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.

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.

Afterburner Autosport is pleased to announce a new addition to its driver line-up for this year’s Cooper Tires Winterfest series, which will run on Thursday and Friday (February 19-20) at NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, La. Team USA Scholarship winner and Skip Barber series race winner Michai Stephens will join the squad, making his official USF2000 and Mazda Road to Indy debut. The 23-year-old Ivanston, IL resident will be under the Afterburner tent alongside Brazilian Victor Franzoni .

Team Pelfrey today confirmed that talented young Australian Luke Gabin will take his first steps on the Mazda Road to Indy and complete its four-car assault on this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.