2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship
The 2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship presented by Continental 'Tire' was the 26th season in series history and the second under the USF Pro 2000 moniker after the three championships below the Indy NXT series were rebranded in 2023 following the acquisition of Indy NXT by Penske Entertainment.
Australian series rookie Lochie Hughes won the Drivers' Championship at the penultimate race of the season after collecting four wins and six further podium finishes. Pabst Racing, the team fielding the drivers in third and fourth in the standings, defended their Teams' Championship at the same race.
Series news
- The scholarship for the champion was slightly increased to $681,500.
- All three ladder series organized by Andersen Promotions ended their long-running affiliation with Cooper Tires as supplier and presenting partner. Continental is the new tire supplier and title partner of the series.
Drivers and teams
Team changesMotorsports left the series to move up to Indy NXT.After NeoTech Motorsport's only driver Nicholas Monteiro moved to TJ Speed Motorsports halfway through 2023 and now joined DEForce Racing, the team discontinued their series entry. BN Racing returned to the series with two full-time entries after last participating during the 2020 season. Comet/NCMP Racing joined the championship, fielding a single car. Driver changesReigning Teams' champions Pabst Racing signed two new drivers following Jordan Missig's departure from the series and reigning series champion Myles Rowe's graduation to Indy NXT. The team promoted Simon Sikes after he won the 2023 USF2000 Championship with the same team and signed Christian Brooks after he contested a handful of races during the 2023 season for Turn 3 Motorsport.Turn 3 Motorsport saw a complete overhaul of their lineup, as the team took on five series rookies. One Irishman replaced another in the No. 2 car, with Formula Regional European competitor Adam Fitzgerald replacing Indy NXT-bound Jonathan Browne. Danny Dyszelski graduated from USF2000 competition to replace Louka St-Jean in the No. 3 car after having already contested the final two rounds of the 2023 season with the team. The No. 44 and No. 68 cars are also piloted by USF2000 graduates, with Lochie Hughes and Ethan Ho joining the team after coming third and 13th in the 2023 USF2000 championship, respectively. The teams final car, the No. 33 entry, is driven by Tyke Durst, who graduated from US Formula 4 competition and replaced IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge-bound Jackson Lee. DEForce Racing signed one Brazilian to replace another, with Kiko Porto joining ANSA Motorsports in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and his seat being filled by Nicholas Monteiro, who came 19th in 2023 with NeoTech Motorsport and TJ Speed. The team also kept two drivers they fielded in the 2023 season finale, with Mac Clark replacing ELMS-bound Bijoy Garg and Jorge Garciarce remaining in the team's third car. TJ Speed Motorsports also signed three new drivers to replace Lirim Zendeli, Christian Weir and Francesco Pizzi. The team signed FROC and FRJ runner-up Liam Sceats as well as two Americans returning from European competition in former FIA F3 competitor Hunter Yeany and GB3 and Eurocup-3 driver David Morales. After running as many as four cars during some rounds in 2023, Exclusive Autosport downsized to one full-time entry in 2024. After Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Salvador de Alba and Lindsay Brewer all graduated to Indy NXT and Joel Granfors left the series, the team welcomed back Braden Eves, who competed with the team in the 2020 and 2021 seasons before a move to JHDD for 2022 and a hiatus in 2023. The team also fielded Avery Towns for the season opener at St. Petersburg. Jack William Miller followed his family-run team's move to the Indy NXT championship. Jay Howard Driver Development saw Ricardo Escotto move to BN Racing and Reece Ushijima depart the championship. The team retained Frankie Mossman, who already did five races with the team in 2023. Velocity Racing Development expanded to two cars for the events at St. Petersburg and NOLA, with Nikita Johnson, who did the 2023 season finale with the team, being joined by Shawn Rashid and both drivers also embarking on a campaign in the GB3 championship through VRD's collaboration with Arden Motorsport. Returning team BN Racing fielded two Latin American drivers, with Nicolás Baptiste returning to the Americas after competing in Formula Regional Europe and Ricardo Escotto departing JHDD to embark on his sophomore season in the championship. New team Comet/NCMP Racing signed Logan Adams to drive their single entry, who jumps up to USF Pro 2000 after competing in US F4 and USF2000 in 2023. Mid-season changesAhead of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, David Morales left TJ Speed Motorsports due to budgetary constraints after crashing his car in both St. Petersburg and NOLA. He was not replaced. Mexican driver Arturo Flores joined the grid in the No. 78 BN Racing car, making his series debut after two years of competing in the F4 NACAM championship. Long-time driver Charles Finelli also rejoined the grid at Indianapolis in his own FatBoy Racing! team.Ahead of the Freedom 90, Adam Fitzgerald announced he would not continue his championship campaign to focus on recovering from his back injury that he sustained in the crash that took Dilano van 't Hoff's life in 2023. TJ Speed Motorsport also altered their lineup further, with Indy NXT driver Bryce Aron joining to pilot Morales's No. 28 car and series returnee Francesco Pizzi taking over the No. 27 car from Yeany, who struggled for funding. Both Arturo Flores and Logan Adams were not entered. Ahead of the round at Road America, Canadian driver Nico Christodoulou announced his step up to USF Pro 2000 with VRD, after multiple outings and two wins in USF2000 since 2020. TJ Speed Motorsport saw both Bryce Aron and Francesco Pizzi depart after their outing at the Freedom 90. FR Americas driver Cooper Becklin took over the No. 27 car, while the No. 28 car was not fielded. Logan Adams and Comet/NCMP Racing rejoined the grid at Road America, as did Arturo Flores for BN Racing. In the days leading up to the Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, BN Racing announced a new signing in Alessandro de Tullio, who came fourth in USF Juniors in 2022 and stepped into the car previously piloted by Arturo Flores. Charles Finelli left the championship ahead of the weekend. Multiple drivers ended their season early ahead of the Grand Prix of Toronto. Braden Eves, who had already announced difficulties concerning his budget ahead of Mid-Ohio, was among them, meaning Exclusive Autosport did not field any drivers. Nico Christodoulou did not attend his home event, he was replaced by returnee Shawn Rashid in the No. 32 VRD car. Christian Brooks, who initially confirmed he would finish his campaign despite his Indy NXT commitment, was replaced by GT driver Glenn van Berlo. Nicolás Baptiste and Ethan Ho were also absent. DEForce Racing's Mac Clark and Comet/NCMP Racing's Logan Adams were not on the grid for the Grand Prix of Portland. While Shawn Rashid also did not attend the season finale, VRD instead brought another driver over from its sister GB3 operation to make his series debut in Noah Ping. JHDD also welcomed a series debutant in its USF2000 driver Tanner DeFabis. ScheduleThe 2024 schedule was revealed on October 31, 2023. It featured two street circuits, five road courses and one oval round, one event less than the year before. The round at Sebring International Raceway was dropped in favor of a triple-header at NOLA Motorsports Park, the first time the championship returned there since the 2015 Pro Mazda Championship. The round at Circuit of the Americas was also dropped, while the rounds at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Road America were made into triple-headers to keep the race tally at 18. All rounds except the weekends at NOLA and Indianapolis Raceway Park supported IndyCar.
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