A new US racing series for 2016! 

On  November 12 the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Pro Racing division announced the 2106 dates for the inaugural FIA-certified F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda. The world-wide Formula 4 championship was created in 2014 as a single-make category by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). F4 series races were held in 2015 in Australia, Italy, Japan, Britain, Europe, China, and Mexico.

 photo by the author 

The F4 United States Championship will make its debut at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut on May 27 & 28 together with the Pirelli World Challenge GT and GTS events. The next stop on the schedule will at the New Jersey Motorsports Park together with the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series scheduled for June 10-12. 

The series then takes an extended break before racing on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 13-14 on a weekend highlighted by the SCCA Tran-Am NASCAR (national Association of Stock Car Racing) XFINITY Series. 

The SCCA says that mid-season breaks were built into the schedule to allow each team a chance to reset before making their push to end of the season. Teams can examine data from earlier races to optimize both car and driver for a chance to capture the inaugural series championship.

A month later, the F4 race weekend will be at Road Atlanta, September 17-18 shared with HSR’s (Historic Sports Car Racing) fall vintage weekend , before the season concludes at the   Homestead-Miami Speedway paired again with the SCCA Trans-Am Series on October 9-10.

Drivers get three hours of track time every race weekend, including two free practice sessions, one qualifying session and three races. Starting grids and point scoring are in accordance with global F4 series standards. Each race win pays $1,000, and the top points earner for the weekend wins $1,000.

An example of the new entry-level, cost-contained open wheel cars was on display at the Honda display at SEMA 2015 in Las Vegas Nevada.  According to the SCCA, the US series has generated significant interest since its September 2015 launch as the chassis manufacturer Crawford Composites, based in North Carolina run by new Zealand native Max Crawford) North Carolina has sent 92 purchase agreements to race teams, drivers, and driving schools.

photo by the author 

The American-built Crawford carbon-composite chassis will cost $45,000 each and will include a fixed aero package paddle shifters, data acquisition, and a camera. The cars will each be powered by Honda K20 C1 2.0-liter engine sourced from a European 2016 Honda Civic Type R. The Honda engine displaces two liters or 122 cubic inches, used double overhead camshafts and direct fuel injection. Each race engine will produce 158 horsepower, and will carry a one-year lease price of $6,600. 

photo by the author

Pirelli P Zero racing radial tires complete the package, which will be priced at approximately $250 apiece, with a maximum allotment of six tires (three front, three rear) per race weekend. The plan is for Crawford Composites to begin delivery of completed race cars to customers in January 2016.

Details and updates are available at http://www.f4uschampionship.com/

Information for this article was provided by Honda Performance Development and the SCCA. 

A step back to racing tradition!

In the 'good old days' of racing history, Indianpolis '500' drivers also drove sprint cars and midget cars in events held at racing venues all across our country. The local appearances by the national cars and stars at the local tracks helped to "build the brand" of Indianapolis car racing. 

Last Saturday night, that tradition returned as IndyCar Series rookie Gabby Chavez shocked the midget racing world by finishing fifth in his first-ever midget car race start in the 'Tony Stewart Classic' held July 25 2015 at the historic 1/5-mile Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome oval located on Indianapolis’ east side.

In addition to the induction of the 2015 USAC United States Auto Club Hall of Fame class that included midget car champions Jimmy Caruthers, Don Kenyon, Larry Rice, Clark ‘Shorty’ Templeman, and Ron ‘Sleepy’ Tripp, the 100-lap 'Tony Stewart Classic' also featured the unique Shepherd Insurance ‘Tail Gunner Challenge.’ 

The leader at the mandatory 75-lap intermission was offered the opportunity to take the ‘Tail Gunner Challenge’ - restart at the tail of the field, and if after 25 laps he was able to win the race, he would capture the ‘Tail Gunner’ $10,000 bonus in addition to the $5,000 winner’s purse. If the leader declined, the offer would be extended to the second place driver, and if he also declined, the third place driver could take up the ‘Tail Gunner Challenge.’   

No one in the insurance business understands the racing business better than the Shepherd Insurance motorsports team, which is led by race team owner Tom Johnson and his son Jeff. Together, the Johnson’s have over 50 years of experience insuring motorsports teams and are charter members of the Indiana Motorsports Association. Shepherd Insurance knows exactly what racers need, because Tom and Jeff eat, drink and breathe racing. Contact Shepherd Insurance through their website at http://www.shepherdins.com

Gabriel ‘Gabby’ Chavez, the 22-year old Colombian IndyCar Series rookie and 2014 Indy Lights champion had never driven a midget race car prior to his first Friday afternoon practice session. Chavez drove the #9C Honda HPD sponsored midget owned by USAC, which is powered by the Honda HPD K24 146-cubic inch double overhead camshaft (DOHC) 4-cylinder USAC HPD midget series ‘spec engine.’ Chavez’ entry likely produced 150 horsepower less than the USAC Honda National Midget Series race cars he competed against in the Tony Stewart Classic.

Chavez completed time trials with his HPD #9C machine eleventh fastest overall of the 23 qualifiers, just two-tenths of a second behind 'Bowes Seal Fast' fastest qualifier Grant Galloway.  Chavez then finished second in his heat race behind Joey Burrow to advance into the 25-car feature starting field. After starting the feature in eleventh position, by the 75-lap intermission, Chavez had moved into third place.

Leader Kyle Hamilton of Danville Indiana declined to accept the Shepherd Insurance “Tail Gunner Challenge,’ as did second place driver Galloway. Chavez, in third place, accepted the challenge to the delight of the spectators, and over the final 25 green flag laps raced from the tail of the field back up to fifth place at the drop of the checkered flag behind Hamilton, Galloway, Kevin Studley, and Ross Rankine. 

Although he fell short of winning the race and the $10,000 Shepherd Insurance bonus, the young Columbian racer gained the respect and admiration of many long-time midget racing fans with his exciting first-time midget racing performance.