Cameron Shields to compete in 2019 USF2000 series with Newman Wachs Racing

Toowoomba native Cameron Shields has been officially announced as the second Australian to join the Cooper Tires USF2000 grid for 2019.

Shields, who simultaneously competed in Australian Formula 3, Formula 4, and Formula Ford in 2018, joins the Chicago-based Newman Wachs Racing (NWR) for his fifth year in cars, having raced in junior motorcross and karting since he was six years old.

“I am very pleased to announce that I will be joining with Newman Wachs Racing ahead of the 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship,” he said.

“Newman Wachs Racing is a very professional team, with a long history of results to back that up and I am full of confidence that together this season we can continue that trend of success with the ultimate goal of becoming the 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 champions!  It has been a very tough journey over the Christmas break to ensure that I could be on the grid this season.  Without the help of my parents, Will Power, Bob Power and Charles Crews, alongside every member of NWR, there is no way I would be returning to America, so I would like to sincerely thank each of them and all NTT IndyCar Series and Andersen Promotions personnel whom I have interacted with over the last six months for the upcoming series championship."

Shields will race with support from Dependable Sheds, HRX, Vision Sports Science, Speak Up for Sport, the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF). He was the recipient of a 2019 SAHOF scholarship, which allocated him $5,000 and the mentorship of Graeme Lloyd; two-time World Series winner with the New York Yankees. Shields used to $5,000 to participate in Road To Indy testing in December last year, and the track time appears to have paid off.

“I’m very excited to have Cameron signed with the team for the 2019 season,” said Brian Halahan, NWR Team Manager. “I think his racing history speaks for itself and I expect to be fighting for wins right out of the box. The combination of his experience and our engineer John Hayes’ knowledge should be a powerful combination. St. Petersburg cannot come soon enough!”

The USF2000 season starts with a test at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 2-3 before the opening two rounds at St Petersburg, Florida, on March 8-10.

Image: @cameronshields73 on Instagram