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Canadians Poised to Shine as USF Pro Championships Head North

PALMETTO, Fla. – A wide array of story lines are set to unfold during this weekend’s Continental Tire Grand Prix of Toronto. At the top of the list is the highest rung on the USF Pro Championships driver development ladder, USF Pro 2000, with Florida’s Max Garcia on the cusp of securing a second successive title for Pabst Racing.

By contrast, the USF2000 championship chase could not be closer. Jack Jeffers, driver for the partly Canadian-owned Exclusive Autosport team, is currently tied on points with VRD Racing’s Thomas Schrage with only five races remaining, including this weekend’s double-header on the unforgiving streets around Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ont., Canada.

Several Canadian drivers also are expected to be in the mix for wins. Mac Clark, from nearby Milton, Ont., also with Exclusive Autosport, and Jay Howard Driver Development’s Nick Gilkes, from Richmond Hill, Ont., will fly the flag in USF Pro 2000, while Anthony Martella, from Woodbridge, Ont., already has a USF2000 race victory under his belt this year with the same JHDD team.

Garcia Looks to Clinch in USF Pro 2000

Securing the USF Pro 2000 title just one year after also claiming the USF2000 crown should be not much more than a formality for Garcia. The 16-year-old from Coconut Grove, Fla., has held the points lead since departing the opening two rounds on the similarly challenging streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., with a second-place finish and a victory. He has never looked likely to relinquish that advantage.

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Garcia has won six of the 14 races held to date, including four of the past five. He currently holds a comfortable 97-point lead over his nearest challenger, and with a maximum of 33 points available for each of the remaining four races, one more top-score for the gifted Floridian will be enough to match the feat of back-to-back championships recorded previously by Matthew Brabham (in 2012/2013) and current NTT INDYCAR SERIES stars Kyle Kirkwood (2018/2019) and Christian Rasmussen (2020/2021).

One more stat in his favor: There were no USF Pro 2000 races at Toronto in 2014, 2017, 2020 or 2021, but in every other year bar one since 2012, a winning driver on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit has gone on to clinch the championship. The lone exception was in 2015.

While the scholarship valued at $594,500 to advance onto the next step of the ladder, INDY NXT, in 2026 seems almost certain to be Garcia’s, the battle for second place is still wide open with the next six contenders blanketed by a mere 50 points.

Israel’s Ariel Elkin (TJ Speed Motorsports) currently holds an eight-point edge over Clark, the 2022 USF Juniors champion who has finished on the podium nine times but is still seeking that elusive first win.

Race winners Alessandro de Tullio (Turn 3 Motorsport), from Miami, Fla., Jacob Douglas (Pabst Racing), from Christchurch, New Zealand, and last year’s USF Juniors champion Max Taylor (VRD Racing), from Hoboken, N.J., also are firmly in the fight.

Gilkes, a former Ontario Formula Ford 1600 champion, made a low-key USF Pro 2000 debut two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio, but is keen to shine on home soil.

Intriguingly, Gilkes will have the benefit of a teammate this weekend as Englishman Liam McNeilly makes his long awaited return to action. After an impressive USF2000 debut in Toronto one year ago which included a pole position and a second-place finish, McNeilly took this year’s USF2000 championship by storm as he won the first five races in succession before visa issues prevented him from pursuing his championship aspirations. McNeilly has not previously driven a USF Pro 2000 car, so his goal this weekend is to gain some experience in advance of an anticipated full-time return in 2026.

McNeilly will face a tall order with only 30 minutes of practice at 11:35 a.m. EDT on Friday, July 18. However, he and the remaining contenders will benefit from two separate 20-minute qualifying sessions at 2:10 p.m. and again at 9:35 a.m. the following day which will determine the starting order for a pair of 25-lap races at 4:20 p.m. on Saturday and 10:20 a.m. on Sunday, in advance of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES headliner.

Jeffers, Schrage Tied in USF2000

After 13 of 18 USF2000 races this season, Jeffers and Schrage both have 288 points to their name. Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, who will celebrate his 19th birthday this Thursday, July 17, currently holds the tie-break advantage over 20-year-old Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, by virtue of having won three races to Schrage’s two.

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The fortunes of the top two contenders have ebbed and flowed in recent weeks.

Jeffers seemed to have the upper hand at Road America in June after qualifying on pole for both races in a doubleheader, only for a major accident in the opening race to blunt his charge. He rebounded strongly with a trio of podiums two weeks later at Mid-Ohio, which included two wins.

Conversely, Schrage grasped his opportunity to shine during qualifying at his home-state track, Mid-Ohio, although a pair of second-place finishes represented a slightly disappointing return from a hat-trick of pole positions at the tripleheader event.

In terms of consistency, both primary title contenders will be looking to take a page out of the book of rookie Teddy Musella, 16, from Orlando, Fla., who now trails by only 32 points after finishing among the top six in every one of the most recent eight races for VRD Racing.

The Pabst Racing pair of G3 Argyros, from Newport Beach, Calif., and Caleb Gafrarar, from Charlotte, N.C., are separated by only seven points as they squabble over fourth in the point standings, although much of the focus this weekend will be on local driver Martella, whose highlight for Jay Howard Driver Development was a dominant drive to victory in the lone oval race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in May.

The weekend schedule for USF2000 closely mirrors that of USF Pro 2000 with 30 minutes of practice at 10:50 a.m. on Friday leading into two 20-minute qualifying sessions at 1:35 p.m. on Friday and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The green flags for the pair of 20-lap races will fly at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9:25 a.m. on Sunday.

Full coverage, including timing and live streaming, can be found on the free USF Pro Championships App, YouTube channel and respective series’ websites, usfpro2000.com and usf2000.com.