Stephens wins Platinum, d’Orlando tops Pro 1500, and McMurry is back on top in Pro 1340
It was the second event weekend in the Radical Cup North America program, and a test day kicked off the weekend on Thursday as NTT IndyCar Series teams set up their paddock.
Friday morning featured great weather and an early qualifying session that was led by Jon Field (ONE Motorsports) in Platinum, Nicholas d’Orlando (Graham Rahal Performance) in Pro 1500, and PJ Hyett (RYNO with Team Stradale) in Pro 1340. With the first wheel-to-wheel action of the weekend rolling off the grid Friday afternoon, those three drivers led their respective classes to the green flag in the first trophy hunt of the weekend.
PLATINUM CLASS qualifying results
1. Jon Field – 1:22.011
2. Michai Stephens Field – 1:22.347
3. Clint Field– 1:22.518
Race 1
Jon Field took the early lead in the Platinum class, but Michai Stephen capitalized on class traffic to take the lead on the One Motorsport driver. It was Michai Stephens (RYNO with Team Stradale) who was the first driver without the last name Field to win in the Platinum class in race four of the series as he was able to find his way to the front of the 25-lap race to take the top step of the podium.
Ryan Booth (EVR Motorsports), son of Jim Booth, finished just over nine seconds in arrears to climb to the second step of the podium as Clint Field (ONE Motorsports) completed the box in third. The top-five of race one were completed by Chip Romer (ONE Motorsports) in the fourth position and Wayne Williams (ESSES Racing) in fifth.
Traffic worked against Jon Field in the battle for first as he ultimately finished eighth in class and in the gravel of turn two but had the fastest lap of the race. After results were tallied, David Alban was awarded the Sunoco Hard Charger award for his efforts.
PRO 1500 qualifying results
1. Nicholas d’Orlando – 1:23.732
2. Raiden Nicol 1:23.793
3. Jordan Missig – 1:23.835
Race 1
Raiden Nicol (PRIMAL Racing) put on a show almost scoring his first win of the season in his series debut, but it ended in heartbreak after a post-race penalty relegated him to sixth. This left the win to Nicholas d’Orlando, earning his fourth podium in four races and first win in the series for Graham Rahal Performance just ahead of his teammate, Sebring’s triple race winner of Jordan Missig (Graham Rahal Performance) in third.
Originally ahead of Missig was the young Evan Slater (EVR Motorsports) who also was plagued with a post-race penalty, leaving Spencer Schmidt (Cameron Racing) completing the podium in third in a talented and fast field of Pro 1500 competitors. Jack Yang ended his race as the Pro 1500 Gold class winner.
Implementing a new winning title this year, the Radical Cup North America series announced its first Pro 1500 Gold winner, Jack Yang, who took the first title of the weekend, and in the history of the series. This title awards the top-placing Pro 1500 driver above 35 years of age.
PRO 1340 qualifying results
1. PJ Hyett – 1:27.011
2. Suellio Almedia – 1:27.453
3. Chris McMurry – 1:27.482
Race 1
It was a tough day for Crown Racing with APEX originally scoring another Pro 1340 win with Chris McMurry (CROWN with Apex) but again, a post-race penalty for passing under the yellow took away what would have been his third win of the season, promoting pole sitter PJ Hyett (RYNO with Team Stradale) as the winner.
Newcomer to the series, the #240 entry of Blake McGovern (CROWN with Apex) claimed his first podium finish in second, after winning the APEX Motor Club Radical Cup Challenge silver title with the other half of the McGovern family, Keith, following his son in third.
Overall, many competitors saw heartbreak for some related penalties, but it was a strong result for the Graham Rahal Performance drivers, salvaging valuable championship points. Today also saw an impressive performance from the group of Arizona drivers from Crown Racing along with newcomers from Atlanta, PRIMAL Racing.
Race two will roll off the grid Saturday at 9:45am (CDT) while race three will go green at 4:15pm. Tune into the Radical Motorsports YouTube page to watch the wheel-to-wheel action live!
