Popow wins F4 US Race 1 at Barber

Alex Popow dominated at Barber Motorsports Park to earn his third win in the Formula 4 United States Championship (F4 U.S.). After pacing both practices and earning the pole for MLT Motorsports, Popow (No. 55 Dr. Michael Thompson MS DDS PPLS / MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) led every lap in an all-green race to take the win with an 11.590-second margin.

Popow remains in a tight battle with Kekai Hauanio (No. 29 N-E-Where Transport / Crosslink Motorsports Ligier JS F422) for the runner-up spot in the championship, with the two now separated by just 3.5 points headed into tomorrow’s season finale. Starting third, Hauanio benefited from a spin by series debutant Zach Fourie (No. 15 Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) to move into second, but had to hold off the advances of Caleb Campbell (No. 68 Kids Help Phone / Camtacc Properties / Legacy Foundation of Canada / LC Racing Ligier JS F422) and later Clemente Huerta Raab (No. 17 Velox USA / Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) to claim the runner-up position.

Huerta Raab was one of the biggest movers, gaining three positions throughout the 30-minute race to earn his sixth podium of 2025. Behind him, Fourie, finishing fourth, and Augusto Paschetta (No. 27 Scuderia Buell / Sport West / Bruno Maquinaria / Brapax Ligier JS F422), finishing fifth, earned top-five finishes in their series debut.

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“We led from start to finish—I had a great car under me thanks to the MLT crew,” said Popow. “I’m really happy to finally be back on top. I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see what we can do.”

F4 U.S. is back on track Sunday at 12 p.m. CT for the final race of the season. Before the green flag waves, drivers will welcome the fans out to pit lane for a special pre-race fan walk beginning at 11:15 a.m. CT. The race airs live on SPEED SPORT 1 and streams on SpeedTour.TV, with live timing and scoring available on Race Monitor. Additional news and updates from the weekend will be posted on the series’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.