The mission statement of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires is simple: offer drivers, teams and mechanics an opportunity to advance up the racing ladder, with the three series that comprise the INDYCAR-sanctioned development program offering a progression of steps all the way to the “big time,” the Verizon IndyCar Series.

Canadian team Exclusive Autosport began its progression on the ladder system last season, joining forces with Parker Thompson in a three-car Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda effort. Thompson finished third in the championship with a late-season surge that saw him score three wins in the final five races.

He moved up to the middle rung of the ladder to anchor the team’s Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires this year alongside rookie Antonio Serravalle. The young Canadian broke out to a sizable lead in the championship, but a run of four straight victories by young Juncos Racing’s Rinus VeeKay has relegated Thompson to second position, 25 points back, as Pro Mazda heads to Gateway Motorsports Park for its second oval race of the season on Saturday.

Team owner Michael Duncalfe, a native of Saskatchewan, has been impressed with the young team’s performance from the outset. Duncalfe knows it will continue to fight for the Pro Mazda championship, while aiming to finish the season strong in USF2000 where it continues to operate a multi-car effort.

“What stands out to me most about this season is how solid this ‘new’ team has performed, from the crew to the drivers,” said Duncalfe. “Parker has been challenging up front all season, leading the championship until a couple of weeks ago, while our USF2000 squad – with a team full of true rookies, new to North American racing and to a race car – have been in the top 10 and top five every weekend. Our team is so strong; we’re just looking forward to finishing strong.”

Duncalfe formed the team in 2013 as a natural growth of his racing marketing and partnership company, Exclusive Management, which began from an early diecast model company. Progressing from Canadian F1600 and F2000, the team won the U.S. F1600 championship in 2015, but Duncalfe waited for the new Tatuus USF-17 chassis to come online last season before making the move into USF2000.

It was that same thought process – join a series the year a new car debuts – that prompted the team to make the jump to Pro Mazda in its second the Mazda Road to Indy season. The natural next step would be to Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires, but Duncalfe knows that is one worth taking very seriously.

“We’ve grown so rapidly, but some of that was from necessity,” he said. “With the new car (Tatuus PM-18) being introduced to Pro Mazda this year, it made sense to make the jump this year; otherwise we’d be behind the other teams.

“We’ve been looking forward as well, towards Indy Lights. We’d love to be there and are looking at it. However, it was a big financial jump to Pro Mazda, on the heels of buying four USF-17s. In the meantime, funds are going toward infrastructure, like a separate hauler for the Pro Mazda program, a new awning, etc.”

On the USF2000 side, the team continues to seek talented young newcomers and nurture their talent. Nineteen-year-old Brazilian Igor Fraga has run the entire season, with Manuel Cabrera, Danial Frost and Yuven Sundaramoorthy sharing the second and third seats. Fraga has scored three podiums and 10 top-10 finishes in 12 races, with Frost taking top-10s in his past five races, including one top five. Duncalfe continues to be impressed with each of the youngsters, including another new face for the season finale. Kellen Ritter won the Toyo Tires F1600 Super Series title this year and will make his USF2000 debut at the season-finale doubleheader at Portland International Raceway on Labor Day weekend.

“Igor is an awesome person,” Duncalfe said of the Japanese-born Brazilian who is third in the USF2000. “His dad, who is his mechanic, is still learning English but we communicate through a Portuguese-English translator on his phone. They’re incredible, hardworking people so it’s been a pleasure working with them this year. And Igor keeps getting stronger – St. Pete (the season opener) was his first rolling start.

“Now Danial and Yuven have joined the program. We’ve been waiting for Danial to finish school to come compete with us, so he didn’t race at all for six months. He jumped in that first weekend at Road America and got quicker and quicker, with a top-10 that weekend and a top-five at Toronto. And I’ve known Yuven’s family for a couple of years; it was just a matter of waiting until he was ready, and he had two top-10s at Mid-Ohio in his first weekend. They’re all incredible talents, learning the car, the tracks, the team, it’s been very impressive.”

Duncalfe is extremely happy with the progress being made by the entire team, including its 20-year-old anchor, Parker Thompson.

“Parker is, in my opinion, the complete package, both on and off the track. For sponsors and companies, he is everything that they are looking for and more, and he does a phenomenal job on track. He put Exclusive Autosport on the Mazda Road to Indy map. We’ll keep working hard, keep our head down and do the best we can to get him the championship.”

Looking to the future, Duncalfe knows that continuity is the key to being consistent championship contenders. He believes he has a team in place that can continue the precedent set these past two seasons.

“My goal is to keep this continuity, so the drivers know the crew from Day 1,” he said. “This team really works well together and looks at the big picture, which is doing everything we can to help our drivers challenge for a race win.

“The ability to move drivers up through one program makes the eventual addition of an Indy Lights team just that much more important.”