Group-A Racing entered rounds 7-8-9 of the 2022 Blue Marble Cocktails Radical Cup with its largest line-up of 5 drivers. Usual full-time drivers of Steve Jenks (Platinum Class), Reece Everard (PRO 1500), Reid Steward (PRO 1340), Jack Yang (PRO 1500) returning after a successful Road America and Aurora Straus (PRO 1500) making her debut with the team. The team would work with relentless attitude to overcome tremendous adversity and still come home arms full of hardware.
Per the norm, Blue Marble Cocktails Radical Cup Series organizers offered an enormous amount of track time to its competitors starting with Thursday promoter test day. Sadly, disaster would strike for not one, but two of the Group-A Racing drivers in the third session at the ultra-fast bus stop complex. Jack Yang would lose control exiting the corner and have a huge crash, followed a few seconds later by his teammate and PRO 1500 championship lead Reece Everard incurring the same incident. Both cars would incur chassis damage forcing those cars out for the remainder of the weekend.
After finishing the test day the team was able to send a crew member home to drive through the night to the team’s shop, (310 miles away) to get their demo car for Reece Evered. Ari Straus (Owner of Monticello Country Club) was coming up Friday evening and able to grab Jack Yang’s back up car for him to finish. Both cars would arrive to Watkins Glen after 8PM on Friday for the team to then prepare for the drivers to enter race 1 early Saturday morning.
Still with three other cars to run for Friday qualifying the team kept its head down. Steve Jenks would earn a solid third position in qualifying for the Platinum Class. On debut, Aurora Straus earned a very impressive outside pole in the PRO 1500 class. Reid Stewart would also earn himself a third place qualifying result in PRO 1340. The adventures did not end, as Reid pulled into the pits after qualifying with a clutch issue which would require the team to do an engine change. After arriving at the track at 5:30AM, the team was at the track until 11PM Friday getting two back up cars prepped after late arrival and an engine change accomplished for Reid.
Race 1 saw Jenks get off to a good start making it three wide for the lead off the initial jump in Platinum. He would slot into 2nd behind Robert Rossi. The two were nose-to-tail, but Steve could not find a way past, but earned a very solid runner up spot. In PRO 1500 Aurora Straus ran an incredibly strong & clean first race to earn a 2nd place on debut. Reece Everard & Jack Yang had to start 24th & 25th after not participating in qualifying the day before while they waited for back up cars to arrive. Everard would get off to a tremendous start in the Group-A Racing demo car cutting through the field at a fierce pace. He would get all the way up to third behind his Group-A Racing team mate Aurora Straus before the checkered flag flew. Jack Yang would have a great rebound race after his crash as well to get back up through the field a bit and rebuild his confidence. In PRO 1340 Reid Stewart would find himself in a back and forth scenario of the top 4 challengers. In the end he would come with a podium in third just two tenths behind 2nd place.
Race 2 had Steve Jenks and Robert Rossi going back at it again for the Platinum class win in their SR10’s. The two constantly reset fastest lap every time by, not giving eac other an inch to gain on each other. Jenks would have to settle for second again. In PRO 1500 Group-A drivers Everard and Straus would start 1-2. Everard would go on to win leading every lap in dominate fashion in his back up car, the Group-A demo car. Straus would drop back initially to 5th in class. She remained calm and muscled her way back to the front in a calm yet professional manner and earned another podium in 3rd. Jack Yang took a massive step forward in regaining his confidence following his Thursday crash setting his best laps of the weekend and earning a top 10. In PRO 1340 Reid Stewart was running another solid 3rd in class before disaster would strike yet again, with 5 minutes to go where he spun and backed it into the wall incurring immense damage. To make matters worse there was exactly 2 hours between the two races leaving not much time. Miraculously the Group-A Racing team worked feverishly yet again and got his car repaired and re set up in time to make the grid for the final race.
Race 3 would see Jenks start on pole in Platinum class. A competitor from the third row would do an egregious jump start (which he was penalized for) but in result would shuffle Jenks back. He put his head down and used his pace to quickly start working his way back forward. In the end Jenks would earn his third 2nd place finish of the weekend. The results also leapfrog Jenks back up to 2nd in the championship as well. In PRO 1500 Everard was out front yet again leading the field. Sadly, in a heart break manner he would have to retire from the lead with an electrical issue. Even with that misfortune, he leaves the weekend with the championship lead in PRO 1500. Aurora Straus was running another solid third and would capitalize on her teammates misfortune to then earn another runner up, making it three podiums on her debut weekend. Jack Yang continued his rebound and earned his best result of the weekend finishing 6th and setting his best laps of the weekend yet again. In PRO 1340 Reid Stewart was in a tight nose-to-tail battle with defending champion Mike Anzaldi. The two ran each other close and hard all race but Stewart would come out on top to earn a 2nd place result to rebound from the crash in previous race. Stewart leaves the weekend 3rd in points of PRO 1340 class.
“I don’t even know where to start with everything that went down the last 4 days” stated Group-A Racing owner Jonathan Scarallo. “Every single team member worked like an animal dealing with a full season worth of adversity thrown at us in just one weekend. Nobody ever complained, everybody just put their head down and fixed each issue as they came at us. With it we were able to keep everybody on track and yet still take home an incredible amount of hardware.”
Rounds 10-11-12 of Blue Marble Cocktails Radical Cup heads west to Utah Motorsports Campus August 12-14. Group-A Racing is a professional race team since 1996 & also a exclusive dealer of Radical Sports Cars in the Northeast. for more information on cars for purchase, arrive-and-drive opportunities with your Radical or using one of theirs contact jonathan via 631-974-4379 info@GroupARacingTeam.com
Young Gun Jacob Abel Joins Group-A Racing For Radical Cup Season Finale
Capping off a tremendously successful inaugural campaign in the Blue Marble Cocktails Radical Cup Series, Group-A Racing is expanding to a two-car effort adding young gun, Jacob Abel, to its lineup. Abel joins Group-A Racing during the series final event at Road Atlanta November 18-22. Jacob will drive in the SR3 Pro 1500 class, driving a brand new SR3 1500 XX. The SR3 XX is the latest generation of the world’s best-selling race car.
Jacob Abel is 19 years old, born and raised in Louisville Kentucky. Initially started his racing career like many young aspiring drivers in karting, before making the transition to cars in 2017. Abel made his car debut in 2017 competing in the United States Formula 4 Series presented by Honda. Jacob continued to develop in F4 and then Formula Regional Americas (formally F3 Americas). He also competed a duel campaign in 2019 in both FR Americas and Indy Pro 2000. Highlight of the 2019 season would be him earning his maiden car victory in FR Americas at Road Atlanta. Abel will look to carry that same success & track knowledge into the Radical Cup Series at Road Atlanta from when he last visited.
Through his experience in the Honda powered F4 & FR Series, Jacob has been able to participate in the Honda Performance Development (HPD) driver development program, giving him his first taste of sports car with testing opportunities in the factory supported Acura NSX GT3 cars. Abel will now be making his sports car race debut by entering the Blue Marble Cocktail Radical Cup with Group-A Racing.
“I am so excited to have Jacob joining us at Road Atlanta” said team principal Jonathan Scarallo. “I have known him and his family for a while as we’ve been competing in the F4US Series. He’s really been coming along the last 2 years in FR Americas, earning wins and podiums. I am really excited about being able to be a part of his sports car racing debut. I most importantly appreciate the trust from his family to provide what’s needed for him. It will naturally be a learning experience for him but I am very optimistic of earning some fantastic results.”
"I'm very excited to get things going down in Georgia in a few days. Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks, and one that I have had a lot of success at in all different types of race cars. The Radical SR3 looks like an amazing car and I'm looking forward to learning it's nuances. Coming off a relatively disappointing 2020 season with only two podiums, I'm going to be hungry for good results. The Group-A Racing team has already proven themselves early in this series. With that success and my combined experience at this track, I think a good weekend could be in store!"
Abel will join Group-A’s full-time driver Steve Jenks. Despite being a rookie & single car entry in the ultra-competitive series, Jenks and the Group-A team enter the final event in contention to win the championship.
Group-A Racing is the exclusive dealer for Radical Sports Cars in the North East. Parties interested in all things pertaining to Radical Sports Cars such as new car sales, used car sales, service, test & race opportunities contact team principal Jonathan Scarallo 631-974-4379 info@GroupARacingTeam.com
Radical Sportscars Opens In New York With Group-A Racing
Serving Northeast with a presence in Manhattan
Radical New York is tenth dealership to open in North America
Multiple SR3 XX race cars already en-route, and trial days planned
Radical Sportscars is expanding its extensive North American dealer network with Radical New York servicing the Northeast, including the tri-state area, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Radical New York will be spearheaded by open-wheel powerhouse Group-A Racing, run by Jonathan and Joseph Scarallo. Established in 1996 to compete in the USF2000 series, more recently Group-A has been a stalwart to the F4 US Championship, being the only team to field cars in every round since the series’ inception. The team has also partnered with the Lucas Oil School of Racing to create a development pathway for drivers from across the globe.
Along with its operational base in Lindenhurst, Long Island, Radical New York will also have a presence in the heart of Manhattan at the exclusive Classic Car Club on Pier 76, which already features a Radical RXC ‘art car’ hanging from its walls.
Radical New York will shortly commence a programme of trial days throughout the Northeast to showcase Radical’s range, including their new SR3 XX demonstrators – Radical’s latest and smartest iteration of its best-selling model.
The region is well served by iconic circuits and private member clubs including Watkins Glen, Monticello Motor Club, Lime Rock Park, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Club Motorsport, Pineview Run, and Palmer Raceway. Radical New York has established links with these circuits and local service partners to help support the many Radical owners already participating in trackdays and race events at these venues.
The formation of Radical New York comes after Group-A Racing joined the national Blue Marble Radical Cup series earlier this year, in conjunction with Boston-based service and support partner Tummenas Motorsports. Fielding Steve Jenks, Radical New York has already achieved a hattrick of podium finishes in the highly competitive PRO 1500 class.
Based onsite at New Jersey Motorsports Park, IMSA LMP3 champions Forty7 Motorsports are another service partner of Radical New York, offering drivers in the New Jersey area a range of technical, parts and training solutions.
Beyond immediate sales and support of new and existing drivers in the region, Radical New York has ambitions to establish a single-marque Radical series in the Northeast, alongside expanding Radical’s presence and success in SCCA and NASA events.
“We are very excited to be joining the Radical family,” commented Radical New York Dealer Principal Jonathan Scarallo. “It’s been a 12-month process to properly engineer the right plan to service the Northeast corner of the United States– providing local service centers supported by a large regional parts warehouse, and partnering with the country clubs to offer demo opportunities for people to come and try these awesome race cars.”
“The United States is Radical’s biggest market with many drivers based in the North-eastern states, so I’m delighted that we’ve found a new partner with the scale and experience to support them,” added Dan Redpath, Radical Global Sales Director.
“Group-A Racing have an enviable reputation in US single-seater competition, and combined with the Scarallo family’s 40-year reputation in automotive product sales and support, Radical New York are well positioned to bring our exciting range of sportscars – including the newly-launched SR3 XX – to motorsport enthusiasts in the region.”
Radical New York is the latest in a raft of new Radical dealer appointments throughout the world over the last 12 months. The network has been bolstered by new representatives in Arizona, as well as the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.
For more information contact:
Radical New York
Dealer Principal – Jonathan Scarallo
T: 631-974-4379
E: info@GroupARacingTeam.com
Headquarters: 7 Sidney Court, Lindenhurst NY 11757
Manhattan Showcase (currently featuring Rapture and RXC models): Classic Car Club, 1 Pier 76, New York, NY 10018
Group-A Racing Sets Blistering Pace at NJMP USF2000 Test
Lindenhurst, New York - Group-A Racing Racing continued their off-season testing program this past weekend. This time the test took place at the New Jersey Motorsports Park Thunderbolt Course. They had former F2000 race winner and polesitter Jonathan Scarallo in the car. The day started off in wet conditions with it raining in the New Jersey area that night and early morning. While this would not allow the team to work on set-ups, it did allow them to do install checks since it was the first time out with the spec Mazda MZR engine. They wanted to log miles to check reliability and break everything in.
The track finally started to give a dry line in the afternoon allowing the team and driver to start to push the car. The car would continue to run flawlessly with no glitches permitting the team to log as many miles as the day allowed. To top it off, the baseline set-up was a fantastic one, allowing the team to set extremely quick lap times in non-ideal conditions. The times being set in just the first dry session would have put them in contention for the pole based upon times the series did at NJMP.
“Today would have to be looked at as a tremendous success," said team owner Joe Scarallo Sr. "It was our first time out in a 100 percent full spec USF2000 car and we continued to have no issues. The car was completely reliable, which was fantastic. The Mazda engine and everything was great and performed very well. The pace of the car just made the day go from great to incredible.”
“I cannot remember the last time I had this much fun in a race car,” commented Jonathan Scarallo, who handled the driving duties for the day. “The set-up with how we rolled off the truck was so good right out of the box once the track finally got dry enough to push. It was so well balanced and it allowed me just go faster and faster every lap. We certainly had hoped to set the type of times we did, but with the conditions, did not expect to, so the fact we did really says a lot about the whole Group-A Racing effort.”
Group-A Racing has two more days of testing scheduled at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Interested parties in testing and racing with the team in the USF2000 Series can contact them via phone 631-957-3901 or E-Mail GroupARacing@aol.com. For more information on the team can go to www.GroupARacing.net.
Group-A Racing Kicks Off 2014 Campaign with Testing Program
LINDENHURST, NY (October 30, 2013) - 
After two years of doing partial season programs in the F2000 Championship Series with drivers from around the globe, Group-A Racing is making a big push for the 2014 title. The team is wasting no time to get prepared as possible and started testing last week at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
The test took place at NJMP Thunderbolt course, which the F2000 Championship Series last raced at in July of 2012. The day presented 'Haru' his first opportunity to drive a F2000 car after having competed in the F1600 Championship Series one offs in 2012 & 2013. ‘Haru’ adapted to the additional horsepower and downforce very quickly, and went faster every time he went out, showing constant improvement through out the day.
The test also allowed the Group-A Racing team to do some research & development work on some new aero parts. To test was done to check productivity along with reliability of some new pieces that have been added to the car since the last time out.
“Haru did a very nice job today,” commented team owner Joe Scarallo Sr. “He came up to speed pretty quick and got used to the wings and more power pretty easily. Most importantly he did it without making any real major mistakes, which is good. Another great thing he did was listen and applied the coaching that provided by the teams driver coach, data and in-car video. We were able to get good feedback on the new aero pieces we had on the car and confirmed what we were expecting the new pieces to do which was good. It was a win-win day from every perspective.”
“I want to thank Group-A Racing for taking care of me during my stay in the United States. Everything from them was fantastic. The setup, coaching, and mechanical work was great. I am very happy with everything.” Said 'Haru'
Group-A Racing will be continue to test November 9th, 10th, 16th & 17th at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Interested drivers who would like to participate in these test days can contact the team GroupARacing@aol.com 631-957-3901