Nick Persing has retaken the lead in the chase for the outright championship following the final Blue Marble Radical Cup North America race during the NTT IndyCar Series Series Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America. Spectators lined the 4.048-mile, 14-turn layout to watch 32 drivers make a run for the respective class victories, with Indy Al Miller (Platinum), Danny Dyszelski (Pro 1500) and Gavin Sanders (Pro 1340) greeting the checkered flag, before a post-race penalty elevated Persing to the Pro 1500 win.
It was not long after the green flag flew that the caution was displayed during race nine of the multi-class championship. A first-corner incident saw six drivers off the track during the opening lap including Pro 1500 contenders Aurora Straus (ONE Motorsport), Jack Yang (Group-A Racing), Dave Tweedlie (RYNO Racing) and Richard Durocher (WISKO Racing), as well as Pro 1340 competitors of Ben Blander (Team Stradale) and Mike D’Ambrose (Team Stradale).
Up front in the Platinum class, it was Indy Al Miller (ONE Motorsports) who closed his weekend on a high after a tough fought battle with Steve Jenks (Group-A Racing) to finish the final race of the weekend on top. Alain Derzie (ONE Motorsports) rebounded from having his Saturday podium result stripped to a second place finish thanks a daring pass on Jason Plotke (Crown with Apex) through the famous kink. Jenks salvaged third after contact with Miller into Turn 6 while vying for the lead that sent him into a spin. In fact, Jenks earned the fastest lap of the race on his final tour as he made a run at Derzie but finished just 0.25s in arrears of the second-place finisher.
Plotke looked as though he would take second until Derzie and Jenks charged through, but nevertheless completed a consistent weekend with a fourth position, while former dirt-track racer turned Radical driver Wayne Williams (Esses Racing) earned fifth. A lack luster seventh place finish for Jon Field (ONE Motorsports) has seen his points buffer reduced to 32 over Indy Al Miller halfway through the championship.
Danny Dyszelski (WISKO Racing) looked set to extend his point lead in the Pro 1500 ranks, finishing 1.5 seconds ahead of Nick Persing (Radical Northwest) when the checkers came out. The pair had an amazing battle which saw Persing rebound after a first lap mishap to take the class lead. A dual with Dyszelski then ensued culminating with the WISKO driver attempting a pass into Turn 6. In a post-race review it was determined the pass was incomplete as the pair entered the yellow sector caused by Jenk’s spin, and Dyszelski was handed a post-race drive through relegating him to sixth. This elevated Persing to the win, and a six point lead over Dyszelski in both the outright championship and the Pro 1500 points battle.
RySpec Racing driver Robert Soroka added another podium to his growing resume, classified in the final results in second, while fellow Canadian Austin Riley (Racing With Autism) moved up to third, for his best result of the weekend. Gregg Gorski (ONE Motorsports) and David Alban (WISKO Racing) rounded out the top five and will look to battle again in Toronto.
Gavin Sanders (Radical Canada East) went three-for-three on the weekend in the Pro 1340 class as he had a perfect event once the wheel-to-wheel action commenced. In a similar result to Saturday, Sanders earned the win ahead of Robert Cipriani (Team Stradale) as Ken Savage (G-Tech Motorsports) rounded out the podium. Saturday’s sixth-place finisher of Seth Bacon (Crown Racing) improved on Sunday to put his Crown Racing machine in the fourth position, just ahead of Andy Voekel (Crown Racing) in fifth place, but the latter was later penalized along with Ben Blander for his role in the Turn 1 mayhem, elevating teammate Evan Wolf to fifth. Ken Savage’s consistency proved key this weekend as he quietly increased his lead over Steve Bacon to 18 points in the Pro 1340 championship.
“What a weekend with IndyCar at Road America,” said Radical’s Tom Drewer. “The competition in this series continues to grow, and despite a few full course cautions we saw some truly outstanding racing in each of the three classes. We’re off to Canada now for the Hondy Indy on the Streets of Toronto July 14-16, where the Blue Radical Cup North America Series will team up with FEL’s Emzone Radical Cup Canada series. It promises to be another big grid.”
Next month’s event will be the first-ever street circuit for the Blue Marble Radical Cup North America program. Be sure to stay tuned to the Blue Marble Radical Cup social media pages for news, information, photos, and results from the event weekend.
Blue Marble Radical Cup events are open to all local and regional Radical racers with eligible cars to participate. More information, including links to register for events and obtain licensing, can be found at www.radicalmotorsport.com. Please stay tuned to the Blue Marble Radical Cup North America social media pages for news and updates from the 2023 season.