Series Returns to Buttonwillow Raceway Park after Mid-Season Break

Buttonwillow, Calif. (July 25, 2013) – With the traditional mid-season break coming to an end the Pacific Formula F2000/F1600 Championship returns to Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Buttonwillow, California July 27th and 28th for a pair of races on the 2.920 mile course as both teams and drivers prepare themselves for the championship run. Eight of the fifteen races have now been completed making each event more important for the competitors as the available points diminish and every finishing position becomes more critical.

The series, for both F1600 and F2000 cars and has attracted some of the finest talent on the west coast competing in a fifteen races series held over six race weekends. The competitors will count their top thirteen finishes toward the championship.

The Formula F1600 group is headed by PR1 Motorsports with a pair of 2012 Mygale/ Hondas for Colton Herta and Joey Bickers closely followed by Lynx Racing running two 2013 Spectrum/ Hondas for Andrew Evans and Alex Keyes.

Colton Herta, the son of Bryan Herta, the race-winning IndyCar driver and Indianapolis 500 winning team owner, driving the #98 PR1 Motorsports w/BHA Curb-Agajanian entry sponsored by DVSshoeCompany, CurbRecords, Mygale N.America, OMP, BellHelmets, PenskeShocks, Mygale/Honda has won five of the eight races held and leads the championship by thirty one points.

Joey Bickers having won twice and most recently at Fontana in round 8 is second in the points and is hoping to continue his challenge of Herta for the top honors. With only hundredths of a second separating Bickers and Herta, his five runner-up finishes could have easily been victories as he looks to pursue Herta to the final lap of the series.

Lynx Racing is making a strong return to competition after nine years since last competing in the former Toyota Atlantic Series, supporting Andrew Evans and Alex Keyes in a pair of new 2013 Spectrum chassis powered by Honda engines. Both Evans and Keyes have had successes during their karting days and have shown tremendous progress since the season began and have benefitted from their association with Lynx Racing.

Alex Kirby will make his third appearance in the series in his familiar #81, Fast Forward Components, Piper DF5/Honda.

The Swiss Motorsports entry this weekend will be driven by the Jim Stewart driving the #89, Swiss Motorsports, True Ventures Mygale SJ04/Honda. Stewart competed in the F2000 group in a Van Diemen/Zetec in the first eight races.

The F2000 grid is led a pair of independents, championship leading Tom Hope, #18 H&M Racing, Dart, Carbir and second placed Bob Negron, a former series Masters Class (drivers 51+) Champion will be in the #9, Terri Negron Web Design, fengshuimebaby.com, Van Diemen. Hope with two victories and Negron with three are separated by only twenty nine points as they prepare to compete this weekend hoping to gain the top step of the podium again after having been shut out in the three recent races at Fontana.

Dave Freitas Racing from Santa Fe Springs, CA. is fielding entries for series veterans Peter West and Ira Fierberg with a third entry for Harindra DeSilva. West will be in his familiar #99, Frank Monise Motors, Zombo.com, Kodenko Jeans, T.J. Martell Foundation Van Diemen while Fierberg will be in his familiar #27, DFR Van Diemen and DeSilva in the #6, DFR Van Diemen.

Fierberg won all three races in the last event at Fontana and looks to keep his winning streak alive at Buttonwillow.

Defending Masters Class Champion Les Phillips, #2, Swiss Implants, Porterfield Brakes Van Diemen and Michael Murphy, #18 Mygale SJ04 will round out the field. Phillips hoping to improve on his Fontana performance and Murphy makes his return to the series.

Qualifying for round 9 begins at 8:00am with the race to follow at 11:30am Saturday. Round 10 race is scheduled for 8:00am Sunday.

The single-seat, open-wheel F2000 cars are powered by 2-liter Ford Zetec engines and are capable of speeds in excess of 140 mph. All cars run on Hankook tires supplied by Sierra Tire. The F1600 cars will be powered by either the 1500cc Honda Fit engine or the venerable 1600cc Ford ‘Kent’ engine and will run on Hoosier tires.

Series sponsors include VP Racing fuels, Sierra Tire, Corsa Car Care, Porterfield Brakes, Wine Country Motorsports, Aerocraft Fiberglass & Design, and Buttonwillow Raceway.

The series can be followed at facebook.com/pacificformulafracing and twitter.com/PacificF2000.

For more details go to www.pacificf2000.com or contact Les Phillips at 661-764-5333, or by email, lesrace@aol.com.