2023 Atlantic Championship

2023 Atlantic Championship Series season
Season
Races	10
Start date	March 23
End date	August 20
Awards
016 Class Champion Open Class Champion	Jimmy Simpson Austin Hill

The 2023 Atlantic Championship Series season was the tenth season of the revived Atlantic Championship. The series is organized by Formula Race Promotions and sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing.

The season was held over five weekends from March to August 2023.

Jimmy Simpson and Austin Hill won the 016 Class and Open Class titles respectively. Both clinched their titles during the penultimate race weekend at Road America.

Drivers

Drivers competed in two classes, either in the 016 Class or in the Open Class.

016 Class entries

Team	No.	Driver	Car	Rounds
K-Hill Motorsports	6	Christopher Ash	Swift 016	1
	67			3
	24	Matthew Butson	2006 Swift 016a	5
	21	Jimmy Simpson	2006 Swift 016-A	1–4
		Tõnis Kasemets	2006 Swift 016	4
	63	Jim Booth	2005 Swift 016/Mazda	1–2
	66	Richard Zober	2006 Swift 016a Mazda	1–2, 4–5
	74	Dudley Fleck	2006 Swift 016 Mazda	1–2, 4
	84	Peter Ruggiero	2006 Swift 016a	4
Polestar	29	David Grant	2006 Swift 016	3–4
	40	Keith Grant	2017 PMR-17	1, 3–4
Ave Motorsports	44	Tony Ave	2005 Swift 016/Mazda/2300	1
One Motorsports	71	Chip Romer	2006 Swift 016	1, 3–4
Source:

Open Class entries

Team	No.	Driver	Car	Rounds
JENSEN	1	Oliver Westling	2019 Ligier JS F3	2
	2	Everett Stack	2018 Ligier JS F4	5
IGY6 Motorsports	3	Hayden Bowlsbey	Ligier JS F3	2
Puma	5	Robert Wright	2022 Ligier JS F3	1, 4
K-Hill Motorsports	06	Bruce Hamilton	2001 Swift 014 MZR	4–5
	32	Kirk Kindsfater	2002 Swift 014 FA	4
Austin Hill Motorsports	8	Austin Hill	2019 Ligier JS F3	1–4
Robert Talbott Motorsports	17	Bob Corliss	2001 Swift 014.a	1, 3–5
Wisko Racing	63	Jim Booth	2018 Ligier	4
Antonelli Law	171	Jeffrey Antonelli	2006 Star Pro Mazda	4
Source:

Race calendar

The schedule was announced on October 12, 2022. The series did not return to Barber Motorsports Park, instead opting for a round at Summit Point Motorsports Park for the first time since 2018.

Round		Circuit	Date	Support bill	Map of circuit locations
1	R1	Road Atlanta, Braselton	March 25	SVRA Sprint Series & Endurance Trans-Am Series	Road Atlanta Mid-Ohio Pittsburgh Road America Summit Point
	R2		March 26
2	R1	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington	April 29	FRP race weekend (F2000, F1600) Formula Vee Challenge Cup
	R2		April 30
3	R1	Pittsburgh International Race Complex, Wampum	June 10	FRP race weekend (F2000, F1600) Formula Vee Challenge Cup
	R2		June 11
4	R1	Road America, Elkhart Lake	July 8	Trans-Am Series FRP race weekend (F2000, F1600)
	R2		July 9
5	R1	Summit Point Motorsports Park, Summit Point	August 19	SVRA Sprint Series Formula Vee Challenge Cup
	R2		August 20

Race results

Round		Circuit	016 Class			Open Class
			Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver
1	R1	Road Atlanta	Tony Ave	Keith Grant	Jimmy Simpson	Austin Hill	Bob Corliss	Austin Hill
	R2			Jimmy Simpson	Jimmy Simpson		Austin Hill	Austin Hill
2	R1	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Jimmy Simpson	Jimmy Simpson	Jimmy Simpson	Hayden Bowlsbey	Hayden Bowlsbey	Hayden Bowlsbey
	R2		Jimmy Simpson	Jimmy Simpson	Jimmy Simpson	Austin Hill	Austin Hill	Hayden Bowlsbey
3	R1	Pittsburgh International Race Complex	Jimmy Simpson	Jimmy Simpson	Jimmy Simpson	Bob Corliss	Bob Corliss	Austin Hill
	R2		Jimmy Simpson	Keith Grant	Keith Grant	Austin Hill	Austin Hill	Austin Hill
4	R1	Road America	Jimmy Simpson	David Grant	Jimmy Simpson	Austin Hill	Austin Hill	Austin Hill
	R2		David Grant	Tõnis Kasemets	David Grant	Bruce Hamilton	Bruce Hamilton	Kirk Kindsfater
5	R1	Summit Point Motorsports Park	Matthew Butson	Matthew Butson	Matthew Butson	Bruce Hamilton	Bruce Hamilton	Bruce Hamilton
	R2		Matthew Butson	Matthew Butson	Matthew Butson	Bruce Hamilton	Bruce Hamilton	Bruce Hamilton

Season summary

The 2023 season of the Atlantic Championship began at Road Atlanta with pole positions for Tony Ave and Austin Hill in the 016 and Open Classes. Ave retired, leaving Jimmy Simpson to defend from a faster Keith Grant, who could not find a way by. Similarly, Bob Corliss was also faster than Hill, but also had to be content with second place. Wright was third in the Open Class and Romer in the 016 Class. Simpson dominated the 016 field in race two, ahead of a photo-finish between Dudley Fleck and Romer. Hill was the only finishing car in the Open Class. Two double wins saw Simpson and Hill head their classes' standings after the weekend.

Rain was once again on the agenda as the field headed to Mid-Ohio. In the 016 class, Simpson established himself as a title contender early on when he took both pole positions and won both races by over ten seconds. Behind him, Fleck and Richard Zober completed the podium both times as only four drivers entered the class. The picture was less clear in the Open Class, as Hill was the only driver to have entered both rounds so far. New entry Hayden Bowlsbey swept race one and fought past Hill to also take the second victory. Both class leaders grew their points advantage in the standings.

The third event was held at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, and familiar faces were on top in qualifying. Simpson swept 016 qualifying while Corliss and Hill shared Open class pole positions. The first race saw Simpson convert his pole position to a win, ahead of David and Keith Grant. Corliss meanwhile had to give up his first place to Hill. Race two was the first race not won by Simpson, as Keith Grant took first place. Simpson still came second, ahead of Romer. Hill was the only Open Class entry to start race two, so he took an unchallenged first place. Simpson and Hill once again extended their points lead.

The fourth round at Road America saw the biggest field of the season, with 15 cars entered. Simpson was still the man to beat, as he took race one pole position and the win ahead of David Grant and Fleck. For Hill, the story was the same, as he also won from pole, leading Kirk Kindsfater and Bruce Hamilton. Simpson handed his car to Tõnis Kasemets for race two. David Grant took pole position and the win, ahead of Kasemets and Keith Grant. Hill had to retire his car, handing Kindsfater the Open Class win, with polesitter Hamilton and Jim Booth completing the podium. Simpson and Hill had now both amassed an unreachable lead in their classes.

Both class champions did not attend the final round at Summit Point. Matthew Butson swept the weekend in the 016 Class, taking both pole positions and wins ahead of Richard Zober, the only two drivers in the class. Zober consolidated his second place in the class, albeit still 82 points behind Simpson. The field was similarly small in the Open Class, with only three cars entered. Hamilton also swept both qualifyings and races in his class, ahead of Everett Stack, while Corliss was unable to start both races. Double-winner Hamilton was therefore able to overtake Corliss for second in the standings, 161 points behind champion Hill.

Standings

Scoring system

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

016 Class standings

Pos	Driver	ATL		MOH		PIT		ROA		SUM		Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Jimmy Simpson	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	DNS			365
2	Richard Zober	4	5	3	3			5	6	2	2	283
3	Dudley Fleck	7	2	2	2			3	5			221
4	Chip Romer	3	3			4	3	4	4			213
5	Keith Grant	2	4			3	1	Ret	3			205
6	David Grant					2	Ret	2	1			140
7	Jim Booth	6	6	4	4							126
8	Matthew Butson									1	1	110
9	Christopher Ash	5	Ret			5†	4					96
10	Tõnis Kasemets							DNS	2			44
11	Peter Ruggiero							6	Ret			30
12	Tony Ave	Ret	Ret									3
Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Pts
		ATL		MOH		PIT		ROA		SUM

Open Class standings

Pos	Driver	ATL		MOH		PIT		ROA		SUM		Pen.	Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Austin Hill	1	1	2	2	1	1†	1	Ret				355
2	Bruce Hamilton							3	2	1	1		194
3	Bob Corliss	2	Ret			2†	DNS	5	4	DNS	DNS		157
4	Kirk Kindsfater							2	1				92
5	Hayden Bowlsbey			1	1							12	90
6	Everett Stack									2	2		84
7	Jim Booth							4	3				71
8	Robert Wright	3	DNS					6	DNS				66
9	Oliver Westling			3	Ret								38
—	Jeffrey Antonelli							DNS	DNS				—
Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	Pen.	Pts
		ATL		MOH		PIT		ROA		SUM

See also

• 2023 F2000 Championship Series
• 2023 F1600 Championship Series

External links

• Official website: Formula Race Promotions