The action in the Mazda Road to Indy is finally starting to heat up the offseason and take some of the chill out of the air. Read on to get the latest snippets of news from around the MRTI.

Aaron Telitz Set to be Announced as Team Pelfrey Pro Mazda Driver

Team Pelfrey has scheduled an announcement for 1:00pm ET on Friday to announce their first Pro Mazda driver for the 2016 season, and the cat has already been let out of the bag. Aaron Telitz, two-time Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda race winner, will pilot one of Team Pelfrey’s yellow cars for the 2016 season. Telitz confirmed his move to Pelfrey in a report on Motorsport.com.

Telitz competed for championship-winning squad Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing in 2015 and won one race for ArmsUp Motorsports in 2014. The Wisconsin driver will be looking to compete for a championship with the team that claimed last year’s Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires with Santiago Urrutia.

Urrutia Awaiting Confirmation at SPM

Speaking of last year’s Pro Mazda champion, Urrutia tested this week at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires squad. The young Uruguayan put the #77 entry second fastest on the timesheets over the course of the two-day test as he set out to impress his prospective employers.

Word coming out of Urrutia’s camp is that he is all but signed at SPM, with official confirmation all that is waiting. Urrutia brings the $650,000 Mazda Road to Indy scholarship prize with him, and would be a logical choice to help SPM reclaim the Indy Lights title after a two-year title drought.

Not to mention that Urrutia has a pretty mean celebration leap.

Chastain Motorsports To Field USF2000 Team in 2016

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda has gained yet another new team in 2016, with former IndyCar entrant Chastain Motorsports announcing their move to USF2000 competition. Chastain Motorsports has been fielding an entry in F1600 and F2000 the past two years, and will now move to the Mazda Road to Indy.

Chastain announced their first driver will be Sam Chastain, who earned two podium finishes in 2015 while competing for the team in F2000. Chastain will drive the #77 Chastain Motorsports entry, with the team expecting to add at least one more driver to their USF2000 squad. Chastain Motorsports competed with Stephan Gregoire in IndyCar during the 1997-98 seasons, while also fielding a one-off effort in the 2007 Indy 500 for “super-sub” Roberto Moreno.

Sam Chastain competed in two USF2000 races in 2015 with JDC MotorSports, finishing eighth and ninth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Veach Busy Testing Development Parts for Indy Lights

While many may have been surprised to see the three-time Indy Lights race winner somewhat mired down in eighth place during the two-day Homestead test, Veach was actually doing a service to the entire field by testing some development parts for the series. The second day of his test saw him on a variety of development runs, still posting competitive times. Veach declared himself “extremely happy” with the test, though, and his Belardi Auto Racing team still set the fastest time of the test with Swedish rookie Felix Rosenqvist behind the wheel of the second car.

Ethan Ringel Not Returning to Indy Lights

Despite taking the pole for the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and finishing a close second to teammate Jack Harvey after a race-long duel, it appears that Ethan Ringel will not be returning to Indy Lights after competing with SPM in 2015. While his performances on road courses left a lot to be desired as he shook off the rust after being out of a top-level series for two years, he was profoundly competitive on the ovals.

Rob Howden, via his Road to Indy Insider blog, reveals that Ringel is likely to focus his energies on e-sports, where Ringel is a world-ranked gamer. His racing career may not be over, though, as Ringel may return to the Atlantic Championship and gear up for a possible entry in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.

Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing Expanding Again?

It appears that Cape Motorsports will continue their expansion, potentially running four cars in Pro Mazda this year. Their expansion comes at the cost of Andretti Autosport’s contraction of their Pro Mazda team, with Andretti selling their last Pro Mazda car to Cape Motorsports. After claiming runner-up finishes in the 2014 and 2015 championships, Cape is gunning for their first Pro Mazda championship in 2016. It is likely that 2015 USF2000 champion Nico Jamin will move up with the team to Pro Mazda, leaving three potential seats yet to be filled.