Formula Race Promotions Season Opener Concludes with First Time Winners
It was a weekend of firsts and family during the opening round of the 2025 Formula Race Promotions program as the series began at the famed Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The Cahan and Defonce families dominated the F1600 category as Gabriel Cahan also climbed to a pair of race wins in the USF Juniors subset of F2000. A strong field of Atlantic drivers provided some great wheel-to-wheel action as the first points were awarded towards the 2025 championship chase.
“What a good start to our season,” expressed FRP’s Bob Wright. “We have a tremendous amount of talent in our program, including several names that you will hear for years to come. F1600 has three sets of brothers competing (DeFonce, Cahan, Kearce), which is great to see. Congrats to all our teams and drivers for a great start to what is sure to be a competitive season.”
F1600
Qualifying
1. Karsten Defonce – 1:30.099
2. Dillon Defonce – 1:30.544
3. Wesley Gundler – 1:31.189
4. Gabriel Cahan – 1:31.309
5. Ayrton Cahan – 1:31.390
F1600 Masters
1. Joe Colasacco – 1:31.520
2. Phil Kingham – 1:31.568
3. David Adorno – 1:31.728
4. David Livingston Jr. – 1:31.883
5. Steve Oseth – 1:32.315
Race #1
It was a first-time race winner in the first F1600 race of the season as sophomore F1600 driver Ayrton Cahan climbed his way to the top step of the podium. Improving from his P5 starting spot, Cahan was on a mission as he rocketed his way to the front of the field and scored the fastest lap of the race in his Eric Langbein Racing #22 machine. Ayrton wasn’t the only Cahan on the podium as 2024 F2000 champion Gabriel Cahan joined his brother on the box in the third position to make it a Cahan one-three finish as they were split by second place qualifier Dillon Defonce. Joe Colasacco led the F1600 Masters field and finished fourth overall. Pole position winner Karsten Defonce closed his first wheel-to-wheel action of the season in the fifth position. With Colasacco winning F1600 Masters, David Adorno and Phil Kingham joined him on the podium in second and third, as Steve Oseth and Scott Rubenzer rounded out the top-five in class.
Race #2
Karsten Defonce was able to get revenge in race two as he was the first to the checkered flag in the ten lap sprint race and scored his first win of the season to go along with a pole position earlier in the day. The Cahan boys were back on the podium in race two, this time in second and third. Ayrton continued his career weekend, narrowly edging his brother for the second position as Gabe finished third. It was a theme of siblings in the top-five, with Dillon Defonce fourth, putting the Defonce family equal to the Cahan duo. David Livingston crossed the line fifth overall but at the head of the F1600 Masters field for his first win of the season. Race one winner Joe Colasacco was second in the Masters class while multi-time race winner Scott Rubenzer rounded out the podium in P3 while David Adorno and Steve Oseth completed the top-five. Fast lap honor went to Dillon Defonce.
Race #3
It was a Defonce one–two in the third and final F1600 race of the weekend as Dillon Defonce found his way to the front of the field, just ahead of Karsten Defonce in second. Ayrton Cahan continued his career weekend, scoring his third podium result in as many races, finishing third as all three front-runners set nearly identical lap times. Masters driver David Livingston Jr. finished fourth on track, with Gabriel Cahan rounding out the top five. Joining Livingston on the top step of the Masters Podium. Joe Colasacco in second. Bob Reid, Gary Gacelter, and David Adorno rounded out the top 5 Masters field. Still, at press time, an ongoing Stewards investigation makes it unclear who will ultimately be the third place in Masters.
F2000
Qualifying
1. Gabriel Cahan – 1:23.987
2. Justin di Lucia – 1:24.939
3. Brandon Dixon – 1:25.082
4. Kaylee Countryman – 1:25.221
5. Carter Sheets – 1:28.238
Race #1
The F2000 field was divided into two sections: traditional F2000 and cars qualifying for the USF Juniors class. We started the weekend with six traditional entries and three USF cars. On the podium in the two F2000 races of the day, Multi-time race winner and champion Brandon Dixon was the best of the traditional F2000 entries finishing first in his #5 machine, just ahead of Robert Wright, who finished second with Dave Weitzenhof third. Gabriel Cahan continued his presence at the front of the field in F2000/USF Juniors. Scoring the pole position, Cahan handily drove to the F2000/USF Juniors win, earning the fastest F2000/USF Juniors race lap. Racing out of the Exclusive Autosport stable, Cahan was the front end of a team one-two-three finish in the class with Justin Di Lucia crossing the stripe in the second position and female standout Kaylee Countryman in third.
Race #2
Brandon Dixon finished first in traditional F2000, with Carter Sheets recouping from mechanical issues in race one to finish second and Robert Wright joining in the third spot just ahead of long time contender Dave Weitzenhof and newcomer Arshia Akhtar in fifth.
Race two for the F2000/USF Juniors was a carbon copy podium result as race one as Gabriel Cahan scored his second win of the weekend and looks to be the main contender for the title. In an Exclusive Autosport podium sweep, Cahan led Justin Di Lucia and Kaylee Countryman in a second consecutive 1 – 2 – 3 finish.
Atlantic
Qualifying – 016
1. John Mcaleer – 1:17.140
2. Richard Zober – 1:19.415
3. Shane Kennett – 1:20.396
Qualifying #1 – Open
1. Nathan Byrd – 1:20.894
2. Charles Livingston – 1:20.988
3. James French – 1:21.052
4. R. Bruce Hamilton – 1:21.284
5. Brandon Schwarz – 1:21.523
Race #1
In the multi-class Atlantic program, 16 Atlantic drivers took to the track for qualifying and then race one, but none faster than John Mcaleer. After earning the 016 pole position earlier in the day, Mcaleer scored the fastest lap of the 14 lap race one, and took his #68 machine to the checkered flag. Richard Zober and Shane Kennett followed suit finishing second and third as the top-three from qualifying remained static in the race.
The Atlantic Open class saw some changes at the front. After Nathan Byrd scored the pole position in qualifying over Charles Livingston by less than a tenth of a second, it was James French who converted his P3 qualifying effort into the race win. Showing greater pace in wheel-to-wheel action, French scored the fastest Open lap of the race on the way to victory. Brandon Schwarz was able to sneak by Byrd and Livingston to stand on the podium in second with the pole position winner Nathan Byrd having to settle for third with Bruce Hamilton and Charles Livingston rounding out the top-five.
Race #2
Mcaleer made it two-for-two in the Atlantic 016 class as he was able to drive to his second win of the weekend, as well as the fastest lap of the race. Third-place finisher from Saturday, Shane Kennett, improved Sunday to stand on the podium for the second consecutive day in P2, while Richard Zober celebrated on the podium with a third-place effort.
In the Atlantic Open class, Schwarz improved from his P2 result Saturday to take the victory Sunday in his first trip to the top step of the podium in 2025. Nathan Byrd also made an improvement from Saturday to Sunday, climbing from a third-place finish Saturday to finishing second Sunday. James French was able to celebrate on the podium with Schwarz and Byrd with his third-place result, as Bruce Hamilton and Tim Pierce finished in the top-five.
Next up for FRP teams and competitors will be a trip to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course over the April 25-27 weekend. Visit www.RaceFRP.com to register.
Please remember to tag Formula Race Promotions on social media and send all your news to Media@RaceFRP.com so we can help promote you! Also, event photo packages can be purchased from RTD Media – please contact Mike@RTD-Media.com for more information.
Stay tuned for all the news and information about the event. You can find details about it on the FRP website at racefrp.com and on social media throughout the event weekend.
Please remember that all series news, information, results, photos, and PR will be communicated through our social media pages listed below. Please be sure to tag FRP in any posts to help us have the ability to promote you.
Be sure to follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: @FormulaRacePromotions
Facebook: @FormulaRacePromotions
X: @FormulaRaceProm
For questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to reach out to Bob Wright RobertW@RaceFRP.com or Clay Hutchison ClayH@RaceFRP.com. For media inquiries, please contact us via email at Media@RaceFRP.com.