# 2023 Formula Car Challenge

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.
| 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: ||||

## Race calendar

The 2023 schedule was announced on 1 December 2022. 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 | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 2 | Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma | 26 February | Formula Pro USA Winter Series San Francisco Region SCCA Series | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 3 | Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows | 15 April | Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 4 | Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows | 16 April | Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 5 | Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow | 29 April | Formula Pro USA Western Championship California Sports Car Club | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 6 | Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow | 30 April | Formula Pro USA Western Championship California Sports Car Club | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 7 | Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows | 3 June | Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 8 | Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows | 4 June | Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 9 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey | 29 July | San Francisco Region SCCA Series Pacific F2000 Championship | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 10 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey | 30 July | San Francisco Region SCCA Series Pacific F2000 Championship | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 11 | Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma | 2 September | Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 12 | Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma | 3 September | Formula Pro USA Western Championship San Francisco Region SCCA Series | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 13 | Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows | 28 October | San Francisco Region SCCA Series Pacific Northwest Spec Miata Tour | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |
| 14 | Thunderhill Raceway Park, Willows | 29 October | San Francisco Region SCCA Series Pacific Northwest Spec Miata Tour | SonomaThunderhillButtonwillowLaguna Seca |

## 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 | Sonoma Raceway | Joe Briggs | Joe Briggs | Ben Booker‡ | no entries | Joe Briggs |
| 3 | Thunderhill Raceway Park | Joe Briggs | Joe Briggs | Christian Okpysh | Tao Takaoka | Joe Briggs |
| 4 | Thunderhill Raceway Park | 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 | Buttonwillow Raceway Park | C.J. Ray | C.J. Ray | Christian Okpysh | no entries | no entries |
| 7 | Thunderhill Raceway Park | Tao Takaoka | Brad Drew | Bill Weaver | Tao Takaoka | no entries |
| 8 | Thunderhill Raceway Park | Derry O'Donovan | C.J. Ray | C.J. Ray | Tao Takaoka | no entries |
| 9 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | Joe Briggs | Joe Briggs | Bill Weaver | Tao Takaoka | Joe Briggs |
| 10 | WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca | Joe Briggs | Joe Briggs | Bill Weaver | Frank Russell | Joe Briggs |
| 11 | Sonoma Raceway | Joe Briggs | Joe Briggs | Christian Okpysh | Tao Takaoka | Joe Briggs |
| 12 | Sonoma Raceway | 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 | Thunderhill Raceway Park | 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.
| 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.
| 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 | SON1 | THU1 | THU1 | BUT | BUT | THU2 | THU2 | LAG | LAG | SON2 | SON2 | THU3 | THU3 | Pts |
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
| 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 | 226 |
| 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 | 194 |
| 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 |
| Pos | Driver | SON1 | SON1 | THU1 | THU1 | BUT | BUT | THU2 | THU2 | LAG | LAG | SON2 | SON2 | THU3 | THU3 | | Pts |
‡ - event or race did not award any points as it did not meet all FCC rules