Rookie set to make official competition debut at YACademy Winter Series in Homestead
ORLANDO, FL – Zanella Racing has completed its four-car USF Pro Championships by Continental Tire driver line-up for the USF Juniors program with the signing of rookie Maddie Colleran. The 15 year-old from Hunting Valley, Ohio spent two years in karting before moving into cars last summer through the Lucas Oil School of Racing.
Colleran will join the team’s previously-announced drivers – series sophomores Leonardo Escorpioni and Diego Guiot, and fellow rookie Ty Fisher – at this week’s YACademy Winter Series in Homestead and at the official USF Pro Championship Spring Training event at NOLA Motorsports Park on February 22-23. Colleran has been testing extensively with the team and is excited to get the year started.
"We’ve been very pleased with how quickly Maddie has developed since she first sat in one of our race cars,” enthused Naka Zanella, Team Owner. “She has picked up so much pace throughout our testing program and she listens to our input and applies it on the track. We’re planning a lot more testing before the first race of the year and we’re just excited to have her with us as she starts her career in the USF Pro Championships.”
Colleran comes to the USF Juniors program with Zanella Racing having entered the sport through karting in 2023, racing in the Briggs 206 and KA100 categories at Thompson Kart Raceway, Pittsburg International Race Complex, and Daytona International Speedway. After falling in love with the sport, Maddie quickly focused on moving to cars and began that chapter of her career at the Lucas Oil School of Racing last summer. She’s logged considerable seat time and coaching in school courses and lapping days at both Mid-Ohio and Sebring, and has been testing with the Zanella squad throughout the off-season.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to represent Zanella Racing,” Colleran said. “It’s an honor to be part of such a passionate and dedicated team, and I look forward to giving my all on and off the track.”
As the team prepares to enter its second season in the USF Juniors program, Zanella Racing is deep into its off-season testing program and will be on-track with five cars this coming weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the opening rounds of the YACademy Winter Series. The first official test of the season will be the ‘Spring Training’ event at NOLA Motorsports Park on February 22-23. The first event of the USF Juniors schedule will take the team back to New Orleans on the April 10-13 weekend.