ALTON, Va. — Noah Ping won his third Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda race of the 2022 season on Sunday morning at Virginia International Raceway.
Rolling off third for race three of the Andy Scriven Memorial at the Mission Foods VIR SpeedTour, Ping trailed polesitter Gabriel Fonseca and second-place starter Louka St-Jean as the field entered Turn 1.
However, when the top two starters made contact, Ping capitalized on the situation to take over the point position.
The Buford, Ga., native was able to hold off advances by championship contenders Lochie Hughes and Bryson Morris on a restart past the halfway point.
As the field worked their way through the uphill esses on the same lap, the championship battle took a dramatic turn as Morris lost control of his Ligier JS F4 and backed into a tire barrier, which brought an early end to his day.
As they crossed the finish line, Ping was scored first, followed by Hughes in second, and Andre Castro in third.
“It was a bit chaotic,” said Ping after climbing from his car. “We were warned in our drivers meeting to take it safe this morning. After the safety car, there was some oil out on the track; I spun my tires when we went full-course yellow. It was right on line, so you almost had to run the wet line. The cold weather didn’t help, either. There were a lot of variables out there.”