FRL Indianapolis 200 One-Off Race Results

Congratulations to the podium winners that were able to endure the race length and mayhem. 
Andrew Steppat, Nicholas Hargrove, and Ethan Maestri. 

Indianapolis 200 Race Results				2017 Year One-Off Standings
P1	Andrew Steppat	25		1	Andrew Steppat	100
P2	Nicholas Hargrove	18		2	Travis Billingsley	59
P3	Ethan Maestri	15		3	Ethan Maestri	48
P4	Mike Webb	12		4	Nicholas Hargrove	46
P5	Tony Tyree	10		5	Tony Tyree	40
P6	Travis Billingsley	8		6	Matthew Smith	29
P7	Allen Ruff	6		7	Paul Maestri	18
P8	Tim Adkins	4		8	Drew Dilbeck	16
P9	Danny McClain	2		9	Mike Webb	12
P10	Ryan Mazzocco	1		10	Allen Ruff	6
				11	Tim Adkins	4
				12	Owen Henderson	4
				13	Danny McClain	2
				14	Ryan Mazzocco	1

A special sportsmanship shoutout to Nicholas Hargrove.  Kudos sir. 

Points In Turmoil After Road America

 It was an interesting race from the front last night at the FEC race of Road America. Door-to-door racing through the first corners quickly became a solid run by one driver, and a heroic climb back toward the front by another. Ethan Maestri was able to hold onto a lead that yo-yo'd from 'comfortable' to 'barely there' over Andrew Steppat, to win Sunday nights race at Road America. With another win on the season, Ethan closes the gap on Andrew, but not so much that the screws are ratcheting any tighter on the 6-time FRL champion. What was far more interesting about the race was the shake-up further afield in the points race.

 Tony Tyree once again could not catch a break and posts another DNF as connection problems ended his night early once more. Bryan Dean, who was looking to make a solid run for the P2 position in points, was unable to make the event altogether. Travis Billingsley made the most of the #808's absence and finished on the podium, a finish that puts him up by one point over the Ape-X privateer effort. Rookie Danny McClain continues his starting (and finishing) streak with points and sits at the back of a very tight field of drivers that now find themselves with only a handful of points separating themselves from 5th place back to 9th.

 Paul Maestri continues his return to form by taking P4 last night. It is a finish that moves him up the points ladder and into a fray that promises to only get more intense as the series heads into its final three tracks. Allen Ruff makes a return to FRL racing in his Porsche 911, but while not making a run near he top, he does benefit from a P7 finish. This placed him immediately in a tie for 10th place in the points with new driver Ryan Mazzocco. Ryan's P8 finish ahead of Tony Tyree gave him another 4 points to his tally.

 The racing continues to tighten and the pressure is getting turned up as the FEC takes a trip into the the hills of Virginia for 36 laps at Virginia International Raceway on June 4th.

FEC Road America Race Results

Congratulations to Ethan Maestri on his second win of the season.  Andrew Steppat and Travis Billingsley take 2nd and 3rd tier on the podium respectively.

Driver Finishing Order		Fastest Lap	Points		Team Points
P1	Ethan Maestri	2;13.623 (+2)	27*		Apex Racing	185
P2	Andrew Steppat	2;12.935 (+3)	21*		MBR	135
P3	Travis Billingsley	2;14.681 (+1)	16*
P4	Paul Maestri	2;16.590	12
P5	Matthew Smith	2;17.966	10
P6	Danny McClain	2;22.742	8
P7	Allen Ruff	2;21.312	6
P8	Ryan Mazzocco	2;31.208 *	4
P9	Tony Tyree	2;18.165	2
FEC Series Standings		Total Points			Race Wins
1	Andrew Steppat	154			Andrew Steppat	4
2	Ethan Maestri	103			Ethan Maestri	2
3	Travis Billingsley	83
4	Bryan Dean	82
5	Tony Tyree	38
6	Matthew Smith	36
7	Nicholas Hargrove	28
8	Paul Maestri	24
9	Danny McClain	23
10	Ryan Mazzocco	6
11	Allen Ruff	6
12	Chris Rader	5
13	Nathan Turner	3
14	Mike Webb	1
15	Drew Dilbeck	-12
16	Owen Henderson	-20

Upcoming FRL One-Off Details

 We have a couple of One-Off's coming up. Here are the details on these events.

First up is the 2nd running of the FRL's Indianapolis 200 on Thursday, May 25th.  Travis Billingsley is the defending champion and looks to make it two in a row. Four corners and keep the hammer down approaching the turns at 237 mph...sounds easy right?

Eligible cars:

Chevrolet Indycar
Honda Indycar

-X999 max PI rating.
-No upgrades added.
-Standard race tires.
-Community or self-made tunes allowed.

Second, we have the running of the 1.4 Hours of Le Mans on Thursday, June 15th. This will be a three stage event. 20 minutes run in daytime conditions, 40 minutes in night conditions, then the final stage will be in either rain or daytime conditions - determined by a weather role made at the end of the 2nd stage.

 This will be a multi-class race. The Top 5 drivers based on average position in the current FEC season will be invited to race in the LMP1 class consisting of the Audi R18 prototype, Porsche 919 prototype or the Toyota Hybrid prototype.

 The rest of the field will run the GTLM class. These will be R-900 GT cars consisting of the Chevrolet C7.R, Ford GT, Porsche 911 RSR, Ferrari 458 ( all GT race versions).

 Invitations and further class details will be forthcoming.

FEC Season Rolls On Post-Lime Rock

Limey! That was a lot of cars for such a small track.

 In the absence of recaps for the Watkins Glen and now Lime Rock race events. It's way past time to take stock of where we are at in this current Forzday Endurance Championship season. Several developments have taken place in the series over the past several races which has changed the look of the points series.

 You wouldn't think so just by looking at the top of the points leaderboard though. Five races into a nine race season and the top of the list looks exactly as one would expect. With only a minor bump in the dominance of Steppat Racing (a second place finish at Sebring), Andrew Steppat has reeled off 3 straight wins coupled with fantastic lap times to extend himself to a 51 point lead over second place. Even with the "Internet Nebraska" factor in play on a couple of races, he still looks to close out this season with another championship.

 But, look down the list and things are not exactly status quo. Despite good finishes at Circuit Of the Americas and Lime Rock, Paul Maestri is still suffering the effects of the manufacturer switch and finds himself a ways down from a top 5 position in the points standings. This has had the effect of creating a mad scramble inside the Apex garage for 5th position in points. Tony Tyree has had consistently good finishes so far and currently occupies a spot in the Top 5, but what would the standings look like had his team mates Matthew Smith and Nicholas Hargrove not had their troubles? Matthew's DNF at Watkins Glen came as he was running a phenominal race in P5. Nick had been a consistent finisher as well, until his streak came to an end with his DNF at Lime Rock last week.

 Missing from the mix of Top 10 contenders is Drew Dilbeck. He and Owen Henderson are still in the negative point range after switching with MBR to the 370Z's. One would hope to see these two on the track again soon, if only to post positive points in the series.

 But even that has become a taller order than in times past. Three new drivers have joined in the FEC action this season. This has ballooned the usual 10-11 car fields to 12 and potentially more, making it just that much more difficult to finish in points paying positions. Danny McClain finds himself in a choice position inside the Top 10, and is showing signs of making improvement in his abilities on the track. Ryan Mazzocco scored 2 points in his first FRL event and finds himself ahead of other FRL veterans at the moment. Mike Webb joined the FRL for the first time at Lime Rock and came away with a point as well, something that not many true rookies in the FRL can claim.

 All of this gives one a little perspective as we head into the latter half of the FEC season. There are a lot of points still out there. For some, this could be their chance to break into the Top 5 in a championship season for the first time. For others, they have a chance at 2nd place of the first time in a series...2nd is the new 1st by the way, because in the end, we all know we can't catch the silver/yellow bullet.

 Its a short week for us drivers as we head to Road America for 37 laps of fun this coming Sunday, May 21st.

FEC Lime Rock Race Results

Congratulations to podium finishers Andrew Steppat, Ethan Maestri, and Bryan Dean.

Driver Finishing Order		Fastest Lap	Points		Team Points
P1	Andrew Steppat	56.142 (+3)	28*		Apex Racing	157
P2	Ethan Maestri	56.618 (+1)	19*		MBR	96
P3	Bryan Dean	56.604 (+2)	17*
P4	Paul Maestri	57.204	12
P5	Travis Billingsley	57.875	10
P6	Matthew Smith	59.393	8
P7	Tony Tyree	59.557	6
P8	Danny McClain	1:01.722 *	4
P9	Nathan Turner	1:01.993 *	2
P10	Mike Webb	01:03.38	1
P11	Ryan Mazzocco	1:05.022 *
P12	Nicholas Hargrove	59.499
FEC Series Standings		Total Points			Race Wins
1	Andrew Steppat	133			Andrew Steppat	4
2	Bryan Dean	82			Ethan Maestri	1
3	Ethan Maestri	76
4	Travis Billingsley	67
5	Tony Tyree	36
6	Nicholas Hargrove	28
7	Matthew Smith	26
8	Danny McClain	15
9	Paul Maestri	12
10	Chris Rader	5
11	Nathan Turner	3
12	Ryan Mazzocco	2
13	Mike Webb	1
14	Drew Dilbeck	-12
15	Owen Henderson	-20