The sun bathed the rolling hills of Virginia International Raceway for the FRL's July One-Off Challenge. The impressive field of 11 "Toyobarus" took to the track for some intense racing action.
A problematic qualifying session set the grid for the first heat. Polesitter Travis Billingsley got a great start, but second place Ethan Maestri stalled on the line and was shuffled back early. Andrew Steppat demonstrated that it really does not matter where he starts a race from as he took his near last place start position, all the way to the front, in the opening lap. Things were dicey to begin as the field jockeyed for position and then settled into running order. A great 3-way battle developed in the middle of the order as Bryan Dean, Chris Rader and Tony Tyree ran in lock-step with each other for several laps. Bryan eventually slipped off the track and Chris inherited the 4th position. Tony would remain close for the rest of the heat but would have to settle for P5 at the checkered flag.
The second heat was supposed to see the field reversed for the next start, however, lobby setup problems kept that from happening and it ended up being more of the same when the green flag waved. Andrew shot out to the lead with Travis in tow. In Turn 6 Travis tried to make a move alongside Andrew but then thought better of it, pulling back in behind the leader. However, Ethan had been lurking behind the two front runners and had a great run off Turn 6 to pull alongside Travis and behind Andrew, but was pushed wide when Travis moved back in line. Travis showed himself to be a real Gentlemen Driver and sacrificed the track position to give Ethan a spot. The two would work nose-to-tail through the field back into P's 2 & 3. Ethan leading the way most of the heat until a last lap clip of the wrong apex turned his car sideways and allowed Travis the pass for P2 at the checkered flag.
Simon King makes his FRL debut here, and at times looked to be in a bit over his head, but doesn't every rookie when they first jump in? Jaxon Dean co-drove with his father, taking the wheel on the second heat and caused a bit of controversy with an overly aggressive block on Paul Maestri, further souring an already disappointing showing for the FRL veteran. Drew Dilbeck showed incredible improvement in performance and car control this outing, rivaling some of the veterans and taking P4 in the second heat.
New team, Apex Racing, had their coming out party here and had a great showing for it. They take 3 of the top 4 spots in the order for the night. Ethan Maestri played spoiler for a top 3 sweep, planting his #2 MBR car in the 3rd position overall. Travis Billingsley continues his meteoric rise to the top of the order with a solid P2 here. Andrew Steppat continues to ride high off his FEC Championship and cashes in on a P1 victory here as well.
The offseason continues, the next scheduled event coming in late August with Abarths at Monza.
Results:
1. Andrew Steppat -Top lap time - 1:13.088
2. Travis Billingsley -2nd fastest lap - 1:13.159
3. Ethan Maestri -3rd fastest lap - 1:13.440
4. Tony Tyree
5. Chris Rader
6. Drew Dilbeck
7. Matthew Smith (R)
8. Paul Maestri
9. Bryan/Jaxon Dean
10. Carter Merkling
11. Simon King (R)
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