Race Preview: FTF1 Pocono 400

The ModernRacingPrints.com FTF1 Series heads to Pocono Raceway tonight for the second race of the season. The race will stream live on Friday, April 28th at 9:45PM ET on FTF.gg across Twitch and YouTube.

About the Series: The ModernRacingPrints.com FTF1 Series is an eleven-event summer championship series testing some of iRacing's best open-wheel drivers across a combination of oval & road courses in the Dallara iR-01, iRacing's high horsepower open-wheel concept car. The series, first contested in 2021, returns this year after the winter release of a new oval tyre & aero package for the car designed to make the car the premier vehicle for competitive oval open-wheel racing.

Last Race: Hamilton Akabueze took the win in the season opening U.S. 500 last Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, managing to avoid disaster in a late race incident with Matthew Zwack and fending off a late charge from Justin Melillo & Cory Vervynckt. Akabueze scraped his way into the 33-car field, finally securing his spot during Friday night's final hour of bump qualifying, but quickly worked his way through the field, avoiding disaster and ultimately leading 31 laps on his way to victory. While Akabueze will carry a 10-point lead into Pocono in the Driver's Championship, the Constructor's Championship remains a pure toss-up, with Modern Racing Prints GP, Mercedes-A-MICKe Mouse F1 Team, and AAP Meme Team fueled by Sunoco all within one point of each other at the top of the table.

Pocono 400 race logo, race name on red & blue background

Track Info: Known as “The Tricky Triangle,” Pocono Raceway has deep roots in American open-wheel racing dating back to 1970's and 80's as one of the hosts of the Triple Crown USAC & Indycar events. Pocono's novel configuration is punishing on cars & drivers alike, with each turn making different demands of the field while sporting one of the longest front straightaways in motorsport.

Driver Changes: FTF1 constructors must field two entries to be eligible for constructor's points. The following changes for the Pocono 400 have been confirmed at time of press:

  • Aston Fartin - IN: Zac Mitchell, OUT: Paul Mikolajczyk
  • Modern Racing Prints GP - IN: Austin Knight, OUT: Jeffrey Breuer
  • Williams Mercedes FTF1 - IN: Isak Johnson, OUT: Tyler Williams

The ModernRacingPrints.com FTF1 Series is presented by Modern Racing Prints, the destination for commemorative racing art. For full series stats & standings, visit the results & standings page. To learn more about the series, or sign-up to enter yourself, visit the FTF.gg website & Discord.

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