It is time for the second race in Pirelli GT4 America SprintX here at Sonoma Raceway with the Pro drivers in the lineups starting the motor race today compared to the Am drivers in yesterday’s event. Yesterday’s race winners, Nolasport, are on the front row. Russell Walker and Patrick Byrne as well as Jason Hart and Matt Travis are going to be ones to watch as we roll through this field of great cars. 33 cars in the field. Two formation laps at Sonoma for cleaning and heating the Pirelli P Zero tires. New drivers can get into the series and, veteran drivers can come into it.
Am drivers, who don’t make their money in racing, but don’t have as much experience, they are still very serious about what they do. Watch for the Porsche Cayman for Murillo Racing with Aurora Strauss and Christina Nielsen. They had radiator woes yesterday. Nielsen will start. We are ready. Go! Jason Hart and Jeff Westphal lead the field as they fan out three-wide for this one-hour race. Patrick Gallagher in the Aston Martin is pushing. The KTM Crossbow goes wide with Mads Siljehaug as Andy Lee moves inside in the #8 GMG Audi R8 LMS GT4.
Patrick Gallagher has a good start for the RS1 Notlad Racing Aston Martin and Spencer Pumpelly runs wide. Pumpelly sharing with Derek DeBoer. Mads Siljehaug is trying his best to move around Christian Szymczak. Spencer Pumpelly is having none of it and wants by both of these chaps. Mads Siljehaug, the Norwegian, he started racing in the U.S. last year and he is a factory driver for Reiter Engineering and KTM. Nicolai Elgehaynian is his teammate. Meanwhile, Kenton Koch and Patrick Gallagher are running well. Koch is also the team manager, and co-driver Brian Putt is the team boss.
Jason Hart in the Porsche Cayman leads this motor race. We watch the Van Gogh liveried ST Racing BMW M4 GT4’s and the Jorgensen Strom BMW M4 GT4. Meantime, Christina Nielsen is passed by Memo Gidley, an experienced driver in open wheel racing and sports cars. Gidley had a horrid crash at the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona and is back in racing now. He spent four or so years recovering from that bad crash. Memo Gidley went through several surgeries and he wanted to get back to racing and now he is.
Jason Hart continues to lead over Jeff Westphal. He has run Audi’s, Ferrari’s and other cars, and is a plug and play kind of driver. Westphal sharing the #888 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 with Chris McCoy. No tire changes allowed unless you cut the tire down. Preserve the tires for the full hour of the race. Ryan Eversley is starting on Pirelli sticker tires. Eversley sharing with Joe Rubbo. We have seen a spin too for one of the Toyota Supra’s. Dirt spreads across the road and the Toyota got caught out. That is the car shared by Matt Forbush and Damon Surzshyn.
At the sharp end, Hart leads Westphal. We follow Kris Wilson, sharing with John Allen in the Capstone Racing Mercedes AMG GT4. This is car #16, with the team being connected to the engineering program from the University of Alabama. The students really enjoy working with the engineers on the race car. John Allen is an alum of the University of Alabama engineering school. The mascot is an elephant. Big Al. Patrick Gallagher, and Notlad Racing are running very well. Gallagher is touted as a great team mate to co-driver Matt Dalton.
Matt Fassnacht in the Murillo Racing Mercedes is scrapping with Mads Slijehaug. Check that. That’s not Fassnacht in the car, it’s Christian Szymczak. Chandler Hull is in the pit lane in the #94 Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4 he shares with Jon Miller. Szymczak and Siljehaug are scrapping. It’s the S and S show, two of the most foreboding last names to pronounce in this series. 45 minutes left on the board. We watch Greg Liefooghe in the Steven Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4, racing with Shawn Quinlan, at their home track. So, the Quinlan/Liefooghe team are down the order from where they wanted to be as Kris Wilson is running very well with the Mercedes, the Capstone Mercedes. The University of Alabama is known as the capstone of the Alabama educational system.
Bill Auberlen is fading in the BMW. He is as experienced as they come. Something is not dialed in on the #34 Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4 sharing with James Walker. Spencer Pumpelly is moving in on Brandon Davis, sharing with Paul Terry. Pumpelly and Davis are chasing Andy Lee. Paul Terry in the WR Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4, car #59. Spencer Pumpelly wants the inside on Brandon Davis and goes for the spot. Kenton Koch has now moved past Jeff Westphal. He will hand the car over to Brian Putt for the second half of the race in about ten minutes.
Spencer Pumpelly has indeed gone past Brandon Davis. He has also moved around Andy Lee, and so has Davis. Trouble in paradise for one of the Bimmerworld M4’s. That’s the car for Auberlen/Hull. A tough break. We can see at the sharp end, the Aston Martin and the Porsche. This is Jason Hart fending off the challenges of Kenton Koch as the pit window opens. Jeff Westphal has faded by two seconds and now, Jeroen Bleekemolen has moved up 16 places! Bleekemolen is right behind Liefooghe. That was not the Auberlen driven Bimmerworld BMW in the lane. My apologies.
That was likely the Chandler Hull/Jon Miller automobile. The Porsche Cayman is really good on tires here at Sonoma. Spencer Pumpelly has caught Patrick Gallagher. Pumpelly wants it and Gallagher is going to slam the door in his face. The Porsche Cayman is easier on its tires than the Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Ah. The Bimmerworld automobile in the lane has a bent control arm. That’s the Hull/Miller entry. Game over, maybe. If they get back on the road, there will be a drive through penalty. So, a fraught race for those boys. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Pumpelly and Gallagher are still playing a game of auto racing chess.
Pumpelly makes the move and bish, bash, bosh… he makes the move, setting the pass up at the Carousel. The pit window is now open. The Dexter brothers could short pit. Zane Dexter, their dad and crew chief and going to go with that strategy. That’s the Dexter Racing Aston Martin, and they pit for a driver change from the Silver class lead and are back out. Ryan and Warren Dexter in Aston Martin #062. Pumpelly moves ahead of Gallagher while Andy Lee is being monstered by Mads Siljehaug in the KTM Crossbow. Motorsport USA is running well with their triple McLaren team.
#5 in the lane.
Michael McAleenan sharing with Dan Rogers. Andrew Davis is pitting handing the #2
Porsche Cayman to Jason Bell.
Bimmerworld in the lane as well as Nick Galante hands the car to James
Clay. This is a tough pairing to
beat. Clay is a champ. Siljehaug has caught Andy Lee in the
meantime. The KTM Crossbow is very good
on it’s tires on long runs because it is a light car. Marco Polo Motorsports. Pit stop time now for the Murillo Mercedes,
car #72 with Kenny Murillo now in the car to take the car to the end.
Murillo replaces Szymczak.
Mads Siljehaug has made the outside pass and has done well to scurry
away from the competition. Nolasport ij the
lane with Jason Hart, handing the car to Matt Travis, “the world’s fastest
accountant.” No need to panic. The two drivers make the driver change while
one mechanic can bleed the tire down. The
motor needs to be shut off on pit stops.
They have 92 seconds in hand.
Wow. 27 minutes still on the
board. Spencer Pumpelly pits now. You are clear for the pit window until the
clock says 25 minutes unless you are in the lane when it says 25 minutes. Otherwise you will have a very harsh penalty.
Aston Martin and KTM also in the pit lane. Check that.
This is the #66 The Racer’s Group Porsche Cayman as Derek DeBoer takes
over from Spencer Pumpelly. A slow
driver change, between Kenton Koch and Brian Putt. Siljehaug to Elghaynian had a good driver
change as well. Chris McCoy takes over
from Jeff Westphal. That’s the #888 Audi
R8 LMS GT4 for Rearden Racing. McCoy in
the lead as the pit window closes and Derek DeBoer moves past Kris McCoy. A battle ensues now for fourth between Brian
Putt and Kris McCoy. Matt Travis is well
in the lead. Derek DeBoer follows having
taken over from Spencer Pumpelly. Paul
Terry also moves around Kris McCoy.
Nicolai Elgheynian is running very well in the
Crossbow. Tim Pappas is now driving the
Black Swan Porsche Cayman, car #54, that he shares with Jeroen
Bleekemolen. He had a horrid crash at
Bathurst a couple years ago but surely has recovered and Black Swan has been
stalwarts in a number of championships including SRO America. The John Allen/Kris Wilson car was passed and
then in 16th place, the Smooge Racing Toyota. TGR Smooge Racing, the #68 Toyota Supra. That’s Kevin Conway sharing with John
Geesbreght.
Nicolai Elgeheynian is being monstered by Kenny Murillo for the lead of the motor race with just 17 minutes left. Aaron Povoledo is leading a group of cars. It’s not Povoledo. Sorry. It’s Ross Chouest, leading John Geesbreght. Meantime, something is wrong with Matt Dalton. Game over for the Notlad Aston Martin. Geesbreght must give up a place to James Clay in the overall. Meantime, Geesbreght, straight into GT4 after one year in Mazda MX5 Cup.
Smooge Racing is called that because John’s dad called him Smooge when he was a chubby little baby. Jeroen Bleekemolen says the low grip of Sonoma Raceway means driving right on the knife edge, but not over the edge. We have 13 minutes on the board and the battle is between Derek DeBoer, Paul Terry, and also, Kenny Murillo. Terry wants by DeBoer looking to both sides. He is going to have a run to turn 11. Derek Deboer covers the inside and the chrome horn. No worries. DeBoer is pusjing it and then he runs wide! Jeepers! What was that?
Matt Travis leads the motor race by 10.9 seconds with less than ten minutes to go. Derek DeBoer runs third. Zane Dexter, the Dexter brother’s dad, makes deep sea cables for Scuba diving, but do so in Nebraska of all places. Warren Dexter is at the controls of the Aston Martin, the #062 car, catching Derek DeBoer hand over fist. But it is not for class position. Still, it is a definite race, with seven and a half minutes to go. The out of class battle is for fourth in the overall.
John Allen leads the Am class as the Paul Sparta driven Random Vandals car, sharing the BMW M4 GT4 with Al Carter, has a flat left front tire. Ryan Dexter moves by Derek DeBoer. DeBoer has trouble. Ian James is running very well with Aston Martin racing with Gray Newell. He is also racing with this Aston Martin team for The Heart of Racing in a different sports car racing championship after racing with Panoz in the past.
Ian James is struggling through the corners. Bryson Lew and Tomas Mejia are racing one of the ST Racing BMW M4 GT4’s. That is the #38 car. The whole team has a nrw driver combination, new driver pairings in both cars. Meantime, Matt Travis continues to lead Kenny Murillo as we come close to the end of race two here in GT4 America SprintX. Patrick Byrne has spun the other Nolasport Porsche Cayman, but they didn’t lose a place. Cavett O’Keefe was close behind. Getting close to the white flag. Ah it is the white flag. Last lap. Take it home.
John Geesbreght meanwhile has caught John Allen. But, Nolasport, with Jason Hart and Matt Travis are going to break out the broom and sweep the opening races of the 2021 GT4 America SprintX season. Murillo will clinch in Silver. But Matt Travis and Jason Hart win race two at Sonoma Raceway! Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak are second. Paul Terry finishes third sharing with Brandon Davis in the #59 Aston Martin. Capstone finish second in class and Smooge win as well in the Toyota Supra.
Overall/Pro Am: #47 Hart/Travis Nolasport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
Silver: #72 Murillo/Szymczak Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4
Am: #68 Conway/Geesbreght TGR Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4
Give a call to Pappas and Bleekemolen from caboose on the field to seventh place. Patrick Byrne holds on to third in Am. Again, next up it is Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for round two in a couple months.
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