Apr 02, 2025
The 2025 edition of the iconic Skip Barber Race Series will begin this week with a doubleheader from Sebring International Raceway. An impressive grid of competitors from four countries on three different continents, all of whom bring a variety of sim-racing, karting, and racing experience to the table, will compete for the crown. Making this season even more special, 2025 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Skip Barber Racing School.
Since its 2024 season finale, the Skip Barber Race Series has graduated six drivers further up the open-wheel racing ranks, including reigning champion Oliver Wheldon. This has opened the door for a new crop of promising rookies to train, develop, compete, and win with Skip Barber.
It’s not all new faces, however. Among the drivers returning to the Skip Barber Race Series in 2025 are Alan Orzynski, Trevor LaTourrette, and Ethan Booher. Bolstered by his impressive consistency, Alan, from Mexico, finished fifth in the Champions’ Class last season with a podium result at Road America.
LaTourrette and Booher, meanwhile, will be looking to build upon the momentum generated from the success they found in their partial campaigns last season when they take to the track this week.
With the rise of sim-racing, the Skip Barber Race Series has seen an increase in the number of drivers whose backgrounds consist predominantly of virtual racing. This season, that trend continues as several drivers will be joining the grid with experience on iRacing serving as their foundation.
Spain’s Ivan Machado Perez secured his seat in the Skip Barber Race Series by virtue of winning the Skip Barber Racing School iRacing Shootout. Perez bested a global field of drivers in the virtual world to earn a spot at an in-person shootout at VIRginia International Raceway. There, he impressed Skip Barber Racing School instructors and staff and was awarded a seat in the 2025 Skip Barber Race Series.
Additionally, Logan Anderson, Chris Spada, and Grant Mitchell bring extensive sim-racing experience to the grid. All three drivers will be making their Skip Barber Race Series debut this week.
São Paulo, Brazil’s Naim Saleh will make the leap from karting to open-wheel racing. After beginning his racing career in 2019, Saleh rapidly rose through the ranks in South America, ultimately competing in the 2024 Brazilian Cup. Saleh explained that knowing Skip Barber’s history and reputation was a driving factor in his decision to enter the iconic Skip Barber Race Series.
Also bringing karting experience to the grid are Jaysen Cajero, the second driver who will compete under the Mexican flag, and Indiana’s Keagan Day. Cajero and Day have both competed in regional and national karting competitions prior to training with the Skip Barber Racing School.
The final entrants for Sebring are Andre Rodriguez and John O’Donnell. O’Donnell is the only competitor with experience in both Skip Barber Formula Cars and Skip Barber GT Cars. He has been training with the Skip Barber Racing School for multiple years, putting him in a position to capitalize on that early in the season.
The grid will be following in the footsteps of Indianapolis 500 winners Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi, BMW factory driver Connor De Phillippi, and Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez, all of whom previously competed in the Skip Barber Race Series.
After Sebring International Raceway, the Skip Barber Race Series will visit NOLA Motorsports Park on April 10–12. To learn more information on how to join the 2025 Skip Barber Race Series, the training programs it offers, and its dedicated marketing initiatives, click here.
