Neil Verhagen


Neil Verhagen is a racing driver from the United States of America. Verhagen is the youngest to win the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Verhagen did so in 2016 in the Formula F class.

Career

Karting

Neil started indoor karting along with his brother Alex. The duo trained and raced at the Grand Prix New York facilities in Mount Kisco, New York under the instruction of racing driver Stevan McAleer. McAleer raced many classes and won the 2015 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge in the ST class. After racing at the Oakland Valley Race Park club scene, Verhagen joined the WKA and various Rotax Max racing series. In 2012 the young driver finished second in the Florida Winter Tour Minimax series. Verhagen beat many hopefuls such as Logan Sargeant, Patricio O'Ward and Trenton Estep.
To increase their sons chances at a successful racing career, the Verhagen family moved form Ridgefield, Connecticut to Mooresville, North Carolina in 2014. The family exchanged the WKA scene for the United States Pro Kart Series.

Formula racing

Verhagen made his auto racing debut at Road Atlanta in the Skip Barber Winter Series. The young driver won the first three races of the championship at Road Atlanta and Sebring International Raceway. Verhagen, racing a Mazda powered Reynard chassis, finished second in the championship. Later in 2015 Verhagen debuted in the F1600 Championship Series. At the Pittsburgh International Race Complex Verhagen competed in a Spectrum. At the F2000 Championship Series finale at Pittsburgh Verhagen finished tenth in a RFR F2000.
For 2016 Verhagen joined K-Hill Motorsports in the F1600 Championship Series. The young driver won the championship beating teammate Peter Portante both racing Mygale SJ11 chassis. Verhagen also competed in the SCCA club racing scene. Winning the SCCA Majors Tour Northeast Conference Verhagen qualified for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Verhagen went on to become the youngest driver to win the Runoffs at 15 years and 242 days. Winning the Runoffs, Verhagen qualified for the 2016 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout.
In 2017, Verhagen was inducted into the Red Bull Junior Team and moved up to Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with MP Motorsport, alongside fellow Red Bull Junior Richard Verschoor. He had one podium at Hungaroring and finished the season eleventh, behind his teammate Verschoor.
The following year, Verhagen returned to the championship with Tech 1 Racing, where he finished the championship eleventh.
In 2019, Verhagen lost his backing from Red Bull and moved to the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with Double R Racing.

Motorsport result

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
2016Mid-OhioMygale SJ11Honda FitFormula F11Running

American Open-Wheel racing results

F1600 Championship Series