The our trailer is packed up,  IGY6 Motorsports is buttoning up the cars and getting them into the transporter.  It’s time for the inaugural USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tire race at Ozark International Raceway in Gravois, MO.   Ozark opened last fall and is purported to be one of the most challenging tracks with fast blind corners and large elevation changes.

This weekend will include the first three of the 16 race season and will be broadcast on usfjuniors.com, RoadToIndy.TV, and the new USF Juniors App(iPhone, Android).  You will also be able to follow live timing during practice as well on the website and the App.

4/22/2022
  9:30 AM  Test Session 1
  12:35 PM Test Session 2
  3:15 PM Test Session 3
4/23/2022
  9:45 AM Practice
  12:35 PM Qualifying
  4:00 PM  Race 1
4/24/2022
  9:30 AM Race 2
  1:15 PM Race 3

The following weekend Jason and the USF Juniors Series will be heading back to Barber Motorsports Park to join all the Road To Indy series and Indy Car for a weekend full Indy car racing. 

Indianapolis, Ind. Jason Pribyl will take his next step on the racing ladder, joining the new USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires series for 2022 with Veteran-owned and operated IGY6 Motorsports out of Indianapolis, Ind. An accomplished karter, Pribyl, 16, is coming off his 2021 SCCA Northern Conference Formula Enterprise 2 Championship and will make his Road to Indy debut when the series kicks off on April 21-24 at Ozarks International Raceway.

USF Juniors Release

A native of Glenview, IL, Pribyl spent the 2021 season racing both cars and karts. In addition to the Formula Enterprise 2 championship, he finished 10th at the SCCA National Runoffs on the Indy road course and campaigned a Spec Miata in two 50-lap endurance races. Jason has raced sprint karts since he was 6, and at 7-years-old was racing on road tracks such as the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Summit Point, National Corvette Museum and Pittsburgh International Race Complex. 

Over the last decade he has won championships with Cup Karts of North America, Championship Enduro Series, Dart Kart Club and American Kart Racing Association. In 2020, he entered 40 kart races in five classes earning the Animal 380 Road Racing Championship, finishing second in Animal 360, third in Animal 370 and second in Open Classes. He capped off that season with one day of testing followed by an F1600 weekend with Formula Race Promotions at Pittsburgh, finishing sixth and second racing against several current USF2000 drivers. 

Pribyl attributes his quick transition to cars to his extensive experience racing karts on the same tracks. 

“It is an exciting new chapter in my career and I look forward to working with USF Juniors and the IGY6 Motorsports program. I’m excited to prove my skills in the next level of racing and I’m confident that this is the place to do it,” said Pribyl.

In preparation for 2022, Pribyl has been racing in the TireRack.com Road to Indy eSeries Presented by Cooper Tires and testing his IGY6 USF Juniors Ligier at Homestead and Atlanta Motorsports Park. 

The inaugural USF Juniors season will see a slate of 16 races over six event weekends, with drivers competing for a scholarship package valued at over $221,000 to help the champion advance to the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – the first rung on the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder. Sanctioned by USAC, USF Juniors will utilize the popular Ligier JS chassis and HPD powerplant in 2022.

“We are excited to bring Jason aboard for the season,” said Brandon Graham, IGY6 Motorsports Team Manager. “Throughout our testing, we have seen the elite mentality and ability to compete for the top step in the USF Juniors series this year.”

IGY6 Motorsports is partnered with SAVE22.vet to support American veterans through motorsports. SAVE22.vet is a group of like-minded veteran friends working to raise awareness for and the prevention of veteran and active duty suicide.

To learn more about Pribyl, visit jasonpribylautosports.com and follow his progress on Twitter (@JPAutosports), Facebook (@JasonPribylAutoSports), Instagram (@jasonpribylautosports) and YouTube (Jason Pribyl Autosports)

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About USF Juniors Presented by Cooper Tires: USF Juniors debuts in 2022 as a pre-step to the highly acclaimed Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires driver development platform, a clear-cut path to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Owned and operated by Andersen Promotions with sanctioning from USAC Racing, the entry level series is professionally run to Road to Indy standards providing the necessary training on and off the track to drivers as young as 14 years of age. A prize package of over $310,000 is on offer including a scholarship valued at more than $220,000 for its champion to advance to the first step of the ladder – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship – in 2023. For more information, visit usfjuniors.com.

About Cooper Tire: Cooper Tire, a subsidiary of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (Nasdaq: GT), specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car, light truck, medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations located in more than one dozen countries around the world. Cooper is proud to be the spec tire for all three levels of the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tire, a development program within the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Cooper can also be seen on the track in rally, rallycross and short course off-road racing. Connect with Cooper on Twitter and Instagram by following @TeamCooperTire or visit www.coopertire.com.

About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company: Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs about 62,000 people and manufactures its products in 46 facilities in 21 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.

Last Wednesday Jason was invited to join the final race of TireRack.com Road to Indy eSeries presented by Cooper Tires.  He rushed home from school to buy the World Wide Technology Raceway oval and went to work.  He was third fastest in practice, but had a dismal qualifying session.  Race 1 started with Jason in starting 14th of 15 cars.  During the first 5 minutes he moved up slowly and avoided spinning cars working his way up to 6th place and mixing it up with the lead pack.  The Jason mixed it up in the top 6 for the next 15 tense minutes with the group shuffling order and looking for advantage.  At the checked Jason held his own and finished 6th.  For the second race he started 5th and immediately fell back to the back of the pack after suffering minor wind damage.  Despite the damage continued to fight picking his way through the crowd and eventually pushing the car back to 5th place by the end of the race.  You can read the recap or the race including Jason finishes on the USF Juniors web site.

Not only was there great racing but Jason was recognized by the announcers as one of the standouts of the race.   Below is a link directory to the comments.

Jason joined the Road To Indy Prospects eSeries at Virginia International Raceway, watch the full race, and qualified 6th of 18 drivers and withing shooting distance of a podium. During the first race he was spun heading into the first couple of corners and had to work his way back up to 12th. In the second race he worked is way up to 4th but tangled with lapped traffic in the closing race and finished 7th. Jason did qualify to race in the next race on the 19th at Lucas Oil Motorsports.

This week Jason will be racing again but this time at the Lucas Oil Raceway.  This will be interesting as he will be racing with some of the other drivers from USF 2000, Indy Pro, and Indy lights.   Racing will start again 6:45 CST join in and cheer for your favorite driver!