By: Ashley McCubbin

TORONTO, Ontario — After a stellar USF 2000 campaign last season, Anthony Martella was named the JMF Motorsports Rising Star Award recipient as part of the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction Gala earlier this month as part of the Canadian International Auto Show.

“It means a lot,” Martella told News From The Pits. “Like I said in my speech, I’ve come to the Hall of Fame gala for years and you know every time I come, I’m getting more hungry at being on that stage and now finally in 2025 – or now 2026, I get to be on that stage and that hardwork pay off. There’s a long way to go – 2026 season, looking forward to that, and representing Canada.

Martella will return to the USF F2000 Championship Presented by Continental Tire, ready to mount a challenge for the championship with Exclusive Autosport.

“I feel confident,” he commented. “I have a great group of people behind me – mechanics, team owners – that have full faith in me and couldn’t be with a better team and pushing forward.”

Last season, Martella recorded multiple top-five and top-ten finishes and placed seventh in the final championship standings with Jay Howard Development, highlighted by a victory at the Freedom 75 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

“I learned a lot with Jay,” Martella expressed. “He was an IndyCar driver himself so he has a lot of experience and being under him helped a lot with getting to know the race tracks and getting to know the car, and really harping on certain things with my driving. So taking that experience going and putting it with Exclusive Autosport in 2026 is going to be a great year, and hopefully we can bring home a championship.”

The opportunity ahead for the season will give Martella a chance to also race in front of the home country fans, as USF2000 will be part of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham weekend.

“Markham is very unique in it’s own way,” Martella expressed. “Nobody has raced there thus far so it’s a new track for everyone. You don’t know what the pavement will look like. We don’t know for sure what the track will look like until we show up Wednesday morning and we go for a track walk, right? So I am looking forward to it. I feel the competition’s very tight this year and hopefully we can put Canada on the top step in Markham.”