VRD’s Joao Vergara wins the USF Juniors season opener

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Velocity Racing Development’s Joao Vergara won the opening race of the 2025 USF Juniors season at NOLA Motorsports Park.

His debuting team-mate Oliver Wheldo dropped from pole position to third on the opening lap, with fellow front row starter Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing) taking the lead ahead of Vergara who started fourth. Liam Loicano (Jay Howard Driver Development) also lost ground, starting third but ending lap one in ninth place.

The front three quickly pulled away, and while they pressured each other there were no overtake attempts until lap six. After some tentative poking the nose in, at turn 10 the lead battle escalated as Vergara went down the inside of Escorpioni.

A better exit speed meant that Escorpioni was then able to draw back alongside at turn 11 but only briefly and he was soon focused on Wheldon in his mirrors.

The long run to turn one meant Wheldon started lap seven with an immediate attack, taking the inside line and second place. While Wheldon was then able to stick with Vergara, when he tried to hassle him on the straight before turn 10 on lap eight it brought Escorpioni briefly back into play.

On lap 10 it truly became a two-car fight as Escorpioni fell more than a second behind the leader, and every time it looked like Vergara had shaken off his pursuer the slipstream effect kept Wheldon in contention. But Wheldon was never close enough to think about an overtake and finished the 12-lap race 0.476 seconds behind.

“Just feels amazing. Best way to start the year,” said Vergara, whose car was without personal sponsors.

“It was a pretty tight race. Once we got past Leo, I think me and Oliver worked pretty well together not fighting for a while so we could get the gap a little bit. But at the end I was glad I saved tyres, it paid off. I was able to push a little bit more I think with them.”

DEForce Racing’s Rodrigo and Patricio Gonzalez held fourth and fifth after lap one, ahead of Exclusive Autosport’s Brenden Cooley, International Motorsport’s Hudson Potter and Zanella’s Ty Fisher.

By the end of the race, it was Fisher who was in fourth after a great drive. Patricio Gonzalez and Potter exited contention for the position in incidents that dropped them way down the order, but before that Fisher had passed both. He cleared Cooley for sixth on lap five, overtook Gonzalez a lap later then caught his brother on lap 11.

Despite Rodrigo’s defences, Fisher was able to get through. Loiacono finished sixth, and Zanella’s Diego Guiot beat JHDD’s Karel Staut in a late battle for seventh.

Race results (12 laps)