Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Braden Eves will return to single-seaters in USF Pro 2000 this season following a year out of car racing.
The 24-year-old competed in USFP2000 from 2020 to ’22, earning a scholarship to race there after he won the 2019 USF2000 title in his first full season in winged single-seaters.
He spent his first two USFP2000 seasons with Exclusive Autosport, then moved to Jay Howard Driver Development for 2022.
After picking up his first pole and win in his third race he was in the thick of the title fight as a rookie until he broke his neck in a crash on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. That ended his season after eight races, and he finished 11th in the standings.
He returned from injury in style in 2021, winning from pole in his comeback race then achieving the same feat two races later. One more win and six other podiums meant he remained in title contention until the final race, but he missed out on becoming champion. At the time, Eves was backed by IndyCar team Meyer Shank Racing.
The 2022 season was Eves’ least convincing. He was disqualified from victory at IMS, and although he got a redemptive win at Road America later in the year his tally of five podiums left him fifth in the standings.
Eves spent 2023 doing some karting, then got back in a racing car for the first time in over a year in October when he joined Exclusive Autosport in USFP2000 post-season testing at IMS. He has now signed to make his race return with the team.
“I’m really happy to be rejoining Exclusive Autosport for the 2024 USFP2000 championship. I had a good run with them in 2021, but just fell short so I’m glad to have another opportunity,” said Eves.
“I’m looking forward to working with my engineer John Hayes and team owner Michael Duncalfe this season. Overall, I think we are going to be strong; it’s going to be a very competitive season so it’s not going to be easy, but I think we have a really good shot and we’ll see how it goes.”
Duncalfe is “thrilled to wecome Braden back”, calling him “a fierce competitor who brings a depth of experience and knowledge to our programme” and has “some unfinished business” with the team.
Also joining the USFP2000 grid is David Morales, who will debut with TJ Speed. The 20-year-old came 18th in British Formula 4 in 2021, then spent two years in GB3 where he took one podium and came 13th in the 2023 standings.
He also came sixth in Formula Regional Oceania last year, with a win and a third place his best results.
“Home at last and thrilled to be racing with TJ Speed this season,” said Morales. “After my time in England, returning to Florida to race across America is incredibly special. Can’t wait to hit the track with such an exceptional team.”
TJ Speed boss Tim Neff added: “We tested David at Sebring and for never having driven the car before, he performed very well.”