Welcome, everybody, to day two of racing at Virginia International Raceway for SRO America. Let's start with the second and final race of the weekend, for GT America, combining the best of previous generation GT3 cars, GT4 cars, and a lone representative of the SRO GT2 category, all in one championship. Yesterday, George Kurtz, and Adam Adelson were victorious. Can they sweep? Or, will a new day bring new winners? This is round six of the championship in the Virginia foothills as we are ready to race. Single driver, sprint race, with multiclass racing and different cars. Such spectacular weather in the low 60s. It was a cracking race yesterday. A humdinger. Jason Harward was spectacular yesterday. Harward is going to get his elbows out and push hard.
GT4 was a slugfest yesterday. Oh man. If you want action, stay tuned. A field of 26 cars between three classes, ready to take the start as we have Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick on commentary today as always. Jason Harward coming into his own with the Lamborghini and we always watch George Kurtz and Riley Motorsports. OK. Time for the green flag. It waves! Go! To the horseshoe for the first time, Kurtz has the lead and Justin Wetherill wants it as Andy Pilgrim gets buried down the order. GT4 stat and it is Moisey Uretsky in the Aston Martin. Adam Adelson and Jason Bell slot into position as well. No argy bargy. Clean and green.
Never mind. Adelson makes the move and pushes his way to the lead past Uretsky. Uretsky has Jason Bell in a similar Aston Martin on his six. These chaps are pushing hard on cold tires. Jeff Burton in the other Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini, team mate to Jason Harward, is beginning to move up as well, look. Jason Daskalos in the Audi, he faded through yesterday's race but is now on the charge. He's determined to get the championship lead back. Mirko Schultis in the Callaway Corvette is in a good spot in fifth place. He is taking a conservative approach but might just get into the mix here.
Schultis, the German, a Corvette fan. That is why he races one. Andy Pilgrim in the Ferrari is making inroads on both of these chaps. He is recovering. SKI Autosport, Spending the Kids Inheritance. Schultis squeezes Pilgrim, who is a truly savvy veteran. He has won the Rolex 24 overall. For many years, Pilgrim was a Corvette and Cadillac driver. Long association with General Motors. Harward keeping a watching brief as we see Kurtz leading with Burton in second spot. The pace is a tad slower than we saw yesterday. He is hitting his marks and doing all he can.
The Mercedes team moving to Riley Motorsports. 1:47.541 fastest lap so far for Kurtz. Adam Adelson in the meantime, leading GT4 over Moisey Uretsky and Moisey Uretsky is chasing him down. Jason Bell is behind him. Chris Gumprecht in the Mercedes AMG GT4 is back there. Uretsky drove Mazda MX5 Cup last year for McAleer McCumbee Racing. Oh boy. Trouble for the Steven Cameron Racing Mercedes in the hands of Chris Cagnazzi, car #39. No damage, but he did take a ride into the grass. Kurtz leads over Burton now. Andy Pilgrim now fourth behnd Jason Harward. 1:47.146 fastest lap from Kurtz as Chris Gumprecht goes for a huge ride across the grass! He went off the road at a high rate of speed!
There's nothing but grass on the outside of this circuit and so, the scoop is that if you go off, you are going to be endlessly sliding. Colin Braun says of his teammate George Kurtz, he is becoming a better and better racing driver, coming from the business world. Kurtz and his co-driver Colin Braun have been driving the Mercedes AMG GT3 for the last number of years and Riley Motorsports knows that car from their experience not only here in SRO but in other sports car championships too. In GT4, Uretsky has passed back by Adelson. Did Adam Adelson find himself off the road? Jeff Burton is pushing. He ought to be wearing an open face helmet so we can see a big grin on his face. Burton and Kurtz have had a friendly rivalry in SRO3.
OK. Moisey Uretsky still looks to be at the top of the shop in GT4. But the deal is, Uretsky is really pulling ahead of Adelson at the moment. In replay, we can see that there was lapped traffic and Adelson almost loses it! Poor old Adelson was caught napping! Kurtz leads Burton and Jeff Burton, he is right on top of it. If he sees an opening, he will pounce on George Kurtz and go by. This is a throwback to when we saw GT and GTS, or GT and touring cars from many, many years ago when this championship was run by the Sports Car Club of America. Kurtz passes the lapped cars and poor old Burton gets stymied in the traffic.
Burton is pushing, hard through turn ten and Burton tags a GT4 car! Sheesh. What was that about? That was through Oak Tree corner. Don't impede the leaders, but portions of the speedway here at VIR, there is one line and one line only. In replay, Burton just tagged one of the GT4 Mercedes cars and sent him spinning. The car will snatch if you are on threshold braking with the ABS, the antilock brakes. Madison Snow looking on, along with team boss Ty Isaac. Jeff Burton is still pushing. Madison Snow is Jason Harward's co-driver in GT World Challenge America. We'll see them race the GT3 cars later today.
Trap speeds at Oak Tree corner are between 51-52 miles an hour and Daskalos has the fastest trap speed. Burton once again making inroads on Kurtz. 6/10ths of a second is the margin. Harward, fastest lap of the motor race nearly halfway home. Marco Radisic in the BMW M4 GT4, eighth in class, moves over to let the GT3 blokes past. Radisic is upset about Balance of Performance in that the BMW M4 GT4 is not where it needs to be. Burton to the lane. Drive through penalty for the argy bargy with Phil Kiebler. Kiebler was the Mercedes that spun out and he got caught out by the GT3's going by.
Jeff Burton plummeted from second to seventh in class. Now then, Moisey Uretsky still leads GT4 and Burton, will be chasing after the Ferrari in the hands of Justin Wetherill. Adelson is beginning to recover and now, Chris Alliegro is off the road in the GT3 Ford Mustang. Ah. He got tipped by the Mercedes? Maybe not. I think he probably spun that Mustang on his own. Lots of grass to cut, but that Mustang GT4 is a beast insofar as the power of the big V8 motor in it. Uretsky and Adleson are being chased down by our leader George Kurtz.
We did not see GT America at New Orleans Motorsports Park. GT America will have their own races later in the summer on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. I don't know if Jason Harward will have enough in the locker to catch Kurtz in spite of the fact that Harward has uncorked the fastest lap. Jason Daskalos running fourth and is just off the podium. The track has changed insofar as the temperatures. Jason Bell, 11th in the overall in the Aston martin Vantage GT4. Bell is the points leader, and he won his home race at St. Petersburg back in February.
Bell has won only one race this year. We could be looking at our sixth different GT4 winner of Moisey Uretsky holds on. Gray Newell and Elias Sabo are going for it. Heart of Racing vs. Flying Lizard Motorsports. Elias Sabo is racing in GT America and GT4 SprintX. Crew chief Steven Costello leads the Flying Lizard team. Chris Cagnazzi is being harried by Sean Whalen. Mercedes vs. Aston Martin. Oh no! Jason Harward has gone off the road, stuffing it into the tires and Chris Cagnazzi was off the road once more, spewing dust. Nick Shanny in the Toyota Supra has made the pass. George Kurtz leads now over Andy Pilgrim and Jason Daskalos. This is down the Rollerocaster. in replay, he just went straight off, and hit's the nose on the... boom. Ugh. That is down into Hog Pen.
Full Course Yellow. Poor old Cagnazzi has another lurid slide! He's pushing the envelop and Paul Kiebler is indulging in some aggro racing too, look. Safety car on the road. Burton now running sixth. Jason Harward must be gutted after his wallop into the tires. Game over. Andy Pilgrim, second place, debut in this championship in the older model Ferrari, the 458 Italia. Jason Daskalos should get a haul of points to stay in touch with George Kurtz for the title. There is fluid on the road through Hog Pen where Harward went off the road. Kiebler also slithered off the road in the same place.
You have to be inch perfect through that portion of the circuit. It's a double edged sword with reward or punishment depending on how you take the corner. Get it right, you are in the pound seats. Get it wrong, you are definitely in the pig pen, but not covered in mud, thankfully. Great to see renovation in the pit lane between the cold side and the hot side. More guardrail coming and you will see more housing and hotel space. VIR was dormant for years. This is a motor racing country club if you will. A full service speedway out east. It ticks several boxes as a great facility and their biggest priority is customer service for drivers and teams as well as their tenants who use track space like the Skip Barber Racing School.
VIR had a fabulous early history between 1957 and 1974 but for 30 years it was farmland, and then it got revived in the year 2000. The track surface was completely overgrown. The new owners found the map and redid it entirely. For a track to go away for a quarter century, and then to come back and be so successful, it is an amazing story. This place is very similar to a beautiful golf course. The inaugural race was in August, 1957, Carroll Shelby won it in a Maserati 450S. IMSA raced here back in the day. Trans Am, NASCAR drivers came here in a 1966 Trans Am race like Richard Petty, David Pearson, and Wendell Scott, hence the name of one of the turns being NASCAR Bend.
SRO America are carving their own history here right now. Jason Harward and his team are going to fix the car. Harward said this was the hardest hit he has had in his career. The damage is not as bad as it seems. The drivers love this track. Absolutely love it. It's like a Sunday drive out in the country. A motorsports country club. That is what this place is. We will have a dash to the checkers with less than four minutes on the board. George Kurtz and Moisey Uretsky will have to turn it on. Adam Adelson is fine. He could be a danger man in GT4.
Green flag and Kurtz punches it and is off like a rocket. Pilgrim second, Daskalos third. Don't pass before the line. Daskalos to the outside of Pilgrim, look. This is massive. Kurtz whistling off into the distance. Wetherill is hanging tough and Burton has the door slammed in his face. Adelson wants by Uretsky. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Uretsky holds his line. Gray Newell has a head of steam trying to pass Robb Holland. Adelson wants it through Oak tTree. Down Madison Avenue they fly. Robb Holland has Gray Newell and Ross Chouest in their own scrap. One lap to go. Jason Wetherill is still holding his own.
Adelson pops out taking Uretsky, and Pilgrim spins in front of the leaders. Adelson can't get by. Less than a lap left. Burton should be up the road and in the clear. Uretsky leads. Adelson throwing the kitchen sink at him. Half a lap left. Adelson tries again. Cut back to the inside. Uretsky rolls the speed. He might just hold on down Madison Avenue. George Kurtz breaks out the broom and sweeps VIR! Andy Pilgrim second. Adelson is off and, smash! He reels into the tires! Bell is going to be second. Holland third. Moisey Uretsky is your winner! Holland gets Bell for P2 by four hundredths of a second! Eek!
Overall/SRO3: #04 George Kurtz Crowdstrike with Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4: #55 Moisey Uretsky Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
GT2: #58 C.J. Moses Crowdstrike Racing by GMG Audi R8 LMS GT2
Jason Harward, 1:46.414, before his off, gets Crowdstrike fastest lap. George Kurtz has dominated this weekend. On restarts, Kurtz says make sure to have clean and warm tires before you accelerate. He loves Virginia International Raceway. Clearing traffic is the critical point. Put it in P1. He is now points leader in the championship. He has had great results here at VIR. Next time out, GT America will be racing another legendary circuit, at Watkins Glen International Raceway in upstate New York, next month, third weekend in July.
In replay, Adelson sends it into Hogpen, clobbers the tires, and thankfully drives away. Moisey Uretsky is your winner in GT4. Moisey Uretsky says he was evenly matched with Adelson. Adam Adelson is fine after the incident. The Full Course Yellow put Uretsky and Accelerating Performance behind the eight ball. But he is the sixth different GT4 winner in GTA. Who will string race wins together? That is the big question. We have Watkins Glen, the Nashville, Tennesee street circuit, and then Road America, Sebring, and Indianapolis, three legendary palaces of speed.
Andy Pilgrim, he had straightaway speed in the Ferrari but says, "holy Christmas, just be smart!" Too right, mate. Too right. Pilgrim, the veteran of sports car racing, he had a great return. We saw this race as a total street fight and by gosh, was it ever. So, we'll see you next time at Watkins Glen More racing coming your way today. Touring cars race two, next. We gotta go, and get ready for that one. Y'all do the same. See you in mere moments for touring cats.
No comments:
Post a Comment