BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (October 18, 2025) – Alex Popow dominated at Barber Motorsports Park to earn his third win in Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.). After pacing both practices and earning the pole for MLT Motorsports, Popow (No. 55 Dr. Michael Thompson MS DDS PPLS / MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) led every lap in an all-green race to take the win with an 11.590-second margin.
Popow remains in a tight battle with Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) for the Vice Championship, with the two now separated by just 3.5 points headed into tomorrow’s season finale. Starting third, Hauanio benefitted from a spin by series debutant Zach Fourie (No. 15 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) to move into second, but had to hold off the advances of Caleb Campbell (No. 68 Kids Help Phone / Camtacc Properties / Legacy Foundation of Canada / LC Racing Ligier JS F422) and later Clemente Huerta Raab (No. 17 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) to claim the runner-up position.
Huerta Raab was one of the biggest movers, gaining three positions throughout the 30-minute race to earn his sixth podium of 2025. Behind him, Fourie, finishing fourth, and Augusto Paschetta (No. 27 Scuderia Buell / Sport West / Bruno Maquinaria / Brapax Ligier JS F422), finishing fifth, earned top-five finishes in their series debut.
Notes of Interest:
- Alex Popow earned his third win of 2025 with a Race 1 victory at Barber.
- Finishing second, Kekai Hauanio earned his 12th podium in 16 rounds this year.
- Alex Popow and Kekai Hauanio will take the fight for the Vice Championship into tomorrow’s final round, with Hauanio edging Popow by 3.5 points.
- Clemente Huerta Raab finished on the podium for the sixth time this season with a third-place result.
- Three teams were represented on today’s podium with MLT Motorsports winning, Crosslink Motorsports finishing second and Kiwi Motorsport in third.
- Already the 2025 F4 U.S. Champion, Cooper Shipman is competing in Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) this weekend, where he finished third in his series debut on Saturday morning.
> > SEE MORE: Round 16 Official Results
“It was a really good race,” said Popow after climbing from the car. “We led from start to finish—I had a great car under me thanks to the MLT crew. I’m really happy to finally be back on top. I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see what we can do.”
> > WATCH THE STREAM: Stream Round 16 from Barber
F4 U.S. is back on track tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT for the final race of the season. Before the green flag waves, drivers will welcome the fans out to pit lane for a special pre-race fan walk beginning at 11:15 a.m. CT. The race airs live on SPEED SPORT 1 and streams on SpeedTour.TV, with live timing and scoring available on Race Monitor. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
