Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography
Last November, Colombian Sebastian Garzon put together one of the best single-day performances in 2024 in American karting when he won not one, but two national titles at Las Vegas’s SuperKarts! USA SuperNationals.
Now, in 2025, Garzon is going to take the step directly into the pathway to IndyCar with DEForce Racing in a move announced this afternoon that will put Garzon in USF2000 as one of the most prominent signings in the offseason of the USF Pro Championships.
Garzon had already finished runner-up in the KA100 Junior class that he took victory in, but took an even greater step forward when he secured the title in the X30 Junior class at the competition, which since 2010 has been won by the likes of Lance Stroll, George Russell and Logan Sargeant. That performance earned him driver of the month honors in November from eKartingNews.
The two wins also did not come easy. Garzon found himself outside the top five at various points in both races but stuck with the lead group to take wins. It was the fourth time in history that a SuperNationals sweep occurred across the two junior categories.
Elite karters have come through the ranks for ages, but what sets Garzon apart is his ability to translate his talents to race cars.
Garzon also spent his 2024 competing in the Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series, which has been pumping out open-wheel junior series winners across the country since its inception in 2019.
Multi-time USF Juniors winner Jack Jeffers and frequent podium-topper in Formula Regional Americas Titus Sherlock are both champions of either the series or its winter series counterpart. Bryson Morris, who was beaten out by Andretti’s Lochie Hughes for the Formula 4 United States title in 2022, also won the series.
However, you can argue none of them put up the sheer dominance Garzon did in 2024.
Garzon set a record for podium percentage, landing in the top three in 13 of 15 races. He won nine of those in a season which saw an average field size of around 14, the largest in the history of the upstart championship.
Garzon became the first driver in series history to win at every single track the series competed at, including when he took his fourth win over the span of five races at Mid-Ohio, a track he will race at again in 2025 as part of his USF2000 campaign. His consistency and adaptability will be key factors to get up to speed next year.
He also finished the season with seven first or second place finishes in the last eight races, showcasing his ability to improve by closing out the season stronger than he started. For Garzon, the main challenge will be applying his talent to a difficult USF2000 field in 2025.
DEForce Racing is a team which has won titles before and while they remain one of the stronger sides in the USF Pro Championships, they’ve only put one driver in the top five of the standings since Kiko Porto won the title for them in 2021. In both the past two seasons, DEForce has finished fourth of seven amongst full-time teams behind Pabst Racing, Jay Howard Driver Development and VRD Racing.
However, the team has made a consistent and worthwhile effort to invest in talent from all across the Americas outside of the U.S., with their latest USF Juniors champions Mac Clark and Nicolas Giaffone being Canadian and Brazilian respectively. Garzon will fit right in with an environment like DEForce which has built a pipeline of international drivers over the years.
Garzon is the fourth of seven announced DEForce Racing or DEForce Driver Development drivers in the USF Pro Championships for 2025 to hail outside the United States.
The 15-year-old, being one of the youngest drivers in the field, will still definitely have a learning curve ahead of him despite his success. If his results have shown one thing however, it is that he is able to adapt to challenges the way his karting and introductory open-wheel career have gone, he will be set up for success in USF2000.
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