Forzday Racing League: FEC Finale and Results

In the annals of FRL racing, there are not a whole lot of collectively memorable races. There are moments - vignettes of action that individuals or some groups of two or three may remember well. That last second pass for position in a close battle. Perhaps a spin caused by someone else that cost you a position. Maybe a moment during a race when you learned something profound about how to make the car go faster and gain ground on other drivers. These are singular, small moments that we cling to in order cheer ourselves at other times, or use to motivate ourselves to do better in the future. This is a part of what racing means to us. Beyond the roar of the engines, protesting tires and speed, there are these moments that stand out in our minds and keep us returning to challenge ourselves. Then too, there are races like the 30 Laps of Hockenheimring…

It wasn’t as if there was some great conflagration that ended in loss of life, or some dramatic drama that ended in a photo finish at the line. But there was much on the line for this event. A champion was to be made. Points needed to be scored. A winner would have to be declared. It would end in drama and will stick indelibly in the minds of all those that participated.

Drew Dilbeck called the start and benefited from a great jump off the line quickly moving from the back to the front. Entering Turn 2, Paul Maestri would late-break into the corner and ran out of room, bumping the C7.R of Andrew Steppat which in turn bumped Travis Billingsley in the #18 Z4, spinning him out of contention for the moment. Other battles now began to coalesce as the grid moved like a long, disjointed snake through the rest of the first lap.

Soon Andrew Steppat had caught the #9 Porsche of Drew Dilbeck and passed him for the lead. Bryan Dean was giving chase in his Aston Martin DBR9 and passed the young rookie as well. Travis Billingsley recovered well from his spin and quickly began moving up the order, passing Tony Tyree and Matthew Smith by the end of lap one. He then briefly encountered the MBR Porsche’s of Ethan and Paul Maestri without having to fight them for position. This allowed him to set off after the leaders.

The fight for second place began to heat up around lap 8 as Travis caught and the dueled with Bryan Dean for several laps. Several swaps for position took place in this 5 lap battle that tested these two drivers, and their cars, to their limits. In the end, Travis would pass and hold the position. As the tires on Bryan’s Aston Martin were now spent in the epic battle, he soon began to fade into P3…into the grasp of the MBR Porsche’s.

As the decision was being determined between Travis and Bryan, The #2, #86 & #9 911’s all began to bunch up. A close battle now unfolded between these three drivers for several laps. Eventually team driving between the Maestri brothers would result in Ethan taking P4, with Paul assuming P5 and Drew Dilbeck fading to P6. As the largest battles for position settled into runs for good lap times, pit cycles began to shape the remainder of the race.

Tony Tyree in the #47 Bentley had settled into another race from the back of the pack. But he knew his car, and had a good sense of how the race would unfold. He took that knowledge and used it to his advantage as well. He would tail Matthew’s Audi R8 for several laps, waiting for that moment to capitalize on a rookie error. When it happened, he moved up to P7 and set sights on Drew Dilbeck in P6. Drew pitted and Tony moved up again, Paul and Bryan would pit and Tony cracked the top 5 once more this season. After pit cycles, Tony would be sitting comfortably in P6.

As the laps wound down, it looked as though ASR was going to handily wrap up with its 6^th race win of the season and a solid FEC points championship title seemed beyond a shadow of doubt. However, with one lap to go, trouble developed for Andrew and he was out of the race. Travis Billingsley assumed the P1 position and easily drove to the checkered flag, claiming his first win in an FRL sanctioned event. Ethan Maestri looked to have perhaps inherited the points win and drove his car across the line in P2, the only car to finish all 8 FEC events in the top 3. Paul Maestri would close out a troubled season in P3 at the line, but would lose more points to Travis Billingsley. Bryan Dean would have the car to beat many times throughout the FEC championship, but in the end, just couldn’t quite keep the car there to capitalize. He would cross the line in P4 but still maintain his 3^rd place position in the points. Tony Tyree caps the learning curve that has been his FEC season with another top 5 finish in the Bentley. Drew Dilbeck showed a lot of spark in this race and finished P6. Matthew Smith, a late entry in the FEC, still gave it his all and did not finish at the back of the pack…at least on the board.

Andrew Steppat has been the dominate driver in the FRL from its inception. That was no different in this FEC season. Though twice scored in last place, and a third place finish at Sebring, his results in every other event was a victory. He also scored the top lap time in 7 out of 8 events. Though Ethan Maestri was able to tie him in points at 222 in the finale, by virtue of sheer dominance at every track, Andrew is credited with an outright Forzday Endurance Championship win.

In manufacturer points, Porsche dominates the board with 325 points among three cars. Aston Martin finishes second with 250 points from 3 cars as well. Corvette, with only two cars…and one of those only active for two races, finishes a close third at 245 points.

We congratulate ASR for a 5^th straight FRL title, and we thank all who participated to make this series the most supported one in FRL history. We look forward to the off-season and welcome one and all back this Fall for FRL Season 5.

Results

Position:	Driver:	Points:	Lap Time:	Lap Points:	Total:
1	Travis Billigsley	25	1:40.309	9	34
2	Ethan Maestri	18	1:41.337	8	26
3	Paul Maestri	15	1:41.785	7	22
4	Bryan Dean	12	1:43.248	6	18
5	Tony Tyree	10	1:43.248	6	16
6	Drew Dilbeck	8	1:42.339*	5	13
7	Matthew Smith	6	1:44.295	4	10
8	Andrew Steppat	4	1:40.030	10	14

Position:	Driver:	Points:
1	Andrew Steppat	222
2	Ethan Maestri	222
3	Bryan Dean	167
4	Travis Billingsley	152
5	Paul Maestri	150
6	Tony Tyree	77
7	Allen Ruff	49
8	Chris Rader	34
9	Daniel Fleischman	30
10	Andy Capshaw	23
11	Mikey Collins	23
12	Drew Dilbeck	23
13	Chris Dilbeck	17
14	Matthew Smith	13
15	Carter Merkling	11