The Battle to be “King” Takes Shape
With the first of two weekends of racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on the books for both the F1600 Formula F Championship and the F2000 Championship Series, the battle for the title of “King of The Buckeyes” includes the “usual suspects” as well as several new names.
Changeable weather conditions on the opening day of racing favored series regulars in F2000 but Sunday’s more accommodating central Ohio summer introduced a pair of potential spoilers into the mix.
F2000 Series points leader Tim Minor tops the “King of the Buckeyes” chart with 97 points and his season long nemesis Kyle Connery isn’t far behind with 89. Sitting third is impressive Connecticut teen-ager Santino Ferrucci with 76, who scored his first F2000 pole position in just his fourth race in an F2000 car, and backed that up with a runner-up finish to Minor. Upholding honor for his home state is Solon’s Jim Libecco, who had his best ever series finish with a fourth place on Sunday. Libecco’s 59 points puts him just ahead of Canadian Steve Bamford (55 points), while 2011 F2000 Series runner-up Chris Livengood holds down sixth with 48 markers.
With the potential of 110 points in play when the series returns for the weekend of August 9-11 this segment of the “King of The Buckeyes” battle is wide open.
In F1600 Jake Eidson tops the chart with 97 points, ahead of Adrian Starrantino at 87. Both were race winners in the Ohio opener. Paul Alspach sits third with 65, just ahead of Steve Bamford who has 62. Aaron Telitz is fifth (with 61 points) and will be anxious to make up ground after leading Sunday’s race until a clash in the final corner with Starrantino dropped him to a twelfth place finish. Florida’s Jim Goughary rounds out the top 6 with 56 points. Virtually every driver in the F1600 series has had their share of good and bad luck over the course of the season, so both consistency and pace in the next two races will be crucial to determine the outcome of the battle for F1600’s “King of The Buckeyes”.
The special prize package for the King of the Buckeyes in both series will include a trophy and one-of-a-kind t-shirt from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course, an Ohio sweet treat, a 2014 test day provided by series organizer Formula Race Promotions, a poster size print of the winning car in each series provided by MathisenMedia, and a Dairy Queen gift card provided by F2000 series driver Aaron Pettipas on behalf of his sponsor, Dairy Queen/Orange Julius.
The battle for the title of “King of The Buckeyes” will be decided when F2000 and F1600 return to Mid-Ohio August 9-11. Complete standings for the “King of The Buckeyes” are available on the respective series websites
http://www.f2000championshipseries.com/pdfs/F2000_Buckeye%20Points.pdf