Welcome, everybody, to the streets of "Music City USA", Nashville, Tennessee. Stock car racing once ruled here at the half mile oval at the Nashville Fairgrounds and still has a presence. But now, road racing, GT sports car racing has also taken hold in Music City. Tonight, is the first of two 40-minute races, with single drivers, for GT3 and GT4 spec production sports cars. We are set to go. This weekend, the SRO commentary team has been shuffled a bit. Our friend, Calvin Fish, is on assignment elsewhere for another sports car race in a different series altogether (a race you may have already in fact read about on the blog). So, to assist with play-by-play we welcome the legend, the one and the only, Bob Varsha to the commentary box alongside Ryan Myrehn.
It seems we are having a few problems with Ryan's microphone. This race kicks off the second half of the season for GT America in 2022 as we look down on Broadway, jammed with fans in Nashville, at the end of a long day that included a classic Tennessee "frog swallower" rainstorm that cleaned this track completely, this 2.17 mile circuit in the shadow of Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans in the National Football League. The starting line has been moved to the straightaway just off the Korean War Veterans Memorial bridge. Just a few hours before this race, it rained cats and dogs, and now we are set to start the first race as the sun sets in Nashville.
Two classes in action. SRO3 and GT4 as we join Amanda Busick in the pit lane. Grand Marshal, Pradeep Mannakkara, Chief Information Officer from CVent, gives the command. Driver's start your engines! The humming of the engines of every great GT car you can think of, comes to life. Ferrari, Audi, BMW, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Lamborghini, Callaway Corvette. you name it. The pole man, in his first 2022 appearance in GT America, is Onofrio Triarsi with teammate Justin Wetherill at his elbow. Rob Holland starts from the GT4 pole along with several other GT4 contenders. Concrete walls abound as the cars run over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge crossing the mighty Cumberland River.
One of the turns has been widened a bit for better sight lines. These are gentleman drivers, Bronze rated by the FIA, by the international motor racing governing body. Sunset will come soon, headlights on, for the 26-car field. The top nine are GT3 cars. George Kurtz was the winner of the Bronze Cup category at the recent 24 Hours of Spa which we covered for you here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing blog. Coming into the race tonight, George Kurtz is in the pound seats because he has a massive 53-point lead over his competition, having won the four most recent GT America races on the calendar, making it a clean sweep of the events at Virginia International Raceway and Watkins Glen International Raceway.
Six GT4 drivers are within 53 points as well. Kurtz' co-drivers at Spa of course were Tim Mueller, Valentin Pierburg, and female Saudi Arabian racer, Reema Juffali. They won. Time to get down to work. Green flag! We're underway in Music City! The Ferrari's lead the way but it is a scramble. Triarsi and Justin Wetherill are 1-2. Everything looks peachy right now. Into corner three and Jason Harward in the Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini is making his move early doors. But, you best poke your nose in and get things done because you have a mere 40 minutes on the board to work with tonight and then again, tomorrow morning.
So, read further on in this blog post to find out about the second race from Sunday. You won't want to miss that. We now have a start for the ten or so GT4 cars that are entered in this race along with their SRO3, GT3 cousins. Rob Holland to the early lead in the Porsche Cayman, and a little casual contact between a couple of cars. Ah. Some argy bargy there, look, between Edgar Lau from Hong Kong in the Ford Mustang GT4 and Ross Chouest in the Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. We can clearly see the green leader lights, the Lumirank system in green telling you where the cars are in the class order.
Heavy traffic being encountered. Trouble, early doors, for the #39 Mercedes AMG GT4. That is Chris Cagnazzi at the wheel of the Cameron Racing entry. He has pulled to a stop as we remain under green and the cars thunder around the streets of Nashville. Last year's GT4 winner here at Nashville, in trouble. As we watch the SRO3 machines at the top of the shop in their own battles. We now welcome Ryan Myrehn to the broadcast as Onofrio Triarsi leads the motor race over Justin Wetherill in the sister car, he has Jason Daskalos right on his six in the older generation Audi R8 LMS. Wetherill could be playing rear gunner in that second Triarsi Ferrari, the #13. Wetherill carrying #37.
Poor old Jason Daskalos though, he is the cork in the bottle in traffic right now. This is a tough track to drive and even more so with the traffic, with the GT3 and GT4 cars together. Former teammates, George Kurtz, coming up on David Askew, his former team boss in another Mercedes AMG GT3 and DXDT. Kurtz of course, is now racing with Riley Motorsports. Chris Cagnazzi was caboose on the grid after crunching the wall in qualifying and changing the chassis. Cagnazzi has the Pirelli tires on it that are "joker" tires. Maybe a slight difference in compound or something on that particular set of boots. We don't know.
Cagnazzi back in the race but he will have to push to get back to the top of the shop. One of five drivers in the series who has experience in Ferrari Challenge and only two of the blokes who have Ferrari Challenge experience, are driving a Prancing Horse in this event. Make of that what you will. Chris Cagnazzi has not had good luck on street courses. In the season opening event at St. Petersburg, Florida, he ran well until a major incident and that clatter with the barrier, in those events back in February, meant it was game over for him and he was scratched from the second race of the weekend. He did win in class in race two in GT4 here at Nashville, in 2021.
Rotek Racing swept the front row in GT4 with Rob Holland in the Porsche Cayman and Edgar Lau in the Ford Mustang. Ross Chouest has gone by Edgar Lau with Holland at the top of the tree in GT4 presently. An unusual track layout and it was designed to suggest a musical note. That's obvious being in Music City. But handling is put as a priority on this circuit over outright speed. Lots of low speed turns here at Nashville. Tony Cottman, the circuit designer, has designed many street courses in the United States and knows how to lay out the maps of these tracks. Rob Holland had a great run in February when SRO GT America raced at St. Petersburg, Florida, on the streets there. However, at that time, the new GT4 spec Porsche Cayman had yet to be entirely homologated by the SRO.
The nimbleness of the Cayman really makes it an excellent driving car on a street course and the BMW drivers are scratching their heads because the M4 GT4 is the total opposite. It cannot keep up in terms of the direction change. Munich has the speed, but Stuttgart has the edge insofar as handling here in Music City in the GT4 ranks. A year ago, Rob Holland ran second and third here at Nashville as we expect 100,000 spectators here in Nashville. Of course, as we are checking out these races later in the week, people saw these sports cars and the IndyCars. The driver's mettle will be tested by traffic in positive and negative ways.
Justin Wetherill in the Ferrari still has Jason Daskalos in the Audi right on his six. Traffic ahead with Nick Shanny in the Toyota Supra, and... man, oh man! Did you see that? Wetherill was the cork in the bottle behind that Supra GT4 of Shanny and so, Jason Daskalos seized the opportunity and said, "thanks, mate. I'll have that spot." Zing. He drove right on by. Here's it all again, in slow motion. Crunch! Well, well. There was contact. I suppose you could term that, forceful maneuvering. Ooh. Jason Daskalos has run in this series since the Pirelli World Challenge era. He has experience working through the traffic and did so even when the old school GT3 cars were state of the art and the GT4 class back then was known as GTS.
Street course racing is not for the timid. Sports cars, IndyCars, Formula 1, whatever it is. Street course racing dares drivers to be brave and bold. 1/4 of the way done. 31 minutes left on the board. Make that exactly a half hour. Jason Daskalos, he loves street courses, and he has the gumption to be driving aggressively around here. The GT4 field, there is an art to being passed. The GT4 drivers are aware of where to put their cars and as we talk about here and in other sports car racing formulas, traffic giveth, traffic taketh away. React quickly to circumstances. As we said, if you are wondering, our mate Calvin Fish was busy with another sports car race on the same weekend, and you may read about that one if you scroll back a few posts.
The cars go light over the bridge. The event organizers here at Nashville extended the repaving for the transition ton be more benign which has affected many of the race cars. Not just the GT cars but the IndyCars as well, the open wheel missiles that these GT cars shared the race weekend at Nashville with and they too, produced a great event. Scott Smithson aboard the #08 Mercedes AMG GT3 for Qelo Capital/DXDT Racing, he ran very well at St. Petersburg back in February, plus he is right at the sharp end in fourth place right now and giving it a good showing!
An audible groan from your commentator here, as poor old Smithson, just as I was singing his praises... cough, cough, stuffs it into the tire barriers! He went into the turn too deep under braking. Now, he is backing the car up and should resume. His pride is the only thing damaged in that little shunt. His driver coach is former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Dirk Mueller from Germany. So, he is down one place and will be on the back foot. Pushing the braking zone, over the bumps, coming into the turn hot. Kyle Washington in the Porsche, he is right on top of poor old Scott Smithson now, and will want to make a pass.
Now we see George Kurtz, on his way. Rain played a role in quali, and so the drivers could not uncork a banker lap. What's the trouble with a bumpy racetrack? We just saw that you lose braking and steering ability into the turn, over said bumps, and you are forced to say, "hello, tires. Not pleased to meet you. Now if you'll excuse me, I must reverse and keep driving." Wow! The reflection of the setting sun as we race into the twilight here at Nashville is incredible. What a gorgeous evening. The headlights are needed because we will race past sunset ending just before 8:00 P.M. at sunset. For some reason, race cars sound different at night.
Onofrio Triarsi leads the motor race. He is also contesting the Am class in GT World Challenge America, driving with his brother-in-law, Charlie Scardina. In GT4, the battle is on for second. Ross Chouest has it and Edgar Lau wants it. Lau driving the only Ford Mustang in the field, for the Hong Kong driver. He has raced in Asia for a while and he has run in Pirelli GT4 America with several drivers pairing with him like Billy Johnson and Mike Skeen. SRO America President Greg Gill addressed the drivers, talking about the entertainment factor of this race. Ten brands racing here. Adam Adelson was here racing last year and he was amazed. He signed an autograph for someone.
Something special is that these drivers, were an opening act, last Saturday night, when this race happened, for country music superstar Tim McGraw, his only tour date in Nashville in 2022. This is a festival with both motor racing and music, something yours truly would enjoy. Wetherill is still glued right in there with Daskalos in SRO3 as we come close to the halfway mark in this race. Lau is right with Ross Chouest as they crest the Cumberland River over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge. Adam Adelson is being harried by Jason Bell, and Adelson in the Premier Motorsports Porsche Cayman.
That livery on the car, with the dayglo yellow trim, reminiscent of the White Lightning race team that ran in GT racing in endurance form at events like the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans back in the early part of the 21st century. Kent Moore was the crew chief and he is team owner for Premier Motorsports, hence the color scheme. Adelson and his GT4 America co-driver Elliott Skeer are forces to be reckoned with in SRO this year. Justin Wetherill has moved past Jason Daskalos in the Audi and these two chaps have swapped places a few different times already.
Justin Wetherill is staying with the leaders while Onofrio Triarsi is five seconds up the road. We look at the Race Vision powered by AWS speed trap overall and while everyone else is running 154 miles an hour and change, it is Justin Wetherill, fastest of all at 155+, 155.3 miles an hour. One of the BMW M4 GT4's is staying out of the way. Daskalos wants to make a move and Wetherill had the door open. You will see that Wetherill's Ferrari is a padiddle, a car with one working headlight. Oh dear. Another car in a spot of bother. That is Todd Coleman in the Smooge Racing Toyota Supra. That is a GT4 class Supra, stopped on the circuit.
Another Ferrari Challenge graduate, he has crunched the right front corner of the Toyota. Full Course Yellow now. Halfway through the race and it is our first safety car scramble. Onofrio Triarsi's five second lead has now evaporated. Coleman understeered towards the tires and whacked the concrete barrier. When we restart, watch out for George Kurtz, the points leader. Because of the 53-point swing between Kurtz and Daskalos, Jason Daskalos must be thinking, 'I will finish ahead of you, whether you like it or not, sunshine", in reference to Kurtz. 200 points remain on offer including this event and the second one. We still have races for GT America at Road America in Elkhart Lake Wisconsin, Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Some legendary venues coming up to close out the year in GT America 2022.
Kurtz has won four races on the trot in SRO GT America and has also done so at the 24 Hours of Spa. Of course, we don't count that event as it is part of the GTWC Europe series and the Intercontinental GT Challenge. This safety car is a blessing for Kurtz who can regroup and then go on the attack. Jason Harward, you will notice, is the only Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini in this race. Jeff Burton was supposed to drive a sister car to that one. Burton crashed in Free Practice before qualifying and was ruled out and we hope to see him at Road America. Jason Harward is third in the championship. We should have a quick cleanup here.
Watch for the restart zone on the bridge. Onofrio Triarsi said he put great effort into his pole winning lap and said that it will be a great assistance to strive for victory in the race tonight. Safety car lights off. So, the next lap around, the green flag will appear when the drivers get back onto the bridge. The qualifying sessions was scheduled for 15-minutes, and it was halted by rain a minute short of the scheduled distance. The rain came fast. It was a deluge, or as Mr. Varsha put it so well earlier, a "frog swallower". This is race one of a doubleheader including a race that happened the very next morning. So, in a while, set your mind back to Sunday morning.
We have races at Road America, Sebring, and Indianapolis still coming. Drivers want the safety car to speed up. Let's go. Stop dillydallying. We are ready to race now. Green flag! Onofrio Triarsi punches it and the field gaps and spreads out as George Kurtz is pushing to get through the field. Hard to tell if there was a designated acceleration zone over the bridge. Sun setting in the background and George Kurtz is playing defense on Scott Smithson for fourth and fifth place. Jason Harward has also gone around Kyle Washington for sixth place as they squeeze through the narrow corners. Daskalos makes the move! Wetherill, he is going to have the quicker of wheels, look, coming back toward the bridge!
Wetherill, he blitzes his way past the Audi! Daskalos will have to regroup and plan another move. The turbo V8 Ferrari has the torque. Daskalos running out of time. He is not close enough to get past the red car. Modena vs. Ingolstadt, up onto the bridge again. Daskalos has a Captain Cook again, but no dice. To the GT4 fight, Rob Holland leads over the second-place battle for Ross Chouest and Edgar Lau. The GT4 cars are more compliant over the bumps compared to the GT3 cars. Drivers will tell you that this course at Nashville is as bumpy as any street circuit in the country.
Adam Adelson vs Jason Bell. Porsche Cayman vs. Aston Martin Vantage. Fourth and fifth in GT4. Next up is Marko Radisic in the BMW M4 GT4. He is waiting in the wings. He is not close enough yet to make his move as George Kurtz is the cork in the bottle here in the final ten minutes with Scott Smithson and Jason Harward all over him. Smithson needs to pass and Harward, flashing the headlights saying, "let me by!" There are many championships around the world where drivers are not permitted to flash the headlights more than three times. The FIA World Endurance Championship is one of those. You cannot flash your headlamps incessantly.
Just let the bloke ahead of you know you are there. Smithson knew what to do in traffic even though he is so new to GT3 competition. Oh dear! Harward almost clouts the tires! Big move, late on the brakes, and he does not make the corner! Oh, Jason. How did you make a pig's breakfast out of that one, mate. Hello, tires. Jason, mate, I told you to get off the headlight flasher. Oh man. Well, it's game over for the Lambo. Here's it all again, look, in slow motion. Aye yaye yaye yaye yaye, he just understeers under braking and has some bodywork damage on the right front. He is back on track but down in ninth place.
Meanwhile, Kurtz and Smithson resume their scrap. Smithson for sure is going to keep right on going. Cool to see the glowing brake rotors, the sparks, the different sounds of the engines. It is fun to be among fans at places like Le Mans or Daytona, and with your eyes closed, try to guess who is going past by the noise of the engine. Yours truly did not try that the first time he went to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but if I have a chance to go back, I shall try it. This race at Nashville is unique being a street course race at night. You do not see many of those with the exception probably of the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix.
George Kurtz holds fourth as Edgar Lau is really giving Ross Chouest all he can handle. Six minutes to go as we see the glowing brake rotors. Ross Chouest holds the runner up place in GT4 in GT America. It is not a done deal yet. Adelson, lurking and probing. Jason Bell was back there, but not so much anymore. Ross Chouest's driver coach Aaron Povoledo has now realized Chouest is really improving driving street courses. There's oil buildup, a crown in the middle of the road, and slices cut into the pavement by trucks and so on. We have seen wall contact and a bit of rubbing and racing, a little argy bargy.
Poor old Gray Newell is out of the motor race. The Wetherill and Daskalos battle will come down to the wire as the two drivers get past Nick Shanny and the Toyota Supra GT4. Earlier in the game, Daskalos had an advantage but then lost a spot. They have indeed caught the GT4 cars with just a wee bit over three minutes left on the board. Daskalos remaining in third with Nick Short engineering the car. Short was a longtime SRO America entrant with CRP Racing. That Audi R8 LMS GT3 car has been around in some way, shape or form for several years and has been kept fresh, updated. A normally aspirated 10-cylinder motor with a distinct engine note, the original version of the car from 2011 at least.
An idea behind GT America is to find a spot for these older GT3 cars that are now in the hands of enthusiasts and keep them racing competitively so they don't get mothballed or crushed, which would be a terrible waste. Daskalos is a prime example as he flies over the bridge again on the fastest part of the course here at Nashville. The points haul for Daskalos will be decent as we have a white flag. Final lap. Kurtz mitigates the damage to Daskalos. Onofrio Triarsi leads by three and a half seconds in the debut of Onofrio Triarsi in GT America debuting on a street course. Flashing the lights, he passes Jason Clunie's GT4 BMW M4 GT4.
Onofrio Triarsi, on debut, with a flash of the headlights is your winner! He does win on debut in Nashville! Celebrate. But not too much because everyone has to get ready for tomorrow's (Sunday's) race two, as Rob Holland has dominated GT4. So much so we have hardly seen the #99 car all race. Veteran of the Nurburgring, World and British Touring Cars, and a race winner in GT America. He makes it yet another race win sans the taillamps on that car. Wow. First win on 2022 in GT4 which puts him back in the championship picture as Ross Chouest finishes ahead of Edgar Lau, Adam Adelson, Jason Bell, and Andy Pilgrim, as the sun sets here at Nashville.
1:29 dead, is fastest lap of the event. Crowdstrike fastest lap to Onofrio Triarsi at 1:29.057. His pole time was likewise, five drivers under the 90 seconds barrier. Maybe some of the corners on the track will be tightened up or they already have been. As we finish this race, it is far darker than it looks on television. So now, Onofrio Triarsi can do a bit of celebrating but not much.
This goes with Am class wins he has racked up in GTWC America.
Overall/SRO3: #23 Onofrio Triarsi Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3
GT4: #99 Rob Holland Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
So, that is race one done and dusted at Nashville. We'll see you tomorrow morning for the second race of the weekend as the Tim McGraw concert and his opening act are now in full swing. Excited for another race in the morning. Every driver is so excited to just be a part of this as the party is on, on Broadway, lit up, here in Nashville. We'll be back tomorrow morning. So long for now, from Music City. Good night, everybody.
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