There’s no mistaking the focus of Oliver Askew.
The only of its kind in the world, the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires is a pressure-packed development ladder system designed to bring the best of the best from the beginnings of their open-wheel career to the Verizon IndyCar Series. For Askew, every must-win scenario has been backed by a clutch performance.
In 2016, he turned a Team USA Scholarship into an opportunity to win the $200,000 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout Scholarship, enabling him to win the championship last season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda – the initial rung of the MRTI ladder.
Now, the focal point turns to the middle rung, the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires where Askew will compete this season thanks to the $325,000 Mazda award for winning the USF title. Despite the flurry of success, staying grounded is the easy part for the 21-year-old from Jupiter, Florida.
“I don’t feel I’ve accomplished all that much,” said Askew, who will drive of the No. 3 Soul Red Mazda/Tatuus PM-18 for Cape Motorsports in the Pro Mazda season that kicks off with two races this weekend at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Sixteen cars are entered.
“I think that mindset will be good for me this year because my end goal right now is to be in INDYCAR, and until I’m there, there’s still a weight on my shoulders. I’m not relaxing. So I think if I can just keep thinking that way – same mindset of what I had last year – forget about that championship I won last year and go into it the same.
“It is another make-or-break situation for me. The Mazda scholarship is massive and that’s kind of what’s been keeping me in racing. Obviously, I have a lot of supporters and sponsors to keep me in this series, but yeah, that’s my mindset right now.”
The introduction this season of the PM-18 chassis, an updated version of the USF-17 driven last season by Askew, should make the transition smoother.
“The comparison is very similar between the two cars,” said Askew, who scored seven wins, 11 podiums and eight poles in 14 races in 2017. “(The) driving style is very similar. You have to take care of the tires a little bit more with more horsepower in the PM-18, but the setups and style of driving is very similar. It’s good for me to have this new car come out this year. It’s perfect timing.
“How I’ve adapted to it has gone really smooth and the guys, staying with the same team in Cape Motorsports, the setups are pretty similar too. So we can go to a track that we’ve been to in the USF2000 car and kind of know where you’re at that way.”
Maybe, but the odds are against Askew scoring a Pro Mazda championship this season. Currently, Matthew Brabham is the only driver to capture both USF2000 and Pro Mazda titles, accomplishing the feat in back-to-back seasons in 2012 and ‘13.
“To be honest, I believe that this year is going to be a bit harder than our companion USF2000 season last year,” said Askew. “The competition is just I think better. There are most of the same drivers that I’m competing against, but it’s just a lot tighter. Everyone is starting to figure out the car and all the drivers, we’re all getting a lot better as time goes on. I think we’ve seen that in offseason testing, it’s been very close.”
Cape’s addition of second-year Pro Mazda pilot Nikita Lastochkin, who finished fifth in the standings last season with Team Pelfrey, brings Askew an advantage, but he also acknowledges what he learned from Anthony Martin, the 2016 USF2000 champion who finished second in last year’s Pro Mazda standings driving for Cape in a tight battle with eventual champion Victor Franzoni.
“Following in Anthony’s footsteps, he taught me a lot last year, no doubt,” said Askew. “He was my only teammate last year. He was in a different class, but it was kind of like the relationship that Kyle (Kirkwood, rookie USF2000 pilot for Cape Motorsports) and I have (this year), but (Martin’s) been through that process before of winning the USF2000 championship.
“So he, I guess you could say, took me under his wing. It was my first season in cars and he taught me the ranks. It’s going to be a dogfight for sure, again. I think it’s going to be close similar to how Victor and Anthony had it last year, so I’m looking forward to it.
“I think I’m going to have to push myself a lot harder.”
Pro Mazda will conduct one practice session Friday morning at St. Petersburg prior to qualifying for the first race later that day. Qualifying for Race 2 is scheduled for Saturday morning, with the green flag waving for the first race at 12:10 p.m. ET Saturday and the second race going off at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Live streaming and timing and scoring is available at RaceControl.IndyCar.com.