The quiet, rolling hills and serene, pastoral way of life
around Watkins Glen was briefly shattered last night as the FRL stopped in for
its 7th of the 8 events in this season.
In Vintage B, the wide
track and fast pacing set up three heats that would have few serious
altercations. Andrew Steppat set the pace early and dominated all three heats
in his Holden Torana. Behind him, Ethan Maestri and Mikey Collins would battle
each other for second position. Ethan would get the upper hand in all three
heats though. This left Chris Rader and Ross Carpenter to swap the 4-5 positions
between them, Chris gained the advantage in his Alfa TZ here, scoring two 4th
place finishes, averaging 4.33 on the night for this class.
Ethan Maestri gets into the back of Taylor Carpenter in Heat 2
In the A-Class Mono’s,
a new driver would debut for the first time in the FRL. Taylor Carpenter,
brother of newcomer Ross Carpenter, was able to make an entry into the series.
Somewhat of a legend in past racing circles, he would find his legs a bit shakey
getting out of the gate in the BAC. With the addition of one more to the field,
Turn 1 in the first heat got a bit dicey and several drivers got spread around
the track in an early altercation. Things didn’t sort out until well into the 2nd
lap, with Ross, Taylor, Mikey and Andrew all spinning or getting spun in the opening
lap. Ethan Maestri weaved through to the lead and won the first heat.
Turn 1 carnage as several drivers get together exiting the turn
But things didn’t go
well for Ethan in the second or third heats. In the second heat, he was moving up
the grid, having just passed Mikey Collins for second place when the batteries
in his controller died. This brought his chances at another heat win, and
ultimately, a chance for the championship to an end. In the third heat, while
battling Mikey for second position, he dove too aggressively into Turn 8 on the
last lap, spinning Mikey out. Chris Rader, with very consistent driving
throughout the night, was able to capitalize on the mistake and post his first
2nd place finish on the podium. Mikey and Chris would tie with an
average of 3.00 in this class, but Mikey’s lap time of 2:00.230 would slot him
ahead of Chris for the points.
Chris Rader posts his first 2nd place finish in the final heat
With one final race
in the series to go, Andrew heads to Circuit of the Americas with a comfortable
points lead and a probable 4th FRL Championship in the bag. Rookie
points leader Bryan Dean was unable to race this event, but still has a
comfortable points lead over the rest of the rookie field. Taylor Carpenter,
makes his debut in the series and moves up the points leaderboard, passing Tim
Adkins, and now occupies a top ten position in points. His brother Ross had a
good showing for the night and moves up the board to 7th position
overall.
Results
| B-Class | |||
| Driver | Position (Avg.) | Best Time | Points |
| Andrew Steppat | 1.00 | 2:02.950 | 20 |
| Ethan Maestri | 2.00 | 2:04.418 | 16 |
| Mikey Collins | 3.00 | 2:07.001 | 13 |
| Chris Rader | 4.33 | 2:08.077 | 10 |
| Ross Carpenter | 4.66 | 2:08.089 | 8 |
| A-Class | |||
| Andrew Steppat | 1.33 | 1:57.569 | 20 |
| Mikey Collins | 3.00 | 2:00.230 | 16 |
| Chris Rader | 3.00 | 2:02.289 | 13 |
| Ethan Maestri | 4.00 | 1:59.055 | 10 |
| Taylor Carpenter | 4.33 | 2:05.510 | 8 |
| Ross Carpenter | 5.33 | 2:01.859 | 6 |
After 7 of 8 events:
| Series Points: | B-Class | A-Class | Total |
| Andrew Steppat | 113 | 120 | 233 |
| Ethan Maestri | 106 | 110 | 216 |
| Bryan Dean | 98 | 81 | 179 |
| Chris Rader | 52 | 61 | 113 |
| Mikey Collins | 44 | 47 | 91 |
| Carter Merkling | 26 | 26 | 52 |
| Ross Carpenter | 18 | 12 | 30 |
| Paul Maestri | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| Ross Merkling | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Taylor Carpenter | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Tim Adkins | 6 | 0 | 6 |
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