Afterburner Autosport has made known its intent to challenge for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, scoring a pair of wins at this year’s Winterfest series at NOLA Motorsports Park and Barber Motorsports Park, taking second overall in the process.

A dramatic pair of races today in bitterly cold conditions at Barber Motorsports Park saw young Frenchman Nico Jamin of Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing edge Brazilian Victor Franzoni to the fifth annual Cooper Tires Winterfest title.

Afterburner Autosport continued its early-season strength by scoring a big victory in the second USF2000 race of the Cooper Tires Winterfest series at NOLA Motorsports Park last week, topping a field of 18 competitors. Team driver Victor Franzoni battled an electrical issue in qualifying for the first event on Friday, and despite starting deep in the field as a result, the Brazilian rocketed to the front to take the lead and the eventual win. Team USA Scholarship driver Michai Stephens joined Afterburner for the event as well and used the first three races of Winterfest to get himself up to speed in his USF2000 debut.

Team Pelfrey made a strong start to the Mazda Road to Indy season as the Cooper Tires Winterfest kicked off the past two days at NOLA Motorsports Park. Englishman Jack Aitken won two of the three Pro Mazda races on the 2.75-mile road course situated just a few miles from downtown New Orleans, while Garth Rickards led the team’s new four-car foray into USF2000 by securing a promising top-five finish.

Jake Eidson and Victor Franzoni shared the victory spoils for Pabst Racing and Afterburner Autosport respectively following today's pair of 30-minute Cooper Tires Winterfest races at NOLA Motorsports Park.