ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (May 17, 2025) – Kekai Hauanio kicked off his Road America SpeedTour weekend with a Race 1 win in Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.). In a competition filled with close racing and fierce battles, three different drivers led laps, with Hauanio ultimately emerging to claim his second win of the season.
Notes of Interest:
- Kekai Hauanio earned his second F4 U.S. win of the 2025 season, taking the checkered flag in Race 1 at Road America.
- Clemente Huerta Raab claimed his second podium of the season, improving his career-best finish with a runner-up result in Race 1 on Saturday afternoon.
- With a third-place result, Caleb Campbell secured his career-best F4 U.S. finish and first podium.
- Ty Arbogast set his career-best finish with a fourth-place result in Saturday’s Race 1.
- Three nations were represented on today’s podium with American Hauanio, Huerta Raab descending from Chile and Campbell representing Canada.
- Three teams celebrated podium finishes, with Crosslink Motorsports taking the win, Kiwi Motorsport crossing the line second and LC Racing finishing third.
With the field set by championship point standings after qualifying was washed out, Alex Popow (No. 55 Dr. Michael Thompson MS DDS PPLS / MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) led the field to green with Cooper Shipman (No. 14 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) to his outside in second. Behind them, Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) and Clemente Huerta Raab (No. 17 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) lined up third and fourth. As the green flag waved, Hauanio found momentum on his side—carrying his surge around the outside to overtake Shipman in Turn 1, and pulling side by side with Popow as they raced over the Ariens Tunnel. With Hauanio initially getting the point position, Popow made a crossover move to reclaim the spot as they raced toward the Sargento Bridge. The two remained nose to gearbox, with a nearly identical situation playing out on the second lap as Hauanio took the lead in Turn 1, and Popow took it back as they raced under the bridge. Behind them, Demitri Nolan (No. 5 Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) was making a statement, climbing from his seventh-place starting position up to third.
After a 10-minute battle of cat and mouse, Hauanio and Popow raced wheel to wheel through Turns 5-6-7. Popow went off the racing surface, allowing Hauanio to claim the top spot and giving Nolan the opportunity he needed to move into second. Continuing to apply pressure, Nolan then pulled side by side with his Crosslink Motorsports teammate as they raced down the front straight, completing the pass and taking the top spot before they reached Turn 2.
With the safety car deployed moments later, Nolan knew he had to kick it back in high gear with an impending restart and dash to the finish. The field went green with approximately 12 minutes left on the clock, and Hauanio pulled wheel to wheel with Nolan almost immediately. Mere feet behind them, Huerta Raab and Shipman where side by side for third. Stretching back out as they raced toward Turn 8, Hauanio took the top spot, while Nolan, Huerta Raab and Shipman filed in behind him.
As the clock wound down, Hauanio steadily pulled away from the pack. Meanwhile, six cars all ran nose to gearbox behind him waiting for their chance to pounce and pick up a position. Opening up a 2.714-second lead, Hauanio was sailing away toward the checkered flag when Nolan and Shipman made contact behind him. With both drivers spinning through the grass, Huerta Raab was able to scuttle by in second, while Popow took evasive action to claim third. With the clock quickly approaching zero, the double yellow was once again displayed as the field raced toward the checkered flag.
Hauanio was the first to cross the line, with Huerta claiming second and Popow in third. Caleb Campbell (No. 68 Kids Help Phone / Camtacc Properties / Legacy Foundation of Canada / LC Racing Ligier JS F422) rebounded from an early spin to claim fourth, while Ty Arbogast (No. 32 RASE Marketing Ligier JS F422) rounded out the top five.
After the race, the stewards followed up on a corner marshal report to review a pass made by Popow on Campbell. Looking at on-board video, they determined that the corner stations and FlagTronics video boards all displayed the full-course caution when Popow overtook Campbell. As a result, Popow was issued a five-second penalty, dropping him to fifth in the final results, and promoting Campbell to the third and final podium position.
SEE MORE: Race 1 Official Results
“It was a really good race,” said Hauanio after climbing from the car. “I had some good battles in the beginning, but once I got to the lead, I just told myself, ‘don’t look in the mirrors—just push forward.’ I hit all my marks and came off with the win. It was good.”
F4 U.S. returns to the track tomorrow at 10:40 a.m. CT for Race 2 from the Road America SpeedTour. At 9:30 a.m. CT, SPEED SPORT 1 will air a live block of formula races from Road America, kicking off with the Ligier Junior Formula Championship, including F4 U.S. Race 2, and wrapping with Formula Regional Americas Championship. The block will also stream on SpeedTour.TV. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
