SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Exclusive Autosport’s USF2000 Presented by Continental Tire drivers were right in the thick of the battle on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past weekend, and the results showed. Canadian Anthony Martella notched his first win of the season, scoring the victory in Race 1 at the USF Pro Championships Tatuus Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Friday. Evan Cooley was incredibly consistent posting three top-five finishes, including two podiums and a runner-up finish in Race 2. Brothers Ayrton and Gabriel Cahan have risen to the occasion as the team’s USF2000 freshmen, as both will most certainly be in the fight for Rookie of the Year. Ayrton scored three top-10s at IMS while Gabriel added another despite being taken out in Race 2.

“Overall, this was the kind of weekend that really showed the strength and depth of our USF2000 program,” said Michael Duncalfe, Co-Owner and CEO. “Anthony was very quick all weekend and did a fantastic job capitalizing on his opportunity to score that first win of the season. Evan showed incredible maturity and consistency after a difficult start to the year in St. Petersburg, and to come away with two podiums and a top-five finish was huge for his confidence and championship fight. Ayrton continues to impress us every weekend with how composed and consistent he is as a rookie, and Gabriel showed a lot of resilience after a tough Race 2 to battle forward again in Race 3. I’m incredibly proud of the effort from all four drivers and our entire crew.”

In Friday’s opening race of the tripleheader, not only did Martella deliver the victory, but all four EA drivers finished inside the top eight. Martella rolled off from the outside pole and made a monster start to sweep around for the lead exiting Turn 1. Anthony did not lose the lead from there and came home with a 1.476-second margin of victory. Cooley rebounded from his disappointments at the opening rounds in St. Petersburg in March to finish a strong third, the beginning of a fantastic weekend for the second-year driver. Ayrton and Gabriel Cahan piled on the results for EA, finishing sixth and eighth respectively.

The second race of the weekend was run early Saturday morning under sunny skies with a wet track from overnight rain, challenging the drivers. Cooley stepped to the forefront for EA and delivered an impressive performance, passing Oliver Wheldon for second midway through the race. He would not be challenged after that. Martella was also in the battle for the podium and ended the race with a strong fourth-place run to back up his Friday victory after getting around Eddie Beswick with just four laps to go. Ayrton Cahan ran an error-free race to score his third straight top-10 finish sitting seventh in the final tally while putting a ton of pressure on Beswick for sixth over the final two laps. Gabriel Cahan’s race was over before it could begin, as he was hit from behind by another driver and the subsequent damage sent his car back to the paddock.

After a wet morning, Race 3 was dry and Cooley again led the way for the team after Martella retired on lap nine with a mechanical issue while running third. Cooley picked up the flag and once again battled with Beswick, eventually finishing fourth to log three top-five finishes at IMS. Ayrton Cahan was once again right in the thick of things, finishing sixth, while Gabriel started 14th and moved up to 11th.  

The weekend results provided a strong recovery for both Martella and Cooley after their DNFs from St. Petersburg. Cooley’s trio of results moved him to fourth place in the standings, keeping him in championship contention. Ayrton Cahan’s consistency is paying off to start his rookie season, as his three top-10s have placed him sixth in the order. Martella’s win and additional top-five finish have vaulted him from 23rd to eighth in the standings, while Gabriel Cahan’s strong Race 1 result, paired with his 11th in Race 3, has him just three points outside the top 10 in 12th.

The next stop on the schedule is the Carb Night Classic at the 5/8th mile Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, May 22.

Qualifying: 7th – 1:25.522

Race 1: Start – 7th / Finish – 3rd 

Race 2: Start – 5th / Finish – 2nd

Race 3: Start – 5th / Finish – 4th

Driver Quote: “Great points weekend here at IMS, scoring two podiums and a top-five. It’s always great to be racing at the track, and I’m excited to get back to it at the oval in a few weeks Thank you to everyone at EA for the great car all weekend, and all of my sponsors for their continued support.”

Qualifying: 2nd – 1:25.317

Race 1: Start – 2nd / Finish – 1st  

Race 2: Start – 3rd / Finish – 4th

Race 3: Start – 2nd / Finish – 19th

Driver Quote: “It was a great weekend at IMS. We had strong speed as soon as we rocked up in the first practice and I was able to translate that into a dominant win in Race 1, P4 in the Race 2 rain after some tricky conditions with tons of speed, and an unfortunate mechanical issue in Race 3 took us out of contention from getting on the podium. That’s racing sometimes. Big thanks to everyone at Exclusive Autosport for all their support this weekend, my team owners, Josh Cooley and Michael Duncalfe, for all their help and support, my engineer Louis D’Agostino and driver coach Oliver Askew for continuing to develop me and putting in the work so we can fight at the front week in week out. Big shoutout to all the people who continue to support me, Miguel and Angel from NIN transport, everyone at Green Savoree and Kevin Savoree for all his help and support, everyone at Young Drivers of Canada, as well as my amazing parents for all their support. Looking forward to our only oval event on the calendar, the Freedom 75 on the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500!” 

Qualifying: 16th – 1:26.168

Race 1: Start – 16th / Finish – 8th 

Race 2: Start – 16th / Finish – 19th

Race 3: Start – 14th / Finish – 11th

Driver Quote: “Difficult start to the weekend on my end, not qualifying where we wanted, but the Exclusive Autosport crew gave all of us a car that we could race forward with. Race 1 was good for us as a team, with all cars in the top-eight. I got a strong start in the wet for Race 2, then got taken out before even crossing the yard of bricks. It was a solid recovery in Race 3. Super proud of my teammates this weekend. I’m honored to work with them and everyone at EA. Time to turn left.“

 

Qualifying: 5th – 1:25.471

Race 1: Start – 5th / Finish – 6th 

Race 2: Start – 9th / Finish – 7th

Race 3: Start – 7th / Finish – 6th

Driver Quote: “The Indy Road Course was a success! Good weekend overall, we showed great speed, and a lot of strengths, however, there is still more to improve on from my end. I would like to thank everyone at Exclusive Autosport for providing me with an amazing car, and an amazing crew. Congratulations to my teammates Anthony Martella and Evan Cooley for their race win and podiums. Let’s carry the strong momentum into the oval.”

Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with a great company - Corpay Cross-Border Solutions, which specializes in helping companies of all sizes power their international payments, manage their currency risk and support their global growth.

Exclusive Autosport is also happy to partner with the state-of-the-art establishment of Autobahn Country Club and their Autobahn Driver Academy. This collaboration will offer aspiring racers comprehensive training in open-wheel racing, leveraging EA’s proven track record of success in developing talent from grassroots levels to professional racing careers. The academy will benefit from EA’s innovative coaching techniques and its commitment to driver excellence.