2023 Formula Car Challenge Explained

The 2023 Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear was the 19th season of the Formula Car Challenge. It was a multi-event motor racing championship for single-seater open wheel formula racing cars held across the American west coast. The series was sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America.

Christian Okpysh took the title in the main Formula Mazda class, while Tao Takaoka and Joe Briggs were victorious in the Formula Speed and Pro Formula Mazda categories, respectively.

Drivers

Drivers competed in three classes, Formula Mazda, Formula Speed and Pro Formula Mazda.^[1]

No.	Driver	Car	Rounds
Formula Mazda entries
7	Woody Yerxa	2001 Mazda Formula	3–4, 7–8, 11–14
12	Marcus Brodie	1997 Mazda Formula Mazda	9–10
20	Ben Booker	Formula Mazda Star Formula Mazda	1–2, 7–8, 13–14
28	Stew Tabak	1993 Mazda Formula	7–14
29	Christian Okpysh	1997 Mazda Formula Mazda	3–6, 9–14
63	Lars Jensen	1997 Star Formula Mazda	3–14
67	Bill Weaver	1997 Star Mazda Formula Mazda	7–14
75	C.J. Ray	1998 Mazda Star Formula	3–14
77	Derry O'Donovan	1996 Formula Mazda FM	3–4, 7–14
78	Brad Drew	1997 Mazda Formula	3–4, 7–14
88	Randy Sturgeon	1997 Mazda Star Formula Mazda	5–6, 9–10
91	Ritchie Hollingsworth	1995 Mazda Formula Mazda	7–8, 13–14
92	Rick Bostrom	1988 Mazda Formula	13–14
120	John Ertel	1994 Mazda Formula Star	11–12
Formula Speed entries
27	Tao Takaoka	2015 Formula Speed F S 2.0	3–4, 7–14
46	Frank Russell	2012 Formula Speed 2.0	9–14
51	Scott Vreeland	1986 Ralt RT-5	3–4
Pro Formula Mazda entries
0	Edd Ozard	2004 Mazda Pro Mazda	1–2, 9–10
9	Joe Briggs	2004 Mazda Pro Formula Mazda	1–4, 9–12
10	Vincent Tjelmeland	Pro Formula Mazda	9–10
37	Nevin Spieker	2019 Mazda Pro Formula	3–4, 9–10
41	Robert Merritt	Pro Formula Mazda	9–10
42	Gregory Perrin	Star Mazda	9–12
51	Scott Vreeland	1986 Ralt RT-5	13–14
123	JD Stuart	Pro Formula Mazda	9–10
Sources: ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]

Race calendar

The 2023 schedule was announced on 1 December 2022.^[9] All races were held in California. The series returned to Buttonwillow Raceway Park after not competing there in 2022.

Round	Circuit	Date	Support bill	Map of circuit locations
1	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma	25 February	Formula Pro USA Winter Series San Francisco Region SCCA Series
2		26 February
3	Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows	15 April	Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series
4		16 April
5	Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow	29 April	Formula Pro USA Western Championship California Sports Car Club
6		30 April
7	Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows	3 June	Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series
8		4 June
9	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey	29 July	San Francisco Region SCCA Series Pacific F2000 Championship
10		30 July
11	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma	2 September	Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series
12		3 September
13	Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows	28 October	San Francisco Region SCCA Series Pacific Northwest Spec Miata Tour
14		29 October

Race results

Round	Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Formula Mazda winner	Formula Speed winner	Pro Formula Mazda winner
1	Sonoma Raceway	Joe Briggs	Edd Ozard	Ben Booker	no entries	Joe Briggs
2		Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Ben Booker‡		Joe Briggs
3	Thunderhill Raceway Park	Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Christian Okpysh	Tao Takaoka	Joe Briggs
4		Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Brad Drew	Tao Takaoka	Joe Briggs
5	Buttonwillow Raceway Park	Christian Okpysh	Christian Okpysh	Christian Okpysh	no entries	no entries
6		C.J. Ray	C.J. Ray	Christian Okpysh
7	Thunderhill Raceway Park	Tao Takaoka	Brad Drew	Bill Weaver	Tao Takaoka
8		Derry O'Donovan	C.J. Ray	C.J. Ray	Tao Takaoka
9	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca	Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Bill Weaver	Tao Takaoka	Joe Briggs
10		Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Bill Weaver	Frank Russell	Joe Briggs
11	Sonoma Raceway	Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Christian Okpysh	Tao Takaoka	Joe Briggs
12		Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Bill Weaver	Tao Takaoka	Joe Briggs
13	Thunderhill Raceway Park	Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Bill Weaver	Tao Takaoka	Joe Briggs
14		Joe Briggs	Joe Briggs	Brad Drew	Tao Takaoka	Joe Briggs

‡ - event or race did not award any points as it did not meet all FCC rules

Championship standings

Scoring system

Formula Mazda

Points were awarded to the top twenty drivers in each class taking the green flag.^[10]

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th
Points	29	25	22	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4

Pro Formula Mazda and Formula Speed

As the Formula Speed and Pro Formula Mazda classes ran alongside the San Francisco Region SCCA's regional FX and FA3 classes respectively, they used their points system.^[11]

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th
Points	25	21	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Each driver's four worst results were dropped.

Drivers' standings

Pos	Driver	SON1		THU1		BUT		THU2		LAG		SON2		THU3		Pts
		R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14
Formula Mazda Standings
1	Christian Okpysh			1	2	1	1			2	3	1	3	2	4	255
2	Brad Drew			2	1			2	4	3	2	2	2	3	1	247
3	C.J. Ray			3	5	2	2	3	1	(7)	4	3	(9)	7	2
4	Bill Weaver							1	9	1	1	8	1	1	3	198
5	Lars Jensen			4	4	3	4	6	6	5	5	5	(8)	5	DNS
6	Derry O'Donovan			5	6			4	2	4	7	DNS	5	4	8	174
7	Woody Yerxa			6	3			5	3			6	6	9	6	150
8	Stew Tabak							7	5	6	6	4	4	6	5	149
9	Ben Booker	1	1‡					9	8					10	10	88
10	Ritchie Hollingsworth							8	7					8	7	66
11	Randy Sturgeon					4	3									42
12	John Ertel											7	7			34
13	Marcus Brodie									8	8					32
14	Rick Bostrom													11	9	28
Formula Speed Standings
1	Tao Takaoka			1	1			1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	246
2	Frank Russell									2	1	Ret	DNS	2	2	88
—	Scott Vreeland			DNS	DNS											—
Pro Formula Mazda Standings
1	Joe Briggs	1	1	1	1					1	1	1	1	1	1	250
2	Gregory Perrin									3	2	2	2			81
3	Nevin Spieker			2	DNS					2	3					60
4	Scott Vreeland													2	2	42
=5	Vincent Tjelmeland									5	4					33
=5	Robert Merritt									4	5					33
6	Edd Ozard	2	DNS							Ret	DNS					21
—	JD Stuart									Ret	DNS					—
Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	Pts
		SON1		THU1		BUT		THU2		LAG		SON2		THU3

‡ - event or race did not award any points as it did not meet all FCC rules

Notes and References

1. Web site: Formula Car Challenge Formula Car Challenge - Based at Sonoma Raceway, California 95476 - Since 2005 . 2022-12-05 . en-US.
2. Web site: SFR Championship Regional 1 & 2 - Attendees . 2023-02-05 . MotorsportReg.com.
3. Web site: SFR Championship Regional 5 & 6 - Attendees . 2023-04-08 . MotorsportReg.com.
4. Web site: Cal Club Championship Divisional and Track Event - Attendees . 2023-04-30 . MotorsportReg.com.
5. Web site: SFR Championship Regional 7 & 8 - Attendees . 2023-05-27 . MotorsportReg.com.
6. Web site: Results for Group 1/2~FA,FA3,FM,EM1,P1,P2,ASR,FX,FE2 - Race 2 on RaceHero . 2023-09-07 . RaceHero.
7. Web site: Results for Group 1~FA,FA2,FA3,FM,FX,F4 - Race 2~Official on RaceHero . 2023-09-07 . RaceHero.
8. Web site: SFR Championship Regional 15, 16, & 17 - Attendees . 2023-11-03 . MotorsportReg.com.
9. Web site: 2023 Formula Car Challenge Presented by Goodyear Schedules Announced Formula Car Challenge . 2022-12-05 . en-US. formulacarchallenge.com.
10. Web site: Competitor Page Formula Car Challenge . 2023-02-19 . en-US.
11. Web site: February 6, 2023 . 2023 SFR Road Racing Supplementary Regulations . March 18, 2023.