It is time for race two of the weekend, the second and last shot, for the SRO TC America cars this year, at NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. Let's hope the massive rain we saw yesterday does not return and interrupt things. It looks like today in "The Big Easy" we shall have dry conditions. We saw that massive rain during the GT4 America race yesterday of course. On the TC America pole on this Sunday morning, it is Jacob Ruud and we are set to go racing. Cars on track, ready for the start. Nick Barbato had an engine change and will go to the back of the grid. Devin Anderson, the fastest of the TCA entries after setting fastest lap yesterday. Sally McNulty had ABS issues, seventh i class towards the back of the grid. This track impressed for the first time yesterday and will impress again this morning.
Away we go! Frantic starts coming for the three classes down in Louisiana to the south and west of New Orleans. Let's do this! Go! To the lead is Jacob Ruud and the fight is on for third as we see the TC cars, and Kevin Boehm, the pole man goes for it but Clay Williams zooms past Matthew Ibrahim and here come the TCA cars. Devin Anderson has the jump. Poor old Ibrahim was in the wrong gear or something and got dusted. Devin Anderson and Carter Fartuch going for it. We can see Spencer Bucknum, P.J. Groenke, and Clay Williams going for it. Nope. That's Cristian Perocarpi, pardon me.
Full Course Yellow. Oh dear. Now then, this is a raceable circuit as we said yesterday. This place is fun! We await word on the Full Course Yellow. One of the TCX BMW's is stopped on the road, scrambling the safety car. Who is the bloke who stopped? Colin Garrett moves up two places and is following Jacob Ruud. Ah. #29 is in trouble. Olivia Askew for Fast Track Racing in the second of their four entries. She might have slight damage and maybe Askew has a tie rod broken on that left front. In replay, we can see that she just clipped another competitor under braking for turn three, or, someone crunched into her, on the left side.
Olivia Askew is David Askew's daughter, and of course, David races a Mercedes AMG GT3 in GT World Challenge America. She needs more race experience and to log laps. She will surely get that as the season goes on. Under safety car conditions at the moment. Only 40 minute races in TC America. One driver, and a total sprint with no pit stops and no driver changes. Tire degradation a major factor as we talked about yesterday, but it is now a non issue. We had a lot of rain yesterday afternoon. It was not a skating rink though because the surface was ground down. NOLA is a good race track for these SRO World Challenge cars.
This is only the second professional race weekend held at NOLA. Back in 2015, IndyCar raced here on a slightly different track layout. The S curves are real corners and you have to hit your marks. There's a very wavy race surface because of the New Orleans soil under the pavement. It is a handling and setup challenge for the racers. The Mini stayed flat but the Honda's were bucking broncos in yesterday's race. It was a rodeo ride. Kevin Boehm and Clay Williams are going to be fighting each other indeed. Louis Pericarpi said the Mini team replaced a clutch last night. Clay Williams has gotten a great start thus far. He is fifth in the TC class presently.
Steve Steeimer to the lane in his BMW M2 CS. What is the trouble? He is in the lane to the attention of the pit crew I think. Matthew Ibrahim's team mate and car owner Kris Valdez is running well. For Streimer, something wrong with the driveline on that automobile. Streimer won an overall race at Watkins Glen in 2021. Poor old Streimer is going to go down a lap or so it appears. Jacob Ruud, Colin Garrett (NASCAR Xfinity Series driver as well), Stephen Cugliari, yesterday's polesitter, had his race go pear shaped yesterday. Garrett started fourth today and has made up two places. So, the safety car will duck to the lane and we're going back to green.
Alright. Let's go racing, ladies and gentlemen! The classes will split up if they are given the opportunity. Garrett right on Ruud's six and Ruud stays in P1. Colin Garrett to the outside. He is challenging Jacob Ruud. Side by side stuff, use multiple lines here at NOLA. Wow. This is spicy racing! The competition in TCX is hot! Colin Garrett very surprised by quick success in road racing. Ruud has to keep the door closed and Luca Catania is right on Garrett's gearbox. Garrett going for the pass on Ruud again and not quite. You flow a lot of speed through turn one without braking.
To the lefthand sweeper. Now then, Jeff Ricca is now your TC leader over Clay Williams and Kevin Boehm. Holy cow. This TCX battle is marvelous! Gresham Wagner to the top of the shop in TCA over Devin Anderson and Carter Fartuch. Oh man. Clay Williams drives around Jeff Ricca as well, look. But he drops off the pace. Ricca tries sending it on Williams but can't quite make it. These two chaps are playing a little dodge 'em cars. Push it, push it, push it. Use all the curbs. Boehm is in trouble. Is that motorcar overheating?
Oh my. Ruud and Garrett still at it at the top of the shop! Woohoo! This is unreal! Garrett right in Ruud's tire tracks and here comes the blue car of Garrett Adams, too, look. Ruud has the lap time but he has to defend while Garrett is on full attack. Fast Track Racing (formerly Classic BMW) and then in second, Rooster Hall Racing. Gresham Wagner leading TCA in the Subaru BRZ coming from third spot. Techsport is the leading team with the two Subaru BRZ's. They are quick but need reliability. Well, well, well. Ruud is still fending off Garrett's challenge. Wild stuff here in the bayou country. We're nearing halfway in a couple minutes.
Fourth and fifth, Cugliari and Adams are keeping a watching brief. The slalom part of the circuit here at NOLA is a technical section of the road. Wow. Garrett uncorks fastest lap at 1:51.586. Ruud the reigning champ is looking like a savvy veteran right now. Garrett must be getting annoyed and Ruud knows he is vulnerable. Garrett has something in his bag of tricks I am sure. Stephen Cugliari resets the fastest lap at 1:51.3. He is in the fight and so is Garrett Adams. Don't count him out either. Clay Williams still holding down the TC class lead after clutch issues yesterday.
Kevin Boehm is going for it in third in class in TC. It is cooler today at NOLA than yesterday was. These touring cars are modified road cars and as a consequence, heat saps horsepower. The engine is trying to protect itself from going bang. These cars are very complex and the teams cannot tinker with the car because it is homologated even though we see different brands and models in the race. So, we drop down to the TCA field and a good battle with a great mix of machinery. Big lockup from the Hyundai Elantra racing against the Honda Civic and the Mini. Sally McNulty wants by Mario Biundo. McNulty passes two cars and also goes around the Hyundai.
The Hyundai of Branyon Tiner is in this fight. Sally McNulty is very passionate about racing putting all her energy into the program, fourth in the points standings coming into the race weekend here at NOLA. Christian Perocarpi to the pit lane as we watch class leader in TCA, Gresham Wagner. Wagner and teammate at Techsport Subaru, Devin Anderson. Yesterday's winner Carter Fartuch is third with just over 15 minutes left. Game over for Christian Perocarpi. So they will be back at the next race at Virginia International Raceway. No dice for Colin Garrett. What track do we compare this to? Putnam Park west of Indianapolis comes to mind. Utah Motorsports Campus, West Palm Beach in Florida. This is a flat track with zero camber to help you and bumps all over the place.
But that is what makes the track distinctive. Ruud has the opportunity as he has put more daylight between himself and second spot. Ken Fukuda did not start today's race as the car was overheating. Colin Garrett has the front end of the car wash out. The TC scrap is tightening up as we see Clay Williams with Jeff Ricca right on his six. We can see the whole track, almost, from the pit lane. Clay Williams is chasing the final TCX BMW. Not sure who it is, really. Kevin Boehm is closing in on Jeff Ricca as well. Ricca has not ahd the best season so far but he is going for it right now.
Ricca and his team mate both retired yesterday as Sahoyi Che has trouble in another Techsport Subaru dropping a wheel at turn 11 exit, and... crunch! Sliding across the wet grass, and, smash into the Armco away from the tires. Let's hope Shaoyi Che is OK. Jacob Ruud still the overall leader. We should get back to green very soon. Maybe Kevin Boehm is saving his tires. What does he have left in the locker? We'll see. Jeff Ricca is coming back into the picture for dead sure. Carter Fartuch's best lap is a second and a half off of the Techsport Subaru duo.
Fartuch needs more speed. Shaoyu Che makes his way to the medical car under his own steam. So, he should be OK. We've had lots and lots to talk about in today's race and the motor race is down to the money laps. Who will be the winner? Stay tuned. Don't touch that dial. Gresham Wagner has been at the top of the shop in TCA all race long. Wagner was 2021 Mazda MX-5 Cup champion which is really competitive. Stevan McAleer, and Kenton Koch are drivers who have raced well in that series and have thusly moved up the ladder. Under ten minutes left. Seven mnutes on the board, actually. How did the barrier hold up? We have to see. I wonder if they will replace the tire bundles. Make sure not to get the flatbed truck stuck in the mud.
This will be a one lap dash to the end of the race it seems. Maybe two. Drivers are hoping for a restart. Not much tire scrubbing which is surprising. There are tire marbles offline and all the clag gets into being a giant snowball. It is cleaning the tires as they have more than enough heat. You don't want to turn the front end and there's nobody there. If the key doesn't fit the lock and you can't open the door, it's just not on. Colin Garrett will have a dilly of a pickle to deal with if Ruud gets the jump on the restart unless he sends it.
Jacob Ruud has dominated these motor races and has not had many where he's under total pressure. How is he going to fight? So far, he has ticked all the boxes with his race craft. He is stepping his game up even more. You always want the competition level to be high to make you a better racing driver. Just over three minutes to go. The rumor mill is swirling about what will happen for the end of the motor race here. Colin Garrett is pulling his hair out trying to get by but there's no restart. The race is over. Checkered flag and we see Jacob Ruud winning this event, the third win for him of the year.
Overall/TCX: #1 Jacob Ruud Fast Track Racing BMW M2 CS Racing
TC: #60 Clay Williams Mini JCW Team Mini Cooper JCW Pro TC
TCA: #21 Gresham Wagner TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ TCA
The next race of the championship is at another great circuit, Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, and that event is going to take place over Father's Day weekend. Looking forward to more great racing at another wonderful track. See you all at VIR. Take care, everybody. So long, from the bayou of New Orleans.
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