FASCAR Homestead Race Results

The FASCAR season draws to a close as checkered flag waves at Homestead.  The close racing all season resulted in multiple total points battles.  Congratulations to Ethan Maestri on the season win, and Drew Dilbeck and Travis Billingsley on 2nd and 3rd for the season.

Driver Finishing Order		Fastest Lap	Position Points	Led a Lap Points	Most Laps Led Points	Total Race Points
P1	Ethan Maestri	31.002	20	1	1	22
P2	Travis Billingsley	30.917	18			18
P3	Drew Dilbeck	30.800.	16	1		17
P4	Owen Henderson	30.933	14			14
P5	Nicholas Hargrove	30.848	12			12
FASCAR Series Standings		Total Points		Race Wins
1	Ethan Maestri	100		Nicholas Hargrove		1
2	Drew Dilbeck	87		Travis Billingsley		1
3	Travis Billingsley	85		Drew Dilbeck		1
4	Nicholas Hargrove	56		Ethan Maestri		2
5	Tony Tyree	56
6	Owen Henderson	50
7	Chris Dilbeck	10
8	Matthew Smith	8

FASCAR Sonoma 100 - Recap

 After a week off, the FRL's FASCAR series lands in beautiful California for the Sonoma 100. The previous three races have been won by three different drivers. Some of those drivers claiming victory in the FRL for the first time. Would the trend continue for race four, or would the FASCAR series see its first repeat winner?

 The grid of six drivers was led from the starting line by Travis Billingsley, whose qualifying time narrowly beat Ethan Maestri by only 0.001 seconds - the closest margin of any qualifying effort. With such close lap times, a shoot out was bound to unfold.

Travis Billingsley leads the grid at Sonoma

As the green flag waved, the #3 of Ethan Maestri edged into the lead heading around Turn 1 and into Turn 2. Travis would charge his #18 Toyota right on his Ethan's heels. Behind them, Chris and Drew Dilbeck would jockey hard for the P3 position in this very early stage of the race. Chris Dilbeck in the #99 Aflac Ford Fusion had been laying down impressive lap times and was able to position himself on the track ahead of his son. Drew, not content to settle into P4, tried to force himself alongside his father into Turns 3 and 4, but there was no room for the move and he quickly headed out into the grass. 

Drew Dilbeck has a 'moment' in the opening lap of the Sonoma 100

 Behind them, Tony Tyree and Owen Henderson would set up for a back-and-forth session for much of the first half of the race. Both drivers would have off's at various points during the race. Tony, suffering from a lack of practice time and even had missed the qualifying round, Owen having trouble wrestling with TCS and brake zones.

 Up front, Travis' Big-O Tires Toyota was in a position to pass Ethan in the final corner of lap 3. Ethan moved wide to allow room and Travis made the corner stick for the pass. Two laps later however, it was Ethan's turn to pass as Travis swung wide into the grass on Turn 4 heading over the hill. With that pass, Ethan would set sail into a lead he would hold onto for the rest of the race. Travis would make several pushes for the front, but small errors would keep him from making the most of the dwindling lap count. Around lap 27, Ethan would come into the pits for fuel and fresh tires. Travis had pitted only two laps before and looked as though he might be able to take over the lead. However, the #3 Duff Beer Ford got out of the pit lane just ahead of Travis and soon was opening a wide gap again. 

 Chris Dilbeck experienced mechanical trouble and was forced from the race early. This allowed Drew in the #4 Jimmy John's Ford to advance, despite continued troubles, into P3. Owen and Tony would continue their dance until Owen experienced mechanical trouble as well and made the decision to retire early. 

 As the final laps ticked down, Travis found some speed in the Toyota and began to gain on Ethan. But a slight bobble in traffic would prevent him from closing the gap entirely and Ethan Maestri took the checkered flag for his first FASCAR win this season. The win gives Ethan some much needed points to establish a marginal lead in the points race. Drew Dilbeck holds onto P2 in points, but loses some ground to Travis Billingsley in third place, the gap only 3 points between the two drivers.

 The series moves on to its final round at Homestead on March 30th.

2017 Bathurst 12 Hour - Improved Production - Race 2

FASCAR Sonoma Race Results

Driver Finishing Order		Fastest Lap	Position Points	Led a Lap Points	Most Laps Led Points	Total Race Points
P1	Ethan Maestri	1;13.633	20	1	1	22
P2	Travis Billingsley	1;13.675	18	1		19
P3	Drew Dilbeck	1;15.757	16			16
P4	Tony Tyree	1;17.679	14			14
P5	Owen Henderson	1;19.110	12			12
P6	Chris Dilbeck	1;15.276	10			10
FASCAR Series Standings		Total Points		Race Wins
1	Ethan Maestri	78		Nicholas Hargrove		1
2	Drew Dilbeck	70		Travis Billingsley		1
3	Travis Billingsley	67		Drew Dilbeck		1
4	Tony Tyree	56		Ethan Maestri		1
5	Nicholas Hargrove	44
6	Owen Henderson	36
7	Chris Dilbeck	10
8	Matthew Smith	8

2017 FEC - Sebring Recap

 Round two of the Forzday Endurance Championship promised to be a reset from the opening round at Daytona. Several moves within the MBR garage would see to it that there would be a major reorder in the points standings. That's what we did know going into the 29 lap event. What we could not know, was how everyone would perform on the track. A Rival's leaderboard blackout would prevent anyone from truly getting a sense of how their opponents would perform on track. The end result would be one of the most interesting races from flag to flag, and some of the most exciting final laps of any series in the FRL to date.

 The evening began with an exciting qualifying effort initially led by Travis Billingsley as he put his Aston Martin up top early with a 2:11.377. Bryan Dean and Ethan Maestri would run in each others tracks for the first several laps before Ethan was able to post a 2:10.302. He elected to pull over and allow Bryan one last chance at a top lap with a clear track. Bryan made the best of the opportunity, posting a pole position time of 2:10.233, ousting Ethan from the top spot with mere seconds left in the session. With the drama of qualifying setting the tone, the field of 9 drivers got set for 29 laps at Sebring International Raceway.

A combined 5,200 horsepower revs up for the green flag at Sebring on Sunday evening

 The initial start of the race would be a rough one for Andrew Steppat in the #001 Nissan as he started from the rear of the field, having missed qualifying. He would hammer into the back of Chris Rader's Dread Pirate Racing Porsche 911. No significant damage was gained by either car, but the delay would allow most of the field to get a fair jump on them both. Ethan Maestri would overspeed into Turn 1, sending his newly minted Nissan on a wide race line. This allowed Travis Billingsley and Bryan Dean to slip past and begin their tussle for P1. Ethan would gather his ride and fall in close behind the two. 

 Behind them, the mid-pack of Aston Martin's would scatter like a shot-gun blast, mixing the field through Turn 1 until settling in briefly with Matthew Smith occupying the P4 position. He would be quickly passed by Andrew Steppat, who would continue his advance toward the front of the field. Matthew would have an unfortunate off, giving P5 to Chris Rader in the #303 911. Tony Tyree would fall in behind the Porsche and would dog him for several laps until Chris got crossed-up in a corner and gave up the position to the #47 Aston Martin. With one Apex car passed and two more lining up behind him, Chris would battle for a couple more laps before technical problems would side-line his efforts. He would retire from the race on Lap 7. Tony would find himself in a comfortable P5 for much of the rest of the race. Nicholas Hargrove would mow the grass on a few more turns in this event, but eventually was able to pass Matthew's #12 Aston Martin for P6.

You could throw a blanket over the first three positions in the early going

 Up front and during lap 1, Travis Billingsley would get a bump from Bryan Dean, upsetting the #18 Apex car enough to allow Bryan to slide around him followed closely by Ethan Maestri. The next 10 laps would see an intense battle between the #808 & #3 cars for the P1 spot. Not far behind, Travis would collect his wits and would mount a Herculean effort to stay ahead of the #001 of Andrew Steppat in P3. These two battles would rage until Andrew was finally able to work around his former Apex Racing teammate to take over P3. At the front, the battle paused as pit cycles began. Bryan Dean would pit on lap 9. Ethan would lead briefly lead the race until coming in for a pit stop at the end of lap 10. Bryan would take over the lead again and would begin to open up a fair lead over the #3.

Some of the best racing in FRL history was on display last Sunday night

 As that gap grew, the gap from P3 to P2 began to shrink as Andrew Steppat began to close on Ethan Maestri. As the last round of pit stops cycled through around laps 18-20, Bryan would come out with over 6 seconds gap on Ethan. Andrew was right there too, looking for an opening to pass. But soon, Bryan would have a big off in Turn 13. He would keep P1, but his 6 second lead now evaporated and the two car battle for P2 suddenly became a three car street fight for P1. The next 8 laps of racing would have an intensity not felt since the days of multi-heat racing of earlier FRL series. All three cars would remain in lock-step lap after lap. As the lead three closed on the P5 car of Tony Tyee, decisions were made. Ethan Maestri chanced a move to the outside coming out of Turn 5. Bryan reacted just in time as he cleared Tony's lap car and made a move to break Ethan's momentum, keeping himself in the lead. Ethan would dance back into line, but nearly opened the door for Andrew to move around him in the process. Things would settle back into rhythm, but the screws were tightening on all three drivers and for one of them, time was nearly up.

 At the end of lap 27, Bryan Dean would have to take his thirsty Porsche into the pit lane for a splash-and-go fuel stop. This set the front two up to make a mistake that could take them both out. Bryan would have to hope for such an event to have a chance at the win. Lap 28 was nearly perfect for both of the Nissan's. Andrew was moving around behind the #3, sizing him up and feeling for a passing lane. Ethan's 370Z was starting to fade just a bit as the tires wore down and suddenly it seemed a bit harder for him to maintain a laser straight line for corner after corner. As the 29th and final lap moved through the complex of Turns 2-5, Andrew set himself up to make his move, late-braking alongside Ethan and then the two cars were locked in a drag race through 3, 4 and out of Turn 5. Ethan Maestri cleared the #001's front bumper and shut the door. On through the lap, Andrew peeked, but couldn't close. To his credit, he kept off Ethan's fender, not forcing the pass. In the end, around Turn 17, Andrew would carry momentum and looked as if he could carry it right around the #3 car, but the acceleration advantage went to Ethan. He crossed the line for the win a mere heartbeat ahead of Andrew.

 Bryan Dean would maintain P3 - not the result he'd hoped for - but still a brilliant effort from the Ape-X driver. Behind him, a whole gaggle of Apex Racing cars would come through from P4-P7. Travis Billingsley would take top honor for their garage, followed by Tony Tyree, Nicholas Hargrove and Matthew Smith. Newcomer Danny McClain in the #42 Aston Martin would make his driving debut here. He would also claim the "Gentlemen Driver" award for this event, racing a clean line and allowing the front runners a wide berth to race. 

 Despite the win, Ethan Maestri did forfeit 20 points in making the switch to Nissan from the Vantage. This brings him up to fourth position in the points, 12 back from Travis Billingsley in third. Bryan Dean secures his hold on second with 37 points, 12 behind Andrew Steppat. Tony Tyree recovers from a dismal start to the season at Daytona and puts himself right back in the points hunt with 12 points, two behind Nicholas Hargrove and two points ahead of Matthew Smith. Danny McClain has a positive debut effort at Sebring and advances to 8th in the points standings. Chris Rader gains 2 points for 9th position.

 The series heads to Austin Texas for the third round of the FEC at Circuit of the Americas on April 9th.

FEC Sebring Race Results

What an intense race Sebring turned out to be.  Nissan and Porsche take podium spots.  All 29 laps of the race were a battle for podium positions.  Stay tuned for a recap and driver comments.

A couple of notes about the points results posted here.  Due to a manufacturer switch after season start, the members of the MBR garage will be penalized 20 points per driver, and the team score will be penalized 10 points per driver.

Congratulations to Ethan Maestri for race win, and Andrew Steppat and Bryan Dean for podium finishes.

 

Driver Finishing Order		Fastest Lap	Points		Team Points
P1	Ethan Maestri	2;10.950	25		Apex Racing	65
P2	Andrew Steppat	2;09.658 (+3)	21*		MBR	15 (-40)
P3	Bryan Dean	2;10.398 (+2)	17*
P4	Travis Billingsley	2;10.824 (+1)	13*
P5	Tony Tyree	2;13.958	10
P6	Nicholas Hargrove	2;14.588	8
P7	Matthew Smith	2;14.218	6
P8	Danny McClain	2;21.453	4
P9	Chris Rader	2;16.443	2
FEC Series Standings		Total Points			Race Wins
1	Andrew Steppat	49			Andrew Steppat	1
2	Bryan Dean	37			Ethan Maestri	1
3	Travis Billingsley	29
4	Ethan Maestri	17 (-20)
5	Nicholas Hargrove	14
6	Tony Tyree	12
7	Matthew Smith	10
8	Danny McClain	4
9	Chris Rader	3
10	Nathan Turner	0
11	Paul Maestri	-10 (-20)
12	Drew Dilbeck	-12 (-20)
13	Owen Henderson	-20

FASCAR Brickyard 125 - Recap

 Round three of the FASCAR series rolls into the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 125. So far, no driver has proven to be dominant in the stock cars as of yet. However, as the minutes of the qualifying session unfolded, Travis Billingsley in the #18 Big-O Tires Toyota showed signs of taking over the series by posting a fast 48 second lap and taking pole for the start of the race.

  Despite starting in the pole position, Travis would fall quickly at the race start to the #4 of Drew Dilbeck. Travis would swing wide into Turn 1 and would slide up into the wall, allowing the other four drivers to slide by him. Drew would establish a dominate lead from the first lap. Ethan Maestri in the # 85 Soundcloud Ford would assume the P2 position. As the second lap started, driver Tony Tyree and Nicholas Hargrove would collide going into Turn 1, both would slide into the wall hard and take heavy damage, effectively ending their runs at top spots for the night.

Travis slides high into Turn 1 on Lap 1

 Ethan nearly looses control out of Turn 4

 Toward the end of lap 2, Ethan Maestri would push hard out of Turn 4 and get into the wall, sending his Ford careening off the outside wall and nearly into the inside barrier. But he was able to recover and continue on, even though he lost P2 to Travis. 

 Nick Hargrove would have continued trouble and would need to pit again, loosing further ground to Tony Tyree in P4. Later, Travis and Nick would get together at the exit of Turn 4 and would slide into the barriers, forcing both to pit. This would allow Ethan the chance to move back into P2 behind Drew Dilbeck. Drew would later pit, allowing Ethan to lead a few laps before having to come into the pits himself. Travis would close the gap a bit to P2, but would run out of time due to a forced two pit race.

 Drew Dilbeck collects his first FRL win here at Indy. He wins the Brickyard 125 by a full 30 seconds. Truly a dominating performance and a well deserved win. Ethan Maestri finishes P2 for the third straight time and maintains his lead in the series points. Travis comes in at P3 and assumes the P3 position in points. Drew advances in the points to P2, only two back from Ethan. The series moves on to Sonoma for the Sonoma 100 next week.

FASCAR Brickyard 125 Race Results

Driver Finishing Order		Fastest Lap	Position Points	Led a Lap Points	Most Laps Led Points	Total Race Points
P1	Drew Dilbeck	49.119	20	1	1	22
P2	Ethan Maestri	49.497	18	1		19
P3	Travis Billingsley	48.77	16			16
P4	Tony Tyree	50.171	14			14
P5	Nicholas Hargrove	49.329	12			12
FASCAR Series Standings		Total Points		Race Wins
1	Ethan Maestri	56		Nicholas Hargrove		1
2	Drew Dilbeck	54		Travis Billingsley		1
3	Travis Billingsley	48		Drew Dilbeck		1
4	Nicholas Hargrove	44
5	Tony Tyree	42
6	Owen Henderson	24
7	Matthew Smith	8

MBR Signs New Manufacturer Deal for FEC 2017

 A reshuffle has already taken place in the MBR garage that will impact their 2017 FEC season. Maestri Bros. Racing announced today that they will be leaving Aston Martin and have signed a new partnership agreement with NISMO Motorsports International. The team will be moving from the Vanquish into the Nissan 370Z race cars with the Sebring race next weekend. On the move, garage spokesman Ethan Maestri had this to say:

 "It simply is a matter of competitiveness for us. We partnered with Aston Martin knowing the Vanquish was not as fast at Daytona. But the strengths of the car, we hoped, would be seen at other tracks like Sebring or Laguna Seca. We were very disappointed at the performance levels of the Vanquish at Sebring, and after several extremes at tuning the car, we still plateaued at around the same times. We felt we had to do something to keep MBR in touch with the sharp end of this robust field in the FEC. Although we will effectively be giving up any chance at a championship run by switching now, we hope it will produce more enjoyable events with tougher competition near the front."

With the announcment also comes the return of the old MBR colors to at least the #85 & #86 cars

 All MBR drivers will forfeit their FEC series points by making this change. The next FEC event will be at Sebring on March 12th.

FASCAR Watkins Glen 120 - Recap

          Ethan Maestri would start on Pole, but Travis quickly assumed the lead.

 Qualifying for the Watkins Glen 120 on Thursday night went well for Ethan Maestri as he gained just over a tenth of a second over Travis Billingsley, to start the race from the front. However, when the green flag waved, Travis quickly gained the lead and the race into the first two corners were hotly contested by the #18 & #85 cars. Into the second turn they were joined by Owen Henderson in the #48 Lowes Chevy. Owen and Ethan touched fenders and Ethan spun out of the corner and into the wall. This left a wide open track for Travis to capitalize on and extend a sizable lead. 

The battle into Turn 2 was a little too close for the #48 and #85

 Drew Dilbeck was able to settle into a nice rhythm in P2, while Tony Tyree took over P3 handily. The previous weeks dominate performance by Nicholas Hargrove was followed up this week by a less than stellar performance from his newly minted #3 Chevy. Nick would fight an ill-handling racecar throughout this event, spinning on several occasions and pitting no less than three times. 

 Most everyone was on a single pit strategy, with exception of Owen Henderson, he would pit too early in the race and would have to come in a second time in the late stages of the race in order to finish. Ethan Maestri would steadily work his way back up through the field as the race progressed, eventually catching Drew Dilbeck in the #19 Ford and the two would run a close battle for several laps before Drew eventually mis-judged his speed on the entry to Turn 1 and had to allow Ethan to slide by for second place. 

 In the end, it was Travis Billingsley in the #18 Big-O Tires Toyota that would win the event by a mile. He would be the race's only leader and therefore claimed the only bonus points on the night. Drew Dilbeck posts his second straight Top 3 here at Watkins Glen. Tony Tyree follows him in P4 as well. With Travis' top level performance this week helping him recover from a dismal Daytona race result, he now joins Nick and Drew in a three way tie in the standings as the series gets set to move to Indianapolis and the Brickyard 125.

FASCAR Watkins Glen Race Results

Driver Finishing Order		Fastest Lap	Position Points	Led a Lap Points	Most Laps Led Points	Total Race Points
P1	Travis Billingsley	1;10.343	20	1	1	22
P2	Ethan Maestri	1;10.493	18			18
P3	Drew Dilbeck	1;11.707	16			16
P4	Tony Tyree	1;12.483	14			14
P5	Owen Henderson	1;11.429	12			12
P6	Nicholas Hargrove	1;12.392	10			10
FASCAR Series Standings		Total Points		Race Wins
1	Ethan Maestri	37		Nicholas Hargrove		1
2	Drew Dilbeck	32		Travis Billingsley		1
3	Nicholas Hargrove	32
4	Travis Billingsley	32
5	Tony Tyree	28
6	Owen Henderson	24
7	Matthew Smith	8