Abel Motorsports Has Solid FR Americas Season Opener

Former Series Champs Earn Pair of Mid Ohio Top Tens

Leading open-wheel development team Abel Motorsports of Louisville, KY put together a strong effort over the weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with driver Jacob Abel posting a pair of sixth-place finishes to highlight the season opener in the Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda.

The 19-year-old Abel, soon to enter his sophomore year at Butler University in Indiana, qualified sixth for Saturday’s opening round of the Championship.  

“We definitely had the pace in practice to start up front,” the young veteran said.  “We tried some strategy in qualifying but got caught out when we got a full-course yellow, and I had to settle for sixth on the grid.   Mid Ohio is a hard track to pass on.   We tried some different things to move up but sixth was the best we could manage.  Sunday was better.   We had to start tenth but we were able to move back up to sixth, and we feel pretty good about that.  Now we’ll get ready for VIR in a couple of weeks.  We’ll try to shock some people when we get there!”

Teammate Blake Upton of Washington state made his first starts in the Abel Motorsports No. 19 car, earning a pair of top-15 finishes highlighted by a 13th in the opener Saturday. 

 “We worked hard all weekend and made a lot of gains on both the car and driver development sides.  My Abel Motorsports car was really good all weekend.  I learned a lot working with Jacob, and we’ll grow and improve over the next several events.  I’m looking forward to getting back to VIR.  I was quick there last year and I’m in a much better situation now. I can’t wait!” 

Team Principal Bill Abel was equally upbeat after the Mid Ohio event.  

“It was really good to get our team out of the shop and back to the race track for an actual event.  We were all excited to be back, racing at Mid Ohio.  Our results weren’t what we were looking for, but our drivers made a lot of gains during the off-season and at our tests, and we see improvement ahead for both Jacob and Blake.   We showed lots of pace, even though the results didn’t match what we are capable of.  We’re excited about the level of competition in FR Americas. We’re hard at work at the shop and we’ll be ready when we get to VIR.”

Rounds 3, 4, and 5 of the 2020 FR Americas Championship will take place at Virginia International Raceway in Afton, VA in two weeks, starting July 17.   

Abel Motorsports will bring its pair of FR Americas contenders to VIR to bid for the team’s first podium results of the season.