Evan Cooley talks up 2026 USF2000 title ambitions after topping testing

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley and Anthony Martella were the drivers to beat around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course in USF2000 post-season testing.

There pair were one-two in the first five of the 35-minute sessions that took place last weekend, then in the last session Martella was second to DEForce Racing’s Sebastian Garzon.

“I think I’m ready to go for a championship in 2026,” said Cooley. “This weekend showed what we’ve been working on. We were top in five out of the six sessions and just pulled in early in the last one. So overall, it was a really good weekend. I will be one of the favorites for next year and I’m excited to get back on track next time.”

Cooley started off on Saturday with a 1m24.9411s benchmark, which Martella was 0.1924 seconds off. Zanella Racing’s Leonardo Escorpioni was best of the rest, 0.462s off the pace and 0.0292s ahead of Garzon.

In session two, the top two made small improvements as Cooley lowered the pace to 1m24.8554s and grew his gap at the top to 0.1972s. Garzon rose to third, 0.3734s back, with only two drivers not setting personal bests while Jay Howard Driver Development’s Harley Keeble dropped out.

His team-mate Liam Liacono and Escorpioni joined him on the absentee list for session three, as 18 of the 21 drivers on track improved. Cooley’s best effort, a 1m24.6455s, kept him on top by 0.1583s and Garzon reduced his pace deficit to 0.3334s.

Garzon cut it further to 0.224s in session four the next morning, as the top two failed to improve. Velocity Racing Development’s Jensen Burnett completed a top four all lapping in the 1m24s, as a second covered the top 16.

The 25-car field was completed by Kekai Hauanio, replacing Keeble at JHDD, and he was among the 14 drivers setting personal bests.

Cooley went slower again in session five, a late lap putting him on top by just 0.0196s. Garzon made a 0.004s gain, only of only three drivers to get quicker and leaving him 0.063s off being the afternoon’s fastest driver, and VRD’s Joao Vergara trailed by 0.3903s in fourth.

Testing ended with 21 cars on track, and a 1m25.0395s was enough to put Garzon on top. He had a gap of 0.1209s to Pabst Racing’s Eddie Beswick in third, and 0.122s to JHDD’s Caleb Gafrarar who was one of two improvers.

Test results