The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an

open-wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

racing series serving as the third step on the

Road to Indy A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

ladder system, between the U.S. F2000 Championship and Indy NXT. The series is sanctioned by the

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

and operated by Andersen Promotions. The series' champion is awarded a scholarship package to advance to Indy Lights competition for the following season. It competes on all open-wheel disciplines:

road courses Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on pu ...

, street courses, and ovals. The series' primary sponsor is the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, ...

via their Cooper Tires brand. Many Pro Mazda graduates have gone on to race in top-tier open-wheel series, including American

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

and

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

driver

Scott Speed Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing. In , Speed became the first American driver to race in Formula One sin ...

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

drivers

Marco Andretti Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American auto racing driver who drives the No. 98 car for Andretti Herta Autosport part-time in the IndyCar Series. He is the third generation of the famous Andretti racing family. He is the 20 ...

Graham Rahal Graham Robert Rahal (born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently participates in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team partially owned by his father Bobby Rahal, the winn ...

James Hinchcliffe James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, ...

and

Raphael Matos Raphael Matos (born August 28, 1981) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He was the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series champion and the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion. He lives in Miami. Career highlights Early career Born in B ...

, and

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

and NASCAR driver Michael McDowell.

History

Background

In 1983, a number of

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

race cars powered by Mazda rotary engines were built by Hayashi Racing in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and imported to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

for use by the Jim Russell Racing School. Enough cars were constructed to run a one-make series, the Mazda Pro Series, which began in 1984 at the

Long Beach Grand Prix The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It w ...

. In late 1984, following modifications to the cars' rollover structures to bring them in line with SCCA regulations, the so-called "Formula Russell" became so popular that numerous regional and divisional series were established by the Jim Russell Racing School. Throughout the remainder of the 1980s, the series would gain six geographic divisions, each of which held their own championship. Early Mazda Pro Series competitors included

Johnny O'Connell Johnny O'Connell (born July 24, 1962) is the most successful GM factory racing driver from the United States. He currently drives for Cadillac in the Pirelli World Challenge, winning the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 GT driver's championship. Caree ...

, Tommy Kendall,

Mike Groff Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961 in Van Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver ...

Jeff Krosnoff Jeffrey John Krosnoff (September 24, 1964 – July 14, 1996) was an American race car driver. A competitor in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series, he was killed in a racing accident during the 1996 Molson Indy Toronto. Early life and caree ...

, Norm Breedlove (son of

Craig Breedlove Craig Breedlove (born March 23, 1937) is an American professional race car driver and a five-time world land speed record holder. He was the first person in history to reach , and , using several turbojet-powered vehicles, all named '' Spirit o ...

), and

Jon Beekhuis Jon Beekhuis (; born March 31, 1960) is an American former race car driver. Beekhuis was born in Zurich, Switzerland while his American father was studying at ETH Zurich, and grew up in California. The 1988 ARS (Indy Lights) champion, Beekhuis d ...

Foundation

1990s

The Star Mazda Championship debuted in 1991 at Willow Springs, with Mark Rodrigues driving for Valley Motor Center (the constructor of the new 1990 chassis) claiming the inaugural win. The series gradually rose in importance on the American open-wheel racing landscape, as similar series such as the Barber Dodge Pro Series, Formula BMW Americas and Formula TR 2000 Pro Series ceased to operate, and later emerged as the primary series of its kind in the US. 1996 marked the first Star Mazda Championship race as a supporting event on an Indy Racing League weekend at the Phoenix 200 in March, and the first nationally televised Star Mazda Championship race. A new

title sponsor Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

was gained in 1999, making the series the

Best Western Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...

Star Mazda Championship; the same year, it became a national professional series supporting the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' h ...

in its inaugural year.

Joey Hand Joseph F. Hand (born February 10, 1979) is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona drivi ...

won five of the season's seven races and became the first driver in series history to win four races in a row. His prize included a new

Mazda Miata Miata can refer to * The Mazda MX-5 Miata The Mazda MX-5 is a lightweight two-passenger roadster sports car manufactured and marketed by Mazda with a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. The convertible is marketed as the or in Japan, ...

road car.

2000s

In 2001, the series was renamed the Star Mazda North American Championship Presented by Goodyear. Scott Bradley with World Speed Motorsports claimed the championship. In 2003, the decision was made to utilize the

Mazda RX-8 The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Mazda between 2002 and 2012. It was first shown in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors i ...

's new 13B-MSP Renesis engine in a new Star Mazda car. The Star Mazda "Pro" car was introduced the following year, with a

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

chassis built by Élan Motorsport Technologies and a power output of from said Renesis engine (up from the previous 13B's ). Michael McDowell,

, and

Adrian Carrio Adrian "Ace" Carrio (born January 12, 1989) is an American race car driver from Monument, Colorado. Carrio was born in Glendora, California. He began go-karting at the age of 8, winning several national championships. Carrio stepped up to car ...

won the 2004, 2005, and 2006 championships, respectively. 2007 saw the formation of the

Mazdaspeed (often stylized in all-caps as MAZDASPEED) was Mazda's in-house performance division. The company was a grassroots racing team in Japan. Owned by Mazda Motor Corporation, they built production model vehicles, became involved in motorsports develop ...

Motorsports Driver Development Ladder, created to provide funding for champions in various Mazda-powered series to move up in class.

Dane Cameron Dane Cameron (born October 18, 1988) is an American racing driver from Glen Ellen, California. He won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship overall in 2016 and 2019, and also in the GTD class in 2014. Racing career After karting, Cameron ...

became the first Star Mazda champion to move up to the Atlantic Championship via the Mazdaspeed ladder. Joel Miller, the 2007 Skip Barber Pro Series Champion, became the first driver to move up to Star Mazda via the ladder in 2008. Also in 2008, the Star Mazda Championship changed from rolling starts to standing starts to better prepare drivers for moving up to the

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

and

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

. Bias-ply

racing slicks A racing slick or slick tyre is a type of tyre that has a smooth tread used mostly in auto racing. The first production slick tyre was developed by M&H Tires in the early 1950s for use in drag racing. By eliminating any grooves cut into the tre ...

were abandoned in favour of radials designed specifically for the series by Goodyear (the sole tire provider for the national series since its inception). Both Goodyear and Mazda signed 5-year extensions of their title sponsorship of the series, through the end of the 2012 season. In 2009, the Star Mazda car underwent its first major mechanical upgrade since it was introduced, which included a revised aerodynamic package and engine and suspension modifications. This optional upgrade was designed to lower the cost of competition and make the car easier to maintain and tune. That year, Raphael Matos became the first Star Mazda driver to race in each Mazda-powered series (Skip Barber, Star Mazda, Atlantic) and graduate to IndyCar. Oval races also rejoined the Star Mazda schedule for the first time since 2006; events included the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 specta ...

(winner

Anders Krohn Anders Krohn (born 15 November 1987) is a Norwegian racing driver from Stavanger. Racing career After a youth in karting, Krohn moved to cars in the Swedish Junior Touring Car Championship in 2006. In 2007 he primarily raced in Benelux Formula ...

) and the

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretc ...

(winner

Peter Dempsey Peter Samuel Dempsey (born 31 March 1986) is an Irish racing driver from Ashbourne, County Meath. Dempsey began his pro career in Formula BMW UK in 2004, finishing 22nd. In 2005 he finished second in the Formula Ford Walter Hayes Trophy rac ...

2010s

In 2010, the Star Mazda Championship became a part of the IRL-sanctioned Mazda Road to Indy program, alongside the U.S. F2000 and

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progra ...

. Through the Mazda Road to Indy program, the Star Mazda champion would receive funding to compete in Indy Lights the following year. The first Road to Indy race was held with all three series at the same event, the 2010

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...

. Championship winner

Conor Daly Conor J. Daly (born December 15, 1991) is an American professional racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 50 Chevrolet Ca ...

became the fourth driver in Star Mazda history (after Joey Hand in 1999, Michael McDowell in 2004, and Raphael Matos in 2005) to win four races in a row.

Andretti Autosport Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...

joined the series in 2011, becoming the first team to compete at every level of the Road to Indy, including IndyCar.

Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier (born 22 August 1989) is a French professional racing driver. Racing career Formula Renault Born in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Isère, Vautier began his career in the French Formula Renault Campus series in 2006, where he finishe ...

and

Jack Hawksworth Jack W. Hawksworth (born 28 February 1991) is a British professional racing driver from Bradford, West Yorkshire. , he competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for AIM Vasser Sullivan. He has also raced in the Star Mazda Championshi ...

respectively won the 2011 and 2012 championships. In December 2012, Star Mazda series founder Gary Rodriguez announced that the series had been sold to Dan Andersen's Andersen Promotions (which already sanctioned the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda) and would be renamed the Pro Mazda Championship. Andersen previously owned a multi-car Star Mazda team,

Andersen Racing Andersen Racing was a professional auto racing team that competed in Firestone Indy Lights and Star Mazda competition. It was owned by Dan Andersen, who founded the U.S. F2000 National Championship in 1991 and his brother John Andersen. The tea ...

. Following the departure of

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one ...

from the Road to Indy program at the end of 2018, the series was rebranded to the Indy Pro 2000, with Andersen Promotions maintaining its ownership of the series. Rookie

Matthew Brabham Matthew Chase Brabham (born 25 February 1994) is an Australian-American racing driver. He competes full-time in Indy Lights, driving the No. 83 for Andretti Autosport. From 2015 to 2021, he was a regular in the Stadium Super Trucks, where he is ...

of Andretti Autosport won the 2013 championship, with

Gabby Chaves Gabriel "Gabby" Chaves (born 7 July 1993) is a Colombian-American racing driver, currently competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge. He raced in the IndyCar Series and is the 2014 Indy Lights Champion. ...

Sage Karam Sage Rennie Karam (born March 5, 1995) is an American professional racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 43 and 45 Chevrolet Camaros for Alpha Prime Racing and part-time in the IndyCar Series, drivi ...

, and

Zach Veach Zachary E. Veach (born December 9, 1994) is an American auto racing driver who competes full time in the IMSA SportsCar Championship GT3 class for Vasser Sullivan. Veach was named to CNN's list of "Intriguing People" in May 2010, is the national ...

advancing to Indy Lights. in 2014,

Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing, formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, Indy Lights and Indy Pro 2000 Championship series in the Road to Indy ladder for IndyCar. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who form ...

's Spencer Pigot and Wayne Taylor Racing's

Scott Hargrove Scott Hargrove (born February 1, 1995) is a Canadian racing driver from Vancouver, British Columbia. Hargrove in the winningest driver in IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada history. Having competed in both Sports car racing and Open-wheel car ...

battled down to the wire, with the championship title changing hands three times through the last race. Pigot, leading going into the race, came together with Hargrove and fell to the back of the field, only to see his championship hopes return when Hargrove's gearbox failed. Pigot took the title by 10 points and earned the Mazda scholarship into the Indy Lights series. Also graduating to Indy lights were Pigot's Juncos teammate

Kyle Kaiser Kyle Kaiser (born March 5, 1996) is an American racing driver from Santa Clara, California, and won the 2017 Indy Lights Championship with Juncos Racing. He is also currently enrolled in classes part-time at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, ...

and Andretti Autosport's Shelby Blackstock. Uruguayan

Santiago Urrutia Santiago Urrutia Lausarot (born 30 August 1996) is an Uruguayan racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup, driving for Cyan Performance Lynk & Co. He formerly competed in Indy Lights, and was the 2015 Pro Mazda series c ...

earned the 2015 title over American

Neil Alberico Neil Ryan Alberico (born October 7, 1992) is a racing driver from Los Gatos, California, United States. Alberico made his professional debut in the 2012 U.S. F2000 National Championship from JDC Motorsports. He returned to the series in 2013 from ...

with three wins and 10 podium finishes. Uruttia earned a $590,300 scholarship into the Indy Lights series, where he would be joined by Alberico and Andretti's Dalton Kellett.

Team Pelfrey Team Pelfrey is an American racing team in the F1600 Championship Series and F2000 Championship Series. The team is owned by Dale Pelfrey. Indy Racing League (1998–2000) John Paul Jr. replaced Danny Ongais as driver for the 1998 Indianapolis 5 ...

teammates

Pato O'Ward Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco (born 6 May 1999) is a Mexican professional auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion. Early life and care ...

and

Aaron Telitz Aaron Telitz (born December 13, 1991) is an American race car driver. He currently competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving for AIM Vasser Sullivan. Career Born in Birchwood, Wisconsin, Telitz began his racing caree ...

battled throughout the 2016 season, with O'Ward taking six of the first seven victories and Telitz taking five of the final seven. Telitz's run of nine straight podium finishes (including a sweep of the victories at his home track of

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Ch ...

) to end the season sealed his championship victory and the $601,700 scholarship into the Indy Lights series. With the new Tatuus PM-18 car coming into use in 2018, increased incentives made the 2017 Pro Mazda Championship an attractive prospect. The scholarship to Indy Lights was increased to $790,300, the top three in the final championship standings would be awarded an Indy Lights test, and the top rookie would receive a Mazda road car. Juncos Racing's

Victor Franzoni Victor Franzoni (Born October 5, 1995 in Sao Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian racing driver. Franzoni raced various European racing series before competing the American USF2000 series. Career After karting Franzoni made his auto racing debut in t ...

and Cape Motorsports' Anthony Martin enjoyed a spirited fight from the season opener, with the pair splitting the first 10 races of the season. At the Watkins Glen finale, Franzoni scored both victories to take the 2017 championship over Martin by 18 points. Franzoni graduated to Indy Lights with Juncos Racing, who fielded a team in the 2018

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

Cars

Star Formula Mazda 'Pro' (2004–2017)

The Star Mazda Pro is an

formula racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single ...

car, designed, developed and built by Star Race Cars, for the North American

Pro Mazda Championship The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...

spec-series, between 2004 and 2017.

Tatuus PM-18 (2018–2021)

The Tatuus PM-18, used from 2018 through 2021, is based on the previous year's USF-17 chassis to help control teams' operational costs. *Chassis: Includes side impact panels, front and rear impact structures, HANS-compliant IndyCar head restraint, front and rear wheel tethers, upgraded uprights, and upgraded front bulkhead structure for US-specific ovals *Bodywork: Unique Indy Pro 2000 engine cover, carbon composite diffuser, adjustable dual-element rear wing and single plane carbon fiber front wing with adjustable flaps and Indy Pro 2000-specific front and rear endplates. All bodywork carbon fiber construction. *Electrical:

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotive industry, ...

Omega L2 Plus Data Logger linked via CAN to Cosworth SQ6 ECU and GCU; option to upgrade to an Omega Pro at an added cost *Steering wheel: Cosworth CFW277 with integrated dash and gear change paddles *Fuel capacity: *Fuel delivery:

Electronic fuel injection Manifold injection is a mixture formation system for internal combustion engines with external mixture formation. It is commonly used in engines with spark ignition that use petrol as fuel, such as the Otto engine, and the Wankel engine. In a man ...

*Suspension: Dynamic DSSV two-way adjustable dampers and a range of adjustable front and rear anti-roll bars. Springs provided by Hyperco, with six spring rates available, interchangeable for front and rear axles. Upgraded front and rear uprights for US-specific ovals. Ride height, camber, and toe adjustment on both axles, with roll center, anti-squat, and anti-dive adjustments on the rear axle.

Tatuus IP-22 (2022)

The Tatuus IP-22 is the replacement for the PM-18, now featuring a

halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

Champions

References

External links

* {{Class of Auto racing Auto racing series in the United States Auto racing series in Canada Recurring sporting events established in 1991 International Motor Sports Association Formula racing series Mazda One-make series Road to Indy