Steppat Back On Top At Road America

 It looked to be an extension of Laguna Seca when the FRL field of 6 cars took to the track at Elkhart Lake last Sunday night. Ethan Maestri set the fastest time in qualifying and early indications were that the two MBR drivers present for the event at Road America stood a good chance of making an interesting race at the front of the field.

 Once the green flag waved, things quickly equalized and the status quo returned to normalcy. Ethan Maestri suffered a stall at the line while the rest of the field got to speed. Andrew Steppat in the #001 Merkur and the #18 RX7 of Travis Billingsley quickly negated the Pole Position of the #3. Ethan would fight past Travis in the second lap and soon set his sights on Andrew, who struggled in the early laps of the race. Ethan would line up to pass under the bridge at Turn 6 but couldn't quite make the pass stick. Then a warning light appeared on Ethan's dash that spelled possible disaster for his race. Another battery failure loomed on the #3's horizon. Ethan would try to nurse the Mazda around to at least lap 5 of the 21 lap event, but several lock-up's and a last turn off track venture assured he would lose the front of the field for the rest of the night.

Early indications were for a tight battle at the front

 Back in P4-P6, a most interesting race developed early on. Drew Dilbeck, Tony Tyree and Ghabe Stouffer traded positions and kept nose-to-tail for many of the early laps. Tony would eventually take P4 when Drew had an off on Turn 11. Drew would pit early and utilized his fresh tires to gain back ground on Tony Tyree. Meanwhile, Tony had his rear-view mirror full of a hard charging Ghabe Stouffer. Ghabe would do a fair job maintaining contact with Tony's #47 Mustang throughout, and at the end of the night he was able to pounce on a stricken Tony Tyree to steal P5 in a last lap pass when Tyree slipped off the track.

Ultimately, the real entertainment for the race was to see who would get P4

 Travis would fail to capitalize on a shaky start for Andrew, eventually falling some 10 seconds off the leader. Andrew, for his part, found his rhythm late in the race setting fastest lap of the event and claiming his fourth win of the season. The series moves to the penultimate round at Road Atlanta on May 5th.

Road America Results:
1. Andrew Steppat - 21 points
2. Travis Billingsley - 18 points
3. Ethan Maestri - 16 points
4. Drew Dilbeck - 14 points
5. Ghabe Stouffer - 12 points
6. Tony Tyree - 10 points


Series Standings after 5 events:
1. Andrew Steppat - 102 points
2. Travis Billingsley - 84 points
3. Ethan Maestri - 79 points
4. Drew Dilbeck - 62 points
5. Ghabe Stouffer - 56 points
6. Paul Maestri - 46 points
7. Tony Tyree - 36 points
8. Nicholas Hargrove - 22 points
9. Matthew Smith - 12 points

Ethan Maestri Takes #3 To Victory At Laguna Seca

 The FEC made its way to the West coast of North America for a showdown in the dry riverbed that is Laguna Seca. In practice leading up to the event, many a driver spent time out in the sand just off track, learning where the limit was and realizing the line between just inside and just outside the limit was a very thin line indeed.

 Qualifying was lead by Ethan Maestri, setting a pole position time nearly a half second faster than team mate Travis Billingsley. Owing to his Pole Position was the fact that series points leader Andrew Steppat was late for the event, failing to set a qualifying time at all. Andrew would start from the back of the grid.

Green flag and the field of 7 cars sweeps into the Andretti Hairpin on Lap 1

 However, as the green flag dropped, Andrew got an incredible start and quickly rocketed up the order and into third position by the time he reached Turn 1. Ethan Maestri would maintain the lead from the start, quickly followed by Travis in the #18 RX7. Both of the MBR cars would set the pace from the start, and would even be joined by the #33 of Paul Maestri as he would take over P3 from Andrew Steppat in the early laps. This would setup a ferocious battle for P3 contested by Paul, Andrew and RBR driver Drew Dilbeck. These three would run nose to tail for the better part of 9 laps, trading paint and jockeying for position. Finally, Andrew was able to creep alongside Paul after catching him in the corkscrew. Once Andrew was clear, Drew quickly tried to make a move but was boxed out by Paul. Drew checked up hard and Paul careened into the tire barrier at Turn 11, seriously damaging the #33 Mazda and ending his race.

The battle royale for P3 was the contest to watch

 Pit stops would muddy the waters for a few laps, but once cycled through, Ethan retained the lead. Travis was still in second, but Andrew was closing the gap fast on them both. With eight laps to go, Andrew would finally catch and pass Travis and set sail to try and run Ethan down at the front. He would close to within just a few seconds of the #3 Mazda, but not before the checkered flag waved, giving Ethan his first endurance series victory since Road America in 2017.

Lap 5, Ethan nearly loses it all coming out of Turn 6 

 The series now heads to Road America for the fifth event of the series, a 33 lap event in the hills near Elkhart Michigan.

 Andrew's second place finish virtually assures him another series title. Travis and Ethan now appear locked in a points battle for second place. Fourth, fifth and sixth place are hotly contested by Paul, Drew and Ghabe.

Laguna Seca Results:
1. Ethan Maestri - 21 points
2. Andrew Steppat - 18 points
3. Travis Billingsley - 16 points
4. Drew Dilbeck - 14 points
5. Ghabe Stouffer - 12 points
6. Tony Tyree- 10 points
7. Paul Maestri - 8 points

Series Standings after 4 events:
1. Andrew Steppat - 81 points
2. Travis Billingsley - 66 points
3. Ethan Maestri - 63 points
4. Drew Dilbeck - 48 points
5. Paul Maestri - 46 points
6. Ghabe Stouffer - 44 points
7. Tony Tyree - 26 points
8. Nicholas Hargrove - 22 points
9. Matthew Smith - 12 points

Steppat Gaps Points Lead After Sublime Sebring Race

 The FEC series makes its stop at the storied Sebring Race Circuit. The field of 8 cars took to the track for qualifying with problems for the #3 & #33 MBR cars. Both drivers would drop out of the qualifying event without posting flying laps and would start near the back of the field. More worrying was whether or not they would make it through the 22 lap event. Andrew Steppat would score Pole Position.

 From the moment the green flag dropped, battles erupted through the field. Travis would make an early lunge into Turn 1 of the first lap, taking advantage of the tussle between the #29 of Drew Dilbeck and the #001 of Andrew Steppat. Both Travis and Paul would have to check-up and allow the front runners to sort themselves out. This allowed Ethan Maestri to close on the top of the order, quickly passing his team mates and setting sights on Drew and Andrew.

 Further back, the #4 of Ghabe Stouffer would struggle to get past Nicholas Hargrove. But Nick was fighting an ill handling Mercury Cougar and came off the track at Turn 10, allowing Ghabe a clean pass. Nick's woes would continue, allowing Matt Smith to close the gap. Matt himself was struggling with his recent switch from a Mustang to an RX7, but when Nick got crossed-up at Tower Turn, Matt was able to complete the pass, only narrowly avoiding a major collision. Nick ended up square in the wall and the damage was devastating. He would drop nearly two laps off the lead in the time it took him to limp back to the pits for repair.

 At the front, Andrew would hound Drew, but couldn't quite get the pass. Then on lap 8, Andrew would make a stunning move around the outside of Drew at Le Mans turn, he then made the most of his Merkur power, running away down Ulman Straight. Behind them, Ethan Maestri and Travis Billingsley ran nose-to-tail for much of the first half of the race. At times they could close on the battling front runners, but then they would lose ground as inconsistent laps slowly allowed the front two to pull away. Left to themselves, the two MBR drivers would trade places until Ethan made for the pit lane. Travis would pit several laps later, relinquishing the lead to Andrew Steppat, and emerged from the pit lane just behind the #3 RX7 of Ethan Maestri. They would resume their cat and mouse game, but Ethan eventually gaped Travis, securing the final podium position.

 Ghabe Stouffer would gather himself up from a less than stellar start and eventually closed on the #33 of Paul Maestri. These two would hound each other for nearly the entire race. Eventually the FRL veteran would make one too many mistakes, opening the door just wide enough for Ghabe to step through, allowing him to take a position in the Top 5. At the flag, Andrew Steppat proved to be too much for the hard charging Drew Dilbeck to handle. Andrew takes his 3rd straight victory of the season at Sebring. The series heads to Laguna Seca on April 7th.

Sebring Results:
1. Andrew Steppat - 21 points
2. Drew Dilbeck - 18 points
3. Ethan Maestri - 16 points
4. Travis Billingsley - 14 points
5. Ghabe Stouffer - 12 points
6. Paul Maestri - 10 points
7. Matthew Smith - 8 points
8. Nicholas Hargrove - 6 points

Series Standings after 3 events:
1. Andrew Steppat - 63 points
2. Travis Billingsley - 50 points
3. Ethan Maestri - 42 points
4. Paul Maestri - 38 points
5. Drew Dilbeck - 34 points
6. Ghabe Stouffer - 32 points
7. Nicholas Hargrove - 22 points
8. Tony Tyree - 16 points
9. Matthew Smith - 12 points

Andrew widens the gap at the top after Sebring. Ethan passes Paul to take over the third spot in the order. A nice points battle develops in the mid-field for P3, with 4 drivers in the hunt for the position, separated by only 10 points.

Steppat Takes Second Victory At Lime Rock

 The FEC took to the track at Lime Rock on the South chicane circuit on March 10th. With a victory at Daytona, Andrew Steppat looked to take another step toward making quick work of the series points battle by taking it back to back wins. He started off in the right way, scoring pole position in qualifying. However, it would not be an easy run for him. With MBR locking out the next three positions, he would have to fend off an early challenge by the #3 of Ethan Maestri. Ethan would have trouble on the 2nd lap however and quickly faded to the rear of the field. This left the #33 of Paul Maestri to stalk his rear view mirror for several laps. Paul would yield his position to team mate Travis Billingsley a few laps later and the #18 Mazda would shadow the #001 Merkur all the way to the checkered flag.

 Ethan, after a very early mistake and pit stop, would climb to P6 before being forced to make a second pit stop with a battery issue. Nicholas Hargrove looked to be in for a good run, starting the race in P5. However, the #5 Cougar proved to be less than nimble in the corners and faded back to P8. Tony Tyree and Matthew Smith, both in Mustangs, had the toughest of races. The #47 of Tony Tyree would finish P8, just ahead of Matthew.

 The biggest surprise of the night would come from Rocket Boys Racing. RBR drivers Drew Dilbeck and Ghabe Stouffer would start at the back of the field but moved quickly forward and established a dominant position throughout the event. Drew placed his #29 RX7 into P3 with a late charge on the #33 of Paul Maestri. Ghabe would pilot his #2 RX7 home in P5, ahead of many of the veterans in the field. While Drew's podium likely paints a target on his back as far as Driver BoP is concerned, the addition of a new name to the top echelon's of the series is a welcome one.

 In all, MBR had a very strong hand at the start of the night. But niggling problems and mistakes cost them a strong result. The #18 solidifies his right to challenge the series leader. RBR had a coming out party of sorts here, but it will remain to be seen if they can maintain the momentum going to far more challenging tracks in the coming weeks.

 The series moves on to Sebring on March 24th. 

Sebring Results:
1. Andrew Steppat - 21 points
2. Travis Billingsley - 18 points
3. Drew Dilbeck - 16 points
4. Paul Maestri - 14 points
5. Ghabe Stouffer - 12 points
6. Ethan Maestri - 10 points
7. Nicholas Hargrove - 8 points
8. Tony Tyree - 6 points
9. Matthew Smith - 4 points

Series Standings after 2 events:
1. Andrew Steppat - 42 points
2. Travis Billingsley - 36 points
3. Paul Maestri - 28 points
4. Ethan Maestri - 26 points
5. Ghabe Stouffer - 20 points
6. Nicholas Hargrove - 16 points
7. Tony Tyree - 16 points
8. Drew Dilbeck - 16 points
9. Matthew Smith - 4 points

Andrew Steppat Wins FEC Opener At Daytona

 The Forzday Endurance Championship kicked off its third season with a 26 lap event at the Daytona International Circuit this past Sunday night. While, at first glance, the headline might not feel like anything new, the opening round was not as cut-and-paste as one might typically assume.

A glitched start would break up the field initially, but good racing would unfold nonetheless

 Travis Billingsley made a good start for the season, taking pole position in qualifying. At the drop of the green flag he quickly put the #18 Mazda RX7 out in front of the field. Andrew Steppat quickly feel into line behind him. However, the rest of the field was disrupted by two stalled cars on the grid. A poor qualifying effort put both the #3 & #33 RX7's behind the #5 Mercury of Nick Hargrove. A start glitch caused Nick to stall on the line, forcing everyone behind him to swerve to miss. The race stewards inexplicably failed to call a restart and the broken field lurched on.

 Ethan Maestri in the #3 MBR machine was able to recover most of the ground yielded to the top two fairly early and joined them in a pitched battle for top spot. In lap 4, the #001 of Andrew Steppat over-cooked Turn 1 and slid out to yield P2 to Ethan. Ethan was nearly able to pull alongside his #18 teammate in the next corner, but checked up in the brake zone and quickly fell back to P3. He would make another run at Steppat's Merkur, passing him exiting the Bus Stop and into the NASCAR Turn 3. Two laps later, Ethan botched the braking zone into Turn 1 and tagged the inside tire wall, bouncing the Mazda sideways and giving up P2 to Andrew for good.

Positions 1 thru 4 were up for grabs early

 Paul Maestri in the #33 was logging early laps and settling in for an easy run to a P4 finish, but on lap 5, swung wide into the tire barrier exiting the International Horseshoe, damaging his right front. The suspension and brake damage would send him to the pits early allowing Tony Tyree and Nick Hargrove to move up the grid. Nick recovered well from the glitched start and eventually would overtake Tony Tyree's #47 Mustang for P4.

 As pit stops cycled, the front of the field looked as it had in the beginning, Travis Billingsley in the lead, chased closely by Andrew Steppat. With less than 6 laps to go, Travis bobbled several corners allowing the veteran champion to close on him. Andrew's Merkur got the power down faster exiting the horseshoe and made the pass for the lead. Travis made a couple more attempts to pass, but just couldn't make them stick. Andrew crossed the line to win the first round of the new series.

 Paul Maestri would recover well after making a second pit stop late, catching a hard charging Nick Hargrove and passing him late in the race to secure a fourth place finish. Tony Tyree would finish P6 and Ghabe Stauffer, in the #2 Mazda RX7, also suffered a delayed start and finished in P7.

 One of the biggest changes heading into the series beginning was the performance balancing amongst the FRL drivers. Would the balance be right? Would better racing result? For the first 9 laps, the top three were separated by only two seconds at most, a change from past races. While too early to say it works for everyone, the general impression is that the FRL is at least heading the series in the right direction. More racing will need to be done to get a definitive answer. The series rolls on to Lime Rock for the 50 laps of the Chicane circuit on March 10th. There we will continue to try and get a clearer picture of how this championship series will develop.

FINAL RESULTS	POINTS
ANDREW STEPPAT	21
TRAVIS BILLINGSLEY	18
ETHAN MAESTRI	16
PAUL MAESTRI	14
NICK HARGROVE	12
TONY TYREE	10
GABE	8

DRIVER	SERIES POINTS
ANDREW STEPPAT	21
TRAVIS BILLINGSLEY	18
ETHAN MAESTRI	16
PAUL MAESTRI	14
NICK HARGROVE	12
TONY TYREE	10
GABE	8

MBR Announces 2019 FEC Lineup

 2/5/19  Joplin, MO - Maestri Bros. Racing is pleased to announce its manufacturer selection and driver lineup for the 2019 Forzday Endurance Championship. The Mazda RX-7 has been selected for use in his seasons events. The #3 and #33 driven by Ethan and Paul Maestri, respectively, will be making their usual rounds on the circuit. However, one additional number will be added to the roster. The #18 of Travis Billingsley will be joining the team for the endurance series.

 "We are excited to have Travis join our team for this season" exclaimed Ethan Maestri in a press statement earlier today. "Travis has been a real force on the FRL circuit for several seasons now. The chance to get to work more closely with him is a real treat. The enthusiasm he's brought to the garage is contagious and we are really excited to see what this adds to the team overall."

 When asked, Travis had this to say about the move to MBR: "When the opportunity to join up with this team became available, it was really a 'no brainer'. I've had the privilege of working with several different teams in past seasons. I've learned something each time. When it comes to race craft, you can always learn more. MBR has been a top running team in the FRL, as such, working with Ethan and Paul feels like a great opportunity. I'm hopeful than an information exchange will lead to great results on track for all of us. I'm looking forward to working with the Maestri brothers and enjoying these fantastic cars we have in this coming season."

 Colors & sponsors for this seasons lineup as follows.

#3 - Grey -  Mothers Waxes and Cleaners, Law's Whiskey House
#33 - Black - Redbull, GReddy
#18 - White - Optima Batteries, Summit Racing

2019 Forzday Endurance Championship

It’s been a year-and-a-half since the last FEC series concluded at Road Atlanta, so the Forzday Racing League is pleased to announce the next FEC series. “The 2019 Forzday Endurance Championship”, will Begin February 24th at Daytona International Speedway, and the eligible cars will be taken from the “GT Racing  Reborn” group of cars from Forza 7.
The board of directors has been working hard the past few months testing this group of cars to narrow the field down to four contenders, they are as follows:

1991 Mazda RX-7

1990 Mercury Cougar XR-7

1986 Merkur XR4Ti

1982 Ford Zakspeed Roush Mustang GT

This series will also be the first full season to use a BoP system, which will consist of three tiers.
Gold Tier:  Required to adhere to “GT Racing Reborn” homologation rules, PI of R825.
Gold drivers are Andrew Steppat, and Travis Billingsley.
Silver Tier: May run up to a PI rating of R845 and race tires are mandatory.
Silver drivers are Ethan Maestri,  Paul Maestri, Bryan Dean, and Tony Tyree  
Bronze Tier: May run up to a PI rating of R865 and mandatory race tires.
Bronze drivers are anyone not listed above.

Drivers May be moved to a different  tiers based on multi race results.
Also note that these bumps seem to produce a1 second faster lap time per tier on average.
A mandatory of one pit stop will also be implemented for this series.

The schedule is as follows,
Feb 24 – Daytona International Speedway Sports Car Circuit - 26 laps
Mar 10 - Lime Rock Park South Chicane - 50 laps
Mar 24 – Sebring International Raceway  Full Circuit - 22 laps
April 7 - Laguna Seca - 31 laps
April 21 - Road America Full Circuit  - 21 laps
May 5 - Road Atlanta Full Circuit  - 33 laps
May 19 - Watkins Glen international  Full Circuit - 25 laps