Time to go touring car racing for the first time this weekend in SRO America at Watkins Glen International Raceway in upstate New York. Over 30 touring cars from brands like BMW, Mini, Honda, and Hyundai are ready to race a legendary and pictureseque circuit. A pleasure to have your company for round seven of 2022 for TC America. A fabulous grid of cars are ready for this 40 minute sprint. This will be wild and the time will fly by. So, enjoy this one indeed. Jacob Ruud, the defending champion is leading and Colin Garrett is his closest friendly rival. Ruud and Garrett on the front row. Gresham Wagner is the TCA polesitter. 38 touring cars on this high grip track.
Colin Garrett has the pace to challenge Jacob Ruud and he is hoping to sweep the weekend. The Mini team racing with Paddy Hopkirk on their minds, a rallying legend who passed away at age 89. Rest In Peace Paddy Hopkirk who received an MBA fron the queen. God Rest his soul. Rest In Peace Paddy Hopkirk. Lucas Cattania says that he and his team are ready to go on one of his favorite tracks on the circuit and Joseph, his dad, is also racing. It's a great relationship between father and son. Wish them well this weekend. Lights out on the safety car as we are about to race the first of two TC America events here at the famed Watkins Glen International Raceway.
Green flag! Let's turn them loose! Jacob Ruud goes to the lead and clears Colin Garrett. The fight is on down through the field and here comes the TC field. Split starts as Clay Williams gets the jump and Kevin Boehm slings it up past Jeff Ricca! Yikes! Someone got a flying start and it was Ricca who actually went for it and poor old Nicolas Barbato got snookered as we also watch Matt Ibrahim and Mike LaMarra as well. The Mini leads the motor race. Boehm got the launch inside of Barbato but it did not go as planned. Spencer Bucknum is chasing Gresham Wagner in TC.
Bucknum is having a great season as we see Ken Fukuda with damage as Carter Fartuch is scrapping with P.J. Groenke in the Mini, the Canadian driver. Maximize the points score each weekend to go for the championship. It is a drag race to the Inner Loop and Colin Garrett is really going for it against Ruud. Ruud is from Wisconsin but went to college at New York Institute of Technology. So this is a second home track for him. Steven Cugliari, too, he is gaining ad is third. Ruud has had to fight for it this year. When he is racing defensively, that will compromise his lap time.
Ruud is a road racer. Colin Garrett though, has stock car experience including partial schedules in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition. Colin Garret tried majung the pass through the esses but it won't quite work there. Ruud has his hands full and slides wide. Garrett really appling the blowtorch into The Boot. Luca Catania is pressing Steven Cugliari. No need to force the issue. Steve Streimer won one of the races here at Watkins Glen in TCX last year. Cugliari's Pirelli P Zero's are screaming for mercy. Catania, though is going for it. A move again for Garrett as Ruud gauard the corner and poor old Garrett gets the door slammed in his face, again.
Devin Anderson in the Techsport Subaru BRZ is in trouble. He has a cut down tire in car #22. Not good. No wins for Anderson yet but he is in the championship fight. However, if he is out of it for today, it will put him deeper into the hole. Ruud has his hands full. He is wrestling that BMW on the road to defend from Colin Garret with about ten minutes on the board. Next up for TC America is Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Ruud's home track. Gresham Wagner in TCA leads Spencer Bucknum and Christian Perocarpi. Spencer Bucknum's dad Jeff and grandfather Ronnie. Ronnie ran for Honda in Formula 1 and is one of the greats of his era.
Gresham Wagner's VIR wreck was late under braking and he has bounced back and is going for it well. Gresham Wagner was absolutely fine after that shunt. Carter Fartuch in sixth spot. Carter Fartuch has been buried down the order so far. Something you just don't expect to see. In TC, Clay Williams and Jeff Ricca lead over Kevin Boehm who has his hands full with both Nick Barbato and Matt Ibrahim. Clay Williams is hanging tough. Kevin Boehm was TCA champion a few years back and last year he stayed in the hunt for the points down to the final event in TCA at Indianapolis behind champion in 2021 Eric Powell, who I believe has retired or is taking time off from racing.
Garrett has made the pass on Ruud whose car is not handling the way he wants it. Ruud runs way wide through turn ten and Garrett makes an easy pass. Jacob Ruudmto the pit lane maybe with a cut down tire. Left front tire down. They put the car on the air jacks and the left front is being changed. At the end of today's race, Ruud might lose points. Oh dear! Ricca in the Hyundai Veloster is off the road driver's left on the front straight and we will see a safety car. Goodness gracious! Jacob Ruud could gain from this. Ricca slows down massively and tops on the road. Mechanical woes for the Hyundai driver.
Another Techsport Subaru off and that is the #23 of Shaoyi Che, the Chinese driver. He has a flat left front tire. Is there debris? We are under Full Course Yellow now. Well, well, well. Push the reset button. Reshuffle the deck. Jacob Ruud has stayed on the lead lap. Or, has he? He is on the lead lap so he could start moving up again as we get close to the halfway mark on race one for TC America. No more worries with Ruud's BMW M2 CS Racing. Ruud will be pushing like no tomorrow to get to the top of the shop as in TCA we have four or five cars in contention. Great run so far for P.J. Groenke who finished fifth in race two in New Orleans a couple months ago. Groenke has raced Mini's in the Canadian Touring Car Championship.
Groenke in 2020, he could not cross the border to race during the pandemic. P.J. Groenke found a way to race one way or another. He really did everything possible. Groenke gives it a million percent all the time. He is a former TCB class champion. In TC, Clay Williams leads the class also in the brand new Mini. The Mini team have been working on the clutch for that new car. Clay Williams is becoming a better driver all the time. Nicholas Barbato has pace. Kevin Boehm has alos moved up after Jeff Ricca having his problems. Jacob Ruud has fastest lap and so he could start on pole for tomorrow but Garrett will be in clean air if he can scamper away from Steven Cugliari.
Spencer Bucknum might just be TCA pole sitter for tomorrow. We shall see. Jeff Ricca has the second fastest lap in TC. So he could get to the front row for tomorrow's race if the car can be fixed. What does Steven Cugliari have left in the locker? Does Colin Garrett have all the speed he needs? He is driving a very well-balanced race car. Safety car in the lane. Ready for a green flag with just 15 minutes to go. Green flag! Catania in the lane. Oh dear. So, Colin Gareett leads and the third place fight has Steve Streimer holding station over Brett Scroggin. Clay Williams is streaking away from Kevin Boehm.
Boehm not giving up and here comes Nicholas Barbato right on him. Christian Perocarpi and P.J. Groenke battle. Honda vs. Subaru and Spencer Bucknum makes a pass, or tries to on Gresham Wagner. It is a four way drag race, covered by a blanket into the Inner Loop! The Mini's are threatening and so is the Honda of Carter Fartuch! Perocarpi holds Groenke at bay. Gresham Wagner in the TCA lead. Respectful, smart driving by the third-generation driver, Spencer Bucknum. He had three third place finishes at the start of the year. Poor old Carter Fartuch is losing pace. This is an intense battle here in TCA. Wagner, Bucknum, Perocarpi, and the savvy veteran, P.J. Groenke.
Bucknum sets up the inside line and now Groenke wants by Perocarpi. This is an internecine battle. Groenke now third. Bucknum has breathing space to go after the leader. Williams leads the TC class as Ibrahim is applying the blowtorch, lunging to the inside of Barbato's Hyundai in turn nine! Barbato makes the move. Both of these drivers are really at the beginnings of their touring car careers. For Nicholas Barbato, he was in the Nissan GT Academy in video game racing, sim racing. Barbato raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the season finale last year.
Steve Streimer is having a great race today pressuring Steven Cugliari and now, Jacob Ruud is going after Brett Scroggin and Gresham Wagner, the leader, is slowing! Left front tire down! That left front Pirelli P Zero has taken a pasting all race long. Be careful of the aggression of car setup. Spencer Bucknum promoted to the lead of the motor race in TCA. P.J. Groenke also in trouble! The Mini team cannot believe it! Groenke also has a cut down left front tire. Ugh! Matt Ibrahim now pressuring Kevin Boehm using the chrome horn! Ibrahim off the pace! Again, dropping like flies!
This is wacky races redux here. Streimer off the road. Creepy Coupe? Arkansas Chuggabug? Compact Pussycat? Are you there? Ruud pokes through after a spin for Cugliari and now Bucknum is slowing! Christian Perocarpi up to the lead! Jacob Ruud is now following Colin Garrett. Ruud uncorks fastest lap of the motor race. What is the gap? Two and a half seconds. So Ruud is pushing it like no tomorrow on fresh, green Pirelli P Zero tires. Don't give up until the checkered flag. Ruud is taking chunks out of Garret's lead!
Garrett flashing the headlamps at the TC traffic. He is clearing the lapped traffic. Will Ruud have enough left in the locker? White flag next time by. Don't relax too much. Don't baby the left front tire. Clay Williams leads Kevin Boehm an Nick Barbato in TC. Tyler Delgado could get a career best TCA finish. Ruud is still flyuing with a lap and a half left. Jacob Ruud is right on Garrett's six! Ruud definitely has a new lease on life. Just one second between the top two. Garrett is definitely responding.
One lap, 3.37 miles to go. White flag. Garrett leading Ruud by one second. Ruud cannot use the draft through the esses and up the hill. Garrett responds and may be extending his lead. Bucknum back on track, fourth in TCA. But, what might have been. Clay Williams will likely get the TC victory. Nurse the tires to the end. Bring it home. The clock has gone to zero. Colin Garrett wants his third win of the year. Ruud running out of time. Can he make a lunge through the final turns? The gap is closing. Colin Garrett looking for a third victory. Garrett has the advantage with two corners left.
Colin Garrett wins! Clay Williams and Mini JCW get the second win this season, honoring Paddy Hopkirk! Perocarpi leads TCA. Can he also win for Mini? Christian Perocarpi's dad owns this team at LAP Racing. He performed very well in races at Sebring and Indianapolis last year. Now, he is going to win!
Overall/TCX: #44 Colin Garrett Rooster Hall Racing BMW M2 CS Racing
TC: #60 Clay Williams Mini JCW Team Mini Cooper JCW Pro TC
TCA: #61 Christian Perocarpi Mini JCW Team Mini Cooper JCW
A lot went down in this 40 minute contest. Wow! What a motor race! We will do it all again tomorrow but the box score will not tell the story. We will see you tomorrow for race two. GT World Challenge America coming up.
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