USF Juniors season begins with Florida tripleheader

A brand-new USF Pro Championships season will kick off next week, Feb. 16-18, with the opening three rounds of USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire taking place at the 2.25-mile combined oval/road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway. USF Juniors will share the event with the annual Spring Training test sessions for both USF2000 and USF Pro 2000.

Drivers representing nine countries are among an extremely competitive field for the USF Juniors Grand Prix of Homestead Presented by YACademy.

YACademy is the Official Winter Test and Winter Series partner of USF Pro Championships. Founded by accomplished racer Gustavo Yacaman, the YACademy Winter Series is a highly regarded training ground for drivers looking to make the move from karts to cars while also providing a pre-season race opportunity for USF Juniors as well as testing sessions for USF2000 and USF Pro 2000.

Over 80 percent of the USF Juniors field wrapped up race outings at Sebring International Raceway and Homestead this past Sunday as part of the YACademy program.

“Homestead-Miami Speedway holds a special place in my heart,” said Yacaman. “It was the first track in North America I ever drove at when I did Indy Lights (NXT) in 2009. At Homestead, YACademy track days started and evolved into what the YACademy Winter Series has become. I am extremely grateful to Al Garcia, Jim France, Guillermo Santa Cruz and the whole NASCAR organization for all their help and support with all the 20+ events we do at Homestead-Miami Speedway every year.

“When Andersen Promotions confirmed that the series opener for USF Juniors was going to take place at Homestead, I knew straight away I wanted to support it. I am honored to be the naming partner of the USF Juniors Grand Prix of Homestead Presented by YACademy. Hopefully the first year of many to come!”

With most of the top finishers from the 2025 season moving on up the racing ladder, including championship winner Leonardo Escorpioni, who will graduate to USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire, the door has been left wide open for an array of challengers to chase a scholarship prize valued at $251,516.

Defending champion team Zanella Racing will field no fewer than seven cars, including entries for the lone female among the field, Maddie Colleran, one of only four returning drivers, and Brazilian/American rookie Victor Couto, 18, who finished third in the recently completed YACademy Driver Championship.

Of the returning drivers, Vilho Aatola, 17, placed highest in last year’s title chase, seventh, with a pair of podium finishes to his name. Aatola will surely start as one of the title favorites as he returns with DEForce Racing.

Brendan Cooley, 16, also finished among the top 10 in 2025. Cooley will remain part of a strong four-car Exclusive Autosport lineup after winning one of the YACademy races at Sebring while Exclusive took home overall team championship honors.

Other likely contenders will include Karol Pasiewicz (Olivia Racing), a former karting star who placed second in the YACademy Winter Series with five top-six finishes, Ivan Machado Perez, who joins VRD w/Pole Position Motorsports after dominating last year’s Skip Barber Race Series and earning a scholarship to progress into USF Juniors for 2026, and Max Cuthbert, who scored three top-six finishes in the YACademy Winter Series after joining the newly rebranded JHDD powered by ECR team at Homestead.

The USF Juniors contenders will have one final opportunity to prepare for the new season with three 45-minute test sessions on Monday, Feb. 16, and 30 minutes of official practice at 9:00am ET on Tuesday. A qualifying session later in the morning at 11:30 will set the starting order for the first race at 2:30pm, followed by a second qualifying session at 9:00am on Wednesday prior to the final pair of races at 11:15am and 2:30pm.

Live timing for all on-track sessions will be available on the three series websites – usfjuniors.com, usf2000.com and usfpro2000.com – as well as the USF Pro Championships App. Live streaming of all USF Juniors races will also be available on the website and App.