Season summary
The opening event of the 2024 season was held at Road Atlanta, with eleven cars entered across both classes. K-Hill’s Dudley Fleck and Coopsport’s Glenn Cooper took the pole positions for the 016 and Open Class respectively in the only qualifying session held. While Fleck was able to convert his pole position into a win ahead of his teammates Matthew Butson and John McAleer, Cooper dropped to fourth throughout the race, leaving an all-Arrive Drive Motorsport podium of Nathan Byrd, Tim Pierce and Paulie Gatto. Fleck had to concede race two to Butson, with his teammate Clay DellaCava in third this time, while the podium in the Open Class remained unchanged. [9]
The second round at Mid-Ohio attracted only eight cars, with Butson and Byrd claiming both pole positions in their respective classes. The first race offered an exciting battle for the 016 Class win between Butson and Fleck, with the pair trading top spot before Butson had an engine issue, allowing McAleer into second place. The Open Class saw Byrd take an unrivaled victory ahead of Steve Hamilton (Hamilton Motorsport) and Austin Holtgraewe (Arrive Drive). Race two was a calmer affair as Butson was untroubled this time, leading Fleck and McAleer home. Byrd claimed his fourth win in a row, again ahead of Hamilton, with Gatto, who was unable to start the first race, in third. [10]
Pittsburgh hosted round three for ten entrants, and Polestar’s Keith Grant and Nathan Byrd took double pole positions in their classes. 016 Class leader Butson was the fastest car on track throughout the first race as he overtook Grant to take the win, with Alliance’s Richard Zober in third. Butson tried to repeat this feat in the second race, but this time, Grant was able to hold on to first place. The Open Class saw no new winner once again as Byrd added two more to his win streak. Jason Slahor, racing for his eponymous team, was the only other starter in the first race and also took second in race two, with Gatto once again only starting the second race and coming third. [11]
The second half of the season began at Road America, with entries reaching 14 cars. This time, it was Keith’s brother David Grant who secured two 016 Class pole positions, while privateer Steve Hamilton managed to take one Open Class pole position away from Byrd. David led Keith to a Polestar one-two in the first race, with Fleck in third. Byrd ironed out his qualifying mishap by winning the race, while Hamilton dropped to third behind Byrd’s teammate Charles Livingston. The second race was won by one-off entry Tõnis Kasemets, who beat David Grant, with Butson in third. In the Open Class, Livingston and Hamilton took second and third behind dominator Byrd, now on an eight-race winning streak. [12]
Only six competitors traveled to New Jersey Motorsports Park for round five, where Butson and David Grant shared 016 Class pole positions. They each won a race, albeit not the one they started in first - David Grant took a new lap record en route to leading Butson and Zober home in race one, before he failed to start the second race. That left the podium to Butson, Keith Grant and McAleer, with Butson taking the title in the process. The Open class saw only one car entered, shared between Tyler O’Connor and Robert Albani. The former was unable to finish the first race and the latter won race two. That finally broke Byrd’s win streak while he won the title in absence. [13]
The Open Class season ended in quiet fashion at Summit Point Motorsports Park as class champion Butson was the only entrant. Therefore he took both pole positions and won both races, but also managed to set a new track record during race one. The Open Class saw more of a fight, especially because Byrd was still absent. K-Hill's Bruce Hamilton, who was first in the sole qualifying session, dropped to fifth during the first race, with Gatto taking his first win ahead of Slahor and Pierce. After coming through the field to claim second in race one, Slahor went one better in race two, taking the win and demoting Gatto to second. Pierce came third once again in the final race of 2024. [14]
Bill Munholland
Tõnis Kasemets 
