Pizzi returns alongside newcomers Liam Sceats and Adam Fitzgerald
With their rookie season in USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires now behind them, TJ Speed is ready for their sophomore season. Kicking off their 2024 campaign this coming weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), TJ Speed will bring a trio of international drivers to the USF Pro Championships Presented by Cooper Tires Fall Combine.
“We have been working toward a new season since the final checkered flag in Portland more than a month ago,” explained TJ Speed Owner Tim Neff. “Last year we came to the Fall Combine as complete rookies to the USF Pro machinery but now with a year under our belt, we are ready to fight for more race wins and podium results in 2024, and that starts now.”
With podium results at the hands of Lirim Zendeli and Francesco Pizzi, pole position awards from Christian Weir and a victory from Zendeli, TJ Speed had a successful rookie season but is aiming for more. Joining the championship contending program at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn facility this weekend will be Italian Francesco Pizzi, Kiwi driver Liam Sceats, and Irishman Adam Fitzgerald.
Pizzi, the only returning driver to TJ Speed from the 2023 season, will look to lead with his experience while Formula Regional Japanese Vice-Champion Sceats will bring his talents to the TJ Speed driver lineup. Earning three victories, six podiums, and two fastest lap honors in 13 races, Sceats is looking toward the United States ladder program. Adam Fitzgerald enters the Fall Combine with 2023 experience at the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine as he and Sceats also battled wheel-to-wheel in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
Neff added, “It is an international lineup, but I think that just shows that the USF Pro program is attracting drivers from around the world. With an actual scholarship system to advance drivers through the ranks, why would anyone want to race anywhere else?”
With the INDY NXT drivers on track Friday, USF Pro Championships drivers will be able to take in the sights and sounds of a potential future program before they hit the track Saturday and Sunday for four hours of track time over two days.