The Mazda Road to Indy has to start somewhere. For Aaron Telitz, it begins with the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda -- the first of three steps on the ladder to the ultimate goal of the IndyCar Series.

Telitz, 22, driving the No. 5 Rice Lake Weighing Systems car for ArmsUp Motorsports, is entering a new world in USF2000. A native of Birchwood, Wis., Telitz’s parents operate a fishing resort and marina in the northern part of the state.

“They’ve raised me to be extremely independent,” Telitz said. “I grew up on a resort my whole life. A lot of people might say that’s the most awesome thing in the world. It is pretty awesome, don’t get me wrong. But there was a lot of hard work.”

Click it: USF2000 schedule, Cooper Tires Winterfest results

Telitz was turned onto racing at the age of 7, and until he was 16 raced karts primarily in Eau Claire, Wis., at a track owned by John Menard. His first start in the Skip Barber series came at Road America in Elkhart Lake. Telitz found victory lane after starting last in a field of 17 cars because of a penalty.

“It took until the last three laps to get to the front group (of cars),” Telitz said. “At the start of the race I tried to work my way up as quickly as I could without getting into too much trouble. The good news is that Skip Barber cars draft really well and Road America is a huge track.”

His parents helped financially support his racing ventures up to the Skip Barber experience, but once the time came his dad made it clear: “We’ll pay for kart racing, but we can’t afford cars,” Telitz said.

To continue, he had to win. Telitz won the Skip Barber Championship Shootout last year, earning a $200,000 scholarship to compete in USF2000. The money will go to ArmsUp Motorsports and will help pay for car rentals, tires, fuel and other costs associated with racing.

“The $200,000 sadly doesn’t pay for the whole season, but does pay for a gigantic chunk of it,” he said. “There is still some extra money I’ll have to come up with to do testing, because if you want to stay at the top of your game, you have to practice.”

This season also marks the first time Telitz has competed in a winged race car. Telitz got his first taste of his new car in a competition setting recently at Cooper Tires Winterfest at NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans and at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. Racing in three 12-lap shootouts at each track, he earned his first pole while also experiencing a crash and tire issues. At Barber, he competed in his first race in the rain and later scored his first podium with a third-place finish.

“I wasn’t used to the level of aggression that there is on starts in winged cars,” Telitz said. “In (Skip Barber cars) the starts are important, but you can pass easily in those cars, where in an USF2000 car opportunities to pass are pretty slim so at the start it gets crazy.

“It took me the entire first two days at NOLA to get used to driving in a group with winged cars. With winged cars you have to have enough air flowing over the whole car for the downforce to work properly.”

Telitz is enthusiastic about his performance at Barber, especially with the track on the regular schedule -- a month after the season opens March 29-30 at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Until then Telitz will debrief with his crew on Winterfest to help prepare for his first race on a street course.