Loveland's Evagoras Papasavvas drove from fourth on the grid to first on Aug. 2, winning Race 3 at New Jersey Motorsports Park for his fourth victory of the 2026 Formula Regional Americas season and stretching his championship lead to 8.5 points.

The win capped a turbulent weekend for the recent Loveland High School graduate. Starting from pole position in Race 1 on Aug. 1, Papasavvas retired early after getting caught up in a crash. Before leaving the track, he posted the fastest lap of the race, earning him the pole for Sunday's Race 2, where he finished second behind Cooper Shipman.

Race 3 delivered the drama. Brady Golan led from the front row while Papasavvas lined up fourth. Contact between Shipman and another driver on the opening lap shuffled the field, and Papasavvas moved to second. He closed to within 0.133 seconds of Golan, then executed an over-under pass through Turns 1 and 2 to seize the lead.

"I was able to gain some time on the leader and had a good hard-fought battle," Papasavvas said from the podium, according to Racing America. "About a lap later the end plate fell off, and I was just freaking out for a little bit because I knew I saw something fly by my head, but I had no idea what it was. I tried to just keep managing what I had."

He held on for the checkered flag. Golan finished second and Harbir Dass third.

The three-race weekend netted Papasavvas 43 championship points and his 10th podium of the season. He now leads the FRA Driver Championship with 203.5 points, per Feeder Series standings. Golan sits second at 195, with Shipman third at 159. The championship carries a $100,000 prize for the winner.

As we reported July 21, Papasavvas entered the second half of the season leading the standings with three wins. He drives the No. 71 Ligier JS F3 for Crosslink Motorsports, an official development team for AJ Foyt Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. The team trails Toney Driver Development by eight points in the team championship.

Papasavvas, who begins his freshman year at the University of Cincinnati in fall 2026, races next at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Ontario, Canada, Sept. 3–6. The 20-race season wraps at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, Oct. 16–18.