New Orleans, LA (Monday, April 15, 2025) – Caleb Gafrarar gained more valuable track time this past week at NOLA Motorsports Park, the 13 turn, 2.74 mile course, for his 3rd, 4th and 5th races ever in a USF2000 race car.
Starting out on Thursday, Gafrarar had two series tests followed by a series practice on Friday before heading straight into qualifying. His test and practice sessions had him sitting P6 to P9 on the speed charts. But when it was time to qualify on Friday, Gafrarar came out with a P4 starting position for race 1. Saturday’s schedule started with qualifying for race 2 and the first race of the weekend. After a P10 qualifying session, Gafrarar’s eyes were focused on the race. Taking the green flag from the 4th position, Gafrarar had a strong start. Falling into single file, he quickly put pressure on the 3rd place competitor. A full course caution came out and bunched the field back up. Once the race was back under green, Gafrarar made a pass for the 3rd position. That was short lived as the two went side by side into turn 1 on the following lap. Making for some exciting racing, the two continued battling until contact by the other competitor broke Gafrarar’s front wing loose. With just 3 laps to go, Gafrarar was able to stay on track to complete all laps.
Gafrarar shared, “I definitely had a 3rd place car today. Unfortunately contact with a fellow competitor ended my chances for another podium finish. I really hate that for the team and everyone that supports my efforts. In just my 3rd race ever in the USF2000 car, another podium finish would have been a great way to start the weekend in New Orleans.”
Moving on to Sunday, Gafrarar would start P10 on the grid for race 2. Mid pack isn’t where you want to be, but Gafrarar had a great start and quickly moved from his starting position to P5 before the end of lap 1. Continuing to have good pace, he was able to overtake for the P4 position, where Gafrarar would eventually finish race 2.
After many hours of data and video review before race 3, where Gafrarar would start P8, he was ready to put a wrap on the weekend. Falling back to P9 on the start, Gafrarar found his car was a bit loose and was on a set of Continental tires that didn’t suit his liking. But he pressed on and was able to make clean, solid passes, even hearing a ‘book it’ from series announcer Rob Howden. Gafrarar would go on to finish P7 in the final race of the day.
Gafrarar added, “It was a solid weekend. These results moved me up to 7th in the points standings. I have to keep reminding myself that this was only my third, fourth and fifth races ever in this race car. I have a great team behind me with Pabst Racing. I would also like to thank my fans who supported my campaign to have their name on the side of the race car for New Orleans: Corbett Jones, Alisha Fain, Evelyn Stone, Cody Nelson, Hop & Vine Davidson, Kara Carpenter, Kelly Frazier, Elaine Sinclair, Todd Shambo, Nate Daugherty, Anthony Louis, Don Miller, Kathy Miller, Brian McHattie, El Vaquero and The Starting Grid Club. Every cent helps and I can’t thank each of them enough!”
Caleb would also like to thank CG Investment Fund LLC, Circle K, Bell Helmets, OMP, Racing Electronics and Molecule for their continued support. Next up is the Indy Grand Prix at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 8-10. If you would like to support Caleb as he continues to compete in the highly competitive USF2000 series, please visit his website contact page for emails and phone numbers https://www.calebgracer.com/contact/