Junior Open Wheel Talent

Jeff Simmons will drive the No. 17 Team E car for the Indy Lights Freedom 100 on May 28.  Jan Heylen, Team E’s regular driver this season, will focus on road course events in 2010.

“Financially, it was the best fit,” said Team E owner Neil Enerson. “We will have Heylen back in the car for some road course events later this season.”

Heylen competed in the Indy Lights season opener this season on the Streets of St. Petersburg, where he finished 2nd. His oval experience includes a start at the Milwaukee Mile on June 4, 2006 during his campaign in the Champ Car World Series.  Despite a high level of car experience, he was unable to afford all the required testing leading up to the Freedom 100.

Meanwhile, in the May 14 open test at Indianapolis, Jeff Simmons was fourth quick in his return to Indy Lights competition, driving for Team E.  It was his first time back in a Lights’ car since August 2008 (Kentucky).  He has four Freedom 100 starts under his belt and four Indy 500 starts.

“I wanted to build up gradually, and I think it was a testament to everybody at Team E that we were so quick right off the bat,” Simmons told IndyCar.com’s Dave Lewandowski.  “We had a good starting setup and we kept the car in a good window. I got the chance to slowly work my way into traffic and feeling that out, because I haven’t had that for almost two years.

American Alexander Rossi will make his World Series by Renault debut this weekend on the streets of Monaco.  Rossi was third quick in this morning’s free practice.  He was the fastest rookie driver in attendance, with a lap of 1:28.814, just 0.882 shy of Sten Pentus (1:27.932) – who set the fastest overall time and was the only driver to break into the 1:27 range.

It’s likely Rossi is just using this one-off opportunity to get used to all the unique undulations and attributes of the Monaco street circuit, while picking up some additional seat time.  The 18-year-old phenom will be driving for ISR, a team he drove for last season in International Formula Master.

The Formula Renault 3.5 qualifying session will get underway on Saturday, May 15, with the race scheduled to take place Sunday, May 16.

Matthew Inge, who finished second in the 2009 F2000 Championship, will return to F2000 competition this weekend when the series heads to Road Atlanta for Rounds 3-4 of the 2010 championship.  He will join Cole Morgan at K-Hill Motorsports.

Inge completed the 2009 F2000 Championship season with two wins, seven podiums and nine top-5 finishes.  At this time, it’s likely that this is simply a one-off opportunity but Inge remains hopeful that he will be able to get back in the car for some additional events.

Inge is a senior engineering student at Virginia Tech, with a focus in mining and minerals.

The entry list for the Long Beach Indy Lights race is nearly identical to last week’s Barber Motorsports Park list.  Tonis Kasemets will replace Nic LeDuc in the #35 Team PBIR car.  Joel Miller, as previously announced, will also be in the field this weekend in the #5 Andersen Racing car.

Kasemets was a last minute addition to the field and will make his Indy Lights debut this weekend in Long Beach.

Last season, he drove in the Atlantic Championship finishing 5th in the final point standings.  In 12 races, he compiled 1 podium and 6 top-five finishes.  His best result of the season was 3rd – which occurred at the second race in the Autobahn doubleheader.

Josef Newgarden can cross his name off my list of talented drivers without a ride for 2010.  The young American has just signed with Carlin for the 2010 GP3 season.

For the last week or so there was a rumor floating around that Newgarden had signed with the team following a successful test at Paul Ricard.  However, nothing was confirmed until this morning.

It’s great to see Carlin pick up both Dean Smith and Josef Newgarden heading into the GP3 season.  Both drivers have shown tremendous talent but have struggled to find the necessary funding for a good ride this year.  Those worries have dissipated with a signed contract- thanks to Trevor Carlin (Carlin Racing Director).

Newgarden, 19, finished 2nd in the 2009 MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain while driving for JTR.  He completed the season with 9 wins, 4 pole positions, 16 podiums and 20 top-five finishes.  GP3 will be a pretty big jump for Josef but I’m confident in his ability to adapt quickly, especially under the team guidance of Carlin.  I’m really looking forward to watching his progress and development in 2010.

American driver Joel Miller is currently planning to run a one-off Indy Lights race at Long Beach with Andersen Racing.  His entry is yet to be made official but things are looking very promising for the 21-year-old formula car star. 

Update:  I received confirmation that his entry is official for Long Beach.

The opportunity to run at Long Beach is a dream come true for the Hesperia, California native.  He has been working extremely hard this off-season to find the funding for a Indy Lights ride and now with the help of several local businesses and family friends – his dream just might become a reality.

“I literally just took off driving from home to Long Beach, and I visited
every single company and person I knew along the way,” Miller said in a press release written by Restart Communications.  ”I started when the first place opened and I stopped when they were closed. My dad has a little electrical contracting shop, and he has been keeping people informed about how my racing has been going. Even if I didn’t know them but Dad did, I stopped by.”

As noted above, the opportunity is just a one-off for now, but Joel remains hopeful that he will be able to run a few more Indy Lights races this season.  Regardless of what the future holds, the University of California, Riverside mechanical engineering major is very appreciative of all the support he has received.  It hasn’t come from just one individual or one business, he has reached out to as many people as possible and, fortunately, many of them seem willing to help him take the next step in his racing career.

“You can’t walk into a small company and throw a big figure at them and
expect them to be able to do anything with you,” Miller continued. “But with smaller amounts from a lot of different companies and individuals added together, by the end of the day I was able to get close enough to call Dan [Andersen] and say I think I can do it.  I still have some more calls to make, but I feel confident I’ll have enough by the race weekend.”

This is really great news for Joel.  I’m excited to see him back behind-the-wheel of a race car in 2010.  He’s been impressive in everything he’s ever driven.  I knew he was a very talented driver during his days in go-karts so it was disappointing to see him miss all the junior formula season-openers in 2010.  He certainly deserves this opportunity – so, it’s nice to see people working with him to achieve it.

Miller tested an Indy Lights car with Andersen Racing last December at Palm Beach International Raceway.  Just over a year prior to that, he tested a FIL car on the Sebring short course.  If he’s given a proper opportunity, there is no doubt in my mind that he could be a front runner in any series.

Australian driver Daniel Erickson, 22, is planning to team up with Jon Baytos for this weekend’s opening round of the F2000 Championship Series at Virginia International Raceway.

Erickson was originally planning to run the 2010 Star Mazda Championship after testing with Mundill Racing in early December.  Unfortunately, funding woes put that championship just out of reach for the time being.  If he does come up with adequate funding for a Star Mazda ride in the near future, his experience this weekend in a F2000 car will only prove beneficial for his development.

Last season, he competed in the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain and had a very successful year.  He won the Donnington round after starting from pole position and compiled a total of 1 win, 3 pole positions, 7 podiums and 22 top-ten finishes in 25 starts.  He finished fifth in the final standings.

He should do quite well this weekend.  It will be interesting to see if he’s able to come up with some additional funding to run a full season.

Tim Kautz will join Bobby Caldwell at Liberty Motorsports this season for a full 14-race campaign in the 2010 F2000 Championship Series.  Kautz, of Geneva, Illinois, has a strong background in Formula Ford racing, which includes SCCA Club Championships and a win at the 2009 June Sprints where he started from pole and set the fastest lap of the race.  You can learn more about his racing endeavors here.

Under the guidance and assistance of FAZZT Racing Team Maryeve Dufault will join Team Apex for three Star Mazda events in 2010.  She will run two ovals and one street course this year as a FAZZT development driver.

It was announced back in January that the 27-year-old was chosen as the team’s development driver.  I stand by my statement then, she is a bit of a surprise pick for the program, but it’s great to see more teams stepping up to the plate to help develop drivers.

Maryeve will test a Star Mazda car with Team Apex at O’Reilly Raceway Park on May 5th, 2010 in preparation for her first event with the team: the Night Before the 500.  She will follow that up with the June race at Iowa Speedway and then conclude her season at Trois-Rivieres in August.  It’s possible that a few more events could be added at a later date.

Zach Veach Testing an Atlantic Championship car

Zach Veach has signed with Andretti Autosport for the 2010 USF2000 National Championship.  The 15-year-old race driver was originally planning to compete in the Atlantic Championship with Jensen Motorsport.  Unfortunately, due to the series demise, those plans were abandoned.

It’s probably a better fit for Zach to spend a year or two in the USF2000 National Championship anyway.  The jump to the Atlantic Championship–without any previous car experience would have been huge.  That said, all his off-season training in a Formula BMW and an Atlantic Championship car, under the guidance of Eric Jensen, should prove beneficial this season.

Veach will partner fellow 15-year-old race driver Sage Karam at Andretti Autosport this season.  Zach’s first event with the team will take place May 29th, 2010 at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis the night before the Indy 500.