Kaylee Countryman ends rookie USF Juniors season with top 10 at Portland
- RACERS
- Aug 12
- 6 min read
USF Juniors championship wrapped up its 2025 season at Portland International Raceway with Kaylee Countryman finishing on a high, as the young American rookie secured her fourth top ten finish of the season, while Maddie Colleran improved her season's best in the final race with a P13 finish.
USF Juniors championship wrapped up its 2025 season at Portland International Raceway with Kaylee Countryman finishing on a high, as the young American rookie secured her fourth top ten finish of the season, with a tenth place in race 3.
The three female drivers on the grid thus completed their first year in the Road To Indy series having gained crucial experience and racecraft; Kaylee Countryman, driving for Exclusive Autosport in her rookie season in single-seaters, has been steadily making her way up in the highly competitive USF Juniors championship. She has shown clear progress over the year, breaking into the top ten for the first time at Mid-Ohio with a P10 before improving to P8 in the same round. Alongside her USF Juniors campaign, Countryman has also gained experience in the higher-tier USF2000 Championship, racing at Road America and Toronto—where she claimed an impressive P11 in Race 1. Coming off another top ten in Road America ahead of the season finale in Portland, she aimed to keep momentum.
Emma Scarbrough, representing International Motorsport, entered USF Juniors as a promising karting graduate with strong pace and the ability to fight near the front. Her season, however, has been hampered by some misfortune, with incidents preventing her from converting her speed into consistent results. Despite these setbacks, she demonstrated potential, most notably with a P8 finish in the third round at Mid-Ohio.
Maddie Colleran, competing for Zanella Racing, has also improved steadily in her rookie year, building pace and consistency at each outing. Ahead of final round, now a regular top-15 finisher in recent events, she was building upon her most recent results at Road America, where she achieved a personal best of P14 in the second race of the weekend.
USF Juniors championship headed to Portland International Raceway, a 3.166 km track that hosts the final road course event of the Indycar calendar - as well as last round of USF Juniors and USF2000.
Thursday hosted the first testing day, and Countryman was the best placed female driver with times in the 1:16.0s. In official practice on Friday, the Exclusive Autosport driver was again inside the top 20, improving to 1:15.818, one tenth ahead of Emma Scarbrough, while Maddie Colleran was a bit further behind.
Heading into qualifying, Countryman found more time; she set a 1:15.552 lap and qualified P19, with Scarbrough's 1:15.771 placing her 20th in an unlucky session. Colleran set a 1:16.233 lap, improving by over half a second from practice, and would line up in P21.
When Race 1 started, some contact into turn one forced three cars off into the escape road; the rest of the pack remained mostly clean, but Alibhai suffered front suspension damage and had to retire, and the Safety Car was deployed. Oliver Wheldon had also sustained damage and pitted for repairs.
After the first lap, Emma Scarbrough had climbed to 16th place, Kaylee Countryman was holding 18th position, and Colleran had stayed clear of trouble, moving up to 19th. At the front, Escorpioni took the lead from Loiacono and Ty Fischer.
The race resumed under green on lap 4, but chaos erupted again at turn one with cars spinning and making contact, bringing out another immediate caution. Scarbrough gained further positions, moving up to 13th, while Countryman skillfully took evasive action to rise to 15th, just ahead of Colleran in 16th. Loiacono and Aspley, who had been leading, were caught up in incidents and dropped down the order.
The second restart came on lap 7, and this time the drivers cleared the chicane cleanly. Escorpioni managed to withstand pressure from Vergara, with Aatola eventually settling into second.
Scarbrough held 13th, but Colleran went off at the final corner after contact, though she managed to continue. Countryman maintained 16th.
On lap 10, Scarbrough began losing ground, slipping to 15th just ahead of Countryman, with five laps remaining. Emma stayed within half a second of Gonzalez while Loiacono worked his way back up through the field.
On the final lap, Emma closed in on Gonzalez, with Kaylee just one second behind them. They would cross the finish line 15th and 16th respectively, with Colleran finishing 17th after an unfortunate restart.
Leonardo Escorpioni took the win ahead of Joao Vergara, who regained second late in the race.
For Race 2 on Sunday morning, Countryman started 18th, Scarbrough lined up 20th, and Colleran slotted into P21 on the grid.
Leonardo Escorpioni led from pole, and the pack passed cleanly through the first chicane despite some midfield battles. Scarbrough had a strong start, moving up to 16th from 20th, Countryman held 18th, and Colleran advanced past Di Lucia and Potter to 19th by the end of lap 1.
On lap 2, Scarbrough gained another position, passing Suco and chasing Cooley. Countryman meanwhile battled Nordquist and defended from Di Lucia, who had regained a position over Colleran, while Maddie had created a small gap to Potter after the latter went off track.
Lap 3 saw Colin Aitken spin, and JT Hoskins went off at turn 1, bringing out the first caution.
At the restart on lap 7, Scarbrough dropped behind Di Lucia but continued to fight hard. Countryman found herself in a three-car battle with Aspley and Nordquist, while Colleran was overtaken by Potter and Aitken.
Emma stayed close behind Di Lucia, maintaining a safe margin over her teammate Suco.
With three laps remaining on lap 12, another full course yellow was called when Potter made contact with Countryman and went off into the barriers.
Maddie Colleran moved up to P20 as a result, but time ran out for a restart, and the race finished under yellow. Leonardo Escorpioni secured the win and therefore clinched the title with one race to spare, finishing ahead of Loiacono and Gonzalez.
Emma Scarbrough ended the race in 15th after a solid recovery from 20th, Kaylee Countryman was 19th, and Maddie Colleran finished in the top 20.
In the final race of the season, Kaylee Countryman started 18th, Emma Scarbrough 20th, and Maddie Colleran 21st, all aiming to complete their rookie campaigns on a high.
The start was nearly clean, but Michael Suco picked up damage exiting the first chicane, prompting a caution. Contact occurred just ahead of Countryman, but she managed to navigate through cleanly.
Scarbrough again had a remarkable start, moving up to 15th, with Countryman settling into 17th, and Colleran 20th.
The green flag waved at the end of lap 2, but an overly aggressive move caused more contact, forcing Loiacono off onto the escape road with right-front damage. Behind, Aspley and Potter collided, and Potter got stuck on the kerb, requiring marshal assistance and another caution.
Emma Scarbrough capitalized to move up to ninth with a brilliant inside dive through the chicane. Kaylee Countryman also gained places to 13th, with Colleran in 16th.
After a quick cleanup, the race restarted on lap 5: this time all drivers cleared the track without incident. Emma dropped to 13th amid fierce battles, Kaylee was 16th, just ahead of Maddie, who went wide briefly at turn 2 but stayed on track.
On the main straight, a thrilling four-wide battle unfolded, with Potter attempting a risky inside move and locking wheels. Achituv spun but the race remained green. Countryman made a great pass on the inside to overtake Scarbrough for 13th, while Colleran moved up to 15th by keeping a clean line.
Unfortunately, on lap 10 at Turn 7, Scarbrough spun from 14th and dropped back significantly.
Countryman however continued gaining places, passing Hoskins to move into 12th on the same lap. Colleran battled Hoskins as well and reclaimed 14th with four laps remaining.
At the front, Ty Fisher, who was leading, received a 5-second penalty for contact; despite this, he had a 6-second gap over Escorpioni, who attempted to close in with three laps left.
Meanwhile, Countryman battled Aitken for a top ten spot and made a clean pass to claim tenth. She had strong pace and soon caught Nordquist, who was a couple of seconds ahead, but ran out of time to secure the position. She nevertheless earned her fourth top ten finish of the season, ending her rookie year on a high note.
Maddie Colleran finished strongly in 13th, completing every lap of the season and improving again on her personal best finish. Emma Scarbrough crossed the line in 15th but was later promoted to 14th. Despite the setbacks, she showed plenty of potential and speed with several impressive recovery drives throughout the season. Ty Fisher ultimately overcame his penalty to take the win ahead of Escorpioni and Patricio Gonzalez.
Emma Scarbrough, often very fast and showing good potential, finished 15th in the standings as the best placed female driver with 92 points, thanks to a very consistent season.
Countryman had an extremely solid second half of the season, coming off a top ten at Road America, adding another P10 to her tally and finishing 16th in the standings with 89 points. She showcased good racecraft, and she'll surely be one to watch as she enters her second year of single-seaters.
Maddie Colleran also showed strong progress over the second half of the season, finishing consistently in the top-15 and, after claiming a season's best of 14th at Road America last time out, she improved to P13 at the season finale. She ends her rookie campaign with 58 points.
