Jaylan Battley placed himself on the doorstep of the 2026 Skip Barber Race Series championship with a pair of victories at Road America. The young Texan dominated the weekend, leading every session, scoring pole position, and completing his strongest event of the season with two wins.
In both races, Battley was joined on the podium by Adam Sana, who has quickly emerged as a contender at the sharp end of the grid. Sana made his Skip Barber Race Series debut at New Jersey Motorsports Park, netting a podium in his first race and an additional two top-five results heading into Road America. Sana has demonstrated exceptional adaptability skills, quickly coming to grips with the Skip Barber Formula Car right out of karting.
Canada's Thaden Van Wong completed the Race 1 podium, finishing just 0.536 seconds behind Sana. Van Wong had been reeling in Sana, but Sana was able to respond to the pressure being applied by Van Wong as the two drivers set their fastest laps of the race on the final lap of the 25-minute sprint.
Aaron Vazquez, who entered this weekend as Battley's nearest title challenger, scored a pair of top-five finishes, but with Battley sweeping the weekend, he lost ground on the Texan. Despite this, Vazquez is on pace to complete a remarkable season when the curtain falls at Sonoma Raceway. The iRacing driver from Spain has demonstrated no shortage of race craft in his first season at the controls of a real car.
Master's Class driver Matt Ales once again battled among the others on the grid, finishing Race 1 second overall and Race 2 third overall. The season finale at Sonoma Raceway is very much to his liking, as the Californian has spent many seasons competing there in a variety of machines. He will undoubtedly be a factor for an overall victory in Napa Valley.
Besides Battley, the only other driver who bested Ales at Road America was Charlie Gillespie, who finished second in Race 2, his seventh podium of the season and a result that continues his hot stretch, which was highlighted by a pair of victories at VIR. Shureed Kabir joined Gillespie in the top five in Race 1, while Ocean Lopez's weekend began with strong results in practice and qualifying, including the best starting position of his Skip Barber Race Series career.
Next on the horizon is the season finale at Sonoma Raceway on November 3 and 4. Sonoma Raceway will also host the next edition of the Skip Barber Race Series Winter Shootout, where current championship leader Jaylan Battley began his Race Series journey. Registration for that event is still open.