Nicholas d'Orlando (born April 9, 2003) is an American racing driver who competes in the 2024 Radical Cup North America driving for Graham Rahal Performance.[1] He previously competed in the 2023 USF2000 Championship driving for Exclusive Autosport.[2] d'Orlando is the 2021 F1600 Championship Series champion.[3]

Nicholas d'Orlando
NationalityUnited States American
Born (2003-04-09) April 9, 2003 (age 21)
Hartsdale, New York, United States
Related toMichael d'Orlando (brother)
USF2000 Championship career
Debut season2022
Current teamExclusive Autosport
Car number92
Starts12
Wins0
Podiums0
Poles0
Fastest laps1
Best finish20th in 2022
Previous series
2022
2022
2021
USF Juniors
YACademy Winter Series
F1600 Championship Series
Championship titles
2021F1600 Championship Series

Racing career

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F1600 Championship Series

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Due to budgetary issues, d'Orlando did not race in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, he made his car racing debut in the F1600 Championship Series driving for Team Pelfrey.[4] He would take his maiden pole at the first race of the season at Carolina Motorsports Park, but ultimately retired at lap 14.[5] He would immediately take his maiden win in the second race of the season.[6] d'Orlando would go onto have a dominant season winning 12 out of 24 races and taking 18 podiums. He would finish 176 points ahead of the nearest competitor.

USF Juniors

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On February 9, 2022, it was announced that d'Orlando would compete in the inaugural USF Juniors season in 2022 driving for DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports.[7] Due to a lack of budget, he would not compete in the Virginia International Raceway round. However, he did not return for the rest of the season, instead opting to race in the USF2000 Championship.

USF2000 Championship

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2022

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d'Orlando would move up to the USF2000 Championship in 2022 debuting for Velocity Racing Development at the Road America round.[8] He would finish in the top-10 in his first race after qualifying in 18th and would get fastest lap.[9] d'Orlando would switch to Exclusive Autosport mid-season for the Toronto round.

2023

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d'Orlando faced budget issues once again for the 2023 season. As a result, he would return to the series only for the first round at St. Petersburg, sticking with Exclusive Autosport.[10]

Personal life

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d'Orlando's older brother Michael d'Orlando is also a racing driver.

Racing record

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2021 F1600 Championship Series Team Pelfrey 24 12 6 12 18 901 1st
2022 YACademy Winter Series Cape Motorsports 6 0 0 0 0 39 6th
USF Juniors DC Autosport w/Cape Motorsports 5 0 0 0 0 39 22nd
USF2000 Championship Velocity Racing Development 5 0 0 1 0 77 20th
Exclusive Autosport 5 0 0 0 0
2023 USF2000 Championship Exclusive Autosport 2 0 0 0 0 23 26th

* Season still in progress.

American open-wheel racing results

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F1600 Championship Series

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Rank Points
2021 Team Pelfrey CMP
1

13
CMP
2

1
CMP
3

1
MDO
1

3
MDO
2

2
MDO
3

2
ALA
1

DNF
ALA
2

1
ALA
3

1
PIR1
1

1
PIR1
2

26
PIR1
3

1
ROA
1

3
ROA
2

5
ROA
3

1
SPM
1

DNF
SPM
2

1
SPM
3

1
ACC
1

1
ACC
1

2
ACC
1

3
PIR2
1

1
PIR2
2

1
PIR2
3

DNF
1st 901

USF Juniors

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
2022 DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports OIR
1

DNS
OIR
2

11
OIR
3

C
ALA
1

8
ALA
2

6
VIR
1

VIR
2

VIR
3

MDO
1

MDO
2

MDO
3

ROA
1

ROA
2

ROA
3

COA
1

COA
2

COA
3

22nd 39

† Race was cancelled due to inclement weather.

USF2000 Championship

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points
2022 Velocity Racing Development STP
1

STP
2

ALA
1

ALA
2

IMS
1

IMS
2

IMS
3

IRP
ROA
1

10
ROA
2

13
MOH
1

15
MOH
2

8
MOH
3

20
20th 77
Exclusive Autosport TOR
1

9
TOR
2

12
POR
1

19
POR
2

19
POR
3

9
2023 Exclusive Autosport STP
1

6
STP
2

13
SEB
1

SEB
1

IMS
1

IMS
2

IMS
3

IRP
ROA
1

ROA
2

MOH
1

MOH
2

MOH
3

TOR
1

TOR
2

POR
1

POR
2

POR
3

26th 23

* Season still in progress.

References

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  1. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  2. ^ "Nicholas d'Orlando". www.usf2000.com. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  3. ^ "Road to Indy talent watch: Nicholas d'Orlando". RACER. 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  4. ^ "Team Pelfrey (@teampelfrey) on Instagram | Ghostarchive". ghostarchive.org. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  5. ^ "F1600 Championship Series – CMP Race 1 Results" (PDF). Formula Race Promotions. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  6. ^ "F1600 Championship Series – CMP Race 1 Results" (PDF). Formula Race Promotions. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  7. ^ "Nicholas d'Orlando Set for DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports Debut". www.usfjuniors.com. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  8. ^ "Nicholas d'Orlando Makes a Move to USF2000 with Velocity Racing Development". www.usf2000.com. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  9. ^ "Top-10 in USF2000 Debut for Nicholas d'Orlando". www.usf2000.com. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  10. ^ "d'Orlando Joins Exclusive Autosport for St. Petersburg". www.usf2000.com. Retrieved 2023-08-18.