Top FRL Drivers Form New Team

Apex Racing Announcement

Privateer Travis Billingsley along with Steppat Racing and GR Racing have merged to form Apex Racing.

   Andrew Steppat of Steppat Racing: "As the FRL continues its growth, we have seen more partnerships and teams formed as a result. The amount of time, research, and resources needed for a single entity is substantial. With that in mind, we here at Steppat Racing are pleased to announce a new partnership with Tony Tyree and his GR Racing Team and privateer Travis Billingsley. We have taken an equal partnership and have formed Apex Racing Team. We believe that our shared skill, experience, knowledge, and resources will be beneficial for all involved. We began preliminary work on our joint Toyota GT86 and have been pleased with the results. Now we look forward to joint development of a WTCC contender for the next series. We are all excited at the potential for this new venture!"

   Tony Tyree of GR Racing: “After my performance during the FEC series I realized that with the amount of new talent joining the FRL ranks and the skill level of that talent, I had to make some changes if I wanted to compete at the level the league is heading. Now I can concentrate on improving my driving, and learning the tracks, and not be overly distracted by tuning. I look forward to working with and learning from 2 of the most skilled drivers in the league, I’m most grateful to them for allowing me this opportunity.”

  Travis Billingsley: "Racing as a hired driver for Team BMW during the FEC season turned out to be a bittersweet experience in the end.  It was a great privilege to be able to spend that much time behind the wheel of a top notch car.  But, since I was just driving for someone else, I did not get to have much control over the car setup, the buildup of the car, or the direction the team itself sometimes went.  When I had the opportunity to join up with Steppat Racing and GR Racing, it seemed like the next logical step in my career.  While I still have plans of being a full team owner at some point, being able to pool resources is a great way to move closer to that goal.  It is also very nice that all three partners in this team are drivers also.  This will allow much more opportunity to experiment with various car builds, as well as more research & development in less time.  I expect that having three drivers providing feedback on the car setup will help us to not only find the best car tune for each of us, but also help each other find ways to push to the limits of the car, and us as drivers.  WTCC looks to be another interesting racing season."