In my inaugural season of the USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire in the USF2000 series I had my fair shares of ups and downs but I learned a lot running with the DC Autosport team. A few highlights to note are bringing DC Autosport their highest finish to date — a fourth place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — qualifying on the front row at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and multiple top-10 finishes throughout the season. I am very pleased with the progress I made in 2024 and look forward to the exciting opportunities that I have ahead of me in 2025.
My experiences in the USF Championship Series earned me an opportunity to test with an IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge team, Czabok Simpson Motorsport, in their Porsche GT4 RS Club Sport at Putnam Park. I had been talking with this team throughout the season and they graciously invited me to a few of their events to shadow the team for a weekend. After my USF 2000 season ended, they gave me the opportunity to experience a sports car for the first time.
I truly enjoyed testing the car and, honestly, was impressed with how well it handled. I had come into the test expecting the extra weight of a sports car to negatively affect its driving; however, this was not the case at all. I could feel the car sit on its outside tires as I began my turn in and felt it hook up with that weight transfer in a much more exaggerated way than the USF car. It was an amazing experience to drive and I am still working out some details to hopefully join CSM for a few races in the upcoming season.
Alongside my personal racing, I was able to help my father develop our own team and my coaching skills at JK Racing, in the Kenyon Midget Series. We had two drivers in our single-car program this year and I had a lot of fun providing setup ideas and coaching services throughout the season.
Both of the drivers who had driven for us wanted to race again for us next year, but we only had one car. A simple solution to that was to expand! We are excited to grow our Kenyon Midget team and run both of our drivers, BJ Shaw and Evan Patton, next season. This expansion brought the need for a larger trailer, which aligned with an additional issue that we needed to solve.
After my USF 2000 season ended, Iโve decided to take a slightly different route, but to the same destination. I will be competing with a new team, Benchmark Autosport, which is owned and operated by my father, Kevin Houk. We will have Don Conner returning as our engineer, allowing us to build on our progress from last year.
Weโve put a lot of thought into this transition, especially considering how managing the details of running a race team can distract from the engineering focus. By creating Benchmark Autosport, we will manage the logistics and business activities of racing, aiming to allocate our valuable resources more effectively. Our goal is to free up our engineering team to focus on what they love and do best. As we prepare for our inaugural season in 2025, Iโm looking forward to applying what Iโve learned over the past year and achieving great results.
I cannot thank all of my supporters enough for making this first season of USF 2000 possible for me. I came into 2024 only securing funding to make it through round 8 of the season and have had multiple people join me throughout the year to make it possible. A massive thank you to the Team USA Scholarship and its supporters; I would not have made the Portland GP without your generous support. Also, a big thank you to Binkleyโs Kitchen and Bar, Wings and Wheels Foundation, Cornerstone Environmental Group, Horizon Equine Integrative Medicine, Little Red Door Cancer Agency, R. Oberly Law, and Big Check Race Fans. I would not have had the amazing opportunities that I did this year without the support that all of you have generously granted me with.
Ayrton Houk
