Welcome, everybody, to the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and the opening race of the 2023 SRO GT America championship. Race one of the weekend, has been moved up, to Friday afternoon after originally being scheduled for Saturday afternoon, as GT America is the support series for this weekend's IndyCar season opener. We have 40 minutes of fast paced red hot action to come. Strap in, cinch down those belts. This one is going to be a screamer! We have new faces, familiar faces in new places, and new cars on the grid for this event. Now, yours truly stands corrected. I thought that the next race of the weekend here at St. Pete was going to be run Sunday morning, but judging by the schedule, I believe they have moved race two to Saturday morning.
Yes. It is true that there will be the second race, and it has been moved to tomorrow afternoon at 12:15 P.M. Eastern Time, 11:15 A.M. Central Time. So, we will be back even sooner tomorrow, to bring you the race two action here at St. Pete. Good thing I checked! It is indeed that time. Time to go racing for the first time in SRO GT America in 2023. We have had a delay for the start and we will race into the sunset. The track is fast for a street course ad very little room for error. Turn one can be calamity corner. A long, wide runway to run through it. Part airport and part street course. 14 corners in 1.8 miles. We join Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the booth and Amanda Busick in the pit lane.
Scott Smithson is on the pole for this race. He scored runner up in both races here last year. Watch reigning champion George Kurtz. James Sofronas is third. Todd Coleman is fastest in GT4 now racing with an Aston Martin Vantage, not a Toyota Supra. Ross Chouest and Jason Bell are back but Todd Coleman has a comfort zone with the Aston Martin. Fastest lap tonight will set the grid for race two tomorrow morning. James Sofronas has run 200 races and won four championships. The field is formed up and we are ready to get this race underway.
We've got a green flag at sunset and we're underway here at St. Pete! Leading, Jeff Burton gets squireely and James Sofronas runs wide allowing George Kurtz to go by. Ouch! Massive crunch for one of the Bartone Merrcedes'! That is not. That is Jeff Burton in the DXDT car and the pole man Scott Smithson has spun and crashed! Turn three is calamity corner. We've seen it in IndyCar practice and now it is spreading to the GT races. The Safety car is on the road. 40 minutes and a single driver format. Contact in turn one was a big deal here last year and now this has happened again. So, we are going to lose bucketloads of time.
This is the North American debut for the second generation Audi R8 Evo. The team at Crowdstrike Racing is putting tape on the bonnet of the car and the grille is also damaged next to the three-pointed star, the Mercedes emblem. Race Director Brian Till spoke at length about looking at the big picture. It is like school. If you fail to finish an assignment or get a bad score on a test you will get behind. Jeff Burton went way wide, understeering straight into the barrier. Ker-runch! Jeff Burton and Scott Smithson, game over.
It is a busted radiator for the Crowdstrike Mercedes. Game over. Jeff Burton's car all torn up. Kurtz had no place t go and would have either piled into the wall or plowed into the back of Scott Smithson's Mercedes AMG GT3. Your 2022 champion is out of the race. This promotes James Sofronas to the top of the shop. In GT4, Todd Coleman and Jason Bell run 1-2 followed by Gray Newell, Ross Chouest, and the returning Tony Gaples who has run in SRO for many years. George Kurtz had a decent start and Scott Smithson came right in front of George Kurtz and he had no place to go. Wrong place at the wrong time.
They will start shotgun on the grid for tomorrow's race. Kurtz and his team wants podium spots. Three cars will not be able to clock in a fastest lap to set a time fr the second race tomorrow morning. Jeff Burton's car is owned by former driver David Askew who has stepped out of the driver's seat into the team owner/manager role. Scott Smithson had a great couple races here at St. Petersburg last year. George Kurtz did not have any DNF's last year and had only three lower finishes last year. There is a massive debris field. Suspension damage, fragmented sheetmetal and fragmented carbon fiber all over the place. Do not cut down a tire. They have tire pressure monitoring systems so these Pirelli P Zero ties do not go flat.
Gaples is back racing a Chevrolet Camaro GT4, and the team raced McLaren's a couple years ago. This is the final year for the Camaro before the homologation expires. The GT4 field got a good start as Gaples makesthe move on Moisey Uretsky. Todd Coleman is being managed on his team by Mike Johnson and Archangel Motorsports who have a boatload of experience with these GT4 Aston Martin's in a number of championships over the years. Aaron Telitz is still mentoring Todd Coleman even though Telitz is a Toyota/Lexus factory driver. Billy Johnson will partner Todd Coleman in Pirelli GT4 America when their season begins at Sonoma Raceway in California at the end of this month.
At DXDT, Scott Smithson has said that street courses make him nervous and understandably so. It is a darn shame to see DXDT in early trouble. The teams have no backup cars. Maybe one car will be back tomorrow morning. A long night of repairs for DXDT. This is the final race of the day and they race tomorrow in the morning. Jeff Burton will share with Corey Lewis in SRO GT World Challenge America and says he is more comfortable in the Mercedes than in the Lamborghini from last year. The cleanup continues as James Sofronas leads the motor race currently. Memo Gidley, Jason Daskalos, Andy Pilgrim, they are at the top. Memo Gidley is running his first full racing season in nine years since his big accident at Daytona in 2014 at the Rolex 24.
Race Control says the cleanup is complete and we will go green for a 25-minute shootout racing into the night on a street course. The Nashville race we have seen has been run into sunset. This is fun! We run around the marina and this track and city has come a long way in about 30 years. This is a high speed track too. Green flag. James Sofronas being harried by Memo Gidley and Sofronas goes wide while Gidley and Daskalos make the pass. Daskalos is putting the pressure on. Gidley, an ex-IndyCar racer and sports car racer who had a massive accident at Daytona. He won with TKO Motorsports in a Bentley Continental GT3 that we will see again later in the year.
Team boss David Shatel will run the Bentley himself at Sonoma. Gidley and Daskalos are both in Mercedes' this year. He ran the ancient Audi R8 LMS a year ago. Oh dear. Alex Vogel off the road in the #043 Porsche after sliding into the escape road at turn four. We are almost halfway home as Jason Bell is monstering Todd Coleman. Coleman has to confidence to fend off the challenge from Bell. Aston Martin vs. Aston Martin in GT4. Four Aston Martin's. Gray Newell running third. Bell is now running with Flying Lizard after being with GMG for the last five years. Flying Lizard ran really well with Elias Sabo last year.
Gray Newell is coming in a hurry. Jason Bell focusing on GT America having run Pirelli GT4 America as well as GT America. Michael Cooper will be his driver coach, a GT4 champion. There was discussion of Bell and Cooper teaming up in GT3 for 2023 but the plans were changed. Todd Coleman continues to lead as the Flying Liard Porsche of Andy Wilzoch is the cork in the bottle. Wilzoch running the fabled silver and orange Flying Lizard livery. That team was very successful. Wilzoch is back racing for the first time since 2021. He won a couple races in GT America that year.
Andy Pilgrim is now helping Anthony Bartone. Bartone wants to drive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans one day. This is the scrap for fourth, ffith and sixth. Pilgrim, Bartone, and Schultis. Anthony Bartone is the son of Tony Bartone, the legendary drag racer. Memo Gidley continues leading Jason Daskalos. The TKO boys are amazed to be in the front of this thing. Daskalos is the defending race champion. Time is of the essence for James Sofronas. Keep your rhythm going and don't get stymied by slower cars. Daskalos is continuing to hunt and probe. Memo Gidley won't make a mistake.
Coleman and Bell have moved away from Gray Newell and Ross Chouest. Jason Bell is at his home race, being from Tampa Bay, Florida. A pass has taken place and Jason Daskalos gets by Memo Gidley through traffic. Daskalos is in the lead of the motor race, deep on the brakes, and whistles past Gidley. Well, well, well. That is brave stuff, three wide, out of the kink to turn ten. 15 minutes left on the board. Nine events, and 18 races. We go to many circuits with these cars. Sonoma, NOLA, COTA, Nashville, Road America, Sebring, and Indianapolis.
In Free Practice you will be taking tire pressures and making adjustments on the car. Jason Daskalos continues to lead. His family is here watching, and they love it. He is ahead now of Memo Gidley by 1.3 seconds, with CRP Racing and team boss Nick Short. James Sofronas is coming back into the picture it looks like. He is coming to grips with the second-generation Audi R8 Evo. Depending on this weekend, James Sofronas could run the full season, although his customers at GMG comes first. He worked with customer drivers at the Thermal Club in California yesterday and is now here racing. 1:14.5 and he improves his lap time.
Wow! Sofronas is closing up on Memo Gidley in a hurry! Sofronas has a run through traffic. He is pushing. He wants a bite of the cherry. Success could very well change Sofronas' mind. His family will visit James' mom for a milestone birthday. His 12-year-old son Jenson and 13-year-old daughter Chloe play sports and his son is a go-kart racer telling his dad "Dad, just send it!" Happy Birthday to Ann, James' mom. Daskalos is closing up fast on Gidley. Sofronas still wants to pass Gidley and Daskalos increases his margin. Gidley is going to be really making his move. Again, James Sofronas has run 300 or so SRO World Challenge races.
He has four championships to his credit. Gidley protecting the inside into the braking zones. No changes in GT4 as Todd Coleman leads Jason Bell, Gray Newell, Ross Chouest, and Tony Gaples. Memo Gidley gets balked by Gaples. Traffic compressing the GT3 cars. Dealing with traffic is a major deal. Sofronas losing time through traffic with about eight minutes to go. Thomas Johnson at the tail end of the field goes a lap down. This race was not supposed to run so late into the evening twilight here at St. Petersburg. The ebb and flow of multi class racing.
Sofronas continues hounding Gidley, passing Gray Newell. Newell is headed to Mugello, and he will be racing with The Heart of Racing in the 24 Hours of Spa later in the year. Oh no! Coleman from the GT4 lead has piled it into the tires! Coleman runs wide, and... bang! He hits the tires as the sun is setting and he got wrongfooted. Jason Bell now leads in GT4. Coleman is trundling back to the pit lane with big damage on the car. Sofronas has caught up to Memo Gidley. Something is going on with timing and scoring. Five minutes remaining in the motor race as Daskalos gets to pull away from Memo Gidley.
Jason Daskalos' race craft is improving, and he got stymied by running the older Audi and he has now upped the ante with these two Mercedes AMG GT3's. No real difference between the Audi and the Mercedes but there's less than four minutes on the board. Time is indeed of the essence. Sofronas has five minutes to catch Gidley and so Jason Daskalos can whistle off into the distance. Trouble for the Porsche of Alex Vogel, the #043 OnlyFans Racing with PR1 Group by MRS (that's a mouthful), Porsche 911 GT3.R. The sun is setting, the headlights illuminating the way, as Jason Daskalos leads by 1.8 seconds and Sofronas is still applying the blowtorch to Gidley. But Memo Gidley is really going for it. Into turn eight, another driver running down the escape road.
Lapped traffic ahead. Gidley is not flustered and now, he is reeling in Daskalos consistently. White flag next time by. Just over two minutes of race one for GT America in 2023. Now, Daskalos, Gidley, and Sofronas are all in a row. Gidley guarding the inside over Sofronas in the twilight. This is a great visual to see. Gidley not giving an inch under braking and Sofronas clears a lapped BMW of Weber, and now, Daskalos is still going for it but now Sofronas might have something in the waning seconds! White flag. Jason Daskalos has one lap to go as Sofronas and Gidley scrap for second, clearing Steve Weber.
Weber, a debutant in GT America aboard the #152 Team ACP Tangerine BMW M4 GT4. Is Daskalos off the pace?! No. I think my eyes deceive me. That was a GT4 class Mercedes AMG in similar colors. Sofronas to the outside and Gidley slams the door in his face. Daskalos gaps the pair by two car lengths. Holy smokes! Final lap. Sofronas to the inside of Gidley, but no. Jason Daskalos won the season opener here in 2022 and now, he wins again here at St. Petersburg! Memo Gidley holds off Sofronas for second! CRP Racing celebrates Ross Chouest sends it inside Jason Bell who has a flat tire! Oh my goodness!
Ross Chouest has a new baby girl, Vivian, and now, he comes from third to the lead to win in GT4! Gray Newell second and Jason Bell in third place with a wounded race car! Holy mackerel! That was a wild race!
Overall/SRO3: #27 Jason Daskalos CRP Racing Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4: #50 Ross Chouest Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4
What a race! What a race! We'll see you tomorrow here at St. Petersburg, for the second race of the weekend for GT America. Excited to bring it to you. Good evening, everyone. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye bye.
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