Brady Golan Wins Race 2 at VIR to Clinch 2026 FR Americas Title

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Brady Golan Wins Race 2 at VIR to Clinch 2026 FR Americas Title

Kevin Janzen Wins Masters Cup Class

 

ALTON, Va. (September 20, 2026) – Claiming Sunday’s checkered flag in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) competition at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR), Brady Golan not only won the race, but he also locked in the 2026 Driver Championship and the $100,000 cash prize that accompanies it. Entering the weekend with just a 10.5-point advantage, Golan took what seemed like a mathematical improbability of securing the title, capitalized on opportunities as they arose, built his points lead and ultimately wrapped up the championship with one event remaining. 

 

Notes of Interest:

  • Winning Race 2 at VIR, Brady Golan clinched the 2026 FR Americas Driver’s Championship during the series’ penultimate event.
  • After leading most of the race, Kekai Hauanio crossed the finish line in second. The result was his eighth podium of 2026.
  • Marking a career-best result and his first career podium, Aidan Schuh finished third in Race 2 at VIR.
  • With Golan’s championship clinched, TDD has secured its first FR Americas Driver Championship title. Earlier this year, the team also won the 2026 IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge Championship with their Ligier JS P325.
  • While the Driver’s Championship title is decided, the Team Championship will go all the way down to Barber, with Toney Driver Development (TDD) currently holding a 14-point advantage over Crosslink Motorsports.

 

Setting the fastest lap in yesterday’s race, Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) led the field to the starting lights as the polesitter for Race 2. He was surrounded by championship contenders with Brady Golan (No. 40 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS F3) next to him, and Evagoras Papasavvas (No. 71 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) and Cooper Shipman (No. 10 Driven Dynamix / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) completing Row 2. When the lights went out, Hauanio raced to the point position, and started to open a gap during the early laps. Behind him, Golan settled into second, but it wasn’t long before Papasavvas filled his mirrors, searching for a way around. Papasavvas found his chance on the exit of Turn 12, passing Golan to take the runner-up position. Golan hoped to get back around Papasavvas, but had a couple of brake lockups and started losing ground to his championship rival. 

The safety car deployed just before the halfway point when Papasavvas went off in Turn 12 and hit the tire barrier, bringing an early end to his day. With the Crosslink Motorsports driver out of contention, Golan had the opportunity to extend the point advantage he had been building on since the last round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and possibly convert it into a championship title—but to get it done, he had to win. 

Hauanio had more than a four-second advantage when the caution was displayed for Papasavvas’ incident. With that erased, he went head-to-head once again with Golan on the restart. Golan tried to make a move going into Turn 1 on the restart, but Hauanio was able to hold him off and again took control of the race. As the saying goes, cautions breed cautions, and Hauanio’s control was short lived as the safety car was redeployed for a car stranded at Turn 10 after making contact with another competitor. 

With that car retrieved, there was only enough time on the clock for a one-lap shootout. As the green and white flags were waving simultaneously, Golan looked inside of Hauanio as they entered Turn 1, emerging from the corner with the race lead. Hauanio stayed tight on his rear wing, but couldn’t find a way around. 

Crossing the finish line, Golan held a 0.281-second advantage over Hauanio, while Aidan Schuh (No. 14 Homes For Our Troops / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) crossed the line in third. 

“This is awesome,” said Golan while standing in Victory Lane. “I can’t thank the Toney Driver Development guys enough. I’ve seen how hard they’ve worked over the last two and a half years. I’ve watched this team grow. I was with them in their first Formula weekend. We’ve had something like 10 wins together, and numerous podiums. I’m really happy with the championship—these guys deserve way more than that, but to come home with the title this year is surreal. I have to thank everybody at TDD, everyone at Marina, Attire, Charles Cruz, my parents, Nathan Toney and everybody that works on the red 40.”

 

>> SEE MORE: Round 19 Official Results

 

In the Masters Cup Championship, Kevin Janzen (No. 24 US Power Group / Data Center Solutions / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F3) notched his fifth win of the season, bringing the points gap in the class down to just 16.5 points with two races remaining. 

FR Americas will wrap up the 2026 season next month at Barber Motorsports Park during the Racing America @ Barber weekend, October 16-18. Live timing and scoring for the event will be available on the Race Monitor app. Additional news and updates leading up to the event will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and X. Prospective drivers looking to learn more about FR Americas are encouraged to visit the championship’s website at FRAmericas.com.

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