ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – With the opening round of this year’s Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires less than a month away, Cape Motorsports is excited to announce their second driver for this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. New Albany, Ohio’s Braden Eves will join the multi-time series champions for 2019, having gained additional experience in F4, F1600 and USF2000 last season.
The 19-year-old karting champion has won at some of the biggest karting events in the United States, including the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour. Eves enters his first full season of USF2000 competition with wins in F4 and F1600 on his resume as well.
“We are extremely happy to announce Braden as part of our 2019 line-up,” commented Nicholas and Dominic Cape. “He has the background we look for and we both feel that he will excel in our team environment. We can’t wait to get started at St Pete.”
Eves began his racing career in 2005 in club karting, eventually working his way up the ranks through the World Karting Association Manufacturers Cup, United States Pro Kart Series, and Superkarts! USA Pro Tour. As a young karter, he added to his resume along the way, scoring many wins and titles as he established himself as one of the top kart racers in North America.
Braden made his step up to cars in 2017, running just three of the seven events on the F4 US Championship, yet still finishing a stellar sixth overall with one victory, six podium finishes and eight top-four results. In 2018, Eves ran the first three F4 weekends of the year and then refocused, making a single weekend appearance in the F1600 Championship Series, scoring a pair of wins amidst three podium finishes.
He also sampled the waters in USF2000, participating in the series finale at Portland International Raceway. Braden qualified in the top-six for both races of the doubleheader, finishing sixth in Race 1 after contact took him out of Race 2. To cap the season, Eves was selected to join the Team USA Scholarship program in England, but was forced to decline in the invite due to a medical issue that has since been remedied.
“Cape Motorsports is really a great team, and their history of winning championships speaks for itself,” Eves added. “Coming off a difficult 2018 season, it’s extremely refreshing to have such confidence in the people around me. I’ve been working hard at home to put all of this together, as well as getting my fitness back to 100% after my surgeries a few months ago. Pre-season testing starts next week and I can’t wait to get back into the car. I’m excited to work with Cape Motorsports and learn from their experience! Special thanks to Team USA Scholarship for giving me the opportunity to compete for the MRTI 200k scholarship a few months ago. This season can’t come soon enough!
The Cape Motorsports crew continues their pre-season testing and the entire team will be on-track at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 2-3 for official Spring Training ahead of the season opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 8-10.