Title Hunt Builds at Keystone Speedfest
Salem, NH –The cars and stars of the Formula Race Promotion trio of Championships – F1600, F2000 and Atlantic – are entering the second half of their 2018 seasons and will do battle in front of a huge turnout of spectators expected this weekend at the Keystone Speedfest at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Fans jamming the hillsides at the track will see the largest F1600 Championship Series field of the year take to the course on their spec Hoosier Tires for three action-packed 30-minute races. With races at Pittsburgh often coming down to a margin of victory in the thousandths of seconds, Championship points leader Dario Cangialosi will look to keep his edge over K-Hill teammates Tyler O'Connor and Yuven Sundarmoorthy in what has been an action-packed 2018 season as just nine races remain.
Pittsburgh starts the run to the title-weekend, with further events scheduled at the end of August at Summit Point and mid September at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Joey Essma is back as is Team Pelfrey after a brief hiatus from F1600 competition. The Florida-based team, which took top honors in the Championship in 2017, is coming back to F1600 with a three-car effort as Cortney Crone makes her F1600 debut alongside Essma and Ayrton Ori.
Elsewhere in the field, expectations are high for Christian Lall Dass, who spent the Mid-Ohio weekend running at the front of the field and looks to build on his pace.
In the F2000 Championship Series, only six races remain, and two at Pittsburgh will help define the title fight heading into the back-end of the 2018 season.
Steve Jenks and Brandon Dixon are neck and neck, one and two in the points, and both men are coming off wins and strong drives at Mid-Ohio. Simon Sikes sits behind them, third in points, ahead of James Roe and Davis Durrett with Reece Everard in sixth.
Among entry list notables in F2000 are local racer Trent Walko, as well as Cory Milne, making his series debut for Tumenas Motorsports as a teammate to points leader Jenks.
Baltazar Leguizamon has a massive points lead in the Atlantic Championship Series, coming off a clean sweep at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course as the K-Hill driver edges closer to clinching the title well before the season concludes in September.
The Argentinean racer will have his work cut out for him, however, as Polestar’s Keith Grant will be back in action in Pittsburgh, and has been incredibly fast at the technical and high-speed track in past seasons.
The action gets going on Friday morning when the gates open at the state-of-the-art Pittsburgh International Race Complex.