Heavy rain and even hail couldn’t hamper Jonas Axboe during Round 2 of the Radical Cup North America series, with the Danish driver clinching three outright victories and Pro 1500 class wins. Robert Rossi also took a trifecta in the Platinum class, while Richard McDougall, Chris Huhn and Joe Nuxoll shared the top step for the Gold class and Decklan Deonarine scored two wins with Evan Wolf breaking through for his first Cup victory in Pro 1340.
A rain-soaked Sonoma Raceway challenged drivers, who not only battled each other but also the elements to produce fantastic racing, hard-fought class battles, and standout performances.
“These were by far the worst conditions Radical Cup has ever raced in,” explained Radical Motorsport’s Tom Drewer. “However, the weekend produced some of the best Radical racing ever witnessed, particularly from rising stars Luke Kendall and Jonas Axboe who thoroughly impressed. It was also an outstanding weekend for Radical Northwest and Cameron Racing, whose local drivers dominated the podiums.”
Race 1
Race 4 of Radical Cup North America season, and the first at Sonoma Raceway, was heavily influenced by extreme wet conditions and ultimately scored from the last fully completed lap crossing prior to the red flag. Numerous drivers had to re-cycle their car’s ignition system during the race due to drenched radiators leading to low engine temperatures causing the ECUs to trip. Even so, there was no no shortage of action across the class battles.
The closest fight in the field came in Pro 1500, where Luke Kendall seemed to have the edge on his opponents early on. The Valour driver pulled a small gap on Jonas Axboe and recorded the fastest lap of the race, a 2:12.786, until he was one of the drivers who slowed momentarily to reset his ECU. Axboe, was nevertheless impressive, and delivered not just the Pro 1500 win, but the outright win too for Cameron Racing, holding off Kendall. Group-A’s Sam McDougall survived and thrived in the wet conditions to complete the podium, while Matt Romer and Josh Holtz rounded out the top-five.
In the Gold class, Joe Nuxoll starred for much of the race, reaching as high as third outright while leading the class, before a heartbreaking spin in the treacherous Turn 10 took him out of the race. Teammate, Australian Richard McDougall took over the mantle to claim victory for Radical Northwest ahead of Group-A’s Dennis Kelly. Class points leader Chris Huhn– who was lapping substantially quicker than the top two– recovered for third, while David Mason finished fourth.
In Platinum, Robert Rossi gave Giant Racing the class win, while Chip Romer finished second for ONE Motorsports, one lap down. Teammate Wayne Williams was classified third after contact with the wall sidelined the reigning class champion after completing just two laps. In Pro 1340, RySpec’s Decklan Deonarine was the class standout, until his car ground to a halt. It was one of a number of incidents at the time which led to the red flag. The young Canadian was classified first in class, over Crown’s Evan Wolf.
Overnight factory technicians responded with new engine maps loaded into the competitors’ cars, resulting in a second race of extended green-flag running despite continued wet weather.
Race 2
With the field completing a largely uninterrupted 40-minute contest that featured only two full-course caution laps. In Platinum, Robert Rossi gave Giant Racing another class victory, completing 18 laps to win by 8.783 seconds over Chip Romer, while Wayne Williams completed the podium in third, 21.507 seconds behind the winner. Rossi’s win wasn’t without drama though, as an early spin led to his rear wing being pushed over and a number of twitchy moments followed due to the reduced downforce, with many believing he was lucky not to have been called in for the damage. This time it was Williams who posted the quickest lap in class with a 2:05.670 to give him the class pole for the final race.
In Pro 1340, Decklan Deonarine stayed in control of the category for RySpec, taking his second win of the weekend and recording a best lap of 2:09.952. Evan Wolf was classified second for Crown with Radical Arizona.
In Gold, Chris Huhn emerged victorious for Primal Motorsports after edging Joe Nuxoll by 3.765 seconds, but final margin, didn’t tell the story. Nuxoll looked in command of the class for much of the race, just as he had in the first, with an early buffer of Pro 1500s keeping is rivals at bay. However, as the young-guns cleared the Gold class leader, Huhn elevated his pace to a class-best lap of 2:03.698 to reel in and eclipse the Californian. David Mason finished third, one lap down, while Dennis Kelly and Richard McDougall completed the top-five.
Yet again the most competitive battle came in Pro 1500, where Jonas Axboe and Luke Kendall fought all the way to the finish in one of the tightest results of the weekend. Again Kendall converted his outright pole into an early lead, but a small offtrack excursion gave Axboe the opening he needed to take over the lead. Kendall applied as much pressure as he could, consistently turning faster laps including a 1:57.810. In the final laps Kendall’s confidence in the wet became ragged desperation, while Axboe remained composed to clinch the win for Cameron Racing by exactly one second when the checkered flag flew. An outstanding drive from Valen Venkatesh saw him carve his way up through the field to complete the podium in third, while Matt Romer and Jack Yang rounded out the top-five.
Race 3
Monsoon like weather, including hail as the cars made their way out onto the race track, brought the Radical Cup North America Sonoma weekend to a close. The field was challenged with standing water, limited visibility, and no room for error.
In the Platinum class, Rossi guided the Giant Racing entry to another victory. The fight behind him remained tight all race long, with Chip Romer finishing just 3.375 seconds back in second and Wayne Williams only another 0.932 seconds behind in third. The Pro 1340 category saw another name added to its list of 2026 winners as Evan Wolf won for Crown with Radical Arizona. Deonarine was classified second for RySpec.
In the Gold class, lady luck was finally on Nuxoll’s side. With the pit window opening during a full course caution, early race leader Chris Huhn elected to stay out– the only driver to do so. The gamble didn’t pay off, with Huhn tumbling to the back of the pack. And while other’s faltered Nuxoll delivered the strong pace he had shown all weekend to win in front of his home crowd. Radical Northwest with Cameron Racing teammate McDougall followed in second, 2.938 seconds adrift, while Mason took third and remained within eight seconds of the class winner. Chris Huhn finished fourth and also showed strong pace while trying to recover with a 2:04.798 best lap, while Dennis Kelly rounded out the top-five.
However, yet again, it was the rising stars of the Pro 1500 class, which produced the most impressive performances of the day. Luke Kendall again lead early on, but a mishap soon gave Axboe the lead. In the round of pit stops, Valour racing again gave Kendall the upper hand but drama struck Kendall a lap later as he came grinding to a halt on the run up to turn 2, allowing Axboe to reclaim the lead. It was a cruel blow to Kendall who looked set to take his first win of the season. This time it was Axboe with the pace advantage, turning the fastest lap of race regardless of class, a 1:58.464, underlining just how impressive his drive was in treacherous conditions. Valen Venkatesh had another outstanding drive to give Radical Northwest with Cameron racing a one-two, while Valour Racing’s Jack Yang completed the podium in third. Behind the top-three, the class was hit hard by attrition, with only those front-runners completing the full distance. Holtz finished fourth after completing 11 laps, Kendall was classified fifth with ten laps in the books, with Romer and McDougall sixth and seventh.
Rossi (Platinum), Huhn (Gold) and Axboe (Pro 1500) have all extended their points leads, while Deonarine is now the man to beat in Pro 1340 heading into the Road America weekend, where Radical Cup North America will star alongside IndyCar for Races 7 through 9 of the 2026 season during the XPEL Grand Prix presented by AMR, June 18-21.
Stay tuned to the Radical Cup website and social media pages for news, information, photos, and more throughout the 2026 season…
