MILLVILLE, N.J. (July 29, 2023) – Titus Sherlock secured his first-career Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda (F4 U.S.) win during Race 1 of the New Jersey Lottery SpeedTour at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) on Saturday afternoon. A series of on-track incidents and subsequent Stewards’ Decisions had major impacts on the official finishing order and resulted in the 18-year-old Prosper, Texas native being declared the winner of the event.
Notes of Interest:
- Titus Sherlock earned his first-career F4 U.S. win in today’s race, which stayed green from lights to checkered. Previously, the driver’s best finish was third, which he recorded during the season-opener at NOLA Motorsports Park.
- Daniel Cará entered the weekend with a career-best finish of fourth, which he recorded just last month at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Today, he improved that result with a career-best second place, and his first-career podium finish.
- Bacon Zelenka (No. 45 Bacon Racing Ligier JS F4) secured his career-best finish and first-career podium with today’s third-place result. A rookie in F4 U.S., the driver had only one previous top-10 finish, an eighth-place result in Round 6 at Road America.
- Three teams were represented on today’s podium, including two independent single-car operations. Titus Sherlock drives for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, while Daniel Cará competes for family-owned Cará Origin Motorsports and Bacon Zelenka races with his family-owned team, Bacon Racing.
Recording the fastest lap in this morning’s qualifying session, Jesse Lacey (No. 16 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F4) was at the front of the field when the lights went out. The Australian had a clean start, but had Alex Berg (No. 08 MySim.ca / Rohde & Liesenfeld / Easy Drift / Penn Elcom Online / Dae Systems Ligier JS F4) breathing down his neck throughout the opening laps. Unable to stretch the gap beyond just a few tenths, Lacey found himself side by side with Berg as they drove down the front stretch to complete the sixth lap of the race. Berg dropped two wheels into the grass before pulling to the inside as he entered Turn 1 directly next to Lacey. The two made side-to-side contact in the Turn 3 complex, eliminating Lacey from contention and causing the stewards to review the incident following the race.
Berg started the race in second, but kept the pressure on Lacey throughout the entirety of the opening 10 minutes. When the two made contact and Lacey was eliminated from contention, Berg was left with clear sailing at the front of the field. With a green race from lights to checkers, Berg was able to steadily build his lead, opening up a 12.811-second advantage and leading the field to the checkered flag. After the race, the stewards reviewed the contact between Lacey and Berg, determining that Berg failed to leave racing room at the apex of turn, forcing Lacey onto the curbing, which caused him to spin. As part of the ruling, Berg was issued a 30-second time penalty, which dropped him to eighth in the official results.
Championship points leader Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) lined up third on the grid. Holding his position throughout the opening two laps, the driver bottomed out his car while running over a curb and fell back to fifth as the field completed lap three. Once recovered from the incident, Woods-Toth kept his focus forward and continued to hit his marks. He was able to capitalize on the misfortune of some competitors and slid back into the third position as Lacey spun and Daniel Cará (No. 10 Tenuta Foppa & Ambrosi Ligier JS F4) had to take evasive action to miss the incident.
Meanwhile, Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligeir JS F3) started the race from sixth, but kept a steady pace, managing both himself and his Hankook tires in the 90-plus degree temperatures. The Texan was able to climb through the field, racing as high as the second position. As the race neared its halfway point, Sherlock found himself battling with teammate Woods-Toth, who ultimately took the second position, leaving Sherlock to cross the finish line in third.
Qualifying fourth and running third, Cará went from being less than a second behind the leader to the seventh position when he was forced to take evasive action to miss a spin from the leader in front of him. Able to get back into a groove and maintain pace, the 20-year-old climbed his way back through the field to take the checkered flag in the fourth position.
Bacon Zelenka (No. 45 Bacon Racing Ligier JS F4) capitalized on a lot of race preparation and homework to record his career-best F4 U.S. finish. Making about 4,000 laps at NJMP on his sim and following it up with a day and a half of testing on the circuit, the 17-year-old had a clean race, running as high as second before taking the checkered flag in fifth.
In addition to Berg’s post-race penalty, the stewards also reviewed an incident between Woods-Toth and Michael Costello (No. 19 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4). That ruling determined that Woods-Toth failed to leave racing room at the exit of Turn 3B, forcing Costello off the racing surface. As a result, Woods-Toth was issued a 10-second penalty and fell to fifth in the official results.
With both Berg and Woods-Toth falling in the final running order, Sherlock was declared the winner of the race, followed by Cará in second and Zelenka in third. Costello was scored fourth, followed by Woods-Toth in fifth and Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N. E. Where Transport Ligier JS F4) scored a career-best sixth. Logan Adams (No. 20 Jay Howard Driver Development / CSU One Cure / Lucas Oil / LHP Ligier JS F4) was seventh, followed by Berg in eighth, Lacey in ninth. Tyke Durst (No. 17 Gonella Racing Ligier JS F4) rounded out the top 10.
READ MORE: Race 1 Official Results
F4 U.S. returns to the track tomorrow for Race 2 at 9:00 a.m. ET, followed by Race 3 at 12:30 p.m. ET. Follow the championship on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or use Race Monitor to follow live timing and scoring.
