João Vergara

João Vergara
NationalityBrazil Brazilian
Born (2007-05-28) 28 May 2007
São Paulo, Brazil
RelativesOswaldo Negri Jr. (uncle)
USF2000 Championship career
Debut season2026
Current teamVRD Racing
Car number3
Starts13
Wins0
Podiums2
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Previous series
2024, 2025USF Juniors

João Vergara (born 28 May 2007) is a Brazilian racing driver who competes for VRD Racing in the USF2000 Championship.

Personal life

Vergara is the nephew of Oswaldo Negri Jr., a fellow racing driver who won the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona.[1][2][3]

Career

Vergara began karting in 2018.[4] Racing primarily in Brazil,[5] most notably winning the 2020 Copa São Paulo title in the Junior Max rookie class,[6] before moving to the U.S. in 2021.[7]

In 2022, Vergara made his single-seater debut in the Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series, before winning a scholarship to race in the series full-time in early 2023.[8][9] In his only season in the series, Vergara took five wins and eight other podiums to clinch runner-up honors behind Hudson Schwartz.[10]

The following year, Vergara moved to Exclusive Autosport to make his debut in USF Juniors.[11][12][13] In his first season in the series, Vergara scored a best result of fourth at Road America and eight other top ten finishes to end the year eighth overall.[14] Switching to VRD Racing for the 2025 season,[15] as a finalist for the 2026–27 IMSA Diverse Driver Scholarship,[16] Vergara began the season with a win and a third-place finish at NOLA.[17] After finishing no lower than fifth at Barber,[18] Vergara took both pole positions in the first Mid-Ohio round and scored his second win of the season in race one.[19] In the remaining three rounds, Vergara finished second in both races of the second Mid-Ohio round and closed out the season with a podium in Portland to secure third in points.[20][21]

Continuing with VRD for 2026, Vergara moved up to the USF2000 Championship.[22] After finishing second on debut at St. Petersburg,[23] Vergara finished no higher than sixth across the following three rounds, before matching his best result of second in race one at Mid-Ohio.[24]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season Series Team Position
2020 Florida Winter Tour – Mini Rok 31st
2021 SKUSA SuperNationals – KA 100 Junior Orsolon Racing 43rd
Sources:[25][26]

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2022 Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series 6 0 0 0 0 158 12th
2023 Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series 15 5 ? ? 13 429 2nd
2024 USF Juniors Exclusive Autosport 16 0 0 0 0 158 8th
2025 USF Juniors VRD Racing 16 2 2 1 6 292 3rd
2026 USF2000 Championship VRD Racing 13 0 0 0 2 205* 4th*
Sources:[27][25]

American open-wheel racing results

USF Juniors

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2024 Exclusive Autosport NOL
1
10		 NOL
2
24		 NOL
3
13		 ALA
1
9		 ALA
2
6		 VIR
1
9		 VIR
2
9		 VIR
3
8		 MOH
1
20		 MOH
2
13		 ROA
1
4		 ROA
2
7		 ROA
3
16		 POR
1
13		 POR
2
9		 POR
3
14		 8th 158
2025 VRD Racing NOL
1
1*		 NOL
2
5		 NOL
3
3		 ALA
1
4		 ALA
2
4		 ALA
3
5		 MOH1
1
1*		 MOH1
2
14		 MOH2
1
2		 MOH2
2
2*		 ROA
1
12		 ROA
2
11		 ROA
3
20		 POR
1
2		 POR
2
6		 POR
3
6		 3rd 292

USF2000 Championship

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2026 VRD Racing STP
1
2		 STP
2
6		 IMS
1
7		 IMS
2
11		 IMS
3
20		 IRP
6		 ROA1
1
10		 ROA1
2
8		 ROA1
3
6		 MOH
1
2		 MOH
2
5		 POR
1
4		 POR
2
5		 MAR
1
 MAR
2
 ROA2
1
 ROA2
2
 ROA2
3
 4th* 205*

References

  1. ↑ "Da Fórmula 2 à base da Indy: onde estarão os jovens pilotos brasileiros em 2024?". band.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 10 January 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  2. ↑ "Meet Joao Vergara | Race car driver". shoutoutmiami.com. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Black, Fábio (11 October 2020). "João Vergara: a rotina do jovem piloto de kart que sonha com a Fórmula 1". quatrorodas.abril.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  4. ↑ "2ª etapa da Granja Viana teve quase 300 inscritos. Confira os resultados de pódio completos". kartmotor.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 6 March 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "Campeões da Copa de Primavera são definidos antes da Super Final da Copa SP de Kart". terra.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 20 October 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "Copa São Paulo de Kart encerra temporada no Kartódromo Granja Viana com batalhas intensas na pista". granjanews.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 1 December 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Cole, David (24 November 2021). "EKN Exclusive: Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 24 – Preview Series – KA100 Junior". ekartingnews.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "João Vergara Wins 2023 Lucas Oil Scholarship Shootout". lucasraceschool.com. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Rising Star". keybiscaynemag.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "USF Juniors: 2024 season guide". feederseries.net. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  11. ↑ Fuhrer, Eddie (17 January 2024). "Joao Vergara Jumps From Lucas Oil Series Success to USF Juniors". usopenwheelnation.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Ferrari, Alexandre (6 April 2024). "Piloto goiano campeão da F4 Brasil começa trajetória nos Estados Unidos". daqui.opopular.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Marson, Leonardo (23 May 2024). "Na semana da Indy 500, saiba quem são os brasileiros que estão nas categorias de base da Indy". f1mania.ne (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Wood, Ida (12 August 2024). "Taylor, Elkin and Wheldon share USF Juniors wins at Road America". formulascout.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Balsa, Daniel (27 February 2025). "GUIA 2025: Vergara mira consistência para buscar taça da USF Juniors". grandepremio.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  16. ↑ O'Connell, RJ (4 March 2025). "IMSA announces 2026-27 Diverse Driver Scholarship finalists". racer.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "Vergara Edges Wheldon In USF Juniors". speedsport.com. 12 April 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  18. ↑ Whitfield, Steve (3 May 2025). "Escorpioni and Fisher share victory spoils at Barber in USF Juniors". formulascout.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "Vergara Stars In Mid-Ohio Juniors Run". speedsport.com. 7 June 2025. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  20. ↑ Wood, Ida (8 June 2025). "Liam Loiacono navigates Mid-Ohio deluge for maiden USF Juniors win". formulascout.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  21. ↑ Balsa, Daniel (9 August 2025). "Escorpioni supera acidente, vence corrida 1 em Portland e dá passo por título da USF Juniors". grandepremio.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  22. ↑ Van der Hoek, Vincent (26 February 2026). "USF2000: 2026 season guide". feederseries.net. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  23. ↑ Cavalcante, Caio (27 February 2026). "Garzón supera brasileiros e vence abertura da temporada 2026 da USF2000 em St. Pete". grandepremio.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  24. ↑ "Beswick wins incident-strewn USF2000 race at Mid-Ohio". racer.com. 3 July 2026. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  25. 1 2 "João Vergara | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "Vergara Joao". kartcom.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  27. ↑ "João Vergara Results". motorsportstats.com. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
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