Myles Rowe won the USF Pro 2000 championship on Sept. 2, becoming the first Black driver to win an INDYCAR-sanctioned title. The win advances him to Indy NXT and validates Force Indy's diversity mission.
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Myles Rowe became the first Black driver to win an INDYCAR-sanctioned championship on Sept. 2, 2023. The 23-year-old from Atlanta clinched the Cooper Tires USF Pro 2000 title at Portland International Raceway, driving the No. 99 car for Pabst Racing with Force Indy. He entered the final race with a 64-point series lead and held on to secure the crown.
Rowe dominated the 2023 season. He led the series with five wins, four pole positions, three fastest laps, and seven podium finishes. The previous year he finished runner-up in the USF 2000 championship, just six points behind the winner. He has been racing since age four and won the 2018 Lucas Oil Formula Car Race Series.
“This year was a test to see what I’ve got,” Rowe said. “And luckily, I was able to pull it off.”
The championship advances Rowe to the INDY NXT by Firestone series in 2024, the last step before the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. It also marks a milestone for Force Indy, the team formed in December 2020 by Indianapolis businessman Rod Reid and Roger Penske as part of Penske Entertainment’s Race for Equality & Change initiative. That initiative, launched in July 2020, aimed to create fundamental change in the motorsports industry.
Force Indy’s first race win came in August 2021, when Rowe won a USF 2000 race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, making him the first Black driver to win an INDYCAR-sanctioned race. Team principal Rod Reid said he never imagined winning a championship so quickly.
“When I first envisioned the Force Indy team, I saw it as a pipeline to create opportunities for black and brown talent,” Reid said. “An opportunity to change the face of motorsports. I never imagined winning a championship nearly two years before we won our first race.”
The No. 99 car carries a tribute to Dewey “Rajo Jack” Gatson, a Black racer who was denied entry to the Indianapolis 500 in the 1930s and 1940s. The red rear wing honors the Tuskegee Airmen’s 99th Squadron. Rowe drove that car to victory.
Force Indy’s goal is to open doors for diverse representation across the INDYCAR paddock, including drivers, crew members, and leadership positions. The championship win, Reid said, validates the pipeline model he and Penske set out to build. Force Indy plans to expand its program to include more crew and engineering positions for people of color.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will hold the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., on Aug. 22–23, 2026, a free festival celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, set against the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument.
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