Evagoras Papasavvas Takes FR Americas Race 2 Win at NOLA

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Evagoras Papasavvas Takes FR Americas Race 2 Win at NOLA

Whitney Strickland Takes Second-Consecutive Masters Cup Victory

 

AVONDALE, La. (April 11, 2026) – Evagoras Papasavvas earned his first-career win in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) Race 2 at NOLA Motorsports Park on Saturday afternoon. Capitalizing on a race of attrition, the former INDY NXT driver captured his first victory in the top level of Racing America’s Formula Ladder.  

 

Notes of Interest:

  • Evagoras Papasavvas earned his first FR Americas win in just his second start during the opening day of the 2026 season at NOLA Motorsports Park.
  • Cooper Shipman earned a career-best in FR Americas with a runner-up finish in Race 2 at NOLA Motorsports Park. Shipman is competing in FR Americas this season with support from the Champion’s Scholarship program, which he won by taking the Formula 4 United States Championship title last year.
  • Moving up the ladder into FR Americas for the 2026 season, Kekai Hauanio earned his first podium with a third-place finish in Race 2.
  • Whitney Strickland went two-for-two on Saturday, winning the Masters Cup in both races. 
  • FR Americas continues to be recognized as a viable training ground for drivers looking to prepare for INDY NXT and INDYCAR due to the similarities in the cars and how they handle. Today’s winner, Papasavvas, competed in a partial INDY NXT season just last year.

 

Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) led the field to the start lights, but a stall on the grid resulted in contact and significant damage to the Race 1 winner’s machine. The incident brought out an immediate yellow flag as second-place starter Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) led the field to the safety car. Once the incident cleared, Shipman led the field to the green flag. It was Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) who got the jump as the field rushed toward Turn 1. Taking control of the race, Hauanio pulled away as he set the pace and led all the way to the final minutes of the race. As the field rushed toward the white flag, Hauanio hit the rumble strips off Turn 16 locking his car into gear. Unable to shift, Hauanio’s teammate Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) made his way around as they raced down the front straight and Shipman quickly followed. 

When they crossed the finish line, Papasavvas led, followed by Shipman and Hauanio.

 

>> SEE MORE:  Race 2 Official Results

 

“I mean with two laps left, it came to a point where you have to think about the championship, so I was just thinking about getting P2 and getting the second-place points, which was going to be good. I’m super happy going from sixth to first. I made some moves early and just put myself in the right place. I stayed focused on hitting my marks and one by one ticking them off. The car felt pretty good and it ended up working out in my favor. I have to thank Body Wise, Tiger Natural Gas, my family, Ares Elite Sports Vision, and just everyone at Crosslink Motorsports.” 

FR Americas will contest their final race of the Racing America at NOLA weekend tomorrow at 9:10 a.m. CT. Live timing and scoring will be available on Race Monitor, with additional news and updates shared on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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