Cooper Shipman Closes Out 2026 Season with FR Americas Win

Cooper Shipman earned his third win of the season, taking the checkered flag in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday afternoon.

Notes of Interest:

• Cooper Shipman won his third race of 2026, taking the checkered flag in the final race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park.
• Tying his career-best finish, Christian Bogle finished second in Race 2 at Barber. The 25-year-old bookmarked the season with runner-up finishes, recording second-place results in both the first and final round.
• For the sixth time this season, Luke Powers finished inside the top three.
• Kevin Janzen scored his sixth Masters Cup Championship win to finish off the year as the Vice Champion in the class.
• With Powers and Bogle both representing Toney Driver Development the Brownsburg, Ind.-based organization locked in the Team Championship title over Crosslink Motorsports.

Starting from pole, Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) took immediate control of the field as soon as the lights went out. Behind him, second-place starter Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) and third-place starter Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) made contact in Turn 1 with Papasavvas dropping four wheels off the racing surface and rejoining the field eighth. Golan, meanwhile, continued on to spend the early laps in second place with Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) trailing in third. Just past the halfway point, Hauanio came down pit lane to the attention of his crew before ultimately retiring from the event.

At the same time, the full-course yellow was displayed for safety crews to retrieve a disabled car on the circuit. The ensuing restart gave Golan another opportunity to pull side by side with Shipman, but with Golan’s backend getting loose, the 2026 Champion went spinning through Turn 1. Papasavvas had climbed back through the field and capitalized on Golan’s spin to take second with less than three minutes left on the clock. Bogle, too, had climbed from his sixth-place starting position into third, and as the checkered flag waved, it was Shipman followed by Papasavvas and Bogle.

Following the race, the stewards received a protest from Toney Driver Development on behalf of Bogle, alleging that Papasavvas made contact with Bogle just before the halfway point of the race. Reviewing video footage, the stewards ruled that Papasavvas was solely responsible for the contact, and as such, issued a 10-second post-race time penalty, dropping Papasavvas from second to fifth in the final results. As a result, Luke Powers was promoted to third to claim the final podium position.

“After I got the lead off the start, I knew we were in a pretty good spot to get the win, but I also knew the safety car was probably going to come at some point,” said Shipman atop the podium. “I’m glad I could keep the lead from there. I’m super happy to get this win in the last race of the season, and just really grateful for the team. Kiwi Motorsport has put together a champion's performance all season long, so it's good to reward them with a win to end the year off. I just can't thank everybody enough for giving me this opportunity.”

>> SEE MORE: Round 21 Official Results

In the Masters Cup Championship, Kevin Janzen (No. 24 US Power Group / Data Center Solutions / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) notched his sixth win of the season with a flawless race, as Anthony Autiello (No. 07 Hope For The Warriors / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F3) recovered from a mid-race spin to take second, and Whitney Strickland (No. 21 TF Companies / Hillenburg Motorsports Ligier JS F3) held on in third after missing the setup on his car following an accident the day before.

“That was fun,” said Janzen. “That was the best Sunday you could ever imagine, right? Look at this weather—wow. I couldn't have scripted it any better. I expect that this is my last race. What a way to end it now. I gotta tell you, racing here has been just the best experience ever. I’ve loved it.”

>> SEE MORE: 2026 FR Americas Driver Championship Points

>> SEE MORE: 2026 FR Americas Team Championship Points

>> SEE MORE: 2026 FR Americas Masters Cup Championship Points