The second annual Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 $200K Scholarship Shootout will feature a new addition this year as eKartingNews.com – the authority on the karting industry – will select one up-and-coming karter as the recipient of a 2017 Shootout entry ticket.

What do Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Tony Kanaan, Josef Newgarden and Spencer Pigot have in common? All are graduates of series comprising the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires – one of the most successful driver development programs in the world, providing a unique, scholarship-funded path to reach the Verizon IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500.

Each week, we take a look via Twitter at what the teams and drivers of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires are up to!

Four candidates for this year’s Team USA Scholarships recently gained a taste for what may lie in their future when Bryn Nuttall of BN Racing granted them an opportunity to sample a Tatuus-Mazda USF-17 at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill.

Winning the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda Team Championship highlighted a season that team owner Augie Pabst describes as one of the most successful – and enjoyable – of his life.