2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship

[1] Australian series rookie Lochie Hughes won the Drivers' Championship at the penultimate race of the season after collecting four wins and six further podium finishes.

33 entry, is driven by Tyke Durst, who graduated from US Formula 4 competition and replaced IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge-bound Jackson Lee.

The team signed FROC and FRJ runner-up Liam Sceats as well as two Americans returning from European competition in former FIA F3 competitor Hunter Yeany and GB3 and Eurocup-3 driver David Morales.

[34] Jay Howard Driver Development saw Ricardo Escotto move to BN Racing and Reece Ushijima depart the championship.

[6][16] Velocity Racing Development expanded to two cars for the events at St. Petersburg and NOLA, with Nikita Johnson, who did the 2023 season finale with the team, being joined by Shawn Rashid and both drivers also embarking on a campaign in the GB3 championship through VRD's collaboration with Arden Motorsport.

[5][6] New team Comet/NCMP Racing signed Logan Adams to drive their single entry, who jumps up to USF Pro 2000 after competing in US F4 and USF2000 in 2023.

[9] Ahead of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, David Morales left TJ Speed Motorsports due to budgetary constraints after crashing his car in both St. Petersburg and NOLA.

[7] Ahead of the Freedom 90, Adam Fitzgerald announced he would not continue his championship campaign to focus on recovering from his back injury that he sustained in the crash that took Dilano van 't Hoff's life in 2023.

[46] TJ Speed Motorsport also altered their lineup further, with Indy NXT driver Bryce Aron joining to pilot Morales's No.

[25][47] Ahead of the round at Road America, Canadian driver Nico Christodoulou announced his step up to USF Pro 2000 with VRD, after multiple outings and two wins in USF2000 since 2020.

[48] In the days leading up to the Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio, BN Racing announced a new signing in Alessandro de Tullio, who came fourth in USF Juniors in 2022 and stepped into the car previously piloted by Arturo Flores.

Braden Eves, who had already announced difficulties concerning his budget ahead of Mid-Ohio,[49] was among them, meaning Exclusive Autosport did not field any drivers.

Christian Brooks, who initially confirmed he would finish his campaign despite his Indy NXT commitment,[50] was replaced by GT driver Glenn van Berlo.

While Shawn Rashid also did not attend the season finale, VRD instead brought another driver over from its sister GB3 operation to make his series debut in Noah Ping.

[2][51] The 2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship kicked off around the Streets of St. Petersburg with Turn 3’s Lochie Hughes taking pole position.

Seven drivers fell victim to the narrow course across the race, but Hughes managed multiple restarts to secure the win on his series debut, with Pabst’s Christian Brooks and TJ Speed’s Liam Sceats right behind him.

The Australian initially held on, but on lap 20 Johnson took the lead on a restart and led Hughes and his teammate Danny Dyszelski home.

[54] The second weekend of the season was held at NOLA, and Pabst’s Jace Denmark and TJ Speed’s Hunter Yeany shared pole positions.

Through multiple incidents, Johnson used the ensuing restarts to climb from seventh to third, before a three-car crash caused a red flag.

This time, Johnson was unable to gap the field: Sikes held on to him through the race, and on lap 20 made his move to take the win.

[62] Three days later, Johnson was disqualified from race two and docked 20 points for a technical infringement after rival teams raised concerns about his car having a power advantage.

On the final lap Sikes tried retaking second, but went off track and beached his car, handing BN Racing’s Ricardo Escotto a podium.

Hughes triple win saw him amass a 50-point lead over Denmark, while Johnson dropped to third after a mediocre weekend without a top-five finish.

[69] Race one was a straightforward affair for poleman Johnson, with the only hiccup of his flag-to-flag victory coming before the green when the start had to be aborted.

The second race saw Johnson on top once again: He started fourth, took third from Brooks on lap four and then made two quick moves on a restart to overtake Denmark and Sikes.

Johnson’s double win allowed him to close his gap to Hughes to 26 points, with the latter able to salvage a seventh place in the second race despite his earlier crash.

In the final standings, Johnson’s two wins lifted him back to second place ahead of Denmark, with Hughes’ gap at 40 points.