Cooper Shipman Wins Race 2, Evagoras Papasavvas Back on Top in Race 3 at NJMP

Cooper Shipman earned his second Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) victory, winning Race 2 at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) on Sunday morning.

Notes of Interest:

• Cooper Shipman returned to victory lane for the first time since the season-opening weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park. Familiar with NJMP’s victory lane, Shipman swept the weekend at the 2.25-mile circuit last season enroute to his Formula 4 United States Championship title.
• Retiring early from Race 1, Evagoras Papasavvas rebounded to finish second in Race 2.
• After being declared the Race 1 winner, Luke Powers returned to the podium in Race 3 with a third-place finish.
• Three teams were represented on today’s podium with Kiwi Motorsport taking the victory, Crosslink Motorsports finishing second and Toney Driver Development finishing third.
• Whitney Strickland tallied his ninth win in the Masters Cup Championship.

Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) led the field down the starting grid after setting the fastest lap in yesterday’s Race 1. He lined up next to Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3), who had shown pace all weekend. Papasavvas initially held the advantage with more than a one-second margin, but as the race progressed, Shipman’s car got dialed in and he closed in on the lead. As the clock neared halfway, Shipman completed the pass on Papasavvas and immediately pulled away.

A debris caution led to a wild restart with just under five minutes left in the race. The single-file restart quickly flanked two wide as drivers raced side by side into Turn 1. Papasavvas pulled up next to Shipman to challenge for the lead, while Luke Powers (No. 5 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3), Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) and Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) ran three wide as they raced toward Turn 1. Hauanio backed out just as Powers pulled ahead of Golan. By the time they completed the circuit to collect the checkered flag, Shipman led Papasavvas and Powers across the finish line.

“[The win was] definitely a long time coming,” said Shipman after climbing from the car. “We had a rough stretch these past couple of weekends, but it’s good to finally reward the team for their hard work and come away with a win. It was a tough race in the heat; there was a lot of dirty air, but I was finally able to get around Evagoras [Papasavvas] and come away with a win.”

>> SEE MORE: Round 13 Provisional Results

In the Masters Cup, Whitney Strickland (No. 21 TF Companies / Hillenburg Motorsports Ligier JS F3) drove a flawless race to win the class. He joined series newcomer Aiden Zelaya (No. 1 Jensen Global Advisors / JENSEN Ligier JS F3) in putting on a show as the two jockeyed for position throughout most of the event. Behind him, Kevin Janzen (No. 24 US Power Group/Data Center Solutions / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) and Anthony Autiello (No. 07 Hope For The Warriors / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F3) made contact during the formation lap, but both were able to continue and make it the full distance. Janzen fought a vibration, but was able to cross the line second in class, while Autiello completed the podium in third.

“It was fun,” said Strickland after climbing from the car. “I had one of the youngsters [Aiden Zelaya] behind me. Man, that kid's pretty good. I think he's going to go somewhere someday. Old age and treachery were able to get the better of him, though. I have a lot of experience being able to be as wide as possible on the track, so that helped me out. I want to thank Hillenburg Motorsports—I have one of my best buddies, Darryl Wills, that takes care of my car, and Eric Wisniewski, my driver coach. He's been great this weekend.”

Evagoras Papasavvas returned to the top step of the podium in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) competition at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) closing out the New Jersey Lottery weekend. Close battles and intense pressure were the theme of the all-green Race 3, holding the attention of both spectators and drivers all the way until the checkered flag.

Notes of Interest:

• After retiring early in Race 1 of the NJMP weekend, Evagoras Papasavvas completed the comeback to secure the race win in the final event of the weekend. The victory marked his fourth of the 2026 season.
• Brady Golan notched his eighth podium of the season with a runner-up finish in the final race of the New Jersey Lottery Racing America weekend at NJMP.
• Harbir Dass returned to the podium at NJMP with a third-place result in Race 3. The 2.25-mile circuit is the same place where Dass scored his first-career podium while racing in Ligier Junior Formula Championship (Ligier JFC) in 2024. With the result, Dass earned his second podium of the season.
• Anthony Autiello earned his third Masters Cup Class victory of the 2026 season.
• FR Americas is in the midst of one of its most competitive seasons in series history. The New Jersey Lottery weekend once again saw three different winners from three different teams. Luke Powers and Toney Driver Development won Race 1, while Cooper Shipman and Kiwi Motorsport took Race 2, and Evagoras Papasavvas and Crosslink Motorsports were victorious in Race 3.

Polesitter Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) led the field to the lights to start the final race of the weekend. A flawless launch as the lights went out gave Golan an easy lead while those behind him fought hard for position. Second-place starter Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) and third-place Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) made contact on the exit of Turn 1, allowing fourth-place starter Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) to race by and claim the runner-up position. Harbir Dass (No. 9 Northcoast Medical Group / Alpha Micron / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) also got a great start from the sixth position and moved into third before the field completed the first lap.

The next 15 minutes featured a pressure-filled battle between Golan, Papasavvas and Dass—who spent the majority of the time running in that order. As the race neared its halfway point, Papasavvas had closed within 0.133 seconds of Golan. Racing into Turn 1, Papasavvas pulled wide, before crossing over to take the inside line and completing the pass as they raced into Turn 2. With Dass following in Papasavvas’ wake, Golan was left to fight back from third. Only a second separated the trio, as the battle continued for the next several laps until Golan was finally able to overtake Dass and move back into second. Still the three stayed nose to tail all the way to the checkered flag, with Papasavvas as the first car to cross the finish line, followed by Golan and Dass.

“That was super exciting,” said Papasavvas atop the podium. “The car felt amazing—once again, a huge shout out to the whole Crosslink Motorsports crew. I was able to gain some time on the leader and had a good hard-fought battle. I knew I had time, but just had to stay calm. Thankfully, I was able to make the over-under and get it to stick. About a lap later the end plate fell off, and I was just freaking out for a little bit because I knew I saw something fly by my head, but I had no idea what it was. I tried to just keep managing what I had—staying calm, cool, and doing the best I could with the pedals, and luckily, I ended up taking the win. I have to thank the whole Crosslink crew, GRIP, my family, everyone watching at home, and all my sponsors who helped me get to where I am today. Thank you.”

>> SEE MORE: Race 14 Provisional Results

The Masters Cup class had an eventful race, as Anthony Autiello (No. 07 Hope For The Warriors / Momentum Motorsports Ligier JS F3) went from spinning to winning in Race 3. Whitney Strickland won both of the opening races of the weekend, but a stall on the start gave Autiello the advantage he needed to break through for a class win. Autiello took the top step on the podium with Strickland in second and Janzen in third.

“A spin and win—who would have thought? But that was the formula today,” said Autiello. “It was a hot day; everybody knows the tires were absolutely shot. Two races on this set of tires—that’s tough for everybody. Everybody was fighting really hard today, and even the young guys did a great job. I have to thank everybody at Momentum—Neil, my mechanic, Phil. We had a little help from some outside engineering earlier this weekend, which helped put it all together today.”

FR Americas returns to the track for Labour Day Weekend Sprints at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, September 3-6. Live timing and scoring will be available on the Race Monitor App, with additional news and updates shared on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Prospective drivers looking to learn more about FR Americas are encouraged to visit the championship’s website at FRAmericas.com.