one driver for. They finished third in the constructors championship of that series.

Additionally, karting powerhouses Zanella Racing have joined the series. Rounding out the field of new teams, IMSA Prototype Challenge champion Tonis Kasemets has started a team which will have two twin brothers drive for them.

One final change for the series is that Continental is now the title sponsor and the new tire supplier, replacing Cooper Tire. The Continental tire has already been tested and has been known to heat up much slower than the previous tire, putting more emphasis on the driver’s abilities to warm their tires.

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With the series changes out of the way, here are the driver previews for announced drivers:

Last year, Nicolas Giaffone came over from Brazil to win the USF Juniors title with DEForce Racing. DEForce have some Brazilian heavy-hitters as well this year and the one that stands out the most is reigning Brazilian Formula 4 champion Vinicius Tessaro. Tessaro is a proven winner in Brazil, taking six victories en route to an open-wheel championship that set the stage for his move to the United States. He’s also been right near the top of preseason testing.

He will be joined at DEForce by Brazilian Bruno Ribeiro, who had gathered a bunch of experience at tracks like Interlagos racing in the Formula Evolution series in cars similar to F1600. Ribeiro is one of the younger drivers in the field at 15, but has been hanging around in the top 10 throughout testing sessions at both NOLA and Sebring and should very well be in the mix for strong performances once the series kicks off.

The next DEForce driver is Leandro Juncos, the son of Juncos Hollinger Racing co-owner Ricardo Juncos. Leandro himself has shown lots of pace after testing in a USF Juniors car in 2023, putting himself third in the field in the second testing session at NOLA. Juncos’s preseason pace shows that he will be able to hang right near the top with his other teammates and that the DEForce lineup will be one of the strongest throughout the entire field.

Closing out the DEForce lineup is Brady Golan, who returns to the team after competing for DEForce in 2023 in USF Juniors. Golan finished tenth in the championship and had a best finish of fourth last year in the second race at VIR. Additionally, Golan picked up top-10 finishes in fourteen of sixteen races as he showed his consistency. Returning to the series, he’ll have the chance to use his experience to his advantage as the only returning DEForce driver.

Still within the DEForce stable but racing as part of the new DEForce Racing Driver Development are two promising young Mexican drivers, the first of which is Rodrigo Gonzalez. Gonzalez raced karts at the national level in both his native country and in the United States and on top of gaining experience in testing, also competed and performed well in the YACademy Winter Series during the offseason as he grew competitive with race pace.

Joining him at DEForce Driver Development is Patricio Gonzalez, who also shined during the YACademy Winter Series when he got four top-six finishes throughout six races. He only started karting in 2022, but Patricio has gotten quickly acclimated to finding speed and has looked competitive throughout preseason testing to round out a promising lineup for the new DEForce Driver Development.

On the topic of new teams, International Motorsport joins the series with two drivers who have already racked up experience both on the local level through their in-house Formula Inter series and on the national level. Augusto Soto-Schirripa took a four-year break from racing from 2019 to 2022 but shocked the entire F4 US paddock after missing the first round with four wins and a third-place finish in the championship. Soto-Schirripa is a proven winner at multiple levels who will do damage in the upcoming season.

Joining him is a driver with lots of international experience, Ariel Elkin. Elkin won karting races all over Europe before coming over and winning during the opening round of the Formula Inter series at Homestead. Elkin got on the podium during his first weekend in F4 US when he finished second in only his second race at the Circuit of the Americas. He also finished in the top 10 of each of the three F4 US races he competed in.

Exclusive Autosport had two drivers finishing in the top five of the championship last season and is returning one of them to USF Juniors. That driver is Jack Jeffers, who has been the fastest driver all-around in most testing sessions and is the reigning YACademy Winter Series champion. Jeffers won three races and secured nine podiums last season in USF Juniors and is the highest-placing driver to return to the series. Jeffers should be a serious title contender in 2024 after impressing during the first round of the USF2000 season.

Jeffers is joined at Exclusive Autosport by returning teammate Giovanni Cabrera. Cabrera finished 13th in USF Juniors last season and finished the season with four top-10 finishes, including a best finish of eighth at VIR. Cabrera will have the chance to use his experience to his advantage when he competes this season in the series for the second time.

The first of the three new Exclusive Autosport drivers is Evan Cooley, who became a surprise story during the YACademy Winter Series where he picked up four podiums and finished third in the championship. Cooley was fast during preseason testing and found himself in the top-5 in numerous sessions at NOLA, making him a strong candidate for a driver who might be under the radar to many but can break out. 

Also on Exclusive Autosport, Joao Vergara is a driver who finished second in the Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series last season when he picked up five race wins. Vergara capped off a strong showing for Exclusive Autosport at YACademy when he picked up a podium finish of his own and finished fifth in the final standings. 

The final driver in the five-car stable currently announced for Exclusive Autosport is, fittingly for the Canadian team, one of the two Canadians in the series. Anthony Martella is a Canadian national champion in karting who also got the chance to compete at major karting events across the United States. He was running in the top half of the field in the first testing session at NOLA when his fastest time was good enough to place him twelfth. Martella will be a driver who, after a strong karting career, has the chance to take large striders in 2024.

Velocity Racing Development’s lineup is backed by Sebastian Wheldon, who finished second in the YACademy Winter Series with one win and three podium finishes. Wheldon is another open-wheel champion who is moving into USF Juniors after advancing via scholarship after winning the Skip Barber Race Series. So far in testing at NOLA, Wheldon has looked like one of the fastest drivers of the season and should be a candidate to win races from the very start.

Wheldon is joined at VRD Racing by Michael Suco, an 18-year-old native of Birmingham, Alabama who has been competing in karting and also got the chance to test a USF2000 car with VRD previously. Suco got the chance to compete in the YACademy Winter Series and had a best session finish in NOLA testing of 14th in the leadup to the season.

The new Team Tonis features two twin brothers, the first of whom is Enzo Tovo. Enzo competed in F1600 racing last year in Formula Race Promotions with K-Hill Motorsports and will still run in FRP alongside his full season in USF Juniors. Enzo put up promising testing times at NOLA, including the 11th-fastest time of the fourth session. 

The second Tovo twin competing in the series this season is Jackson Tovo, who competes alongside his brother in many competitions already including F1600. Tovo got the chance to compete in NOLA testing as well and put together times that showed that he will have the pace to compete with the field as early as the first race. Coupling that with some promising results in F1600 with K-Hill as well, keep an eye on the Tovo twins as the season starts.

For newcomers Zanella Racing, Leonardo Escorpioni is only going to be 14 when the first race happens but he has the potential based on preseason results to finish near the top of the field from the start of the season. Escorpioni put together a fourth place finish in the YACademy Winter Series where he also got one win at Sebring. He began racing karts at the age of eight and has won at numerous levels both in his home state of Florida and at the national level. Escorpioni showed off his speed even more in NOLA testing when he ran in the top 10 of the field in session two.

Escorpioni is joined on Zanella by Diego Guiot. Guiot grew up competing in karting races around Texas before moving to the national level and eventually to the national level. Guiot had a best finish of seventh in the YACademy Winter Series as he competed against many of the competitors he will go up against in USF Juniors this upcoming season.

Opening the seven-driver lineup for Jay Howard Driver Development is G3 Argyros, who had a wide range of experiences in off-road short-course racing before hopping into open-wheel competition as he tested throughout 2023 in anticipation of joining JHDD for the upcoming USF Juniors season. Argyros improved as NOLA testing went on, having a best finish of sixth in the final session. Additionally, he finished sixth in the YACademy Winter Series.

Hudson Potter already got the chance to race for JHDD in USF Juniors when he took part in the two weekends at the end of the season at Road America and the Circuit of the Americas, where he had a best finish of 11th. Potter will have the chance to build on that experience this season and also got to run one weekend in the YACademy Winter Series in the offseason in preparation for the upcoming season.

Another driver who competed in the YACademy Winter Series with JHDD was Ava Dobson, who had a best finish of fifth in a race at Sebring. The Wisconsin-native competed in F4 US for most of the year before competing in a round at the Circuit of the Americas during the USF Juniors season where she had a best finish of 11th. Additionally, she had a best finish of 13th in one round of USF2000 action last season at Portland.

Also picking up their first appearance in USF Juniors last season was Aidan Potter, who competed a partial season in F4 US as well. Potter only had a best finish of 11th in his only round of USF Juniors at CotA but picked up a pair of top-six finishes in the YACademy Winter Series this offseason, showing steady improvement and growing comfort in the USF Juniors car.

The second Canadian competing in the series this season is Ayden Ingratta. Ingratta hit the ground running for JHDD last season at Road America when he qualified on pole for his first race. He started all three races at Road America that weekend third or higher. Additionally, he finished third in his class in the national karting championship in Canada last season to cap off a strong preview for what could be a breakout season in USF Juniors.

The next driver to compete for JHDD in USF Juniors is Timmy Carel, who comes from sunny California and got to compete against USF Juniors competition when he competed in the YACademy Winter Series as well when he got a best finish of sixth place at Sebring. Carel has a unique background in prototype racing and is one of the drivers who might be able to use an unconventional background to his advantage to stand out amongst a crowded field of cars. 

Ending the preview with the driver with perhaps the most intrigue, rising British star Liam McNeilly. McNeilly shined in the GB4 Championship with his consistency, picking up two wins and ten podiums as he finished third place in the championship. Having already won at places like Oulton and Donington while finishing on the podium at Silverstone, McNeilly brings loads of talent to the JHDD squad. In preseason testing at NOLA, McNeilly was the class of the field when he topped three of the five sessions.

USF Juniors schedule:

April 5-7 – NOLA Motorsports Park (three races)

April 25-28 – Barber Motorsports Park (two races)

June 14-16 – Virginia International Raceway (three races)

July 4-7 – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (two races)

August 9-11 – Road America (three races)

August 22-25 – Portland International Raceway (three races)