It is the finale of Pirelli GT4 America here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, "The Brickyard", for 2022. The battle royale is on in Pro-Am. Jason Hart and Scott Noble vs. Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson as the Silver and Am classes are in the bag. We welcome Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick leading the broadcast. Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson have a repaired race car after the GT America closer. Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer have locked up the title. Aaron Telitz is the polesitter. For the final time this season, the cars are ready to go. This is the final race of the weekend. The championship decider is there for the Pro-Am class of this all GT4 field.
It is amazing that we are at the end of the 2022 season. It will come down to the Am driver for the championship. 32 cars starting this one-hour race with a pit stop for a driver change. No refueling and no tire changes. Andy Lee and Elias Sabo have an outside chance at the championship after winning on Friday. 32 cars set to start this motor race. There are permutations. But we are getting ready for a start. This is the second formation lap and we are now ready to turn them loose for the final time this weekend. Last race of the weekend. This track provides many overtaking opportunities. So many cool cars in GT4. Porsche, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Aston Martin and so on.
The field slow to start and a tad ragged. Here we go. Green flag! Final race underway as they fan out four, five wide. Gavin Sanders makes his move as Aaron Telitz leads and now Andy Lee, Jason Hart, Elliott Skeer, and Andy Lee all spin! Oh my gosh! Conquest Racing and Gavin Sanders are in the lead. Andy Lee has triggered spins for Skeer and Hart. Eric Filgueiras champion elect and there's more trouble as Anthony Geraci spins! Chaos in the season finale. Aaron Povoledo wants to make a move. Ross Chouest won a title in GT America. There was a massive shemozzle into the braking zone. Jeepers creepers!
A frantic opening lap. Sanders, Anderson, Filgueiras, and more. All of the championship contenders deep in the pack. More trouble for Premier Racing! Game over! Another damaged radiator! Just like GT America! It has to be an oil cooler busted. Skeer will be gutted! Nolasport can win the title. Oh my gosh! Can Andy Lee and Elias Sabo go for it? They have damage on the Aston Martin at Flying Lizard Motorsports as well. Anderson maing a move on Gavin Sanders. BMW M4 vs. Mercedes AMG. Eric Filgueiras observing and so is John Capestro-Dubets. Filgueiras now third and Capestro-Dubets the Pro-Am leader.
JCD to the outside. He takes the spot away from Filgueiras. Filgueiras jsut wants a win at Indianapolis. He and Stevan McAleer are champions after the result of yesterday morning's race we saw before the Indianapolis 8 Hours. Anderson leads as John Capestro-Dubets are pushing hard. Andy Lee was so happy after a win yesterday and now he was taken out of the race today! He and Elias Sabo will be crushed. Zack Anderson and Austen Smith are looking for a win and are in front of the motor race ahead of Sanders, Capestro-Dubets, and Filgueiras. Filgueiras wants by Sanders. These two have scrapped for the title all year.
Game over for Premier Racing. Adam Adelson says he cannot even put into words how amazing the season has been working with Elliott Skeer. The team has done a wonderful job all year. It is terrible that their chances ended for the titles in both GT America and GT4. Elliott Skeer is amazed by the team. The team scrambled for 25 minutes to put the car back together. What a nightmare. Parker Thompson and Aaron Telitz issued penalties by the marshals. Telitz has damage on the front end of the Toyota Supra. We settle down for a wee while.
BMW's lead. Anderson and JCD lead the motor race with Filgueiras in third spot having ten wins on the year as Ian James in the #24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin runs third sharing with Gray Newell as Paolo Carasci tags Ian James and James spins! Carasci deep into the turn and James gets tipped. Ian James had nowhere to go and no way out of that mess. Aaron Povoledo on the outside and he got lucky to get out of that conundrum. There have been a few too many incidents in GT4 America in 2022. The competition is fierce. Stay cool and don't make any rash moves.
With Aaron Telitz, the deal is related to turn one and the team is appealing the decision to the stewards. The James and Carasci incident is under review. This is a hornet's nest in the middle of the pack with Al Carter at the head of it being chased by Tim Horrell and Jason Hart, ninth in class to the inside of Tim Horrell. Tim Horrell starts both races and he drives using hand controls and is carried from the car to his wheelchair. Toby Grahovec is co-driving as Raphael Matos is is pursuing Trans Am title glory at Virginia International Raceway. Premier Motorsports out. Flying Lizard Motorsports down the order. Nolasport could win the Pro-Am title. He could win his second title in a row.
Matt Travis his co-driver from2021 is now in a different championship. Oh no. Aaron Povoledo is off the road trying to use the warmup lane for the oval and he had contact and spun way out into the grass. Aaron Telitz to the pit lane. 45 minutes of racing left to go in 2022. Poor old Aaron Telitz and Todd Coleman will not have a result at Indianapolis. Such a shame. John Capestro-Dubets leads Pro-am and there was definite contact in replay flicking Povoledo into a spin. BMW's lead the motor race and Eric Filgueiras is setting things up before the pit stop handing over to Stevan McAleer.
97 seconds pit lane delta with a one second joker if you did not use it up on Friday. Gavin Sanders and Michai Stephens had a very slim shot of overcoming their points deficit. In yesterday's race, not Friday, Filgueiras and McAleer sealed the deal. 11 podiums for Conquest Racing with Gavin Sanders and Michai Stephens. Conquest Racing are now of course also in GT3. Paolo Carasci was issued a drive through penalty for incident responsibilty and the #83 RS1 Porsche issued a drive through penalty for the Venezuelan duo of Nelson Calle and Juan Martinez. The battle for third is strong in Silver between John Geesbreght and Kevin Conway vs. Zach Anderson and Austen Smith.
Terry Borcheller is a legend and has won many of the big races. Borcheller and Nick Shanny have both done very well. It was their first win and their first podium of the year in race one yesterday which was the support event for the Indianapolis 8 Hours. Devin Jones is back full-time with Bimmerworld sharing their M4 GT4 with James Walker Jr. Walker Jr. and Bill Auberlen ran together last year. The BMW's are running liner stern in these cool conditions. Filgueiras sitting there, waiting to see if there is an opportunity.
The pit window will open in about eight minutes to get the Am drivers in the cars. Ryan Dexter penalized for the contact with Aaron Povoledo. A few more laps before the pit window does open. James Clay and Charlie Postins, Am class titles. Bimmerworld won Pro-Am in the Indianapolis 8 Hours. 8 hours, 800 miles, and eight seconds, the margin of victory as Jaden Conwright and Greg Liefooghe scrap for position. Mustang GT4 vs. Supra GT4. Jaden Conwright started for the Mustang team at Road America and has been racing in GT3 in a different championship in 2022 as well. It was IMSA, winning the IMSA diverse driver scholarship and he is a Lamborghini Junior Driver as well. Someone is off the road in the esses.
We don't want to see the pit window delayed if a car is off the road. Tim Horrell racing with Jaden Lander and Lander is off the road. Broken suspension for the second race in a row for poor old Jaden Lander. How vulnerable is he? The pit window may be delayed. Do we go Full Course Yellow? Anderson still leads Capestro-Dubets and so the pit window is open as Lander's car stays there for ten minutes. Debris on the road after the opening lap carnage we saw.
Everybody is diving for the pit lane. JCD might stay out. Borcheller stays out and will be in the overall lead. 97 seconds must be spent in the lane. Johann Schwartz replacing Todd Brown at Rooster Hall Racing and he led race one yesterday for a wee while. RS1 in for Filgueiras to hand off to McAleer. Everything seems clean on the exchange it appears. Zach Anderson and Austen Smith were one second under the delta! The overall leaders may have run afoul of the minimum pit time! Oh dear! Tom Capizzi now at the wheel of it, running interference for the Silver class leading car up the road. You cannot change tires in GT4 America racing of course.
McAleer now second on the road. We do not know the fate of the leader when the pit stops come out in the wash. Borcheller leads Am and in the overall. Be on the pit lane by the time the clock ticks down to 25 minutes. We will just have to go to Full Course Yellow at some point. Maybe throwing the yellow will be affected by the pit window. We have discussed this but have not seen the situation until now as Nick Shanny is ready to go. He and Terry Borcheller won race one yesterday in class. Martinez and Calle in the lane for a driver change. Fluid steaming out of that Porsche Cayman.
RS1 has to be aware of this with the sister car. Capizzi gives up a place to Michai Stephens. #51 in real trouble. Their joker backfired. Stevan McAleer is closing up on Austen Smith. Borcheller comes to the lane covering for the scenario we talked about with the safety car. Random Vandals in the lane in the #98 BMW M4 GT4 with Paul Sparta handing off to Al Carter. This motor race has been bonkers. So much hype for the finale of the year and then that massive wreck that deflated it. Meantime, Stevan McAleer right on Austen Smith's six and McAleer pounces. Bish, bash, bosh, right in the pocket for Stevan McAleer.
Jason Hart turns the Nolasport Cayman over to Scott Noble. Hart and Travis ran off and hid for the title. But in 2019 and 2020, they were in it to win but they lost in Las Vegas in 2019 and at Indianapolis in 2020. Nolasport will win their title in about 25 minutes. Pit window now closed. We assume we could see a Full Course Yellow, but it is hard to say. Maybe we need a track cleanup. Greg Liefooghe will hand off to Damon Surszshyn. Telitz hands to Todd Coleman but there was a drive through penalty for them too of course. McAleer and Filgueiras have an unassailable lead and they only lost based on mechanical woes and misreading a strategy situation. Door open on the retired Toyota Supra.
No Full Course Yellow. That is odd. Hello? SRO? Are you there? TRG Porsche off the road and now we have a Full Course Yellow for the spinning TRG Cayman and the Krugspeed Toyota Supra stalled on the road. Nolasport and RS1 are the top Porsche teams in Pirelli GT4 America and both turn out beautiful race cars. 18 minutes of racing to go. Car counts were incredible, 30-40 cars in the field in each race. Austen Smith had to be under the pit delta and so he may be pinged with a drive through. Michai Stephens is pushing but might run out of time. Charlie Postins wants to put the icing on the cake. The BMW M4 teams are battling each other as we get ready for a restart. Edgar Lau close behind in the Rotek Racing #124 Ford Mustang GT4.
Safety car lights off with 15 minutes to go. No titles left to be decided. McAleer and Filgueiras win Silver. Charlie Postins and James Clay have the Am title and Nolasport are poised to win the championship in Pro-Am. The race is what everyone wants. Elias Sabo, laps down, might be a cork in the bottle. Green flag. McAleer pulls away. McAleer is off and running. Four wide down the front straightaway. Stephens up to second as one car is off the road. Nick Shanny, Edgar Lau, and there's a spin for Lau off Moisey Uretsky! Nick Shanny escapes but has residual damage! Sabo off the road I think. Everyone comes out clean except poor old Edgar Lau. Maybe he is OK.
Drive through penalties for short pit stops for 51, 16, 124, 80, and 112. Austen Smith has to serve a drive through penalty. McAleer took off on the restart. Austen Smith in the lane serving the penalty. Shanny, Newell, and others are pushing as the #36 Bimmerworld M4 GT4 takes the Am lead after Nick Shanny's troubles. Second in Am is
Toby Grahovec also in the fight as is Johann Schwartz. Shanny drifts wide. Toby Grahovec and Gray Newell in a battle for position. Schwartz penalized and has to pit. Rooster Hall cops a drive through penalty for a short pit stop. McAleer leads Stephens by 2.2 seconds. Tom Capizzi holding off James Walker Jr. Auto Technic vs. Bimmerworld. Kevin Conway now third in Silver to clinch third for he and John Geesbreght. McAleer not taking off and Stephens chasing as Nick Shanny clobbers the SAFER barrier in turn two on the oval! Gray Newell nudges him, he spins up the track and... ker-runch!
It is a darn shame to see these cars getting destroyed! People need to be more aware and more patient. The clock might run out here. Shanny is OK. Cleanup will be fairly easy, but we might get a last lap shootout to finish the 2022 season. The incident is under review between #20 and #24. We could have just a couple laps to go by the time the yellow is withdrawn. We shall go green next time by. Two laps to go. Prepare the tires, clean your tires. Work the brake against the throttle to maintain tire temp. Michai Stephens will have a hard time and Walker Jr. will be all over Capizzi. Kevin Conway behind them followed by Ross Chouest and Moisey Uretsky. Chouest has recovered beautifully after Aaron Povoledo spun. Ross Chouest swept the weekend in GT America and won the title earlier this morning.
One last time in 2022 for Pirelli GT4 America to bring the action. Stevan McAleer wants to win. He is gone. Michai Stephens cannot pass yet. Now, he is trying to time this. Two laps to go. Don't lose too much ground. Side by side and Capizzi and Walker Jr. have spun! Capizzi did not ha ve the grip on the tires! His tires were stone cold! Debris down the backstretch as Capizzi is under pressure from Chouest and Chouest passes Capizzi! Ross Chouest could win a second race of the day! Capizzi too defensive. Toby Grahovec having a look at Charlie Postins. Grahovec making his first start since this race at Indy last year. White flag. One lap to go in the season.
Stephens closing on McAleer. How will Pro-Am and Am shake out? Grahovec passes Capizzi and he will run Chouest down. Alex Filsinger on Charlie Postins. Stephens closing on McAleer! Who is going to win this motor race? Stephens wide entry, Mercedes gets the power down or not. It will come to a final lunge. No dice for Stephens. McAleeer in front. Stephens gives him the chrome horn. Mcaleer and Filgueiras win! Ross Chouesat and Aaron Povoledo win Pro-Am and in Am it is Alex Filsinger winning for Auto Technic over Postins and Bimmerworld!
Oh man! What a motor race! New winners too! Porsche too, has had tons of success with a brand-new car with the new Cayman.
Overall/Silver: #18 Filgueiras/McAleer RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
Pro-Am: #50 Chouest/Povoledo Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
Am: #53 Filsinger/Walker Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4
Again, champions are James Clay and Charlie Postins in Am, Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo. #52 and #82 incident under review.
Champions:
Silver: #18 Stevan McAleer & Eric Filgueiras RS1 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
Pro-Am: #50 Ross Chouest & Aaron Povoledo Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
Am: #36 James Clay & Charlie Postins Bimmerworld Racing BMW M4 GT4
There you have it. GT4 2022 done and dusted. SRO America 2022 done and dusted. We'll see you next year for more action. Enjoy the offseason. So long, everybody. Take care.
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