Primal’s Radien Nicol and Team Stradale’s Michai Stephens took clean sweeps in the Pro 1500 and Platinum classes respectively during the opening round of the 2025 Radical Cup North America season. In Pro 1340 Aurora Straus opened the season with a win following the penalty to Brady Clapham who rebounded with victory in race two, while Jace Bacon won race three.
After a day of testing and official practice sessions it was time to get down to business for 28 Radical Cup racers in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session. With times setting the grid for race one, Michai Stephens earned the pole position for Team Stradale in the Platinum class, clocking the fastest lap of the session. Primal Racing’s rookie Raiden Nicol scored pole position in the Pro 1500 class, while Andy Voelkel startled the Pro 1340 paddock by taking top honors, out driving some of his more experienced Crown Concepts with Apex Racing teammates.
Qualifying
Platinum
1. Michai Stephens – Team Stradale
2. Steve Jenks – Group-A Racing
3. Louis Schriber – JBR
4. Chip Romer – ONE Motorsports
5. Ben Blander – Team Stradale
Pro 1500
1. Raiden Nicol – Primal Racing
2. Gustavo Rafols – LC Racing
3. Jack Yang – Valour
4. Mike Anzaldi – RYNO Racing
5. Austin Riley – Racing with Autism
Pro 1340
1. Andy Voelkel – Crown Concepts with Apex Racing
2. Jace Bacon – Crown Concepts with Apex Racing
3. Brady Clapham – RySpec with YD Auto Group
4. Seth Bacon – Crown Concepts with Apex Racing
5. Mike D’Ambrose – Team Stradale
Wheel-to-Wheel Races
Continuing where he left off qualifying, Michai Stephens led the 16-lap affair in the Platinum class during race one to top the podium and score the win for Team Stradale. Earning the fastest lap of the race, Stephens also secured the pole position for race two. Joining Stephens on the podium in P2 was former dirt racer Wayne Williams, who finished just .486 behind Stephens. Along with the podium result, Williams earned the Sunoco Hard Charger of the race award for his efforts. Ben Blander celebrated on the third step of the box, moving forward from his fifth-place starting spot to cross the line in the third position. Scott Wagner (JBR) and Drew Altman (Group-A Racing) rounded out the top-five.
Race two saw two drivers double up on victories on the day, beginning with Michai Stephens in the Platinum class. Dominating the daily proceedings, Stephens took the checkered flag by more than 20 seconds over the second-place finisher of Ben Blander in a Team Stradale one – two finish. Louis Schriber was able to pip Steve Jenks at the line to score the final step on the podium, just nicking Jenks by three-tenths of a second. Jenks was awarded the fourth position, with Altman garnering his second top-five result of the day with another fifth-place result.
It was three-for-three for Michai Stephens as he went perfect on the weekend for Team Stradale. Earning three pole positions and three fastest-lap honors, Stephens made three trips to the top step of the podium to kick off his season in style. Chip Romer had pace early on, but after the mandatory pitstops found himself behind both Williams and Jenks. All of that dramatically changed with just minutes remaining when Jenks had a tank-slapper though turn 11 passing a back-marker with Williams finding his nose inches from the tire wall after taking avoiding action. Romer capitalized on the chaos to clinch second. Steve Jenks salvaged third for Group-A Racing, while Ben Blander and Scott Wagner rounded out the top-five.
Similar to Stephens in the Platinum class, Raiden Nicol went flag-to-flag in the Pro 1500 class to take top honors and kick off his season in fashion for Primal Racing. Taking the victory by 6.529 seconds over Jack Yang, it was a tight battle for the second step of the podium with Yang edging Gustavo Rafols by less than a second at the checkered flag. The returning 2021 class champ Rafols had looked as though he would challenge Nicol for the win early on, but a wayward headlight bucket rubbing on his front right caused a plume of smoke, rattling Rafols for a full lap. With his second-place result, Yang was the Gold class victor. In his first ever car race, rookie Ryan Persing, competing out of the Cameron Racing camp, was the best of the rest, crossing the stripe in the fourth position, just ahead of veteran driver Mike Anzaldi, who put his #61 entry in P5 when the checkered flag flew.
Nicol made it two-for-two on the day as he continued his domination in the Pro 1500 class. On route to the fastest lap of the race, Nicol scored his second win on the day and of the season to assume his position on the top step of the podium. Winning by nearly 12.5 seconds over the Canadian driver Austin Riley, the 2023 Pro 1340 champion scored his first podium result of the season with an impressive drive. Riley finished 1.3 seconds ahead of Jack Yang, the Gold class winner, followed by Gold class rival Anzaldi and Graham Rahal Performance’s Spencer Schmidt.
Gustavo Rafols was the first Pro 1500 to the flag in the final race but was stripped of his victory after a technical infraction. After a shifting issue plagued Nicol’s early laps, resulting in an unscheduled stop prior to the mandatory pitstops, Nicol charged through the field to cross the line in second, before being promoted to the victory. Valor’s Jack Yang had his third place elevated to second, and took his third Gold class win over RYNO Racing’s Mike Anzaldi after a crafty pass. Cameron Racing’s other rookie, Valen Venkatesh, impressed with fourth, finishing ahead of Spencer Schmidt.
Starting race one third on the grid in Pro 1340, RySpec Racing’s Brady Clapham was first to the checkered flag, finishing nearly nine seconds over Primal Racing driver and P1 Motor Club ambassador Aurora Straus. Team Stradale was back on the podium as Mike D’Ambrose finished third, adding to the team’s trophy hunt during day one, while pole position winner and Crown Concepts with Apex Racing driver Andy Voelkel fell to fourth on the results sheet, just ahead of teammate Mike Dardin in fifth. Following race one, a driving infraction demoted Chapman to P2 as Aurora Straus was elevated to the race win.
After being stripped of the victory, Brady Clapman found his way back to the front of the field and would not be denied in race two on the weekend. Clapham celebrated properly on the podium with his Ryspec Racing team in their first official race win of the season. Returning to the Radical seat, Jace Bacon looked to have nabbed his first podium result of the year, finishing just ahead of Crown Concepts with Apex Racing teammate Andy Voelkel, before Bacon was relegated to seventh after a post-race penalty. Voelkel was therefore classified in P2 while race one victor Aurora Straus rounded out the podium in third, with Mike D’Ambrose and Mike Dardin in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Avenging his mishap in race two, Jace Bacon scored his second podium of the weekend, this time a victory in the Pro 1340 class. Dominating race three, which included a pit stop, Bacon took the win by 15 seconds over Brady Clapham. Following the race, Clapham was removed from the results for a technical non-compliance, promoting Mike D’Ambrose to the second position for Team Stradale as Crown Concepts with Apex Racing put two drivers in the top-three, with Mike Dardin in third. A new name appeared in the top-five of the Pro 1340 class as Cedric Ohayon for Radical Canada East earned his best result of the weekend, finishing fourth and earned the Sunoco Hard Charger of the race award. Dermot Ennis completed the top-five.
Next up for the Radical Cup North America program is a trip to Birmingham, Alabama, and the famed Barber Motorsports Park to race alongside the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the first time this season.