Karters Ready for Formula Career After Completing Radford Racing School F4 Scholarship School

Radford Racing School and Racing America once again teamed up to host the Radford Racing School F4 Karts to Cars Scholarship School, helping four young racers with their transition from go karts to racecars during a three-day course at Radford’s Arizona facility. Hand selected to attend the school based on their experience and abilities, the students learned the basics of handling and car control, while getting acclimated to a Formula 4 racecar. The students learn using the same Ligier JS F4 Gen. 1 chassis and Honda 2.0-liter engine serviced and engineered by Mountune that is used in Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC), making the school the perfect training ground as they move from go karts to Racing America’s formula ladder system.

“The Radford Racing School F4 Karts to Cars Scholarship School is always one of the highlights of the year,” said Scott Goodyear, Race Director of F4 U.S. and Ligier JFC. “The progress we see from when they all first walk into the school, kind of quiet and unsure of what to expect, to the smiles spread across their faces after they get out of the F4 car for the first time—it’s a really special program. The confidence that each driver develops over the course of the three days is noticeable. The instructors at Radford, led by Danny Bullock, do a fantastic job at teaching the students all of the basics and giving them the building blocks needed to become successful racecar drivers. I’m excited to see where they go from here, and hope to see them on the grid in the near future.”

The fourth-annual class of the Karts to Cars Scholarship school welcomed drivers ages 13 to 21 from across the United States and Canada.

Nico Orbezo was the youngest student, nominated to the program by ROK Cup USA. A multi-time national karting champion with success around the globe, Orbezo got his first car-driving experience with the three-day Karts to Cars Scholarship School.

“The Karts to Cars Scholarship School and learning how to drive a formula 4 car was a lot of fun,” said Orbezo after earning his certificate. “It helped me develop my driving skills, while learning about things like the balance of formula cars and trail braking. It provided me with a great foundation, both for driving formula cars, as well as any other types of cars that I’ll race in my career.”

Sam Tutwiler joined the program after a nomination from his home track—New Castle Motorsports Park (NCMP). Tutwiler hopes to follow in the steps of several other NCMP graduates who have climbed through the Racing America ranks, including 2025 F4 U.S. competitor and former Karts to Cars Scholarship recipient, Luke Powers.

“The Karts to Cars Scholarship School helped me a lot with learning how to race cars in general,” said Tutwiler after the graduation ceremony. “Specifically, it helped me learn how to drive a formula car, and how driving a car is different from driving a kart. The instructors were all really great and working with them was just so helpful. It was a great way to develop my skills as a driver—and hopefully, as a soon-to-be formula car driver.”

Ben Ramirez took advantage of Racing America’s Sim Racing Challenge to win a nomination to the school. The 21-year-old motorsports and car enthusiast hopes to climb behind the wheel as a racecar driver, but in the meantime, he’s capitalized on every new introduction within the sport and opportunity uncovered while working with both Racing America and Donovan Motorcar Service.

“The Radford Racing School F4 Karts to Cars Scholarship School was really helpful for me,” said Ramirez at the conclusion of the program. “The first day, I made a few mistakes, at least, but by the end of the day today, I was on track the whole time. It was consistent and clean. I had a lot of fun. It taught me so many things about what I was doing wrong, and what I could change to be better. It was an awesome experience.”

The only female in this year’s program, Ella Martin is one of Canada’s most promising young talents and came to the school via a nomination from FEL Motorsports. Already committed to racing a Formula 1200 this season, Martin hopes to join Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.) in 2027.

“I learned a lot over the past few days, both from driving the Dodge Hellcats and the F4 cars,” said Martin. “We learned a lot about car control and were able to apply those lessons while behind the wheel. The Radford Racing School F4 Karts to Cars Scholarship School came at the perfect time for me with learning to drive a formula car, as I’ll be able to apply all of that later this year while racing Formula 1200 in Canada.”

The scholarship program formulated by Racing America and Radford Racing School is a proven path for developing drivers, with first-year graduate Patrick Woods-Toth capitalizing on the opportunity from Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship to launch his career in single-seater racecars. Completing the school in December 2022, Woods-Toth won the 2023 F4 U.S. Driver Championship and a scholarship to compete in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) the following season. The Canadian went on to win the 2024 FR Americas title, and joined Kyle Kirkwood and Dakota Dickerson as one of only three drivers to win back-to-back championships in the two series.

After three successful days completing everything from ground school, skid control, lead-follow sessions, braking, shifting and handling drills, the students also had the opportunity to work one-on-one with the instructors, who have all been professional racecar drivers themselves, to review data and learn how to improve on the track. After successfully completing the course, each driver was presented a Radford Racing School graduation certificate and a Ligier Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC) firesuit patch, signifying their readiness to enter the championship.

A new race season kicks off at NOLA Motorsports Park, April 9-12, with Ligier JFC, F4 U.S. and FR Americas each competing in their opening rounds of 2026. The weekend will kick off a season-long battle where drivers racing in the three championships will compete for a total of nearly $900,000 in awards and scholarships.