Report: Axboe, Huhn and Rossi dominate Atlanta in the wet, Balkissoon breaks through

Braselton, GA — Radical Cup North America battled wild weather at the iconic 2.540-mile Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this past weekend. However, the extreme wet conditions led to some of the most impressive performances of the season. Robert Rossi (Platinum), Jonas Axboe (Pro 1500) and Chris Huhn (Gold) all scored triple victories, while the youngest driver in the field, Nico Balkissoon broke through for his debut win.

“I’ve been unbelievably impressed this weekend,” explained Radical Director of the Americas, Tom Drewer. “The skills of the top drivers were on display for all to see, proving once again why Radical Cup continues to produce talent on a pathway to the Brickyard, Le Mans and beyond.” 

After a clean and productive test day on Thursday, the weekend's momentum stalled Friday morning when lightning in the area forced officials to delay, and eventually abandon, qualifying altogether. The grid for Race 1 was therefore set per Article 34.1 of the sporting regulations, lining cars up in order of current championship points from fastest to slowest class.

Race 1 got underway on a wet track that dried as the laps ticked by, testing every team's read on changing conditions. The biggest storyline of the race was a hard crash for Wayne Williams (ONE Motorsports) on lap 16 as he exited the final corner, yet the driver and the chassis impressively came away unscathed.

In contrast, Platinum points leader Robert Rossi (Giant Racing) was in a class of his own, controlling the race from start to finish for the win, followed by Steve Jenks (Group-A Radical New York) in second, Judd Miller (DDautosports) in third, Chip Romer (ONE Motorsports) in fourth, and teammate Williams classified fifth.

In Pro 1340, Mike D'Ambrose (Team Stradale) took the win ahead of Nico Balkissoon (Williams Services) in second, Aaron Zeigler (Team Stradale) in third, Ryan George (Crown with Radical Arizona) in fourth, and Dermot Ennis (Ennis Racing) in fifth.

Jonas Axboe (Cameron Racing Radical Northwest) soaked up the conditions and pressure from title rival Luke Kendall (Valour) to not only take the class win but finish second overall. Kendall and Matt Romer (ONE Motorsports) completed the podium, while Sam McDougall (Group-A Radical New York) impressed to take fourth, in front of Jack Yang (Valour)– a winner at Road America– who finished fifth.

Chris Huhn (Primal Motorsports) commenced his weekend in style, winning the Gold Class, followed by Dennis Kelly (Group-A Radical New York), who shone in the challenging conditions. David Mason (Radical Indianapolis -Graham Rahal Performance) finished third, while series debutant Pete Folger (Primal Motorsports), and rookie Omar Balkissoon (Williams Services) rounded out the top-five.

Race 2 brought more of the same unpredictability, running mostly wet and interrupted by a string of caution periods that kept the field bunched and the intensity on a knife's edge. Rossi backed up his Race 1 result with another commanding Platinum win, with Jenks and Miller again completing the podium in second and third. Neither One Motorsports driver took the green, with Chip Romer electing to sit out, while Wayne Williams’s car was still being worked on. 

The standout moment of the weekend belonged to Pro 1340– 13-year-old Nico Balkissoon drove to the class win in tricky wet conditions, a mature, composed performance well beyond his years, and just days away from his 14th birthday became the youngest winner in Radical Cup history. Team Stradale’s Mike D'Ambrose– who is three times Balkissoon’s age– finished second ahead of Dermot Ennis. Ryan George and Aaron Zeigler finished fourth and fifth.

Pro 1500 again went the way of Jonas Axboe, with Luke Kendall second and Matt Romer third, followed by Valen Venkatesh in fourth and an impressive drive from fifth placed Josh Holtz. The top-two of Axboe and Kendall had an epic battle up front with Axboe leading early before Kendall took the lead in the middle stages of the race. Axboe returned to the front of the field with a vengeance late in the race to take his second win of the weekend as the two drivers ran a clean and hard race in challenging conditions.

The Gold class saw Chris Huhn take his second-class win of the weekend, again ahead of another solid performing Dennis Kelly and David Mason. Pete Folger finished fourth, while Omar Balkissoon sat on the sidelines to focus on his son’s performance.

Saturday morning’s Race 3 delivered the tightest finish of the weekend. After the round of mandatory pit stops, a late race restart allowed Steve Jenks to pass Judd Miller for second and brought both Romer and Wayne Williams back into contention after they had stormed through the field. The final safety car deployment once again eliminated Robert Rossi’s sizable lead, with Rossi, Jenks, Miller, Romer and Williams line astern but unfortunately the extended clean-up for a Turn 7 incident involving several Pro 1500 drivers robbed race fans of a grandstand finish, and they finished in that order. It was a hattrick of wins for Rossi, who extended his lead in the championship, three seconds for Jenks, and three thirds for Judd Miller who returned to the series for the first time since 2022.

In Pro 1340, Mike D'Ambrose picked up his second win of the weekend, with Dermot Ennis second and 13-year-old Nico Balkissoon rounding out the podium in third, after being a little unlucky with the deployment of the safety car during the mandatory pit stop window.  Ryan George was fourth for Crown Racing, while Aaron Zeigler was an early retirement, completing just a single lap.

While Pro 1500 saw heavy attrition, winner Jonas Axboe remained unscathed. Another spectacular drive saw him lead from start to finish. Initially falling back on the opening lap, Luke Kendall clawed his way back to second place and looked as though he may be a threat to Axboe’s clean sweep, until a wild ride on the approach to Turn 3 took him out of the race. Josh Holtz impressed early on, rising as high as fifth before getting caught out by the conditions. Sam McDougall was another whose pace in the wet was impressive, with the Group-A Radical New York driver climbing from 17th on the grid to fourth in class and tenth overall. However, McDougall was caught in the middle of a multicar incident at the exit of Turn 7 involving Jack Yang and Valen Venkatesh. The latter was classified in third behind Axboe and Matt Romer, who completed a spectacular weekend in second.

Gold was Chris Huhn's all weekend, and Race 3 was no different as he claimed his third straight class win. Dennis Kelly held on for second despite picking up a post-race penalty for a short pit stop, with Pete Folger (Primal Motorsports) picking up third after Omar Balkissoon (Williams Services) was penalized post-race for passing under yellow. David Mason rounded out the class results in fifth.

The weekend’s results have extended the points leads for Rossi in Platinum, Axboe in Pro 1500 and Huhn in Gold, while D’Ambrose now leads Pro 1340. However, Radical Cup North America will be back on track in less than two weeks’ time with a trip to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut before the 2026 season finale at COTA supporting the FIA World Endurance Championship in September. And with six races still left to run, all the championships are still up for grabs. For information on how to join those events visit radicalcupnorthamerica.com.