Formula Race Promotions Crowns Multiple First-Time Podium Finishers in Exciting Pitt Race Weekend
Formula Race Promotions (FRP) continued their season as May rolled into June with over 70 open-wheel cars competing at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, with a wide array of drivers across various backgrounds and ages taking home prizes.
In total, nine different drivers walked away with overall or class victories as fans were treated to a wide variety of quality competition, including four races which had the overall results come down to less than one-tenth of a second at the finish.
Teams began practice on Friday morning, with races kicking off Saturday afternoon and running through Sunday. While some rain hit the region on the first two days, providing challenging mixed conditions, the Sun came out on Sunday, and the track warmed up for the final five races.
Weekend Racing Recap:
F1600
Qualifying – Overall
- Gabriel Cahan
- Chace Supplee
- Dillon Defonce
- John Thompson
- Ayrton Cahan
Qualifying – F1600 Masters
- John Thompson
- Scott Rubenzer
- Phil Kingham
- David H. Livingston Jr.
- Bob Reid
Race 1 – Overall
- Gabriel Cahan
- Ayrton Cahan
- Wesley Gundler
- Chace Supplee
- Cooper Travis
Race 1 – Masters
- John Thompson
- David Adorno
- David H. Livingston Jr.
- Scott Rubenzer
- Bob Reid
Race 2 - Overall
- Wesley Gundler
- Cooper Travis
- Ayrton Cahan
- Gabriel Cahan
- Chace Supplee
Race 2 - Masters
- David Adorno
- Phil Kingham
- Scott Rubenzer
- John Thompson
- Bob Reid
Race 3 - Overall
- Chris Horan
- Wesley Gundler
- Gabriel Cahan
- Chace Supplee
- David Adorno
Race 3 - Masters
- David Adorno
Race 1 Recap
Gabriel Cahan closed the gap between him and his championship-leading younger brother ever so slightly this afternoon with a race win where the top three cars were separated by just over a tenth of a second as they crossed the line.
After emerging from a late restart, Gabriel Cahan managed to hold off his brother across the line with K-Hill’s Wesley Gundler sitting just behind the two.
“I appreciate Ayrton and Wesley for driving me very cleanly,” explained Gabriel Cahan. “It made it very entertaining and was a great last lap battle for sure.”
In the master’s class, John Thompson took a similarly tight win over David Adorno to take the class victory. Adorno started the race in fifteenth and clawed back to just two tenths of Thompson in sixth overall, but Thompson held on.
“It’s fun to have Gabriel and Ayrton help push me to be a better driver,” said Thompson. “These guys have been a great help.”
Race 2 Recap
In a breakout moment for the series rookie, North Carolina native Wesley Gundler took his first F1600 win after securing back-to-back podiums in the previous two races for K-Hill Motorsports, propelling Gundler to third in the championship standings.
“From the beginning, it was just smooth sailing from there,” said Gundler. “I was just counting the laps down and hoping nothing happened, and it went really well.”
Gundler’s victory was not the only first among the F1600 rookies during the race, as Cooper Travis picked up his first career podium in the series with a second-place finish as the two checked out from the rest of the field. It was Travis’s second consecutive top five after finishing fifth in race 1.
“It was a great race,” expressed Travis on the podium. “Started sixth, got a couple of places on the start…I want to thank my team, my sponsors, my fellow racers, and Hoosier Tire. It was an amazing race.”
Behind them were the brothers of Ayrton Cahan and Gabriel Cahan, who maintained their spots at first and second in the championship race, respectively, after their finish.
Running with the leaders but falling back in the second half of the race was David Adorno, who held off a hard-charging Phil Kingham and Scott Rubenzer directly in his mirrors to take the victory in the Masters class at the same track he picked up two classes victories in F1600 Masters racing with FRP in 2023.
“We got a real battle going on,” explained Adorno after the race. “At a couple of points, Phil almost had me going through turn two, so I had to defend and made sure I made that car as wide as I could.”
Race 3 Recap
The final F1600 race of the weekend was the tightest wheel-to-wheel action yet, with multiple laps resulting in the leaders coming across the line three-wide. By the time three laps had been completed, the front seven drivers were still only separated on track by three-tenths of a second.
Chace Supplee found the space to build out a gap soon after, when his battle for the lead with pole sitter Cooper Travis was ended by Travis having an issue that forced him into the pits and out of the race.
Supplee eventually found Wesley Gundler right behind him pressuring as the race reached the halfway point. Gundler made the move for the race lead on lap seven, but that wasn’t all the action as Chris Horan would eventually make a move for second and begin pressuring Gundler in the closing laps.
Gundler and Horan traded places all the way up until the line, where Horan pulled off the race win, but only by 0.012 seconds in a photo finish.
David Adorno capped off his weekend with his second Masters class victory and was even running at the front of the overall field and hanging around the fifth spot throughout the race, securing the first overall top five for a master’s driver of the 2025 season.
F2000
Qualifying 1
- Brandon Dixon
- Sebastian Newberg
- Carter Sheets
- Bob Wright
- Anthony DiCesaro
Race 1
- Brandon Dixon
- Carter Sheets
- Bob Wright
- Ken DeNault
- Arshia Akhtar
Qualifying 2
- Brandon Dixon
- Sebastian Newberg
- Carter Sheets
- Bob Wright
- Anthony DiCesaro
Race 2
- Brandon Dixon
- Glenn Cordova
- Carter Sheets
- Bob Wright
- Sebastian Newberg
Race 1 Recap
Continuing on his dominant pace throughout the weekend, Brandon Dixon took the F2000 class win in the first race of the weekend after topping both practice sessions and qualifying. He moved closer to the weekend sweep in a race which saw him take the fastest lap in the class by over two seconds, taking his third win of the season in as many races.
After a lengthy safety car period bunched the pack up mid-race, Carter Sheets showed calmness under the pressure to build a gap to Bob Wright behind as the two held on to take the final podium spots. Wright’s podium finish also allowed him to extend his lead in the championship.
“It was a great battle for the first couple of laps,” said Sheets. “We were switching positions constantly. Once the safety car came out, we all settled into a channel together and just kept moving.”
After stepping out of the car, Dixon remarked on his admiration for being able to come out and have the opportunity to compete in a series like FRP.
“It’s always great to be on the podium with Bob,” added Dixon after taking the checkered flag. “Thanks Bob for putting on a great series. We all owe you so much.”
Race 2 Recap
Brandon Dixon completed the weekend sweep by taking victory for the fourth consecutive F2000 race he entered in dominant fashion, holding a 10-second gap to Glenn Cordova behind for most of the race.
It was Cordova’s first start of the weekend, and he managed to keep consistent pace to Carter Sheets behind, who secured his second consecutive podium. Bob Wright also ended up in the top five for the second race in a row, with the field bunching up together at the end due to the race concluding under caution.
Atlantic
Qualifying 1 – Atlantic 016
- John Mcaleer
Qualifying 1 – Atlantic Open
- Bob Corliss
- Tim Pierce
- Brandon Dixon
- Paulie Gatto
- Brandon Schwarz
Qualifying 1 – Atlantic USF Juniors
- Justin di Lucia
Race 1 – Atlantic 016
- John Mcaleer
Race 1 – Atlantic Open
- Brandon Schwarz
- Tim Pierce
- Bob Corliss
- Jason Slahor
- Paulie Gatto
Race 1 – Atlantic USF Juniors
- Justin di Lucia
Qualifying 2 - Atlantic 016
- John Mcaleer
Qualifying 2 - Atlantic Open
- Bob Corliss
- Brandon Schwarz
- Tim Pierce
- Charles Livingston
- Paulie Gatto
Qualifying 2 - Atlantic USF Juniors
- Justin di Lucia
Race 2 - Atlantic 016
- John Mcaleer
Race 2 - Atlantic Open
- Brandon Schwarz
- Tim Pierce
- Paulie Gatto
- Charles Livingston
- Steve Hamilton
Race 2 - Atlantic USF Juniors
- Justin di Lucia
Race 1 Recap
Starting sixth in the field, Havoc Motorsport’s Brandon Schwarz stormed to the front in the opening laps of the Atlantic Championship’s open class race to take the class victory, extending his win streak in the series to four races. Schwarz built a considerable gap over Tim Pierce and Bob Corliss, who both picked up their first podiums of the season. Schwarz built out his championship lead over Paulie Gatto, who finished fifth in the class.
“I was able to grab the lead at the end of the second lap,” said Schwarz. “And from there it was kind of free sailing, (it was) a good race and a fun race.”
In the 016 class, John Mcaleer picked up the win and set an overall fastest lap of 1:35.907.
“Thanks to FRP for letting us do this, and thanks to Hoosier Tire,” said McAleer.
Justin di Lucia picked up the win for Exclusive Autosport in the USF Juniors class as well.
“I’m definitely getting more experience,” said di Lucia. “I can’t thank Formula Race Promotions and Exclusive Autosport enough for everything they’re doing.”
Race 2 Recap
Brandon Schwarz had a much easier journey to the front of the Atlantic Championship’s Open field in the second and final race of the weekend, having started on the front row and maintaining the lead throughout the race until it ended after a caution came out in the final minutes.
It was Schwarz’s second win of the weekend and marks his fifth consecutive victory as he beat out Tim Pierce and Paulie Gatto, who finished behind him on the podium. It was back-to-back second-place finishes for Pierce as he capped off a strong weekend.
For the second consecutive race, John Mcaleer set blazing lap times ahead of the field as the winner of the 016 class. Justin di Lucia continued to battle wheel-to-wheel with open class drivers as he grabbed his second class victory of the weekend. Both drivers entered the race second in their class standings and exited with the championship lead.
CCS
Qualifying
- Mitchell Ferguson
- Mike Lawrence
- Samuel Ryan
- Trevor Carmody
- Sherman Engler
Race 1
- Mike Lawrence
- Mitchell Ferguson
- Jeff Filipowski
- Mark Farnham
- Trevor Carmody
Race 2
- Mike Lawrence
- Mitchell Ferguson
- Jeff Filipowski
- Samuel Ryan
- Sherman Engler
Race 1 Recap
In the Challenge Cup Series, Mike Lawrence extended his championship lead by picking up the race win in a remarkable photo finish, which saw him beat Mitchell Ferguson to the line by only six thousandths of a second. Jeff Filipowski, 11th in the championship heading into the weekend, finished in third place ahead of the championship’s second-place runner, Samuel Ryan, to round out the podium in a 26-car field, which saw tight racing throughout.
Race 2 Recap
Mike Lawrence continued his dominance at Pitt Race by taking back-to-back victories in another photo finish where this time he beat Ferguson to the line by two hundredths of a second. The win is Lawrence’s third of the season as he extends his podium streak in the series to include all four races of 2025. Ferguson capped off his first CCS race weekend in 2025 with his second consecutive podium, ahead of Jeff Filipowski, who is bound to move upward in the championship standings after finishing in the top three just over a second behind the leaders.
Next up for FRP teams and competitors is a trip to Road America from June 26 to June 30. Visit www.RaceFRP.com to register.
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