David Ybarra Sweeps F1600 as 2026 Formula Race Promotions Season Comes to a Close
Formula Race Promotions (FRP) closed out the 2026 season this past weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, the 2.380-mile road course in Birmingham, Alabama. By the time the final checkered flag fell, David Ybarra had won all three F1600 races as David Adorno swept the F1600 Masters class, taking the class pole and all three class wins. In the Atlantic and F2000, Clay DellaCava and Jean-Luc Liverato split the weekend's two races in a duel at the front of the Atlantic-016 class, while Robert Wright and Eric Presbrey traded F2000 class wins.
“What a way to close out the 2026 season,” explained Bob Wright. “Barber Motorsports Park is one of the finest road courses in the country, and our drivers put on a show worthy of it all weekend. David Ybarra was simply on another level in F1600, David Adorno proved once again that our Masters drivers can run with anyone, and watching Jean-Luc and Clay trade wins at the front of the Atlantic field was a treat. There was close racing up and down every field, and we're already looking forward to building on that in 2027. We also had a track record set in F1600 race three- Cooper Travis at a 1:30.461, eclipsing the old one by almost a second.”
F1600 Qualifying
Cooper Travis claimed pole position in Friday afternoon's F1600 qualifying session with a 1:30.711 in his Spectrum, just 0.058 seconds ahead of David Ybarra's K-Hill Motorsports Mygale. Robert Dusek III qualified third in his Eric Langbein Racing Ray F1600, and Christian Menezes took fourth for BGR Piper RaceCars, a mere 0.002 seconds ahead of Roman McCurdy's Piper DF3. The 18-car field was tight from top to bottom, with the top-nine qualifiers covered by less than a second.
Jake LeRoy qualified sixth for K-Hill, with Hugh Esterson seventh in the ADSA/Wright Racing Ray GR23. Boss Patel and first-time FRP racer Nicolas Orbezo completed the top-nine, with Clayton Stiles and Axel LeRoy close behind in 11th and 12th.
David Adorno led the F1600 Masters class in tenth overall with a 1:32.009 in his Mygale, 1.7 seconds clear of Scott Rubenzer who was second in class. David H. Livingston Jr., Steve Oseth and John Thompson completed the Masters order.
Atlantic/F2000 Qualifying
Jean-Luc Liverato set the fastest lap of the weekend in Saturday morning's Atlantic/F2000 qualifying, a 1:18.918 in his K-Hill Motorsports Swift 016 to take both the overall and Atlantic-016 class pole. Clay DellaCava qualified second in his Swift Atlantic 016, 1.1 seconds back, setting up a two-car Atlantic-016 battle for the rest of the weekend.
Nicho Vardis led the Atlantic-Open class in third overall with a 1:22.323 in his Vardis Motorsports JDR F1000, 0.675 seconds ahead of James Johnston Sr.'s Swift 014 Atlantic. Brett Johnston and Jim Johnston Jr. qualified fifth and sixth in their 2004 Mazda entries. Drew Holtgraewe qualified ninth for Arrive Drive Motorsports, and Jim Kelleher was 12th in his 1980 March 80A.
In F2000, Robert Wright set the class benchmark with a 1:28.388 in his Elan DP08, 1.2 seconds clear of Eric Presbrey's Momentum Motorsports Van Diemen RF03, renewing their class rivalry from Carolina Motorsports Park. Steve Yarborough qualified third in class in his 1989 Swift FC. Three Brabham BT35s, driven by Geoff Brabham, Steve Egger and Ron Hornig, added some vintage flavor to the F2000 field, with Brabham leading the trio in 11th overall.
F1600 Race 1
David Ybarra won Saturday afternoon's 14-lap F1600 Race 1 in his K-Hill Motorsports Mygale. Boss Patel, who qualified eighth, finished second for BGR Piper RaceCars and set the second-quickest lap at 1:30.784, while Jake LeRoy took third. With Axel LeRoy sixth, K-Hill Motorsports placed three cars in the top-six. Robert Dusek III finished fourth, and Roman McCurdy came home seventh. David Adorno took the Masters class win and finished fifth overall, ahead of several open-class front-runners. David H. Livingston Jr. was second in class in ninth overall, ahead of Scott Rubenzer, Steve Oseth and John Thompson.
Polesitter Cooper Travis set the fastest lap of the race at 1:30.706, a tick quicker than his pole time, but was classified eighth after contact on the final circuit with Christian Menezes. Christian Menezes and Nicolas Orbezo also showed front-running pace, turning the third- and fifth-quickest laps, but were classified 15th and 16th.
Atlantic/F2000 Race 1
Clay DellaCava turned the tables on Liverato in Sunday's Atlantic/F2000 Race 1, taking the overall and Atlantic-016 class win and setting the fastest lap of the race at 1:19.337. Liverato finished second, as the pair completed 16 laps. Brett Johnston won the Atlantic-Open class in third overall, with Jim Johnston Jr. fourth, making it a Johnston one-two in class. Dustin Hodges finished third in class and sixth overall in his Arrive Drive Motorsports JDR, while Jim Kelleher and Drew Holtgraewe finished ninth and 11th. Class polesitter Nicho Vardis and James Johnston Sr. completed only ten laps and finished 14th and 15th, though Johnston Sr. set the fastest Atlantic-Open lap of the race at 1:22.787.
Eric Presbrey won the F2000 class in fifth overall, edging class polesitter Robert Wright, who finished seventh. Presbrey's best lap of 1:28.475 was just 0.068 seconds quicker than Wright's. Geoff Brabham was third in class in eighth overall, ahead of Steve Yarborough, Ron Hornig and Steve Egger.
F1600 Race 2
David Ybarra made it two for two in Sunday afternoon's 13-lap F1600 Race 2, with Boss Patel finishing second for the second straight race. David Adorno crossed the line third overall to take another Masters class win and his first overall podium at Barber, and his best lap of 1:30.543 matched Ybarra's to the thousandth. Cooper Travis recovered from Saturday's eighth-place result to finish fourth. Christian Menezes bounced back from 15th in Race 1 to take fifth, turning the race's second-fastest lap at 1:30.539.
Jake LeRoy, Nicolas Orbezo, Hugh Esterson and Chris Kierce rounded out the top-ten, with Clayton Stiles 11th. Axel LeRoy, sixth on Saturday, was classified 16th after completing 12 of the 13 laps. Steve Oseth and John Thompson completed the Masters order behind Adorno.
Atlantic/F2000 Championship Race
Liverato answered back in the 14-lap Atlantic/F2000 Championship Race, beating DellaCava to the overall and Atlantic-016 class win as the two split the weekend's races. Their best laps were just 0.050 seconds apart, 1:19.700 to 1:19.750, capping a weekend-long duel between the two Swift drivers.
Nicho Vardis rebounded from his shortened Race 1 to win the Atlantic-Open class in third overall, setting the class's fastest lap at 1:22.671. Dustin Hodges was second in class and fourth overall, with James Johnston Sr. and Brett Johnston third and fourth in class. Drew Holtgraewe and Jim Kelleher finished tenth and 12th.
Robert Wright reversed the Race 1 result to take the F2000 class win in seventh overall after Presbrey got caught up in an incident midway in the race, leaving Wright and Presbrey with one class win each at Barber. Geoff Brabham was second in class in his Brabham BT35, ahead of Steve Yarborough and Ron Hornig. Presbrey turned the fastest F2000 lap at 1:28.276 but completed only eight laps.
F1600 Championship Race
David Ybarra swept the weekend's F1600 races, winning the season-ending Championship Race. It was the perfect answer to Carolina Motorsports Park, where contact ended his Feature Race. Masters driver David Adorno finished second overall, his best result of the weekend, and his best lap of 1:30.750 was quicker than the winner's. The result completed Adorno's own sweep of the Masters class, with the class pole and all three race wins, following his outright Feature Race win at CMP. Jake LeRoy took third, giving K-Hill Motorsports a sweep of the overall podium.
Boss Patel finished fourth to close out a consistent weekend of second, second and fourth for BGR Piper RaceCars. Cooper Travis set the fastest lap of the race at 1:30.461 and finished fifth, capping a weekend in which he took pole and set the fastest lap in two of the three races but never reached the podium. Axel LeRoy finished sixth, and Clayton Stiles climbed to seventh for Iron Rock Motorsports after qualifying 11th. Robert Dusek III finished eighth, with Raceworks teammates Chris Kierce and John Kierce ninth and tenth.
Steve Oseth was second in the Masters class in 11th overall, ahead of David H. Livingston Jr. and John Thompson, while Nicolas Orbezo finished 12th.
With the 2026 season now complete, stay tuned for information for the 2027 season coming soon.
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