Champions to Be Crowned in Sonoma Title Decider

A year’s worth of hard work, sweat and accomplishments come down to this weekend at Sonoma Raceway.

With the final event of the Blue Marble Radical Cup North America season on the horizon, all competitors will have three more opportunities to stand atop the podium while a select few will battle for the championship in their respective classes.

With tight point battles across all three classes, the Overall Championship is also up for grabs as more than 20 drivers will hit the track this weekend.

Seven Platinum competitors will pilot SR10 machines during the final event of the 2022 season while four have a shot at being crowned champion.

In the closest point battle across all three classes, Steve Jenks (Group-A Racing/Audien Hearing) enters the weekend eight points ahead of Robert Rossi (Wisko Racing) and Jon Field (One Motorsports/Bricker Home Design) who are tied for second, while Judd Miller (Esses Racing/Radical Texas) is still an outside chance trailing by a further 31 points.

However, with Rossi’s name absent from the current entry list, it will be a three-horse race as Jenks aims to keep the former American Le Mans Series LMP1 champ behind him, and Miller looks to eclipse them both.

Perennial front-runners Scott Wagner (Scott Wagner Racing/Scott Wagner Integrated Medicine) and Jim Booth (Wisko Racing/McDonalds) also hope to finish their season on a high as they throw their hats into the mix in the quest for as many championship points as possible.

A pair of new drivers will join the Platinum class at the Sonoma Raceway with Jason Greenwood piloting the AMI Information Systems-backed Ryno Racing SR10 and former Road to Indy competitor Charles Finelli making the switch to the Radical series with outfit Fat Boy Racing.

The Pro 1500 side of the program is led by Palmer Miller (Esses Racing/Radical Texas) who seemingly has the class championship in his grasp with the biggest lead in all three Radical Cup point battles.

Entering the weekend 78 markers ahead of his closest rival, Miller will be looking to keep his nose clean and avoid unnecessary risks. While Miller is ahead of the points table, teammate Kent Myers sits second, 75 points ahead of reigning Pro 1500 and Overall series champion Gustavo Rafols (Wisko Racing).

With Rafols skipping the event to focus his full attention on the Radical World Finals Presented by Hankook, the championship will come down to Miller and Myers in Napa Valley, however with 11 drivers entered in the highly competitive Pro 1500 class, expect many more to be vying for the race wins this weekend.

Multi-podium placegetter Aurora Straus (Group-A Racing/Richard Mille/Arch Capital) returns to take on Sonoma, and hopefully help Group-A to the team championship.

Radical Northwest Cameron Racing is entering a strong contingent of drivers with local track knowledge– Dan Decker, Arul Venkatesh, Joe Nuxoll, and Richard McDougall.

Will Lin is making his 2022 debut with One Motorsport, as is Jesse Menczer (DiscTech) who will race alongside Gregg Gorski (Smokebuddy), who took two podiums at COTA.

The highly competitive Californian Ron Fletcher also returns to the Radical ranks this weekend with Ryno Racing.

The Pro 1340 class championship has flip-flopped all season long with Austin Riley (Racing with Autism/SparkPower/Lincoln Electric) entering the season’s final event at the head of the field.

The reigning 2021 Radical Cup Canada champion regained the point lead during the final wheel-to-wheel action at the Circuit of The Americas last month and leads the 1340 class and the Overall championship table.

Mike Anzaldi (Ryno Racing/Emmett’s Energy) has been pushing Riley throughout the season and if it wasn’t for a mistake during race three at COTA, would be the points leader today.

Riley and Anzaldi will be a duo to watch in a battle that will rage on this weekend. Reid Stewart (Group-A Racing/Fasano Textiles) enters the weekend third in the title chase and will need a miracle to take the championship ahead of Riley and Anzaldi but will aim to finish his 2022 campaign on a high.

Brendan Wright (Radical Northwest/Cameron Racing) will look to fight for the podium in his first event of the race season.

Set to hit the track on Friday for test and practice sessions, Blue Marble Radical Cup North America competitors will shift their focus to qualifying and the first race on Saturday with two more wheel-to-wheel races on Sunday as the season ends.