AVONDALE, La. – There was no stopping Liam McNeilly in this weekend’s Continental Tire USF2000 Grand Prix of Louisiana. McNeilly, from London, England, will doubtless enjoy celebrating his 19th birthday celebration later this week after earning a perfect score of 99 points at NOLA Motorsports Park for his Jay Howard Driver Development team. McNeilly won all three races from the pole position and with fastest race laps – plus a new lap record – to boot.

McNeilly has now won all five races to commence the USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire title-chase – one shy of the start-of-season record of six consecutive wins established in 2020 by current NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Christian Rasmussen, who went on to win the championship for the same JHDD team.

Thomas Schrage, from Bethel, Ohio, also enjoyed a successful day with a pair of second-place finishes for VRD Racing. Evan Cooley (Exclusive Autosport), from Mokena, Ill., and G3 Argyros (Pabst Racing), from Newport Beach, Calif., shared the third-place finishes.

Race 2 Results

Race 3 Results

McNeilly established a new qualifying lap record en route to securing his third Continental Tire Pole Award of the young season during qualifying on Saturday morning, comfortably clear of Cooley and Schrage.

McNeilly could afford to be a little conservative on the opening lap, so Cooley took full advantage by sweeping past into the lead at Turn One on the opening lap. No problem. A lap and a half later, McNeilly calmly out-braked his rival on the inside line heading into Turn Nine at the end of the back straightaway.

McNeilly’s progress was stymied shortly afterward when the only full-course caution of the race came following a clash farther down the field. Again, no problem. A good early jump saw McNeilly soon well clear of his rivals, extending his margin to almost six seconds by the finish.

Once again, Schrage was the man on the move. After rising from 10th on the grid to third on Saturday, Schrage fell from third to fourth on the opening lap this morning, but didn’t stay there for long. He swooped past Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas, on the outside line into Turn One at the restart, with seven laps in the books, and three laps from the finish usurped Jeffers’ teammate, Cooley, from second with a fine move to the inside under braking at the same corner.

Pabst Racing’s Caleb Gafrarar, from Charlotte, N.C., finished close behind Cooley, but Jeffers’ streak of three second-place finishes came to an end as he struggled to hold off DEForce Racing’s young Colombian, Sebastian Garzon, in the closing stages.

Gafrarar’s performance was especially noteworthy given that he had started from 10th on the grid, thereby earning his first Tilton Hard Charger Award of the season.

McNeilly claimed another Continental Tire Pole Award for the final race of the weekend, by courtesy of the fact his second-best lap from the second qualifying session was faster than everyone else.

The first lap was run under yellow flags due to a problem for DEForce Racing’s Brady Golan, from Austin, Texas, who headed directly to the pit lane. Thereafter, no one could hold a candle to McNeilly. He completed the first green-flag lap a full 1.1 seconds clear of Schrage, and proceeded to extend his margin with every passing lap of the 2.74-mile road course situated just a few miles from downtown New Orleans, La. His eventual margin of victory was a convincing 7.7085 seconds.

Argyros kept the pressure on Schrage without ever quite getting into position to attempt a pass, while the pair of Exclusive Autosport cars of Cooley and Jeffers followed at a respectful distance in fourth and fifth. Teddy Musella, from Orlando, Fla., finished sixth for VRD Racing.

Colombian Sebastian Garzon made up five positions from his grid placing of 13th to secure the Tilton Hard Charger Award, while Jay Howard once again scooped both PFC Awards as the winning team owner.

USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire will return to action at the Indianapolis Grand Prix road course on May 8-10, in support of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, when McNeilly will look to extend his championship lead in the virtual backyard of his JHDD team’s Carmel, Ind., base.

Provisional championship points after 5 of 18 races:

1. Liam McNeilly, 163

2. Jack Jeffers, 112

3. Thomas Schrage 95

4. Evan Cooley, 85

5. G3 Argyros, 68

6. Teddy Musella, 65

7. Caleb Gafrarar, 64

8. Sebastian Garzon, 64

9. Jeshua Alianell, 60

10. Christian Cameron, 55

Race Two Quotes:

Liam McNeilly (#9 Acclaim Contracts/Wolf International-Jay Howard Driver Development Tatuus USF-22): “At the start, someone running outside had a really good opportunity to overtake, so I just let him have it. Then I focused on getting the lead back. The boys did a mega job and gave me a great car this weekend and for the season so far. We are on pole for the final race so we’ll see what we can do.”

Thomas Schrage (#2 Doug Mockett & Company/Airport Electric Service/Boys & Girls Clubs-VRD Racing Tatuus USF-22): “I knew I was starting up front so I played it safe. I know I can drive through the field and, as long as I didn’t make any mistakes early, I knew the car would come to me. I just made sure to work my way back up after a solid start. I fell to fourth, but knew I had work to do and it was nothing I couldn’t overcome.”

Evan Cooley (#90 Brown Brothers Harriman-Exclusive Autosport Tatuus USF-22): “It was a good race overall. We’ve been struggling with setup a little bit all weekend, but bounced back today. I got the lead at the start and held him off for a couple of laps, and we just lost a little pace towards the end. But overall, a good race. I want to thank the team. They’ve been doing a great job this weekend.”

Race Three Quotes:

Liam McNeilly (#9 Acclaim Contracts/Wolf International-Jay Howard Driver Development Tatuus USF-22): “A really good race from my side. The boys gave me a great car again this afternoon. [On five wins in a row] The car is good at the moment, but there are going to be times where other teams are going to get faster so it is good to get the wins now. But, we need to keep working and keep pushing.”

Thomas Schrage (#2 Doug Mockett & Company/Airport Electric Service/Boys & Girls Clubs-VRD Racing Tatuus USF-22): “It was a tough one. From the start, I knew what our strengths were and tried to get to the lead in Turn One. Didn't exactly happen. Once Liam pulled kind of a gap, I knew I just had to focus forward, try to just drop people off as quick as I could out of my draft. And then about Lap 4 or 5, my belts came loose. I was shifting around there, and I thought I just have to try and limit the mistakes. I don't have be the quickest, but as long as I get the good exits, keep them behind me, then I can come out P2. So that's what I did. At the end of the day, it's a good solid weekend with three podiums.”

G3 Argyros (#23 Positive Energy/Elephant Cooperation-Pabst Racing Tatuus USF-22): “I started from the second row. We were really confident coming in and I had a good start. Then from there, it was just really about trying to catch Thomas. We put together a lot of good laps, but just couldn't match the straight line pace. I'd like to thank Pabst for giving me a rocket ship all weekend. We just had some unfortunate events in the first two races, but this one was green all the way to the end. I didn't get hit at all. I’m happy to come home with a trophy, but, you know, you always want more. So come Indy we're going to go for that top step.”

AVONDALE, La. – Brazil’s Leonardo Escorpioni, who lives now in Windermere, Fla., and Zanella Racing teammate Ty Fisher, from White Rock, B.C., Canada, shared the spoils today as USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire wrapped up its season-opening Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana tripleheader weekend with a pair of races at NOLA Motorsports Park.

Second generation racer Oliver Wheldon, from St. Petersburg, Fla., was the other big winner. The younger brother of Sebastian Wheldon, who finished third in the 2024 title-chase, earned three podium finishes to take an early lead in the quest for a scholarship valued at almost $250,000 to graduate next year into USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire.

Race 2 Results

Race 3 Results

This morning’s 50th race in the short history of USF Juniors saw Escorpioni secure a fine maiden victory both for himself and Zanella Racing, with Australian Liam Loiacono (Jay Howard Driver Development) just fending off Wheldon for second.

Later in the afternoon, Fisher capped a perfect day for the Zanella Racing squad by leading Wheldon and Saturday winner Joao Vergara (VRD Racing), from Miami, Fla., to the checkered flag.

A second qualifying session on Saturday saw each driver’s best lap establishing the starting order for Race Two this morning. Thus, it was Loiacono who snagged his first Continental Tire Pole Award with a new lap record ahead of Wheldon, with Fisher and Escorpioni sharing the second row of the grid.

A good start saw Loiacono maintain his advantage into Turn One, only for Wheldon to stay on the high line and make a pass for the lead on the outside. He was followed through by Escorpioni, who promptly ducked to the inside of Loiacono for second in Turn Three.

Wheldon completed the first lap in the lead, but Escorpioni was on a mission. The Florida-based Brazilian pulled off a nice move to displace Wheldon from the lead in Turn Four, with Loiacono also taking advantage of Wheldon’s loss of momentum to sneak back into second.

Escorpioni quickly made his escape at the front of the field, taking advantage of the in-fighting behind to stretch out a comfortable lead which he happily maintained to the finish.

Loiacono, Wheldon and Fisher enjoyed a thrilling battle for second throughout the all-green 12-lap race. Fisher, who had earlier set a new record fastest lap, made a move to the inside of Loiacono at Turn Nine on the final lap, only to run wide into the runoff area. Luckily for him, Wheldon and Loiacono also lost some time as they raced wheel to wheel, such that Loiacono eventually took the checkered flag in second ahead of Wheldon and Fisher. Saturday winner Vergara, DEForce Racing’s rookie Vilho Aatola, from Turku, Finland, and Diego Guiot (Zanella Racing), from The Woodlands, Texas, also were in close attendance at the checkered flag.

DEForce Racing’s Thomas Nordquist, from Omaha, Neb., claimed the Tilton Hard Charger Award after making up six positions from 21st on the grid.

The third and final race of the weekend saw Fisher clinch his first Continental Tire Pole Award by virtue of having posted the best second-fastest lap among all drivers during the second qualifying session on Saturday. He was joined on the front row by teammate Escorpioni.

The Zanella pair led the way through Turn One on the opening lap, whereupon Escorpioni dived to the inside under braking for Turn Three to wrest away the advantage. But any hopes Escorpioni might have had of a Sunday sweep sadly evaporated almost exactly one lap later when his car abruptly slowed on the exit of Turn Two.

As a crestfallen Escorpioni parked out of harm’s way, Fisher gratefully reclaimed the point and led the remainder of the 12-lap race. After two clean and green 12-lap races, today’s finale was interrupted by a pair of incidents, the last of which caused the race to finish under caution.

So, as Fisher cruised to the win, Wheldon capped an impressive maiden weekend – just two weeks after his 14th birthday – as a trio of podiums proved enough to move him into the championship lead with a two-point edge over Fisher.

Vergara also enjoyed a solid start to his campaign with a win, a third and a fourth, while young Finn Aatola once again impressed with a fine run to fourth place in the final race. DEForce Racing teammate Rodrigo Gonzalez took fifth ahead of Loiacono.

England’s Harry Moss took home the final Tilton Hard Charger Award of the weekend after working his way from 20th on the grid to 12th for Jay Howard Driver Development.

The banner day for Zanella Racing enabled Jose Zanella and his team manager and wife Jessica to clinch both PFC Awards as the winning car owners.

The intensely competitive USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire field will return to action in support of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at the challenging Barber Motorsports Park road course, near Birmingham, Ala., for another tripleheader event on May 1-3.

Provisional championship points after 3 of 16 races:

1. Oliver Wheldon, 74

2. Ty Fisher, 72

3. Joao Vergara, 70

4. Liam Loiacono, 56

5. Leonardo Escorpioni, 54

6. Rodrigo Gonzalez, 46

7. Diego Guiot, 42

8. Vilho Aatola, 40

9. Brenden Cooley, 33

10. Karel Staut, 31

Race Two Quotes:

Leonardo Escorpioni (#55 Qwilt/Peer 1/Mensalize-Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “I'm really happy – to finally get my first win after a full season last year and, especially, for the first win of the team. I've been with the team since 2021, a long time, and, honestly, it's just amazing. I saw Oliver go off when I passed him and after that, I had to put my head down and put together four or five good laps. I did that and after I saw them battling, I knew I had it. I want to thank my family and the whole Zanella team and my sponsors Quilt, Mensalize and Peer 1.”

Liam Loiacono (#6 Heli America Inc.-Jay Howard Driver Development Tatuus JR-23): “It was a good race. Starting on pole, it would have been nice to win it but I didn’t quite get the jump I needed. We’ll take second and the good points.”

Oliver Wheldon (#98 Gainbridge/Big Machine Racing-VRD Racing Tatuus JR-23): “The race was pretty good in the beginning for the start. I was able to get around Liam in Turn One. After that, I kind of made a big mistake and went off and that's when Leo passed me and then Liam got by me again. I tried to catch back up to Leo but Liam was really quick and it was just a battle from there.”

Race Three Quotes:

Ty Fisher (#37 Cedar Coast/Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “This feels amazing. I am really happy for the team – two wins today. My starts weren’t as good as the past two races, but as soon as I got into the lead I knew I had the pace to stay there and maybe pull away. And that’s how it worked out for me. The car was really good; it was a beast – super gripped up and I wasn’t sliding. Everything felt amazing with the car. I have to thank the whole Zanella team, my family, my coach and everyone that’s helped me and who’s here with the team this weekend. Thank you to all of them.”