2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship

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The 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship was the 25th season in series history and the first under the USF Pro 2000 moniker. When the top rung of the Road to Indy ladder system, Indy Lights, was bought by Penske Entertainment (owners of IndyCar) in 2021 and the lower level series changed sanctioning to the United States Auto Club, changes were made to the other championships in the ladder that resulted in the championship being rebranded for 2023. This, together with the Indy Lights being rebranded to Indy NXT, effectively ended the "Road to Indy" branding, with the three championships below Indy NXT now collectively called "USF Pro Championships Presented by Cooper Tires". [1]

Contents

The three Andersen Promotions series continued to have tire contracts with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, while the NTT IndyCar Series and Indy NXT had tire contracts with Bridgestone Corporation to use Firestone tires.

Myles Rowe won the championship after an outstanding season where he collected 5 wins and 9 podiums, making history as he became the first African-American to win a U.S. open-wheel championship. [2] His team, Pabst Racing, won their first championship at this level of competition.

Series news

Drivers and teams

All drivers competed using Tatuus IP-22 racecars with Elite Mazda 2.0-014A engines and Cooper tires.

TeamNo.Driver(s)Round(s)
DEForce Racing7 Flag of the United States.svg Bijoy Garg [4] 1–13, 16–18
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mac Clark [5] 14–15
8 Flag of Mexico.svg Jorge Garciarce [6] 14–15
12 Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto [7] All
Exclusive Autosport90 Flag of the United States.svg Yuven Sundaramoorthy [8] 1–13
91 Flag of Mexico.svg Salvador de Alba [9] All
92 Flag of Sweden.svg Joel Granfors [10] 1–13
93 Flag of the United States.svg Lindsay Brewer [11] All
95 Flag of the United States.svg Avery Towns [12] 14–18
FatBoy Racing!83 Flag of the United States.svg Charles Finelli [13] 5–6, 8–9
Jay Howard Driver Development 4 Flag of Mexico.svg Ricardo Escotto [14] All
6 Flag of the United States.svg Reece Ushijima [15] 1–11
Flag of the United States.svg Frankie Mossman [16] 14–18
Miller Vinatieri Motorsports40 Flag of the United States.svg Jack William Miller [17] All
NeoTech Motorsport81 Flag of Brazil.svg Nicholas Monteiro [18] 1–15
Pabst Racing with Force Indy99 Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe [19] All
Pabst Racing 19 Flag of the United States.svg Jordan Missig [20] All
20 Flag of the United States.svg Jace Denmark [21] All
TJ Speed Motorsports [22] 10 Flag of Albania.svg Lirim Zendeli [23] 1–6, 8–18
32 Flag of the United States.svg Christian Weir [24] 1–13
Flag of Brazil.svg Nicholas Monteiro [25] 16–18
55 Flag of Italy.svg Francesco Pizzi [26] All
Turn 3 Motorsport1 Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando [27] All
2 Flag of Ireland.svg Jonathan Browne [28] All
3 Flag of the United States.svg Christian Brooks [29] 1–2
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Louka St-Jean [30] 8–18
44 Flag of the United States.svg Christian Brooks [31] 12–13
Flag of the United States.svg Danny Dyszelski [32] 16–18
47 Flag of the United States.svg Jackson Lee [33] 1–11
Velocity Racing Development17 Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson [34] 14–18

Schedule

The 2023 schedule was revealed on October 17, 2022. It featured two street circuits, six road courses and one oval round. The championship returned to Sebring for the first time since 2010 (when it was called Star Mazda Championship) and to Austin for the first time since 2013 (when it was called Pro Mazda Championship). All rounds except the weekends at Sebring, Indianapolis Raceway Park and Circuit of the Americas supported IndyCar. [35]

Rd.DateRace nameTrackLocation
1March 4–5 Discount Tire Grand Prix of St. Petersburg  R  Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida
2Andersen Interior Contracting Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
3March 25–26 Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Sebring  R  Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida
4
5May 12–13 USF Pro 2000 Discount Tire Grand Prix of Indianapolis  R  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Speedway, Indiana
6
7May 27USF Pro 2000 Cooper Tires Freedom 90  O  Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Brownsburg, Indiana
8June 17–18L&W Supply Grand Prix of Road America  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
9
10July 1–2 Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
11
12July 15–16 Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Toronto  R  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario, Canada
13
14August 26–27 Discount Tire Circuit of The Americas Grand Prix R  Circuit of the Americas Austin, Texas
15
16September 2–3VP Racing Fuels Grand Prix of Portland  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
17
18

Race results

Rd.TrackPole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace winner
DriverTeam
1 Flag of the United States.svg Streets of St. Petersburg Flag of the United States.svg Christian Brooks Flag of Italy.svg Francesco Pizzi Flag of the United States.svg Christian Brooks Flag of the United States.svg Christian Brooks Turn 3 Motorsport
2 Flag of Italy.svg Francesco Pizzi Flag of Sweden.svg Joel Granfors Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Pabst Racing with Force Indy
3 Flag of the United States.svg Sebring International Raceway Flag of the United States.svg Jace Denmark Flag of the United States.svg Jace Denmark Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Pabst Racing with Force Indy
4 Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Pabst Racing with Force Indy
5 Flag of the United States.svg Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto Flag of Mexico.svg Ricardo Escotto Jay Howard Driver Development
6 Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of Sweden.svg Joel Granfors Flag of Sweden.svg Joel Granfors Exclusive Autosport
7 Flag of the United States.svg Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Flag of the United States.svg Jack William Miller Flag of Mexico.svg Salvador de Alba Flag of Mexico.svg Salvador de Alba Flag of Mexico.svg Salvador de Alba Exclusive Autosport
8 Flag of the United States.svg Road America Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando multiple drivers Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Turn 3 Motorsport
9 Flag of the United States.svg Christian Weir Flag of Italy.svg Francesco Pizzi Flag of Albania.svg Lirim Zendeli Flag of Albania.svg Lirim Zendeli TJ Speed Motorsports
10 Flag of the United States.svg Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of Mexico.svg Salvador de Alba Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Turn 3 Motorsport
11 Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Pabst Racing with Force Indy
12 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Exhibition Place Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of Mexico.svg Ricardo Escotto Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Turn 3 Motorsport
13 Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Jordan Missig Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe Pabst Racing with Force Indy
14 Flag of the United States.svg Circuit of the Americas Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mac Clark Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mac Clark Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto DEForce Racing
15 Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mac Clark Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson Velocity Racing Development
16 Flag of the United States.svg Portland International Raceway Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of Albania.svg Lirim Zendeli Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto DEForce Racing
17 Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Turn 3 Motorsport
18 Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson Velocity Racing Development

Season report

First half

The first season under the USF Pro 2000 guise began around the streets of St. Petersburg with Turn 3's Christian Brooks on pole position. After not getting the chance to contest last year's race due to a crash in qualifying, he made the most of this opportunity and controlled the race to take a flag-to-flag win. Behind him, DEForce's Kiko Porto and Pabst's Myles Rowe were hot on his tail but could not make a move. The latter of the two started the second race in fifth and quickly worked his way up the order. He took the race lead from Porto, who had overtaken TJ Speed's pole sitter Francesco Pizzi earlier, around the half point and built a gap from there onwards. Porto took another second place by keeping Pabst's Jace Denmark behind him. Rowe left St. Petersburg as the championship leader, three points ahead of Porto, with Brooks a further three points behind. [36] [37]

Next up was the series' return to Sebring, where Denmark and Turn 3's Michael d'Orlando shared pole positions. Porto and d'Orlando were both unable to start the first race, while Rowe immediately went for the lead down the inside of Denmark. This top two remained until the penultimate lap, where Exclusive's Joel Granfors and Pizzi both got by Denmark onto the podium. Rowe started third in race two, but overtook both leaders into the same corner. He then made a mistake on the second safety car restart of the race, allowing TJ Speed's Lirim Zendeli to attack him from second, but did not concede the lead. A race-long fight for third was won by Porto in the end, who minimized his points disadvantage that way. Rowe's third win in a row catapulted him 42 points in the lead, ahead of Porto and Pizzi, who were equal on points. [38] [39]

Porto was on pole position for the first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A chaotic race saw Porto fend off multiple other drivers, until a rain shower arrived and caused a stoppage. JHDD's Ricardo Escotto was by far the fastest car in the final part, rising up from tenth to the lead. Porto was less fortunate and dropped back at the same time, conceding the podium places to his teammate Reece Ushijima and d'Orlando. Rowe began the second race in first, but spun right away. Granfors used cautions and chaos to his advantage to rise from eighteenth on the grid into contention. He took the lead from Exclusive's Salvador de Alba on lap eleven, while Denmark consolidated third place. Rowe had a first race to forget as he retired and was classified 18th, but managed to salvage eighth place in race two. Still, his lead over Porto was reduced to 39 points. [40] [41]

The season's only oval race was the Freedom 90 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Miller Vinatieri's Jack William Miller took pole position. Granfors ran into the back of Miller on the start, before De Alba and Pizzi both moved forward: De Alba took the lead, while Pizzi jumped into third. The Mexican controlled the race from the front, unbothered by his competitors behind and lapped traffic in front. Pizzi and Miller behind him were locked into a battle that eventually opened the door for Granfors to swoop into third. He was then also able to demote Miller to third, but was equally unable to disturb De Alba's lead. The race then ended under yellow when TJ Speed's Christian Weir hit the wall. Granfors' second place earned him second in the standings, while championship leader Rowe came fifth, his points lead now at 32 points. [42]

2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship race at Road America Road America June 2023 30 (USF Pro 2000 Championship race).jpg
2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship race at Road America

The first half of the season came to a close with d'Orlando and Weir taking pole positions at Road America. D'Orlando held his lead in race one until he went off on lap four, allowing Rowe into the lead. Ushijima shortly claimed the lead on a restart before dropping back to fourth. D'Orlando battled back into the lead and won, ahead of Rowe and Pabst's Jordan Missig. The second race began with Weir and d'Orlando colliding on the warm-up lap, leaving Zendeli in front. He was attacked by Turn 3's Jonathan Browne and Pizzi, with the latter getting past for a short time. Zendeli got back in front and held on to win, while Porto took advantage of Browne and Pizzi battling to take second and lead the Irishman home. Rowe finished fourth, while his closest competitor Granfors had to concede second in the standings to Pizzi, now 48 points behind the leader. [43]

Second half

D'Orlando and Rowe took pole positions in a close qualifying session at Mid-Ohio. Porto ran wide at the start of race one and rejoined unsafely, causing multiple retirements. Rain then started to fall, necessitating a stoppage, and the field was released with two laps to go. D'Orlando had led the whole race and was unaffected by the weather conditions. He won the race ahead of Denmark and Miller, who had avoided the earlier chaos. Rowe on his part was pressured by d'Orlando during the first part of race two. When a safety car was then called, Porto overtook d'Orlando on the restart to eventually form a trio of the pair and de Alba that took turns attacking Rowe. The latter prevailed, leading home Porto and d'Orlando. Rowe's fourth win extended his championship lead, while Pizzi had a horrible weekend, relinquishing second place back to Granfors, 56 points behind Rowe. [44] [45]

The season's only event abroad at Exhibition Place began with Rowe taking double pole positions and then crashing in qualifying. He held his lead at the start of race one, while de Alba and d'Orlando traded second behind him. A caution period was then turned into a red flag when rain hit the track. Rowe was the first to hit the wet track at racing speeds and ran deep into turn three. This allowed d'Orlando and de Alba through to take first and second, while Zendeli passed four cars to take third. A big crash at the start of race two did not disturb Rowe, neither did the attack of Denmark, who lost his front wing in the process. He collected his fifth win, while d'Orlando in second struggled and dropped behind Zendeli and Missig. Granfors was involved in the crash at the start and so dropped down the standings. Now Porto was in second place, albeit 81 points behind Rowe. [46] [47]

The penultimate round marked the series' return to Circuit of the Americas, and DEForce's debutant Mac Clark took pole position. The experienced Porto started race one behind him and soon took the lead. Clark tried coming back at a later restart, but was unable to do so, so settled for second place. Completing the podium was another debutant, VRD's Nikita Johnson. The American, only 15 years of age, did even better in the second race: he started third behind Porto and Clark and overtook the latter during the first lap. He then spent six laps working on Porto in the lead before he finally got past him. Johnson took the win on only his second start in the series as both debutants took double podiums. Porto's win and second place coupled with a quiet fourth and sixth place for Rowe kept the championship mathematically alive - Rowe was now 58 points in the lead. [48] [49]

D'Orlando took pole position for the season finale at Portland. Seven cars crashed out on the first lap as d'Orlando and Porto avoided the chaos. The former was then dropped back by a penalty, resulting in a podium consisting of Porto, Rowe and DEForce's Bijoy Garg. This kept the title fight alive for the penultimate race, which saw d'Orlando win from pole, ahead of Johnson. Rowe came third to become the first USF Pro 2000 champion, as well as the first African-American U.S. open-wheel champion. The season ended with another win for youngster Johnson. He passed poleman d'Orlando right at the start and then survived five safety car restarts in a race of high attrition. De Alba came second to secure his third place in the standings, while Browne rounded out the podium. At the end of the season, Rowe's points advantage stood at 64 points. [50] [51] [52]

After Rowe ended his 2022 season by getting beat to the USF2000 title by the narrowest of margins, his title one step above on the IndyCar ladder never seemed in any doubt or danger as soon as he left St. Petersburg with the points lead. Dominating the Sebring weekend gave him a comfortable cushion to aim for consistent, reliable finishes instead of having to take risks. While Porto managed to delay Rowe's triumph to the penultimate race, he never looked able to consistently keep up with Rowe enough to become a serious championship rival. The championship's next year also looks to be a strong one, with drivers like Clark and Johnson debuting late in 2023 and already earning wins and podiums.

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th  11th  12th  13th  14th  15th  16th  17th  18th  19th  20th 
Points3025221917151413121110987654321
Points (O)4538332926232120181715141211986532
PosDriver STP SEB IMS IRP ROA MOH TOR COA POR Points
1 Flag of the United States.svg Myles Rowe 31*1*1*185524111*7*1*462310391
2 Flag of Brazil.svg Kiko Porto 221937*111052192571*21*517327
3 Flag of Mexico.svg Salvador de Alba 717716621*1410104258510112291
4 Flag of the United States.svg Michael d'Orlando 1811161131461201*311417771*5288
5 Flag of Italy.svg Francesco Pizzi 45371074651517661696106259
6 Flag of Albania.svg Lirim Zendeli 164621310191*610325411418258
7 Flag of the United States.svg Jace Denmark 53417163187725916188464252
8 Flag of Ireland.svg Jonathan Browne 1012128447431715151010131393230
9 Flag of the United States.svg Jack William Miller 14911651531611312181371012814212
10 Flag of Sweden.svg Joel Granfors 9829201*215649419206
11 Flag of the United States.svg Jordan Missig 2075191988317201810319128137179
12 Flag of the United States.svg Bijoy Garg 121414121713141819581793713154
13 Flag of Mexico.svg Ricardo Escotto 15181810117151199111315618161916153
14 Flag of the United States.svg Reece Ushijima 619842911138186140
15 Flag of the United States.svg Yuven Sundaramoorthy 8209141512910131313148121
16 Flag of the United States.svg Christian Weir 1710101386179158141217119
17 Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson 31*1421*118
18 Flag of the United States.svg Lindsay Brewer 131615181119161214161916121419181511108
19 Flag of Brazil.svg Nicholas Monteiro191317151416132012121611111516191819106
20 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Louka St-Jean81677191813155148101
21 Flag of the United States.svg Jackson Lee 1115135918121718142084
22 Flag of the United States.svg Christian Brooks 1*68479
23 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mac Clark 2350
24 Flag of the United States.svg Avery Towns12179161239
25 Flag of the United States.svg Frankie Mossman91117171537
26 Flag of the United States.svg Danny Dyszelski 1512927
27 Flag of Mexico.svg Jorge Garciarce 111417
28 Flag of the United States.svg Charles Finelli1220212112
PosDriver STP SEB IMS IRP ROA MOH TOR COA POR Points
ColorResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
Green4th & 5th place
Light Blue6th–10th place
Dark BlueFinished (Outside Top 10)
PurpleDid not finish
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
BrownWithdrawn (Wth)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
BlankDid not participate
In-line notation
Bold Pole position (1 point)
ItalicsRan fastest race lap (1 point)
*Led most race laps (1 point)
Not awarded if more than one driver led most laps
Rookie

Teams' championship

Scoring system
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th+ 
Points221815121086421
PosTeam STP SEB IMS IRP ROA MOH TOR COA POR Points
1 Pabst Racing [lower-alpha 1] 3111133524217146234403
5341415583711593158467
2Turn 3 Motorsport1695346131314107513318
99108411751377891212895
3DEForce Racing2211379962525712159282
101114111410121214148128233713
4TJ Speed Motorsports4432864716103254746282
13557107148581366149101014
5Exclusive Autosport7729611964425856112263
812612922111010941011149128
6 Miller Vinatieri Motorsports1188651231311312131271011810130
7 Jay Howard Driver Development 61374181048961013611131311125
12141310214131091311915141412
8Velocity Racing Development31122193
9NeoTech Motorsport14101213121311141212141111131360
10FatBoy Racing!1115151516
PosTeam STP SEB IMS IRP ROA MOH TOR COA POR Points

See also

Notes

  1. The entry lists listed Pabst Racing by Force Indy as a one-car team separate from the main Pabst Racing team, while the official points listed all three cars together.

Related Research Articles

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References

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