Good morning, everyone. Glad to have you with us on this Saturday morning for race two of SRO GT America from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Yesterday's race into the evening was action packed and this morning's second race, moved up from originally being scheduled Sunday morning before the IndyCar opener, should be just the same. We are very close to blastoff time at St. Pete for the second race. If yesterday evening's event was any indication, this one should be a thriller! All I have to say is, boys, stay away from the barriers this time. We don't want to see a crash, bang, wallop, like yesterday's race was early doors. Preliminary indications from yesterday's shemozzle are that Jeff Burton is not taking part in this race while Scott Smithson will be back on the grid.
We join our pals in commentary, Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish, with Amanda Busick reporting from pit lane. 20 GT3 and GT4 cars will take part in the race today. Jason Daskalos and Ross Chouest won the races yesterday. Will they repeat? Will we have different winners? We shall see. Had a great time yesterday and today the track will be warmer in the full sunshine. James Sofronas is on pole with a pack of Mercedes AMG GT3's behind him, ready to pounce. IndyCar fans are very interested in these GT cars. James Sofronas wants this race to stay green. George Kurtz says he needs luck but wants to be in the fight.
Jason Daskalos had trouble yesterday with the primary car, Victoria, and the spare car, Victoria's Secret. Well, well, well. Recall in the winner interview yesterday, Jason Daskalos paid tribute to his crew and to his mom and dad. Daskalos is third. The cars are rolling off on the grid as we will be on the warmup lap. Lots of fast Aston Martin's in GT4. Jeff Burton, game over. He will not race today after the damage from yesterday's shunt. Jason Bell is the quickest GT4 driver and he will have stiff competition we will talk about as the race goes on including yesterday's winner Ross Chouest. 20 cars on the grid. GT3 and GT4. Safety car lights off. Safety car driver Mike Stillwagon will bring it in.
Green flag! Away we go! Sofronas has the lead but Memo Gidley sweeps past! Wow! Gidley knew Sofronas was going to be a tad slow. So, Memo Gidley in the lead and now, Andy Wilzoch... ker-runch! Right into the wall. Safety car scramble. Safety car scramble. Jeepers creepers! That is calamity corner. Cold tires on a warm, 80-degree day. Big damage to the #460 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. He was all by his lonesome. Andy Wilzoch ran part time in 2021 and will not be happy with this race. Game over. Work for the team to do before round two at Sonoma Raceway in California.
It is a long season. Keep stuff clean. Andy Wilzoch gets out of the car under his own steam. Thank goodness. Turn three has been a trouble place for the sports cars and the IndyCar drivers alike. IndyCars race their opener here at St. Petersburg tomorrow if you are inclined to check it out. Please do. A record crowd for this race last year and the same is true in 2023. In replay, we look again at the start. Sofronas went in but Gidley smelled blood and he pounced. Everyone wriggling around for traction and Andy Wilzoch just lost the tail of the Porsche. The GT4 cars just could not accelerate too much. Gidley leads Daskalos followed by Anthony Bartone and Andy Pilgrim.
James Sofronas' transponder was initially on the blink but now it is working. Jason Bell leading Todd Coleman, Moisey Uretsky, Ross Chouest, Gray Newell, and Tony Gaples. So glad to see Memo Gidley back after his prototype wreck at Daytona in 2014 at the Rolex 24. TKO Motorsports is the team with assistance from Flying Lizard and team managers Sam White and Darren Law. Memo Gidley raced the season finale in the old Pirelli World Challenge in a Porsche. Pirelli World Challenge is the previous name of SRO America. We have half a dozen Mercedes AMG GT3's on the grid, and it ticks all the boxes.
We see these Mercedes GT3 cars in several championships all over the world. Memo Gidley was having handling woes yesterday. He went full speed for an extra lap yesterday after the checkered flag fell. He was so charged up. Everyone knows the competition level is stepping up like crazy. Top drivers like George Kurtz will have to be on the lookout. We look back at GT4 as Jason Bell leads from pole over Todd Coleman. An orderly GT4 start it appears. In street course racing, you have to have communication with the spotter to be aware of direction changes. Jason Bell is fired up after his lackluster result. He and Todd Coleman are evenly matched. Coleman changing over from the Toyota Supra to the Aston Martin for 2023. He raced Ferrari Challenge before.
He will race with Billy Johnson in Pirelli GT4 America later in the year. Coleman wants redemption and retribution. The team were here at St. Pete until 2AM fixing the car. Ross Chouest after winning yesterday, his first as a dad, he is thrilled. He clipped a mirror on one side of the car, on the right front. He did not know if he was going to finish but took the bull by the horns. He has won three races, winning the title in GT4 last year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. These points margins are so tight. Jason Bell is going to focus on GT America this year.
Points are critical right from the start. George Kurtz is buried again in ninth place. He will have to get moving. He has not been able to make progress as we will have half the race left after going back to green. Gidley leading Sofronas and Daskalos. Bartone and Pilgrim complete the top five. Mirco Schultis, Scott Smithson, Alex Vogel, George Kurtz, and Jason Bell, the top ten. How aggressive will George Kurtz have to be in the final half? The Callaway Corvette GT3 was sent to Germany to be refreshed and got it back just before this season began. Mirco Schultis has the Mother's Polish sponsorship but preferred the yellow and blue livery he had in years past on the car.
OK. Time for the restart. Watch Gidley and Sofronas. Green flag! Gidley and Sofronas and now, here comes Daskalos in third spot. Daskalos has a Captain Cook. Vogel and Kurtz languishing and Moisey Uretsky and Ross Chouest make contact and now, Chouest is out! Chouest clatters into the wall! Safety Car deployed, again! Criminy! Game over for a number of GT4 cars. Bell and Coleman looked to be ahead, but Coleman got turned in corner five, the tightest turn here at St. Petersburg. Aye yaye yaye yaye yaye. Two into one doesn't go and Chouest spins Coleman around.
No one was home on the left front. Memo Gidley continues in the lead. We are just going to scrub time off the clock. This will be a lengthy cleanup. Sofronas had to defend from Daskalos. James Sofronas knew he was vulnerable, and Gidley did as well, finding the weakness of his rival. Everyone else being more circumspect and taking a conservative approach. Gray Newell up to second in GT4 behind Jason Bell. Newell is getting more seat time running the 24 Hours of Dubai in January branded with Heart of Racing and SPS Automotive Performance in GT World Challenge Europe. Heart of Racing have their fingers in many pies. SRO, IMSA, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a reserve entry.
I believe at Le Mans they will be racing an Aston Martin. Ferrari has the new 296 GT3 ready to go and we will see it later in SRO competition both in America and Europe. Andy Pilgrim is really helping Anthony Bartone to get in the game. Pilgrim has known the Bartone family for many years and they all are tied in with RealTime Racing with team boss Peter Cunningham and team manager Nathan Bonneau. So, Ross Chouest came to the lane to fix the mirror. Team manager Mike Johnson told Todd Coleman to stay in it, but he is understandably miffed about it. Ross Chouest, too, was concerned about his tire which was OK. He will want to focus on the next race in California at Sonoma Raceway as time is of the essence in this motor race.
The competition level is going to be big. We have another street course race in Nashville, Tennessee, later in the year. This specific course at St. Petersburg has been run on this circuit since 2005. The first event was held in 1985 and '86 with Formula Atlantic and Trans Am too I believe. The old track was very different, it was reversed between the front straight and the pit lane. It is a great setting and the city has developed in 40 years. There was a circuit from 1985-1990, in 1996 and 1997 it ran by Tropicana Field. Came back in 2003, then they came with the Indy Racing League in 2005. Tony Kanaan, Bryan Herta, Dario Franchitti, I think that was the podium on that day. The event has grown exponentially.
It reminds me of the short-lived race that ran between 1996 and 1998 in Minneapolis with SCCA Trans Am, World Challenge, and the United States Road Racing Championship. The SRO Paddock Club is the most coveted vantage point of the race. We are getting set for the final charge to the checkers. Go! Sofronas keeping up with Gidley and Daskalos remains third. Kurtz moves by Vogel. Once the green flag is out you can race immediately. Further down the pack, Schutlis and Smithson, and Alex Vogel spins the Porsche. Moisey Uretsky passes Gray Newell. Anthony Bartone is right on the mark in GT3 for the first time being followed by teammate Andy Pilgrim.
Sofronas monstering Gidley and he sends it but Gidley slams the door in his face. Daskalos tries it too and can't get there. Gidley can back Sofronas into Daskalos into turn ten. This is the same trio we saw scrapping for the lead yesterday. James Sofronas has started 300+ World Challenge races. He wants by Gidley. To the inside on the dirty line, he has to give it up. Sofronas could not get to the inside of Gidley. Wowzers. Gidley using all his experience. Two veteran drivers. But Memo Gidley does not have enough time in a GT car. James Sofronas has been racing these cars since the mid 1990s. In GT4, Jason Bell wants another win. Moisey Uretsky might start showing his cards.
He is chasing Jason Bell. Aston Martin vs. Aston Martin. Bell leads by a second and then, there is a third Aston Martin in the shot with Gray Newell. Newell wants it. Moisey Uretsky comes to GT racing from Mazda MX-5 Cup. Sofronas has the confidence under braking. Warmer conditions today than yesterday evening of course. Gidley hanging on with Sofronas right on his six. Daskalos, yesterday's winner, is third. We have two laps to go or so. Oh dear! Moisey Uretsky has crunched the tires! We were just singing his praises. Dang it. Commentator's curse strikes again!
Sofronas has a positive edge in the front end of the Audi. Gidley styumied by the lapped Porsche. That is Alex Vogel. Gidley feeling the pressure from Sofronas. He has the lead. Who is going to get the win? One lap left. White flag. One lap to go. Daskalos is steaming back into the fight. Gidley runs wide! Yikes! Nearly into the fence! He guards the inside over Sofronas. Mano e mano with three or four corners to go. Gidley protect the inside and has the power. Gidley is the winner! Memo Gidley wins race two at St. Petersburg!
In GT4 it is the hometown hero Jason Bell who has no pressure and is going to win the race! No worries and he will win in class over Gray Newell. Bell wins GT4! Repeat for him at St. Pete, at his home track! Trouble for Todd Coleman! Oh man. He has crunched the barrier in turn nine towards Bayshore Drive. Ugh! A star-crossed weekend for Todd Coleman. Sheesh! Scott Smithson earns the EBosst Hard Charger award.
Overall/SRO3: #101 Memo Gidley TKO Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4: #2 Jason Bell Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4
The next event for GT America, they will join with the rest of the SRO America championships, with GT World Challenge America, TC America, and Pirelli GT4 America along with the Toyota 86 Cup, at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. 1:14.018 the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap award winner. Wow. This was a good one! We'll see you next time at Sonoma. Congratulations to Memo Gidley. He is so happy! Celebrate, mate. He says the cold tires are like being a deer on a linoleum floor. That's a good one! That could be me with a couple of gin and tonics, or another alcholic beverage, and new shoes!
Ah. Let's not go there! Well, all joking aside, we are going to be ready for Sonoma Raceway in the California wine country at the end of March/beginning of April. Jason Bell winning GT4 says that Flying Lizard gave him a good car and got lucky to finish yesterday, starting on pole today, finding a tough race. He says he'd rather race than ride around under yellow. Flying Lizard will be ready to party this afternoon! Have a good time, boys.
We'll see you at Sonoma. So long, for now, everybody. Take care. Bye bye.
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