Race two of the weekend, beckons, for TC America, here on the legendary and very bumpy concrete surface at Sebring International Raceway, a place where sports cars have been doing battle for seven decades. Colin Garrett scored his fourth 2022 win yesterday and Kevin Boehm is closer to another TC title. Carter Fartuch and Gresham Wagner are rivals for TCA honors. What a classic track this is. Despite the bumps, everyone loves this track. TCA will go down to the wire. That is definitely true. Clay Williams on pole in TC and Kevin Boehm just needs to finish top five to claim the title for 2022 with two races to go after today, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Another 37 car field for today's second race of the weekend.
Colin Garrett did everything he needed to do in TCX. If Jacob Ruud beats Colin Garrett, the title is his. Kevin Boehm, if he earns a top five, he is the champ in 2022. It is overcast and cooler today than throughout the rest of the weekend. Cooler weather is going to help. 40 minutes on the clock. We are set to race the second event at Sebring, right now. TCX start is now. Green flag. Colin Garrett must win. Jacob Ruud to the outside over Stephen Cugliari. Clay Williams on pole in TC side by side with Kevin Boehm. Those two are side by side and here comes the TCA cars as Branyon Tiner leads over Cristian Perocarpi, a three-time winner. He wants by Branyon Tiner.
Wagner has dropped to third in the Subaru BRZ. Perocarpi in the Mini needs all the points he can get and wants to win and a big accidents as there is a stack up in the hairpin with Alain Lozier, Canadian touring car champion, barges Tyler Delgado in the Hyundai Elantra out of the way. At the top of the shop, Jacob Ruud has moved to second and he has a puncture on the left rear! He will limp to the pit lane. Oh man! This is going to be a bear for Ruud if we stay green the whole way in 40 minutes. The team has to scramble. No pit stops in TC America. Quick service needed.
Ruud led by 49 markers. Through Sunset Bend he knew the tire was gone. He is still stationary. He is now released but has a mountain to climb now. Kevin Boehm is being konstered by Clay Williams. Honda vs. Mini. This is for the TC lead. Williams really wants to push. He had temperature issues yesterday. Jeff Ricca in the Genracer Hyundai Veloster is third, that is the N TCR model I believe. Side by side down the Ulmann straight. He has the power, the speed, down the straightaway compared to the Honda.
Kevin Boehm needs to keep it clean and get a top five to be the TC champion for 2022. Jeff Ricca is back on form and right in the mix now. Branyon Tiner leads Gresham Wagner in TCA and Wagner is catching up in the championship to Carter Fartuch who is seventh in class right now. Fartuch in P7 right now. With the cloud cover, that will assist with parity with the TCA cars. Carter Fartuch has lived in Florida for six or so years at this point. Originally from Pennsylvania. Gresham Wagner, the 2021 Mazda MX-5 Cup champion. Colin Garrett leads by 2.3 seconds and Alain Loziere has trouble with front end damage to the Mini.
He has debris in the wheel well and was in strife yesterday. Sebring can bite you when you least expect it. Luca Catania on the podium trying to make a move on Stephen Cugliari. Garrett cuts fastest lap at 2:19.2. Jacob Ruud back on ttack but well down the field. Still half an hour of racing left. Colin Garrett out front after winning yesterday's race. Ruud is 95 seconds down. He will have to push through class traffic before he can catch the other TCX cars. He has the speed but has a massive delta to work on. 21 points to the good, Colin Garrett over Jacob Ruud headed to the final in Indianapolis. Wagner is really going for it. Carter Fartuch has moved up to fifth, in damage control mode.
He has to be cheering for Branyon Tiner to get to the top of the shop and beat Gresham Wagner. Fartuch cuts his best lap at 2:31.2, half a second slower than the two blokes we watch on track now. He has to pass both Devin Anderson and Christian Perocarpi. Who has the advantage? That is what we are looking for. Through Le Mans corner onto the Ulmann straightaway. Game over for Alain Loziere and Tyler Delgado after their incident. Loziere was pinged with a drive through penalty. Clay Williams leads TC by 1.8 seconds over Kevin Boehm with Jeff Ricca in third but he is getting stymied. Boehm just has to run in P2 to clinch the title even if Clay Williams wins the motor race. Matty Ibrahim got a career best finish yesterday.
Stephen Cugliari is chasing Colin Garrett and Cugliari wants a win before this season is out, which would be his maiden victory in the touring car championship. Colin Garrett very experienced on ovals in stock cars but is now doing road racing full-time. Cugliari is pushing and so is Lucas Cattania. Williams and Boehm are slugging it out. Clay Williams has stepped up to the TC class and very successful and consistent. Clay Williams looking for his fifth win of 2022 and has had two failures to finish on the podium. Boehm has been on the podium all year in first, second, or third. Boehm is just ticking the boxes, a past SCCA national champion and will be supporting teams at the SCCA Runoffs at Virginia International Raceway next weekend.
Boehm is an engineer in day-to-day life in addition to being a racing driver. Boehm has been unstoppable this whole season. Kevin's wife, Sharon explains how committed her husband is to his career. He wants to perform and do everything he can. The team is focused not just today but also on the finale in Indianapolis, Indiana, at "The Brickyard" in a few weeks. Halfway home. Kevin Boehm would like to move up, maybe into GT4 racing perhaps. Wow. This is really good stuff between Garrett, Cugliari, and Cattania. Stephen Cugliari being monstered by Cattania. He should have the best race car of the three TCX leaders with these BMW M2 CS Racing cars.
This BMW has been a great turnkey race car with support from BMW Motorsport for the drivers and teams who wish to run it. They were sold out completely of a supply of 200 race cars. They are in the hands of collectors and enthusiasts who use them for track days as well. Cugliari twiches and Cattania wants it. Inside, outside, and the scrap is heating up. Cattania washes out with the front end hitting the ABS. Announce your presence flashing the headlights, but you can only do it once. It is a what are you thinking? kind of deal. At the 12 Hours at night, it can blind you.
Connor De Philippi was doing a lot of it in the 12 Hours, and it drove his competition crazy. Colin Garrett solidifies his advantage. Stephen Cugliari swept the races here at Sebring last year. But he has not had the success he has wanted in 2022. Rooster Hall Racing looking on, watching their driver, Colin Garrett, with team boss Johann Schwarz who is their GT4 driver as well. Traffic ahead. A tight, shallow approach to Sunset Bend off the Ulmann straightaway. In TC America, this is either a destination, or a springboard to get to the GT cars in GT4 and GT3. Class manager Jim Jordan has done well keeping the performance balance equal here in the touring car classes.
Top speeds overall, Clay Williams in TC, he is tops at almost 1333 miles an hour and there is a delta between 130-133 MPH. Kevin Boehm pounces as Williams is caught out in traffic. Yikes. Is Williams' car spluttering and coughing? 12 minutes and change on the board, as the teams watch the clock like a football coach. Trouble for one of the Honda's. It is Colin Harrison in one of the Skip Barber Racing School Honda's. Kevin Boehm still leading TC running ahead of Clay Williams. Jacob Ruud has rallied to 15th and cut his way through TCA but has to pass all the TC cars.
Ruud in eighth overall as Colin Garrett, his rival in the title fight, is the race leader with just ten minutes left on the board before we go to Indianapolis for the finale. Colin Garrett is in the pound seats right now. Ruud had a three-race win streak between race two at Watkins Glen and a sweep at Road America. But Ruud has gotten the rough end of the pineapple after his opening lap puncture. Colin Garrett has improved on his driving here at Sebring after testing and running a race in a different championship, a club racing series. Garrett has Louis Perocarpi to deal with in a TCA Mini. So Stephen Cugliari is closing in.
Cugliari is a two-time TCX winner at Sebring going back to 2021. Garrett must push and push hard. Today is a different story compared to yesterday. Cugliari smells blood in the water. Just over six minutes left. He is closing up on Garrett and fast. Cattania is also in the picture. If the leaders have any argy bargy, Lucas Cattania, he could come through. Cattania wants a win. Should the leaders get into a dust up, Cugliari could seize the moment. Garrett, breaking the draft. Five minutes left on the clock. This is for all the marbles at Sebring in touring cars.
Three laps to go I believe. A TC spec Honda goes off the road. Not sure who it is. Celso Neto perhaps. Hard to say. Cattania in the shadows of the two leaders. A piece of debris offline in Cunningham Corner. Gresham Wagner can sweep TCA over Branyon Tiner with Devin Anderson on the podium followed by Cristian Perocarpi and Carter Fartuch. Kevin Boehm continues to lead in TC. Carter Fartuch has had a real dry spell since VIR on Father's Day weekend back in June. Cattania now quicker than Cugliari as time is of the essence. Two, maybe three laps to go. OK. Just two.
Cugliari has done all he can. But short track racer Colin Garrett is on the money. Well, well, well. The top three have been glued together since the green flag waved. Everyone is right into their car setup sweet spot and the drivers are executing at the highest level. White flag this time around. Colin Garrett has one lap to go before sweeping the weekend. This could be championship material as Jacob Ruud wants a piece of the pie yet. He will end up eighth. Fastest lap of the race to Garrett at 2:19.274. Garrett has had plenty left in the locker.
In motor racing, execute. Anything can and will happen. Final lap. Cattania wants by Cugliari. Colin Garrett is one corner away from a win and staying in the fight for the championship. Cattania wants it. Cugliari has the gap. Garrett wins it and breaks out the broom to sweep. Cugliari holds on for second and Cattania gets third.
Overall/TCX: #44 Colin Garrett Rooster Hall Racing BMW M2 CS Racing
TCA: #21 Gresham Wagner TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ TCA
TC: #9 Kevin Boehm Honda Civic Type R TC
Podiums in every single race for Boehm in 2022. He will take yet another TC class win and is going to win the championship! Wow! Boehm, your TC champion for 2022! Ruud picks up a place in seventh and Steve Streimer drops a place to eighth. So, Ruud does pick up a handful of points before Indianapolis. A few top fives, at the speedway might just do the trick but we shall have to find out. Join us for a massive weekend of racing at Indianapolis. It is a special place. It will be fun! See you at Indianapolis, everyone. So long. Stay tuned for more racing coming up today at Sebring.
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