ELKHART LAKE, Caleb Campbell earned his first-career Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.) win on Sunday morning at Road America. Climbing from a fourth-place starting position, Campbell perfectly navigated the race to capitalise on the opportunities presented to him and bring home his first checkered flag.
Notes of Interest:
• Caleb Campbell won his first F4 U.S. Race, taking the victory in Race 2 at Road America on Sunday morning. It was his second podium of the season, after finishing third in Race 1 yesterday.
• Cooper Shipman earned his fourth podium of 2025 with a runner-up finish in Sunday’s Race 2.
• After winning yesterday, Kekai Hauanio finished third in Race 2 on Sunday morning. The result marks his fourth podium in five races.
• Demitri Nolan earned a career-best finish with a fifth-place result in Race 2 on Sunday morning.
• Caleb Campbell’s win marked the first victory for the LC Racing Team. This is LC Racing’s first season in F4 U.S, after the organisation first joined the Ligier Junior Formula Championship grid in the 2024 season finale at Circuit of The Americas.
• With LC Racing Team winning the event, Kiwi Motorsport finished second and Crosslink Motorsports was third.
• Caleb Campbell’s driving coach is 2023 F4 U.S. Champion and 2024 FR Americas Champion, Patrick Woods-Toth.
After recording the fastest lap in yesterday’s Race 1, Clemente Huerta Raab (No. 17 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) was to lead the field to the green flag. However, things got complicated when he spun on the formation lap and came to a stop in the Turn 8 grass. Per the rulebook, the Chilean should have started the event from the rear of the field, but instead he hurried past the field and resumed his starting position out front. With rookie Ty Arbogast (No. 32 RASE Marketing Ligier JS F422) to his outside, the two raced past the starter’s stand, with Caleb Campbell (No. 68 Kids Help Phone / Camtacc Properties / Legacy Foundation of Canada / LC Racing Ligier JS F422) and Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) in their mirrors.
Huerta Raab jumped out to an early lead, while Campbell and Cooper Shipman (No. 14 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) found their way around Arbogast to assume the second and third positions, respectively. Alex Popow (No. 55 Dr. Michael Thompson MS DDS PPLS / MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) was the final car to see the green flag, but he began his forward progress almost immediately, picking up four positions in the opening five minutes.
About the same time, Huerta Raab started to purposefully fall through the running order, attempting to give the positions back, but the Chilean still needed to serve a drive-through penalty after resuming his position following the spin on the formation lap. Driving down pit lane to serve the penalty, Shipman inherited the race lead, with Campbell in second. Shipman and Campbell raced side by side in Turn 5, and Popow pulled up to challenge when they entered Turn 6. First overtaking Shipman, Popow made a move on Campbell in the Kink to take the race lead.
Popow looked unstoppable, and it appeared Shipman, Campbell, and Hauanio could only hope to battle it out for second and third. With less than seven minutes left on the clock, the Venezuelan-American had opened up a six-second lead, while Campbell, Hauanio and Shipman fought for position behind him. However, Popow’s lead was erased when his car suddenly slowed in the Carousel for a mechanical failure, allowing Campbell, Hauanio and Shipman to sail by.
With Campbell now the leader, Shipman pulled up to challenge Hauanio as they raced back down the front straight. As Shipman overtook the runner-up position in Turn 1, Popow was still slowed on the back side of the racetrack. Hauanio looked for a way around Shipman, but he was unable to find one before the double yellow was displayed. As the clock ran out, the field was forced to take the checkered flag under yellow conditions, with Campbell leading the way, Shipman in second, and Hauanio in third.
“This feels awesome, it was an awesome race and I’m so happy right now,” said Campbell after climbing from the car. “I was looking in my mirrors, I was looking ahead of me, I saw Alex Popow ahead of me and I was trying to chase him down. He was crazy fast. It’s unfortunate what happened to him, but it was a good race overall. I have to thank the Kids Help Phone for supporting me, Legacy Foundation of Canada, my school, Victus Academy, and Camtacc Properties for always supporting me.”