The 2025 USF2000 Championship presented by ContinentalTire was the sixteenth season of the USF2000 Championship since its revival in 2010. The championship serves as the second rung of the IndyCar Series's USF Pro Championships ladder system.
Exclusive Autosport's Jack Jeffers won the Drivers' Championship at the penultimate race of the season, while VRD Racing, the team who fielded Jeffers' two closest competitors, won the Teams' Championship.
All drivers competed using Tatuus USF-22 racecars with Elite Mazda 2.0-014A engines and Continental tires. [3]
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Both DC Autosport and DD Autosports left the series - DD Autosports had entered the series in 2024, while DC Autosport had been competing since 2023.
Two new teams entered the series in Benchmark Autosport and Synergy Motorsport, both entering one car each.
Reigning Teams' Champions Pabst Racing had an all new driver-lineup after they promoted Drivers' Champion Max Garcia to their USF Pro 2000 lineup and both Hudson Schwartz and Sam Corry left the series. [29] The team signed two drivers for their full-time debuts in G3 Argyros, who entered ten races in 2024 driving for Jay Howard Driver Development, and Caleb Gafrarar, who stepped up from competition in the FF1600 United Formula Ford series. [19] [20]
Only one of Jay Howard Driver Development's six 2024 drivers remained with the team's USF2000 outfit as Evagoras Papasavvas made the jump up to Indy NXT for a part-time campaign with HMD Motorsports, G3 Argyros and Michael Costello both joined Pabst Racing in USF2000 and USFP2000 respectively, while Tanner DeFabis was promoted to JHDD's USFP2000 outfit and Jace Bacon left the series. [30] [19] [31] [32] Three new drivers joined JHDD for the 2025 season: Timothy Carel was promoted from the team's USF Juniors outfit, while Anthony Martella also graduated from the same series after driving there for Exclusive Autosport and Brad Majman stepped up from the Ligier JS F4 Series. [16] [17] [18]
VRD Racing also only kept one of its 2024 drivers: Thomas Schrage, who drove for the team in the second half of the 2024 season, was resigned for a full-time campaign, while Max Taylor stepped up to VRD's USFP2000 outfit alongside a part-time Indy NXT campaign with HMD Motorsports and Xavier Kokai did not return after ending his rookie season prematurely. [25] [33] [34] The team promoted Christian Cameron from its USF Juniors program and signed reigning Ligier JS F4 Series champion Teddy Musella as well as Skip Barber Formula competitor Ryan Giannetta. [26] [27] [28]
DEForce Racing saw Lucas Fecury move to Exclusive Autosport, while Nicolas Giaffone left single-seater racing to compete in the Copa Truck and Qinn Armstrong left the series. [13] [35] Two drivers joined the team to make their USF2000 debut in Jeshua Alianell, who stepped up from USF Juniors, and Sebastian Garzón, who made his single-seater racing debut. [5] [6]
Three of Exclusive Racing's drivers joined other teams in the series: Eddie Beswick moved to new entrant Synergy Motorsport, Thomas Schrage chose to remain at VRD where he also finished his 2024 campaign and Anthony Martella was hired by JHDD. [24] [25] [18] 2024 Rookie of the Year Joey Brienza meanwhile stepped up to the team's USFP2000 outfit, while Giovanni Cabrera left the series. [36] Exclusive Racing rehired two of their part-time drivers of 2024 to full-time campaigns in Jack Jeffers and Evan Cooley and signed Lucas Fecury, who departed DEForce Racing, to drive its third entry. [14] [12] [13]
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing saw Elliot Cox graduate to USFP2000 and join Turn 3 Motorsport. [37] The team hired single-seater rookie Wian Boshoff to replace him. [21]
With DC Autosport and DD Autosport departing the series, Carson Etter and Cole Kleck also left the series while new team Benchmark Autosport signed DC Autosport's Ayrton Houk. [4] The other new team, Synergy Motorsport, signed 2024 Australian Formula Ford Series champion Eddie Beswick, who had also entered two USF2000 races in 2024 for Exclusive Racing. [24]
Brady Golan left DEForce Racing and the series ahead of the round at Indianapolis as he made the mid-season step up to USF Pro 2000 with Turn 3 Motorsport. [38] In his stead, the team fielded two drivers making the respective step up to USF2000 in the brothers Patricio and Rodrigo González. [7] Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing meanwhile enlisted 2023 champion Simon Sikes to drive a second car for the event alongside Wian Boshoff. [22]
After winning the first five races in a row, then-championship leader Liam McNeilly encountered visa issues when returning to the US ahead of round 6. That saw him withdraw from the Grand Prix of Indianapolis before being forced to end his campaign alltogether. Ryan Giannetta also missed the round at IRP, as did Simon Sikes. In his stead, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing fielded Elliot Cox, who returned to the team after a two-race step up to USF Pro 2000 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. [23]
Majman did not enter the Grand Prix of Road America, while Cox departed the series after his one-race outing and Giannetta returned. That round also saw the series debut of five drivers: Thomas Nordqvist (DEForce Racing), JT Hoskins (JHDD), Brenden Cooley and Kaylee Countryman (Exclusive Autosport) all made the step up from USF Juniors, while Harley Keeble made his series debut for JHDD. [8]
All five of Road America's series debutants as well as the two González brothers did not enter the Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. Majman meanwhile returned to the No. 7 JHDD car, while DEForce Racing saw the series debut of Mazda MX-5 Cup driver Vaughn Mishko in their No. 17 car. [9]
Mishko did not return for the Grand Prix of Toronto, while Benchmark's Ayrton Houk was also absent. Kaylee Countryman meanwhile was back in the No. 95 Exclusive Autosport car for a second race weekend after her debut at Road America, and both González brothers also returned to DEForce Racing. [39]
Countryman and the González brothers stepped back down to USF Juniors for the Portland finale, while Boshoff and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing were also absent. Mishko meanwhile returned for another outing in the No. 17 DEForce Racing entry, while ENVE Motorsport also joined the championship for the final round ahead of their full-season debut in 2026, fielding debutant Spencer Hancock. [11] [40]
The 2025 schedule was revealed on September 17, 2024. The championship visited the same eight circuits as it did in 2024: two street circuits, five road courses and one oval. [41] All rounds except the weekends at NOLA and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park ran in support of the IndyCar Series. [1]
Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location |
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1 | February 28–March 2 | Foundation Building Materials Grand Prix of St. Petersburg | R Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
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3 | April 11–13 | Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana | R NOLA Motorsports Park | Avondale, Louisiana |
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6 | May 8–10 | VP Racing Grand Prix of Indianapolis | R Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course | Speedway, Indiana |
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8 | May 22–23 | Continental Tire Freedom 75 | O Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, Indiana |
9 | June 19–22 | Elite Engines Grand Prix of Road America | R Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
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11 | July 3–6 | PFC Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio | R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
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14 | July 18–20 | Continental Tire Grand Prix of Toronto | R Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario |
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16 | August 7–10 | Continental Tire Grand Prix of Portland | R Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon |
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The 2025 USF2000 Championship began with Pabst Racing’s Caleb Gafrarar and JHDD’s Liam McNeilly sharing pole positions around the Streets of St. Petersburg. [42] The opening race began with a caution, and McNeilly used the restart to take the lead off of Gafrarar. The latter kept close to the leader, but made a mistake on lap three that saw him crash into the wall and retire. That promoted Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers to second, and he pressured McNeilly for the rest of the race but found no way past. DEForce Racing’s Jeshua Alianell rounded out the podium. [43] Race two saw Jeffers start fourth, but he immediately moved to second at the start to resume his battle with McNeilly. This time, the Briton had a clearer advantage and finished the race 2.7 seconds in front to end the weekend with a 13-point lead over Jeffers, while race one polesitter Gafrarar came third. [44]
Next up was a triple-header at NOLA Motorsports Park, where McNeilly swept both qualifying sessions to take pole position for all three races. [45] [46] He spent the opening part of the first race gapping the field before JHDD’s Anthony Martella crashed and caused a caution. The polesitter was faultless at the restart, leaving Jeffers, JHDD’s Brad Majman, Gafrarar and VRD’s Thomas Schrage to fight over second place. Jeffers was eventually ahead and finished 4 seconds behind McNeilly, with Schrage in third. [47] The second race of the weekend saw a different leader for the first time all weekend when Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley went past McNeilly at the start. That only lasted for one lap, however, before the Briton was back in front. A battle for the lead was interrupted by Schrage moving into third and pressuring Cooley. He got past on lap 13, but by that point, McNeilly had an unassailable lead. Race three began under caution when DEForce’s Brady Golan retired on the formation lap. When the race got underway on lap two, McNeilly was never threatened, taking his fifth race win in a row and building up a 51-point lead. Schrage started second and had to work hard all race to keep Pabst’s G3 Argyros behind him. [48]
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th+ |
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Points | 30 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points (O) | 45 | 38 | 33 | 29 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
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Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th+ |
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Points | 22 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Pos. | Team | STP | NOLA | IMS | IRP | ROA | MOH | TOR | POR | Points | ||||||||||
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1 | VRD Racing | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 448 |
11 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |||
2 | Exclusive Autosport | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 438 |
4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 4 | |||
3 | Pabst Racing | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 320 |
13 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 11 | |||
4 | Jay Howard Driver Development | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 311 |
6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 7 | |||
5 | DEForce Racing | 3 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 151 |
10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | |||
6 | Synergy Motorsport | 9 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 122 |
7 | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 78 | |||
14 | 10 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
8 | Benchmark Autosport | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 74 | |||||
9 | ENVE Motorsports | 11 | 10 | 12 | 12 | |||||||||||||||
Pos. | Team | STP | NOLA | IMS | IRP | ROA | MOH | TOR | POR | Points |