Pirelli Tires presents the Pacific F2000 Championship is an American open-wheel racing series designed for the entry-level driver and is a part of the Mazda Road to Indy. The Pacific F2000 Racing Series offers 15 racing opportunities over six weekends at leading West Coast venues such as Auto Club Speedway, Buttonwillow Raceway and Thunderhill Raceway. The Pacific F2000 Racing series is designed to be the next step up for F1600 drivers with the introduction of wings, increased power, and larger racing tires. The suspension geometry of a modern F2000 car is as sophisticated as those in many more well known races and offers great training for drivers, engineers and mechanics. Because formula and not spec cars are used there are numerous chassis designs, multiple motors allowed, and as a result there is also great opportunity to test new designs.. At the same time, there are enough restrictions to keep costs in check. F2000 originated in England in 1974 and has helped spawn the careers of many of the sport’s top names. In North America, its alumni include Sam Hornish Jr., Buddy Rice, Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser and Dan Wheldon. Graduates of PacificF2000 Racing since its inception in 2004 include J.R. Hildebrand, who won the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Championship and drives the No. 4 National Guard car in the IZOD IndyCar Series; rising Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series star Dane Cameron; and Jason Bowles, who won the 2011 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway.

Format

Each race weekend consists of 2 separate sets of Practice, Qualifying and Race sessions.

Mazda Road to Indy Shootout

On August 1, 2015 it was announced that Pacific F2000 would be an official partner in the

Road to Indy A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

series along with 9 other entry-level race series. Starting in the 2016 season, the champion of the series will gain entry to a shootout against the champions from competing series for the chance to win a $200,000 scholarship and entry in the

U.S. F2000 National Championship The USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States Auto ...

Current Racetracks

* Auto Club Speedway *

Buttonwillow Raceway Park Buttonwillow Raceway Park is a motorsports park in Kern County, California, north of the town of Buttonwillow and northwest of Bakersfield. Opened in 1995, it is owned and operated by the California Sports Car Club, a region of SCCA, Button ...

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...

Willow Springs International Motorsports Park Willow Springs International Motorsports Park (commonly referred to as Willow Springs) is located in Willow Springs near Rosamond, California, about north of Los Angeles. It is the oldest permanent road course in the United States. Construct ...

Past Racetracks

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

Miller Motorsports Park Utah Motorsports Campus is a race track facility located in Grantsville near Tooele, Utah, United States. It operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from 2006 until October 2015. The course has hosted auto, motorcycle, bicycle and ka ...

Portland International Raceway Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a motorsport facility in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Delta Park complex on the former site of Vanport, just south of the Columbia River. It lies west of the Delta Park/Vanpo ...

Thunderhill Raceway Park Thunderhill Raceway Park is a motorsports complex located 7 miles West of Willows, California, United States, in the Sacramento Valley. It is the venue for the longest automobile race in the United States, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, held a ...

Alumni

Graduates of Pacific F2000 Racing include J.R. Hildebrand who won the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Championship and drives the No. 4 National Guard car in the IZOD IndyCar Series; three-time Indy Car winner Colton Herta, son of Champ Car driver Bryan Herta and the youngest driver to win an IndyCar event; rising Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series star Dane Cameron; David Chang, co-owner of Jackie Chan racing; 2018 Indy Lights Champion Patricio (Pato) O'Ward; and Jason Bowles, who won the 2011 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway. Other notables who've raced with the series include tech luminary Bill Kincaid, creator of Apple's I-Tunes; current manager of Buttonwillow Raceway Park Les Phillips, and previous "Best Shoes" winner Peter West.

Past Drivers Champions

* 2004, Brad Jaeger * 2005, Mike Forest * 2006, Robert Podlesni * 2007, Patrick Barrett * 2008, Jeff Westphal * 2009, Robert Podlesni * 2010, Scott Rarick * 2011, Conner Ford * 2012, Bobby Kelley * 2013, Bob Negron * 2014, Andrew Evans * 2015, Tom Hope * 2016, Tim de Silva * 2017, Mitch Egner * 2018, Jason Reichert * 2019, Jason Reichert * 2020, Tom Hope * 2021, Robert Armington * 2022, Troy Shooter

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Auto racing series in the United States