Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 Set for Double-Header Rounds in Wisconsin

PALMETTO, Fla. – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, which collectively comprise the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel development ladder, will all feature a pair of races this weekend at one of the country’s most scenic and challenging race tracks, Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wis., as part of the Kohler Grand Prix.

Each of the three championships are reaching their halfway stage, with Mazda Scholarship prizes and other awards totaling more than $3.6 million ultimately at stake to assist the respective champions move on to the next step on the ladder with the ultimate goal of competing in the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500.

Who Can Challenge Askew in USF2000?
USF2000 has been revitalized this season with the introduction of the exciting new carbon fiber monocoque Tatuus USF-17 chassis. Drivers representing 10 different teams and at least eight nations are expected this weekend, and all of them determined to end the dominance of Cape Motorsports’ Oliver Askew, from Jupiter, Fla., who, despite this being his first full season of car racing following a stellar career in karting, has won the past five races in succession to open up a commanding championship lead.

The list of potential challengers is long. Cape teammate Ricky Donison, from Bangalore, India, and Calvin Ming, from Guyana, South America, who drives for Pabst Racing, based nearby in Oconomowoc, Wis., became the first drivers from their respective nations ever to stand on the podium for a Mazda Road to Indy race during the most recent race weekend in Indianapolis last month. Young Dutchman Rinus VeeKay, also aboard a Pabst Racing Tatuus, has finished on the podium four times, while Team Pelfrey teenagers Robert Megennis, from New York., N.Y., who won the opening race of the season in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Kaylen Frederick, from Potomac, Md., also have been regular contenders.

Series veteran Parker Thompson, from Red Deer, Alb., Canada, who finished second in the 2016 title-chase and has twice finished on the podium this season, will lead the charge for the new Canadian-based team, Exclusive Autosport, while Kory Enders, from Warwick, N.Y., and Mexican Moises de la Vara have displayed promising form for another new team, DEForce Racing.

More local flavor will be provided by ArmsUp Motorsports, from nearby Sheboygan Falls, which will field a pair of cars for upstate New Yorker Devin Wojcik and young Brazilian Bruna Tomaselli, plus Illinois teenagers Colin Kaminsky (John Cummiskey Racing) and David Malukas (BN Racing). In addition, Florida’s Darren Keane will join Mundelein, Ill.-based Newman Wachs Racing for the first time.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Grand Prix of Road America Presented by Mazda weekend will commence with 30 minutes of practice on Thursday, June 22. After qualifying at 8:00 a.m. CDT on Friday, Race One will take the green flag later that same morning at 11:45 a.m. Qualifying for Race Two will follow at 4:35 p.m., with the green flag set for 1:10 p.m. on Saturday, June 24.

Coverage of the Mazda Road to Indy can be found on a series of platforms including Road to Indy TV, the Road to Indy TV App and dedicated broadcast channels on demand via Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku and, most recently, the Xbox One Official App as well as live streaming and live timing on the series’ respective websites and indycar.com.