It is time for the second race of the weekend, the second and final event of the weekend, for GT America at Watkins Glen. Yesterday's race saw a dominating performance by George Kurtz. Can he back that up today, breaking out the broom and doing the sweep? This is the halfway point of the season. Yesterday, George Kurtz won his third straight race, while the GT4 title fight is wide open. Welcome to the Finger Lakes region of New York as we join Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanada Busick once again. George Kurtz, on the pole. GT4 on debut, Seth Lucas wins it. He was in Pirelli GT4 America but is now in GT America. He did a phenomenal job.
11 corners. 3.37 miles, is the lap at Watkins Glen. Majestic, historic, iconic. It takes massive commitment to be rewarded with lap time. Jeff Burton was due to start third. Burton does not have a car and so he will not take the start this morning. Grab a coffee and some breakfast, and join us. We're ready to go racing. Green flag! George Kurtz and Jason Harward are pushing hard already. Kurtz takes the lead. P.J. Hyett, a good start for the #00 Porsche. The GT4 cars start now and Jason Bell, he is going for it with Marko Radisic also up into position early. Three wide and some argy bargy. Moisey Uretsky, bryan Putt, and Adam Adelson all almost crash! To the Inner Loop and then the Outer Loop, down into The Boot.
Uretsky has the speed from The Chute and into The Boot, and then go uphill. Seth Lucas is going for it but Ross Chouest wants a bite of the cherry too, look. Lucas slams the door in Chouest's face while Elias Sabo is moving up and Todd Coleman is defending from Jasoj Bell. Putt pushes Moisey Uretsky wide. Marko Radisic, and Adam Adelson want to make it three wide, but no dice. Adelson had to give it up allowing Putt to pass. This is action packed. Kurtz, Harward, Daskalos. Lucas, Chouest, Sabo. Marko Radisic makes his move on Jason Bell. Marko Radisic n the BMW M4 GT4 has pace. The grip allows you to run multiple lines around the circuit.
Louisiana native Ross Chouest, he has really started turning it on. Speaking of turning it on, Elias Sabo is doing just the same working with Andy Lee and Flying Lizard Motorsports team manager Steve Costello. The Toyota Supra can pull a gap on the Aston Martin Vantages which are starting to make their move. Jason Harward is doing everything he knows to keep the pressure on George Kurtz and now, P.J. Hyett in the #00 Porsche 911 GT3R, he is going even quicker than he did in his debut race yesterday for Team Hardpoint. Wow.
Mirko Schultis in the Callaway Corvette, too, the German, is moving up. Seneca Lodge must be the place to go to celebrate race victories here at Watkins Glen. Seth Lucas is bish, bash, boshing this race so far. 40 minutes and no pit stops. Make the tires last and make hay while the sun shines. High loads and an abrasive surface are factors here at Watkins Glen. Todd Coleman returning to the championship for the first time since Sonoma back in April, has rivals aall over him. A great group of drivers. Radisic wants to push to the front. He has a run and wants to make his move. He has a Captain Cook trying to make the move on Coleman.
Radisic has to go the long way 'round, look, compromising his line. Oh dear! Spin there for Jose Dasilva in the #67 Toyota Supra. I don't see much bodywork damage but the steering is somewhat out. Game over. Coleman has Radisic right on his six. Coleman defends, placing the car right where he needs it to be. BMW are renown for the straight line speed here at The Glen. Seth Lucas, whistling off into the distance over Ross Chouest, managing the pressure and keeping Elias Sabo behind. Don't make errors. Keep it together. Fastest lap so far to P.J. Hyett in the Porsche! Wow! George Kurtz leads the motor race but will have competition I am sure.
Gunnar Jeanette is P.J. Hyett's driver coach and co-driver in GTWC America. Adam Adelson to the pit lane. He has a problem perhaps. But we don't know. He is headed to the lane, to the Premier Racing pit crew. I think it is game over for Adelson. He won race one at VIR last month but today, he is not so lucky. It will be costly in his championship run. Jason Harward is beginning to dig deep, trying to catch George Kurtz with P.J. Hyett keeping a watching brief in third place. Jason Harward wants to get Zelus Motorsports on the podium. George Kurtz and Riley Motorsports, he has had a lot of success with them and has run prototype racing in endurance racing as well in a different series.
The Mercedes AMG GT3 stays with them and is very consistent. P.J. Hyett, on the podium. Gunnar Jeanette, co-driver and driving coach, he says his overall drive to improve and do well in incredible. Doing two races is a big deal. The team had wiring harness issues and then Hyett went to qualify and they lucked into podium position yesterday. Now he wants to earn it. This program came together, just barely two weeks ago. They replaced the motor in the Porsche and started from scratch yesterday morning and have really been stepping the game up.
Json Harward, second place, closing in on George Kurtz, but Kurtz is answering the bell right now. Spin there for Moisey Uretsky and Rob Holland was also caught up. P.J. Hyett has to handle the traffic and seems to be on the right track, no pun intended. Harward, too, clearing the GT4 traffic. The weather is perfect. Yesterday was steaming hot. Today it might be a tad more manageable;. We had Full Course Yellows yesterday, and now, we see clean and green racing, but the curveball is the traffic. Harward is pressing hard to try catching George Kurtz. Kurtz has done the hat trick in GT America. He is gettng everything he can handle from Harward.
Manage this. Time the traffic and don't get stymied by the GT4 blokes in their own race. Harward does get balked a tad. Approaching the halfway mark in the race already. Kurtz looking for four wins in a row. Kurtz flashing the lights trying to work past Gray Newell in the GT4 Aston Martin. Jason Bell next up. Harward has a run but can't get by. Threading the needle up through the esses. Kurtz feeling the pressure breaking the slipstream. Harward is digging for it. He wants this and you can tell. He is managing the traffic. It's a chess match, a high speed chess match through traffic.
Todd Coleman moves out of the way througn the heel of The Boot. George Kurtz trying to plant the front end. Jason Harward has the pace and has to time the pass down the front straightaway. Harward late on the brakes and does the over under and takes the lead of the motor race at halfway! Holy smokes! Zelus Motorsports and Lamborghini to the top of the shpp as P.J. Hyett has spun in turn 11. Harward being stymied by traffic to get around Marko Radisic. They both get by. Kurtz pokes his nose out and is pushing very hard indeed. Marko Radisic having a good race. Kurtz looking to the outside. Don't let him scamper away.
Turn it on. Keep up the pressure. 18 minutes remaining. P.J. Hyett is still stranded. The Lamborghini has been struggling with trap speed somehow. Harward is now the rabbit while George Kurtz is the hound dog, chasing. We go Full Course Yellow as P.J. Hyett's Porsche is still stuck in the mud out there. He had done so well, and now, he's stopped completely with 16 minutes to go. Jason Harward should have a clear track ahead of him. He has to keep a cool head in traffic. That will be the key deal.
There is always a risk using the same car in multiple championships. Safety car on track. Gunnar Jeanette said that P.J. Hyett has not been here before yesterday and now he has found the pace of established GT3 drivers! Unbelievable! Harward has Kurtz, Saskalos, Schultis, Wetherill, and more, behind him. In GT4, it is hard to tell what they're doing. Seth Lucas' lead has evaporated and Ross Chouest still has Elias Sabo monstering him. We have to see how the Toyota Supra and the Aston Martin are both developing their lap times. Marko Radisic is going to get feisty and he wants to get the BMW M4 GT4 onto the podium. Flying Lizard team boss Darren Law, he is hoping for a podium in GT America.
Elias Sabo is reminded about where to pass on restarts before he is coached on how he is doing. Law has been a driver for years and is a team boss. Owen Hayes, a longtime Porsche employee is also a part of the Flying Lizard team as a race engineer. Great to see and hear the Callaway Corvette GT3 here in GT America as well. A cool car. One of many cool cars in this series. Seth Lucas is going to have to earn this one and he is answering every challenge with aplomb. Oh dear. Matty Plumb. That's a pun. Jeepers creepers! Let's not go there. Hattori Motorsports and team boss Shigeaki Hattori, longtime open wheel racer, two-time Indianapolis 500 starter, and a champion team owner in the NASCAR truck series and competing in the Xfinity Series.
The Toyota Supra GT4 has become a very usable platform, very competitive in different championships in North America and worldwide. We should go green before the clock runs out. The cleanup is complete now. We will go racing next time by. Jason Daskalos has a repaired Audi and is running very well right now with a different rear diffuser on that automobile with the older generation Audi. The Audi and the Callaway Corvette are blended in with the newer GT3 cars. There is a unique Balance of Performance in this championship.
The Audi and the Callaway Corvette are some of the oldest GT3 cars in service today. Mirko Schultis has done very well with that car. Green flag. Step on it. Harward leading while George Kurtz is closing in. GT4 restart and Seth Lucas too, gets the jump. Lucas is doing all he knows to fight off Chouest, Sabo, and Radisic. Lucas wants to back up his debut win and sweep. He will have to hold off Ross Chouest. Sabo wants it but has to give it up as Radisic is probing. Kurtz is taking a look at Harward and can't make it work. Try to cross over and not this time. To the outside he goes. Harward has his elbows pout. Daskalos now is going to spoil the party.
Daskalos wants to upset the apple cart here, look. Daskalos has the run on Kurtz and might make it sitck. He runs wide. No dice this time exceeding track limits. He has the straight line speed as they scream down to the Inner Loop. e drifts wide and can't quite stick. Mercedes rolling speed, the car is very compliant and Jason Harward says "I'll just motor away while you two blokes are fighting." Kurtz is closing up. Daskalos right up to the wall! He wants to make a lunge on George Kurtz. Two laps to go. Jasoj Harward grabbing the advantage, very new to the GT3 game.
He wants career win number two. Schultis in the Corvette, he is right there to pick up the scraps if any of these boys make a pig's breakfast out of this. Daskalos tries and not enough. Harward, Kurtz, Daskalos, Schultis, Wetherill. Daskalos and Schutlis have just been given penalties for passing under yellow! Oh dear! Their collective geese are cooked now! Daskalos goes wide again, look. Seth Lucas still leading by 1.4 seconds over Chouest in GT4 who is being monstered by Sabo. Final lap. Jason Harward still in the lead but Kurtz wants it. George Kurtz probing, keeping the pressure on full blast. The fuse is lit.
Kurtz takes a good look. Kurtz to the outside, door to door. There's a touch. Kurtz to the inside and takes the lead on the final lap! Holy cow! Two corners left! Harward wants it. Who will win? It is Kurtz by 2/10ths of a second! Jeepers creepers! What a motor race! Seth Lucas is the GT4 winner! He is going to break out the broom and sweep!
Overall/SRO3: #04 George Kurtz CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
GT4: #016 Seth Lucas TGR Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4
What a race! We could see some shuffling in the official results sheet. Mirko Schultis scores third, but he and Jason Daskalos, neither served their drive through penalty and so they could be demoted and Justin Wetherill could score a podium. Marko Radisic in GT4, too, could be pinged for contact on the final lap with Elias Sabo. P.J. Hyett scores fastest lap. The fifth win of 2022 for George Kurtz. Holy moly. Kurtz says he had a lot of clag on his tires and same with Harward. He saw Harward was in a pickle and made the pass.
Great racing in GT America. Harward and crew chief Tigh Isaac as well as driver coach and GTWC America co-driver Madison Snow, taking a look at the car. Seth Lucas says everyone put the puzzle together and he had the pace he wanted. They want to grow the team and get as much track time as possible. He has excelled moving into the GT America category. Thanks for being with us. Excited for the next race and a trip to the streets of Nashville for a standalone race supporting IndyCar. See you in Music City. Bye bye.
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