Sebastian Wheldon – Syndication Server

McNeilly, Wheldon top USF Juniors at NOLA

Liam McNeilly and Sebastian Wheldon once again emerged as the top USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire protagonists as the opening tripleheader round of the season was concluded Sunday at NOLA Motorsports Park. McNeilly, from Brentwood, England, turned the tables on yesterday’s winner Wheldon, from Coral Gables, Fla. after a thrilling contest, while the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana wrapped up several hours later with Wheldon securing a second victory and the championship lead.

Israeli Ariel Elkin finished a strong third Sunday morning for the InterMS team, while VRD Racing’s Max Taylor, from Hoboken, N.J., edged McNeilly for second in the final 12-lap encounter which once again was run under entirely green-flag conditions.

A separate qualifying session, with the 26-car field split into two groups, was held in the morning to establish the grid for the day’s pair of races. Honors were split, with Saturday’s runaway winner Wheldon claiming his first Continental Tire Pole Award for the first of the day’s two races, with Saturday polesitter McNeilly posting the best of every driver’s second-fastest lap to claim what could prove to be a vital championship bonus point for the third and final race of the weekend.

Wheldon swept into an immediate lead this morning, assisted further when third-fastest qualifier Vinicius Tessaro’s DEForce car abruptly cut out exiting Turn 4. Miraculously, the Brazilian was not collected by anyone among the huge pack of cars in his wake, and he was able to rejoin at the back of the field. Tessaro then posted an impressive fightback by climbing from 25th to 11th at the checkered flag.

Consequently, Wheldon completed the first lap with a massive advantage of over 3s, although to his chagrin, that was whittled to nothing when the caution flags waved briefly due to some debris on the race track from an incident farther down the field.

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The restart was a different story altogether. Wheldon immediately came under pressure from McNeilly, who went side-by-side with Wheldon through the first couple of corners and then moved into the lead by virtue of having the inside line for Turn 3.

McNeilly thereafter controlled the race from the front, and even though Wheldon mounted a stern challenge, there was no way through as the Englishman claimed the victory.

Taylor finished third on the road for VRD Racing, but the addition of a 5s penalty for jumping the start relegated him to sixth behind first-time podium finisher Elkin, InterMS teammate Augusto Soto-Schirripa, from Miami, Fla., who bounced back well after having been unable to start Saturday’s race due to an electrical gremlin and Exclusive Autosport’s Jack Jeffers, from San Antonio, Texas.

“I had a good day here at Nola,” McNeilly said. “I qualified second overall and managed to convert that to a win in race two. I was on pole for race three. I had a good start and then dropped back a few places. I managed to get my way back up into third which I managed through the rest of the race. A good start to the season and hopefully we will build on that for Barber.”

Mexican Rodrigo Gonzalez (DEForce Driver Development) took home the Tilton Hard Charger Award after working his way from 25th on the grid to 17th at the checkered flag.

The PFC Award to the winning car owner went to Jay Howard.

Race three Sunday afternoon began once again with McNeilly leading the way from Taylor and Wheldon, although Elkin was the man to watch at the start as he charged from fifth on the grid to challenge McNeilly for the lead as they raced into Turn Four for the first time.

McNeilly pushed a little too hard under braking for Turn 10 on the opening lap and briefly ran into the escape road. He emerged still with the lead but quickly ceded the position after recognizing he had gained an illegal advantage. Elkin was the initial beneficiary, although Wheldon immediately began to apply pressure and it was only a matter of time before the Israeli was forced to capitulate.

Once into the lead on lap four, Wheldon put his head down and soon stretched out a comfortable lead.

Taylor also found a way past Elkin and chased the leader as hard as he could. The pair ran an almost identical pace but the advantage never looked likely to shift away from Wheldon.

McNeilly fought back from his early miscue to claim third ahead of Elkin, who finished with a slender edge over Tessaro and Soto-Schirripa.

“The day went really well,” Wheldon said. “In the first race I was able to finish second, which is really good for the points. Heading into the last race, I just wanted to stay on track and keep it clean and was able to take the win. The car was phenomenal all day and I can’t thank VRD enough.”

Brazilian Joao Vergara earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award for Exclusive Autosport by virtue of making up six positions from 19th on the grid, while VRD Racing’s Dan Mitchell claimed his second PFC Award of the weekend as the winning car owner.

The next event for USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire will be held in conjunction with the NTT IndyCar Series at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala. Practice and qualifying will take place on Thursday, April 25, with a warmup and two 20-lap races slated for Friday, April 26.

RACE TWO RESULTS

RACE THREE RESULTS

Sebastian Wheldon dominates USF Juniors opener at NOLA

Second-generation racer Sebastian Wheldon romped to an emphatic USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire debut victory Saturday afternoon to kick off the weekend’s busy Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park. Wheldon, 15, from Coral Gables, Fla., claimed the lead shortly after the start from polesitting Englishman Liam McNeilly (Jay Howard Driver Development), and quickly pulled away to an unassailable lead for VRD Racing.

McNeilly eventually secured second position after a thrilling battle with Wheldon’s teammate, Max Taylor, from Hoboken, N.J., as an impressive 25-car field provided some superb action during an all-green flag 12-lap race on the 2.74-mile road course just a few miles from downtown New Orleans, La.

After regularly topping the timing charts during the pre-season Spring Training test at NOLA last month, McNeilly, 17, from Brentwood, England, continued his fine form by claiming the first Continental Tire Pole Award of the new season. McNeilly maintained his edge at the start, but Wheldon, who started second, remained alongside his rival on the outside line as the two leaders negotiated Turn 1, which in turn gave him the advantage – and the lead – at Turn 2.

Taylor, who lined up fifth on the grid, also muscled his way past McNeilly on the opening lap, which allowed Wheldon to consolidate his lead. He never looked back. Wheldon turned a series of fast, consistent laps to extend his advantage to almost 8s before finally heeding the instructions from race engineer/driver coach Jacob Loomis and eventually taking the checkered flag some 7.6285s to the good.

Taylor for many laps managed to resist the pressure from McNeilly and hold onto second place, despite the JHDD Tatuus JR-23 exhibiting considerably more straight line speed. Finally, with three laps remaining, McNeilly executed a fine outside-line pass under braking for Turn 1, then edged clear to cement his runner-up finish.

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He next came under attack from Brazilian Vinicius Tessaro (DEForce Racing), Jack Jeffers (Exclusive Autosport), from San Antonio, Texas, and Israeli Ariel Elken (InterMS), who rampaged through the field following a qualifying that left him a distant 14th on the grid. Taylor barely managed to hold off Tessaro for third on the dash to the line, with Elkin capping a fine performance by usurping Jeffers with three laps remaining.

Brazilian Bruno Ribeiro (DEForce Racing) narrowly edged G3 Argyros (Jay Howard Driver Development), from Newport Beach, Calif., for seventh after a race-long battle as another Brazilian, Leonardo Escorpioni (Zanella Racing) and Canadian Ayden Ingratta (Jay Howard Driver Development) completed the top 10. However, Ribeiro later was assessed a five-place penalty for being out of position at the start which relegated him to 11th in the final results behind fellow Brazilian Joao Vergara (Exclusive Autosport).

“The race went really well. I was able to lead early on at the start and just create a big gap on the field,” Wheldon said after his victory. “The car felt really good. We’ve had a fast car since practice and it felt amazing. It feels good to start the season like this and I gained a lot of confidence and should be good for the next round.”

The Tilton Hard Charger Award was earned by Exclusive Autosport’s Evan Cooley, from Frankfort, Ill., who worked his way to 14th place after having started last following some problems in qualifying, while the PFC Award for the winning car owner went to VRD Racing’s Dan Mitchell.

The opening weekend of the USF Juniors Presented by Continental Tire season will conclude with two more races Sunday. The starting lineups will be set following another split qualifying session, starting at 8:00 a.m., with the races due to start at 11:45 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. CDT. Live coverage of all sessions will be available on the USF Pro Championships App and on the series’ website, www.usfjuniors.com.

RESULTS

Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon taking next steps in their father’s footsteps

Susie Wheldon asked if 2:30pm would work as a good time for a call to speak with the family’s newest champion. The offering of a specific time to conduct a formal interview is standard fare, especially with the increasingly busy schedule that …

But the timing of this calendar event was rather different: Susie, also known as “Mom,” needed some extra time before the interview because had to pick up her athletes, better known as Sebastian and Oliver, from school.

For Sebastian (pictured above), the eldest of the two sons born to Susie and her late husband Dan Wheldon, the IndyCar champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, 2023 was a transformational year as his first season of junior open-wheel racing delivered six victories, 13 podiums, and the drivers’ title in the Skip Barber Formula Racing Series.

For the offspring of a famous driver, there’s no guarantee the talent possessed by their parents is waiting to be unleashed if they climb into the cockpit and give the sport a try. With Sebastian, big lessons were learned about himself and whether his dad’s immense talent could be summoned as he moved from karts to formula cars.

“It’s given me the confidence and motivation to just keep going,” the 15-year-old told RACER. “This season was important, knowing that it was my rookie year, and first time ever in single-seaters, and I was able to get the championship.”

With the $100,000 advancement prize presented by Skip Barber, Sebastian’s on the move to the USF Championships and its USF Juniors series where he’ll follow the same kind of ladder system that propelled his father to great heights in the late 1990s. He carries the full support of his father’s title-winning IndyCar team as well with career advisement from Andretti Global and backing from its sponsor Gainbridge being carried on the No. 98 VRD Racing entry.

Sebastian’s headed to high school and Oliver, who turns 13 in a few days, has middle school on the horizon. He’ll also follow his brother’s footsteps out of karting and into the Skip Barber Formula Racing Series, which means the Wheldon boys will continue moving in different directions.

Oliver and Sebastian Wheldon, with Scott Dixon and Susie Wheldon, in their karts at IMS in 2022. Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment

Compared to the years where both were with Mom at the kart track, life for the Wheldons in 2024 will be one of moving in different racing circles with Susie in the middle trying to keep her boys on time and organized

“They were both in the same boat at the same place at the same time before, so it was a little bit more manageable,” she said. “But last year, with them in different directions, it was a bit more challenging, and now it’s only becoming more that way, so I have to adjust my life more to fit with theirs. I think the joy for me is just being there and getting a front row seat as they come through the ranks and really chase their dreams. I think for any parent, that is just a beautiful thing.

“But no matter what your kids are doing, with Oliver getting into the Skip Barber stuff, and Sebastian in USF Juniors, I’m just so grateful to be on this journey with them and just to have the support of the racing community. There’s a special group of people that have just really held my boys up and held me up during some difficult times. So it’s just really cool to see things come full circle.”

Led by Dan, racing was once the dominant activity in their lives. It’s taken some time to grow comfortable in rejoining the racing circuit, but with her sons finding the same passion and early success as their father, Susie is finding a joy of her own — in a different form — with the return to the sport.

“It feels like we’re at the karting stage all over again, getting into this new thing for them,” she said. “This is the first step in the single-seater journey, so we’ve put karting behind us and that’s one milestone that we’ve reached. And now we’re setting our sights on the ladder system of open-wheel racing and getting them to the top. We’ll see how it goes. But it’s just been a pleasure to be their mom and walk beside them.”

Skip Barber Racing School becomes official racing school of Andretti Autosport

Andretti Autosport has today announced a partnership with Skip Barber Racing School, the world’s largest automotive education and entertainment company. The partnership builds upon decades of history between the two brands, with over a dozen of Andretti’s IndyCar drivers, past and present, and five members of the Andretti family having been trained in Skip Barber programs.

The newest member of the Andretti driving family to train with Skip Barber will be junior development driver Sebastian Wheldon. The son of the late two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, Sebastian will make his Skip Barber Formula Racing Series debut April 3-5 at Road Atlanta, with support from Gainbridge. Graduating from the karting ranks, this will mark the first season of car racing for the eldest Wheldon brother as he follows in the footsteps of his father who enrolled in the Skip Barber Racing School Formula Car Lapping Day at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2000.

The 2023 Skip Barber Formula Racing Series will consist of eight weekends and 16 races that will offer drivers access to iconic racetracks from coast to coast. New this season, the series will award $500,000 in scholarships with the overall series champion being offered a scholarship valued at $100,000 to advance to the USF Juniors Series the following season.

“Skip Barber Racing School represents one of the best training opportunities in the world for young racing talent. We’ve been fortunate to have a strong friendship over the years and are proud to be able to evolve this into a greater opportunity for our future racers,” said Michael Andretti, Chairman and CEO of Andretti Autosport. Sebastian will take a big step in his career this year competing in the Skip Barber Formula Racing Series with Gainbridge, and we’re excited to watch his continued development. I have no doubt he’ll be up to speed quickly and will grow immensely in the Skip Barber program.”

Dan DeMonte, CMO of Skip Barber Racing School, said, “Learning to become a professional driver at the highest levels of our sport requires desire, talent, and great coaching. We are excited to partner with Andretti Autosport to guide Sebastian on his championship journey. Both brands’ history and combined legacies in the racing industry make for a perfect union between the organizations.”

Wheldon commented, “I am super excited to compete in my first-ever car race in less than a week. I have already spent a few days with Skip Barber doing their five-day racing school and it was an awesome experience. All the team members are so knowledgeable, and I am looking forward to learning more as I start racing. It’s an incredible opportunity to have the support of Andretti Autosport and Gainbridge in a program that has launched the careers of several notable professional open-wheel racing drivers.”