2025 USF Mid-Ohio round-up
- Branden Rutter
- Jul 10
- 6 min read
Written by Branden Rutter, Edited by Dan Jones
The 2025 Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio saw the stars of IndyCar and Indy NXT roll into town, but the young and upcoming drivers of the USF Pro Championships had seven races throughout the weekend. The USF Series are the first steps of the ladder on the Road to Indy that are designed to help young superstar drivers reach the IndyCar Series. There are 3 series in the USF Pro Championships ladder in USF Juniors, USF2000 and the USF Pro 2000 series, all of which had action at Mid-Ohio.
Thursday Testing Recap
USF Juniors Testing Sessions
On Thursday, there were testing sessions for each series. The first USF Juniors test session was topped by VRD Racing driver Oliver Wheldon in the No.98 Car with a time of 1:26.1393. In the second USF Juniors test, Wheldon continued his pace with a time of 1:25.4365.
USF2000 Testing Sessions
Next up was the USF2000 test sessions with the first one seeing Exclusive Autosport Driver Jack Jeffers in the No.92 fastest with a time of 1:22.0998. The second session went to Jay Howard Driver Development racer Anthony Martella in the No.9 entry with a time of 1:21.5720.
USF Pro 2000 Testing Sessions
Last up for Thursday was the USF Pro 2000 sessions. The opening session went to Pabst Racing driver Max Garcia in the No.18 with a time of 1:17.8457. It would be a fast day for people named Max, as Max Taylor in the No.88 was fastest in the final session of the day with a 1:17.7796.
Friday Practice Recap
With the Thursday test sessions complete, it was time for practice and qualifying on Friday. Each series had only one practice session ahead of qualifying later in the afternoon.
USF Juniors Practice
The first series up was USF Juniors. Ty Fisher in the No.37 was fastest for Zanella Racing with a time of 1:24.7677.
USF2000 Practice
USF2000 practice saw Martella continue his speed from Thursday, with a time of 1:21.2013, as the Jay Howard Driver Development driver looked to continue his pace into qualifying.
USF Pro 2000 Practice
Garcia's pace from Thursday also continued, as the Pabst Racing driver topped the session with a 1:16.9113.
Friday Qualifying Recap
USF Juniors Qualifying
Fisher's pace from the morning session carried over into qualifying, as the Canadian driver topped the times with 1:25.0836 and an average speed of 95.539 mph. Fisher's teammate, Leonardo Escorpioni qualified second with a time of 1:25.0933. Wheldon, who had set the pace on Thursday, could only manage a 1:25.1096 and would line-up third.
USF2000 Qualifying
Winning the pole for USF2000 was VRD Racing’s Thomas Schrage with a time of 1:21.2201 and an average speed of100.084 MPH. Jeffers would line-up alongside Schrage for a race on the front row, as he qualified with a 1:21.4186. Pabst Racing driver Caleb Gafrarar rounded out the top three qualifiers with a time of 1:21.4866.
USF Pro 2000 Qualifying
Garcia's pace early on in the weekend did translate to qualifying, as he took pole position with a 1:16.8023. TJ Speed Motorsports driver, Ariel Elkin would line-up alongside Garcia with a 1:17.2778, some way off from the polesitter's time. Third place was claimed by Alessandro de Tullio with a best lap time of1:17.3085.
Race Results
Over the span of the three days the USF Pro Championships had seven action packed races at Mid-Ohio with two races in USF Juniors, three races in USF2000 and two races in the USF Pro 2000 Series. Each of the USF Juniors and USF2000 races were 20 laps while the USF Pro 2000 races were 30 laps.
USF Juniors Race 1
Escorpioni would take home his 4th race win of the season after taking the lead away from his Zanella Racing teammate, Fisher at the halfway mark. VRD Racing’s João Vergara would take second whilst Fisher could only manage third.
USF Juniors Race 2
The second race was a controversial affair. Fisher was initially victorious, but failed post-race technical inspection and was disqualified. That gave the win to Jay Howard Driver Development racer Liam Loiacono, who started just eighth on the grid,a s Loiacono claimed his second victory of 2025. Vergara finished in second once again, whilst Race 1 winner, Escorpioni claimed third.
Zanella Racing later commented on the disqualification on a social media post:
"As driver championship leaders and team championship leaders, the nonstop pressure and complaints from competing teams has become increasingly difficult to ignore. It is unfortunate that this atmosphere has contributed to an inconsistent application of the rules.
"I, Jose Zanella, want to formally express my strong disagreement with the series’ decision to disqualify one of our cars, a decision we believe lacks both procedural foundation and sporting justification.
"We respectfully request a formal review of this decision and urge the Series to ensure protest protocols are followed correctly, penalties are applied fairly and consistently, and that safety-based decisions are considered in their proper context. Our goal is to uphold the integrity of the competition and ensure a level playing field for all teams."
USF2000 Race 1
Gafrarar would take home his first career win in the opening race of USF2000. Despite a penalty for contact, Jeffers managed to recover to second whilst Schrage rounded out the podium in third.
USF2000 Race 2
Race 2 would get off to a hectic start with two safety cars within the first six laps. But as the race continued, it calmed down and saw the top two finishers from the opening race exchange places. Jeffers would take home the victory - his second of the season, whilst Race 1 winner, Gafrarar came across the line in second. The final step of the podium would go to VRD Racing's Teddy Musella which signified an all-rookie podium for Race 2.
USF2000 Race 3
The final USF2000 Race would see Jeffers take the lead away from Schrage on Lap 3 and not look back, putting on a masterclass to be victorious again and claim his second win of the weekend. Schrage would come home in second whilst Musella would be on the third step of the podium once again.
After his victory in Race 2, Gafrarar spoke to DIVEBOMB about his weekend:
“Definitely our best weekend of the season overall. I mean I can’t be more grateful for the team and the car they gave me this weekend. We struggled a bit in Race 3 but we did what we could and brought home a solid top five."
Gafrarar also briefly reflected on the momentum he has coming into Toronto: “Well we got pole back at St Pete in February, so I'm really excited about Toronto, I really love the street races.”
G3 Argyros who was very frustrated with his weekend after finishing eighth, fourth and ninth. Argyros stated: “Just a struggle of a weekend. Just couldn't get it right.”
USF Pro 2000 Race 1
The first USF Pro 2000 race saw a dominant performance from Pabst Racing driver Max Garcia who would win by over seven seconds. Elkin would finish in second, whilst Taylor would finish in third for VRD Racing.
USF Pro 2000 Race 2
The final USF Pro 2000 race would again be won by Taylor, who this time would stretch his winning margin to over nine seconds. Pabst Racing driver Jacob Douglas would finish second, whilst Mac Clark would stand on the final step of the podium for Exclusive Autosport.
Points
Each USF series only has two weekends left. USF Juniors still visits Road America and Portland left with three races making up each weekend. USF2000 will head up to Toronto in a couple weeks with two races there and three races at Portland. USF Pro 2000 will head to
Toronto too for a pair of races and a further two in Portland. Here is the top 10 in points heading into the final two weekends of the 2025 season.
USF Juniors Points
1st- Leonardo Escorpioni (241)
2nd- João Vergara (217)
3rd- Liam Loiacono (198)
4th- Oliver Wheldon (198)
5th- Ty Fisher (194)
6th- Vilho Aatola (160)
7th- Rodrigo González (145)
8th- Diego Guiot (119)
9th- Patricio González (101)
10th- Michael Suco (101)
USF2000 Points
1st- Jack Jeffers (288)
2nd- Thomas Schrage (288)
3rd- Teddy Musella (256)
4th- G3 Argyros (219)
5th- Caleb Gafrarar (212)
6th- Evan Cooley (190)
7th- Liam McNeilly (163)
8th- Anthony Martella (156)
9th- Lucas Fecury (148)
10th- Sebastián Garzón (147)
USF Pro 2000 Points
1st- Max Garcia (384)
2nd- Ariel Elkin (287)
3rd- Mac Clark (279)
4th- Alessandro de Tullio (267)
5th- Jacob Douglas (243)
6th- Max Taylor (237)
7th- Michael Costello (169)
8th Nicholas Monteiro (162)
9th- Cooper Becklin (156)
10th- Joey Brienza (141)
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