24 Mazda & Goodyear Equipped Formula Cars Battle it Out at I

24 Mazda & Goodyear Equipped Formula Cars Battle it Out at Infineon Raceway
Slone Wins it All in FM, O'Neill and Guasch win one race each in Pro FM

June 14th, 2011
Sonoma, CA

The Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear visited Infineon Raceway for rounds 5 and 6 this past weekend. The FCC West Coast Region visits Infineon Raceway for 8 of their 14 races, but uses a variety of track configurations to make it more exciting.

"We have a lot of different options, and this weekend we used the Indy Car track with the long turn seven for Saturday's race. On Sunday we switched over to the exact Indy Car track." noted Series Official Ben Hettema. "These two courses allow for a lot of passing opportunities which made both races action packed. Twenty four drivers showed up for the event, and it was a great mix of classes."

The top three in Saturday's Pro FM qualifying were Patrick O'Neill, Michael Guasch, and Phil Fogg Jr. This was Fogg's first FCC event, but he is a long time veteran of the Star Mazda Series and has won races in the Star Mazda Expert Class. The top three in FM qualifying were Bill Weaver, Jamie Slone, and Derry O'Donovan.

At the start of race one the #7 car lost power right as the green flag dropped and the cars behind him scrambled to avoid him and retain their position. This had little effect on the Pro FM class, but did shuffle the Formula Mazda racers. Jamie Slone was able to get ahead of Weaver and he held that position until the checkered flag. In the Pro FM class Patrick O'Neill and Mike Guasch battled at the front, while Phil Fogg Junior and Dave House battled right behind them. For much of the race it looked like Fogg would be on the podium in his first FCC event. House was eventually able to get by Fogg as they both worked traffic in turn 10, and he stayed ahead of him for the balance of the race. The podium for round 5 in Pro FM was Patrick O'Neill, Mike Guasch, and Dave House. The FM podium was Jamie Slone, Matt Trudell, and Derry O'Donovan.

On Sunday Mike Guasch took the pole position in Pro FM, and Slone was on pole for FM. The start of the race was less hectic, but the balance of the race saw multiple incidents that would bring out the yellow flag and require two restarts. Guasch held off his long time rival O'Neill for three starts to guarantee the top spot on the PFM podium. O'Neill finished in second, and Dave House finished third. The Formula Mazda podium was Jamie Slone, Todd McAllister, and Peter Workum.

At every FCC event Goodyear Racing awards free racing tires. The award winners this weekend were Paul LaHaye, Jamie Slone, Matt Trudell, and Todd McAllister.

The series heads to Portland International Raceway next for Rounds 7 & 8. This is a unique event as it is during the Oregon Region SCCA weekend, and the FCC drivers can participate in the SCCA races as well. This makes for a lot of racing as this is the only quadruple-header on the 2011 schedule in all of open wheel racing. The Portland event is July 1st - 3rd, with a series test day on June 30th.

Official Press Release with links to photos, video, and results sheets:
http://www.formulacarchallenge.com/N...neInfineon.pdf

Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear on FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/formulacar