2024 Atlantic Championship

The 2024 Atlantic Championship Series season was the eleventh season of the revived Atlantic Championship. The series was organized by Formula Race Promotions and sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing.

2024 Atlantic Championship Series season
Season
Races12
Start dateMarch 23
End dateAugust 18
Awards
016 Class Champion
Open Class Champion
Matthew Butson
Nathan Byrd
← 2023
2025 →

The season was held over six weekends from March to August of 2024.[1] K-Hill Motorsports driver Matthew Butson won the 016 Class Championship during the penultimate weekend of the season, while Arrive Drive Motorsport's Nathan Byrd won the Open Class Championship after going unbeaten throughout the first eight races of the season.

Drivers

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Drivers competed in two classes, either in the 016 Class or in the Open Class. All teams were American-registered.

Team No. Driver Car Rounds
016 Class entries
K-Hill Motorsports 00   Bill Munholland 2006 Swift 016a 3–4
21   Clay DellaCava 2006 Swift Formula Atlantic 016 1
24   Matthew Butson 2006 Swift 016 Mazda All
63   Jim Booth 2006 Swift 016 Mazda 1
74   Dudley Fleck 2006 Swift 016 Mazda 1–2, 4
77   John McAleer 2006 Swift 016 1–4
666   Tõnis Kasemets 2006 Swift 016a 4
Polestar 29   David Grant 2006 Swift 016 4–5
40   Keith Grant 2006 Swift 016 Mazda 3–5
Alliance Racing 66   Richard Zober 2006 Swift 016a Mazda 3–5
Open Class entries
Puma 5   Robert Wright 2001 Swift 014/FA 3–4
K-Hill Motorsports 06   Bruce Hamilton 2001 Swift 014 MZR 6
Coopsport 7   Glenn Cooper 1998 Nova-Diemen F1000 1
Arrive Drive Motorsport 07   Austin Holtgraewe 2012 JDR F1000 1–2, 4
33   Charles Livingston 2013 JDR 012 4, 6
39   Nathan Byrd 2012 JDR F1000 1–4
81   Tim Pierce 2018 JDR F1000 1–2, 6
94   Joel Haas 2000 Piper F1000 1
99   Paulie Gatto 2015 JDR F1000 1–4, 6
Slahor Racing 9   Jason Slahor 2008 Citation F1000 3, 6
Home Tech Consultants 41   Robert Albani 2004 Mazda PFM 3, 5[a]
  Tyler O'Connor 5[a]
Hamilton Motorsports 93   Steve Hamilton 2020 JDR F1000 2, 4, 6
Source: [2][3][4][5][6][7]

Race calendar

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The schedule of series organizer Formula Race Promotions was announced on October 12, 2023.[8] The race weekends where races of the Atlantic Championship will be held were concretized in early January of 2024.[1] The series added a round at New Jersey Motorsports Park, bringing the total up to six events.

Round Circuit Date Support bill Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Road Atlanta, Braselton March 23 SVRA
Trans-Am Series
R2 March 24
2 R1 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington April 27 FRP race weekend
SVRA
R2 April 28
3 R1 Pittsburgh International Race Complex, Wampum June 8 SVRA
Trans-Am Series
R2 June 9
4 R1 Road America, Elkhart Lake June 29 International GT
Trans-Am Series
R2 June 30
5 R1 New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville July 27 Formula Regional Americas Championship
Formula 4 United States Championship
R2 July 28
6 R1 Summit Point Motorsports Park, Summit Point August 17 FRP race weekend
SVRA
R2 August 18

Race results

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Round Circuit 016 Class Open Class
Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver
1 R1 Road Atlanta   Dudley Fleck   Matthew Butson   Dudley Fleck   Glenn Cooper   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd
R2   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd
2 R1 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Dudley Fleck   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd
R2   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd
3 R1 Pittsburgh International Race Complex   Keith Grant   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd
R2   Keith Grant   Keith Grant   Keith Grant   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd   Nathan Byrd
4 R1 Road America   David Grant   David Grant   David Grant   Steve Hamilton   Charles Livingston   Nathan Byrd
R2   David Grant   Tõnis Kasemets   Tõnis Kasemets   Nathan Byrd   Charles Livingston   Nathan Byrd
5 R1 New Jersey Motorsports Park   Matthew Butson   David Grant   David Grant   Tyler O'Connor   Tyler O'Connor   Tyler O'Connor
R2   David Grant   Keith Grant   Matthew Butson   Robert Albani   Robert Albani no classified finishers
6 R1 Summit Point Motorsports Park   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Bruce Hamilton   Tim Pierce   Paulie Gatto
R2   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Matthew Butson   Jason Slahor   Jason Slahor

Season summary

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The opening event of the 2024 season was held at Road Atlanta, with eleven cars entered across both classes. K-Hill’s Dudley Fleck and Coopsport’s Glenn Cooper took the pole positions for the 016 and Open Class respectively in the only qualifying session held. While Fleck was able to convert his pole position into a win ahead of his teammates Matthew Butson and John McAleer, Cooper dropped to fourth throughout the race, leaving an all-Arrive Drive Motorsport podium of Nathan Byrd, Tim Pierce and Paulie Gatto. Fleck had to concede race two to Butson, with his teammate Clay DellaCava in third this time, while the podium in the Open Class remained unchanged.[9]

The second round at Mid-Ohio attracted only eight cars, with Butson and Byrd claiming both pole positions in their respective classes. The first race offered an exciting battle for the 016 Class win between Butson and Fleck, with the pair trading top spot before Butson had an engine issue, allowing McAleer into second place. The Open Class saw Byrd take an unrivaled victory ahead of Steve Hamilton (Hamilton Motorsport) and Austin Holtgraewe (Arrive Drive). Race two was a calmer affair as Butson was untroubled this time, leading Fleck and McAleer home. Byrd claimed his fourth win in a row, again ahead of Hamilton, with Gatto, who was unable to start the first race, in third.[10]

Pittsburgh hosted round three for ten entrants, and Polestar’s Keith Grant and Nathan Byrd took double pole positions in their classes. 016 Class leader Butson was the fastest car on track throughout the first race as he overtook Grant to take the win, with Alliance’s Richard Zober in third. Butson tried to repeat this feat in the second race, but this time, Grant was able to hold on to first place. The Open Class saw no new winner once again as Byrd added two more to his win streak. Jason Slahor, racing for his eponymous team, was the only other starter in the first race and also took second in race two, with Gatto once again only starting the second race and coming third.[11]

The second half of the season began at Road America, with entries reaching 14 cars. This time, it was Keith’s brother David Grant who secured two 016 Class pole positions, while privateer Steve Hamilton managed to take one Open Class pole position away from Byrd. David led Keith to a Polestar one-two in the first race, with Fleck in third. Byrd ironed out his qualifying mishap by winning the race, while Hamilton dropped to third behind Byrd’s teammate Charles Livingston. The second race was won by one-off entry Tõnis Kasemets, who beat David Grant, with Butson in third. In the Open Class, Livingston and Hamilton took second and third behind dominator Byrd, now on an eight-race winning streak.[12]

Only six competitors traveled to New Jersey Motorsports Park for round five, where Butson and David Grant shared 016 Class pole positions. They each won a race, albeit not the one they started in first - David Grant took a new lap record en route to leading Butson and Zober home in race one, before he failed to start the second race. That left the podium to Butson, Keith Grant and McAleer, with Butson taking the title in the process. The Open class saw only one car entered, shared between Tyler O’Connor and Robert Albani. The former was unable to finish the first race and the latter won race two. That finally broke Byrd’s win streak while he won the title in absence.[13]

The Open Class season ended in quiet fashion at Summit Point Motorsports Park as class champion Butson was the only entrant. Therefore he took both pole positions and won both races, but also managed to set a new track record during race one. The Open Class saw more of a fight, especially because Byrd was still absent. K-Hill's Bruce Hamilton, who was first in the sole qualifying session, dropped to fifth during the first race, with Gatto taking his first win ahead of Slahor and Pierce. After coming through the field to claim second in race one, Slahor went one better in race two, taking the win and demoting Gatto to second. Pierce came third once again in the final race of 2024.[14]

Standings

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Scoring system

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Three points were awarded for pole position in each class, as well as two more points for the fastest lap per race per class.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th   16th   17th   18th   19th   20th   21st   22nd   23rd   24th   25th+ 
Points 50 42 37 34 31 29 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Each driver's two worst results were dropped.

Drivers' standings

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Pos Driver ATL MOH PIT ROA NJM SUM Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
016 Class standings
1   Matthew Butson 2 1 3 1 1 2 (4) (3) 2 1 1 1 492
2   John McAleer 3 4 2 3 4 4 6 6 276
4   Keith Grant 2 1 2 4 4 2 254
3   Dudley Fleck 1 2 1 2 3 8 249
5   Richard Zober 3 3 5 5 3 3 210
6   David Grant 1 2 1 Ret 155
7   Bill Munholland 5 5 7 7 116
8   Clay DellaCava 4 3 71
9   Tõnis Kasemets Ret 1 53
  Jim Booth DNS DNS 0
Open Class standings
1   Nathan Byrd 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 427
2   Paulie Gatto 3 3 DNS 3 DNS 3 4 4 1 2 308
3   Steve Hamilton 2 2 3 3 4 5 226
5   Jason Slahor 2 2 2 1 178
4   Austin Holtgraewe 5 4 3 4 5 DNS 167
6   Tim Pierce 2 2 DNS DNS 3 3 160
7   Charles Livingston 2 2 6 4 151
8   Tyler O'Connor 1 DNS 55
9   Robert Albani DNS 4 DNS Ret 40
10   Glenn Cooper 4 DNS 37
11   Bruce Hamilton 5 DNS 34
  Joel Haas DNS DNS 0
  Robert Wright DNS DNS DNS DNS 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
ATL MOH PIT ROA NJM SUM
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b O'Connor and Albani shared the No. 41 car for round 5, with O'Connor driving race 1 and Albani driving race 2.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Schedule". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  2. ^ "2024 Mission Foods RoadAtlanta SpeedTour - FRP Atlantic/F2000 Qualifying" (PDF). Formula Race Promotions. 23 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  3. ^ "2024 FRP Mid-Ohio SpeedTour - FRP Atlantic/F2000 Qualifying 1 - results" (PDF).
  4. ^ "2024 FRP Pitt Race SpeedTour - FRP Atlantic/F2000 Qualifying 1" (PDF).
  5. ^ "2024 FRP Road America June SpeedTour - FRP Atlantic/F2000 Qualifying 1" (PDF).
  6. ^ "2024 FRP NJMP SpeedTour - FRP Atlantic/F2000 Qualifying 1".
  7. ^ "2024 FRP Summit Point SpeedTour FRP Atlantic/F2000 Practice 2" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Formula Race Promotions Confirms 2024 Dates and Locations". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  9. ^ "New Teams and New Winners in the Opening Formula Race Promotions Event of 2024". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  10. ^ "JT Novosielski Wins the F2000 Major Money Madness at Mid-Ohio While Thomas Schrage Dominates F1600". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  11. ^ "Sebastian Mateo Naranjo and Scott Rubenzer Go Three-For-Three in F1600 and F1600 Master while Gabriel Cahan and Dane McMahon Split Wins in F2000". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  12. ^ "Byrd and Minor Double Up on Wins while Ayrton Houk Scores Three Podiums in F1600 | Full Race Replays Included". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  13. ^ "Championship Battles Take Shape at New Jersey Motorsports Park with One More FRP Event Left". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  14. ^ "Champions Crowned at 2024 Formula Race Promotions Finale". www.racefrp.com. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
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