Mateo Naranjo Racing
Mateo is a 17 year old rising HS senior with a passion for cars & motorsports. At age 3, he told his parents he wanted to be a race car driver when he grew up. At 4 years old, he could walk down a line of car and identify the brand. Mateo loves to go fast and works hard on and off the track to pursue his love of speed.
Mateo started karting at age 9 in the at Mid-State Kart Club in central IL. In 2019, Mateo joined Trinity Karting Group out of the Cincinnati, OH area and competed in the X30 Jr class in the KRA series at New Castle Motorsport Park. 2020 started with a move to National and Regional racing in the KA100 Jr class with the WKA Kartweek races at Daytona International Speedway. After a delayed start to the rest of the season, the compressed schedule meant a challenging program of USPKS, Stars Championship, SKUSA ProTour, MCCKartingProAm and the Battle of the Brickyard.
In 2021, Mateo began preparing for the transition to racing cars in addition to a full karting schedule with Trinity. He earned his SCCA competition license by completing the basic and advanced programs through Lucas Oil Racing School and was invited to participate in the scholarship shootout at the end of the year.
Earning the license, allowed Mateo to take advantage of an opportunity to participate in his first race in January 2022 at Sebring. He was able to add 2 more open wheel races, along with some testing in spec-Miata and spec-MX5 with a lighter karting schedule while evaluating his next steps. In karting, he was able to take home a national championship in the WKA Manufacturers Cup for the KA100 Jr class.
Mateo raced F1600/FF with Team Pelfrey in 2023 in the Formula Race Promotions Series and the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour. He finished 4th overall in the FRP championship and won the Hoosier Super Tour championship in his inaugural season in the class. He is returning to Team Pelfrey in 2024, focused on the Formula Race Promotions season. He will run again run a few SCCA Hoosier Super Tour events mostly in preparation for the FRP races.