Welcome back, everyone, to Virginia International Raceway for the second leg of it's twin bill at Virginia International Raceway. When we were with you yesterday, we saw Memo Gidley take the honors in SRO3 and in the GT4 class, Robb Holland, once again, had things his own way. He was able to hold off championship rivals Ross Chouest and Jason Bell. Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish will call the action topside and Amanda Busick reporting from pit lane. We hope for a smoother race today than we got yesterday. George Kurtz has to win if he is going to catch Memo Gidley before the 2023 season concludes.
SRO3 start ahead of the GT4 cars. Anthony Bartone and Adam Adelson have raced both classes at a track like VIR. Adam Adelson seems to be a perfect fit for GT3 cars with extra downforce. We also have a lone GT2 car with C.J. Moses in his Audi R8 GT2. This car is high power, low downforce, and fun to drive. It does not have the same downforce as a GT3 but has the horsepower and the speed. We hope to see more GT2 cars. Multi-class, sprint racing, with single drivers. No tire warmers on this mild Sunday morning here at VIR. It is a great drive around this circuit. Memo Gidley leads Jason Daskalos now by 28 points.
Gidley scored his fifth win of the year yesterday. We have 24 cars starting. Hopefully we see more green flag racing today. Hopefully everyone got up on the right side of the bed this morning. Jason Bell spun on the formation lap and due to this, he is going to be caboose on the field. Ross Chouest, his championship rival is starting second in GT4. This will make things interesting as Bell will have to claw and scrape his way to the front. However, he might have gotten a place back, or not. We'll have to see before the green flag waves. He can regain his spot if he is not passed by the entire field. Paul Kiebler did not pass him.
Meanwhile, Kiebler is starting from pit lane letting the entire field pass when the green flag waves. Jason Bell now must give places back. So, he will be caboose on the grid. His GT4 America co-driver Michael Cooper is his driver coach. The field lines up, two by two. Through The Rollercoaster they come, and into Hog Pen, the final turn and then we should be underway. Green flag! Memo Gidley punches it and the race is on in SRO3! Gidley takes the lead, and he defends down the middle. Jason Daskalos and Anthony Bartone scrapping for second place already.
The GT4 field has started cleanly, and Tony Gaples makes up a spot going to third. Tim Savage too is getting his elbows out as Jason Bell is on the move, too. Robb Holland, yesterday's winner, leads the motor race over Ross Chouest currently. Chouest drawing a bead on the Porsche as Memo Gidley makes good his escape over Anthony Bartone and Jason Daskalos. Mercedes-AMG 1, 2, 3, 4 down Madison Avenue for the first time. Memo Gidley has pushed the bye bye button already. In the meantime, Tim Savage has passed Jason Bell into The Rollercoaster.
Bell is being patient. Do not force the issue and be savvier. That is what Bell is doing but he knows he has to go for it. Alex Vogel has gone off the road in the #043 MRS GT Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. Bell peaks to the inside of Savage, a driver who is new to racing professionally in only his second SRO America start. We can also see Chris Alliegro beginning to make inroads. Alliegro in the sister Rotek Racing Porsche Cayman #098. He is teammates with Robb Holland in a second Porsche for that team. Alliegro the meat in the sandwich in the middle of the pack as Bell is stymied in traffic.
Savage now has Bell right on his six. Savage tries Alliegro on the inside line and there's contact into Oak Tree corner! Yikes! Bell tries following Savage through but gets caught wrong footed way on the outside! He is dropping like a stone. Savage went off in the dirt and Bell got pinched over the curb and was in the wrong gear. Bell now chasing down Nick Shanny in the Carra Callas Racing Toyota Supra. Gidley, Bartone, and Daskalos are the top three and now, Johnny O'Connell, another sports car racing veteran, he has made the pass on Todd Treffert. That is for fourth and fifth while Adam Adelson is trying to get into a rhythm.
Daskalos off and on. O'Connell staying off the gray stuff through Oak Tree. Holland leads GT4 followed by Chouest and Gaples. Savage now fourth but must give a place back after elbowing Chris Alliegro out of the way. Down Madison Avenue they come. Bell scything his way through traffic and Savage is backing up to give up the place as ordered by the stewards. Elias Sabo had a massive crash yesterday and Elias Sabo could not race today. He will be back for the Pirelli GT4 America race today and then at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. It sounds like Sabo will not make the trip to do the support races for IndyCar on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee.
That is the next GT America round and you will hear much more about those races coming up very soon. We shall remind you again, at the end of this one. Fourth through eighth in GT4 having a great scrap. Tony Gaples, Tim Savage, Chris Alliegro, Jason Bell, and Matt Joffe. Nick Shanny is keeping up with this group as well. He is beginning to come into form. He is new to racing and competitive sports at a later stage in life and being coached by Terry Borcheller who is his co-driver in GT4 America as well. Shanny looking to keep it clean. Matt Joffe, too, having a great drive so far.
Rotek Racing have the setup on their two Porsche's. Robb Holland leading in class in GT4 and in SRO3 we will check that soon. Bell passes Savage, a race of the Floridians in a couple Aston Martin's through the kink. Bell chasing Alliegro. Rotek Racing ran Ford Mustang GT4's for years and are now associated with the Porsche Cayman. Bell gets balked through Oak Tree and he is vulnerable to Tim Savage down Madison Avenue. Oh dear! Alliegro off the road and Bell and Savage take advantage. Joffe and Shanny as well are moving in. Momentum matters and poor old Alliegro gets a wee bit squirrely into the corner and off for a spot of grass track racing.
He nudges the tires and is fine. But he was a day and a half late on the brakes there and a few quid short. No grip for late braking and that could have been horrid! He knew that if he did not try slowing down, he was going to barrel over the top of Savage in the blue Aston Martin and had to find an escape plan. Thank heavens he did not T bone another driver turning into the corner, and he skittered to a stop just kissing the tire barrier. I mean, that was a lucky escape there if there ever was one. His radiator will be stuffed with grass.
Paul Kiebler is moving up after starting from pit lane and Alliegro is still buried in the grass which means we could get a safety car. Savage off and on through Oak Tree and Memo Gidley is being reeled in by Anthony Bartone in SRO3. The gap is now 1.6 seconds from first to second and Jason Daskalos. Now we see Johnny O'Connell exiting Oak Tree and putting down the power onto Madison Avenue. O'Connell power slides and saves it! Treffert too is all crossed up. Safety car on track for the stranded car of Chris Alliegro. George Kurtz just before that has made a move on Todd Treffert.
What is strange for Kurtz is that his GT America Mercedes is not performing very well. However, he is a rocket in Fanatec GT World Challenge America, a race we will have for you, later today. This is our first Full Course Yellow of race two. Memo Gidley's 1.6 second lead has been erased and the same goes in GT4 for Holland, Chouest, and Gaples. So Bell and Joffe are going to be coming in a big hurry. O'Connell, we saw him running a tighter line through the corner and poor old Todd Treffert is a sitting duck after backing off the gas when he saw O'Connell running off the road.
Treffert has seat time in vintage race cars but that is not serious competition. It is for fun and to showcase the classic racing cars. Chris Alliegro now gets back on track but is a long way down from the sister car of Robb Holland. Johnny O'Connell has a new lease on his racing life. Great to have a champion of his caliber in this championship. Kurtz did not pass Treffert before the safety car appeared. Two podium finishers are struggling currently with just over half this race remaining. Anthony Bartone will be pushing hard to make up places and he was on the charge before the Full Course Yellow and the safety car scramble.
Memo Gidley knew he had to go for it and the TKO Motorsports team also had a setup on the car even if the grip will and should plateau. Ride the brake against the gas pedal to generate temperature and clean the tires, getting them into a sweet spot. Alliegro has made it to pit lane and he is a lucky luck boy if indeed he made it back to the lane without major damage to the automobile. He has lost a number of laps and will just be riding around for the second half of the motor race today. Chris Alliegro, from Sisters, Oregon, game over. They may have had braking woes with the car. Play it safe.
Gidley, Bartone, Daskalos at the top of the shop followed by O'Connell and Adelson. Halfway home. Safety car lights off. So, we are going to get back to racing here in a wee while. Memo Gidley pulls away from Atnhony Bartone and Jason Daskalos. Mercedes 1-2-3 followed by O'Connell in the Audi. Kurtz has to claw back points. He has passed Treffert and now Adam Adelson is bringing the fight to a four-time World Challenge champion in Johnny O'Connell. C.J. Moses in the GT2 Audi. We might have had a positional change in GT4. No. Robb Holland wants to break out the brroom and sweet. Ross Chouest is second followed by Tony Gaples and Jason Bell.
Bell is right on Gaples' back door. In replay, we can see Tim Savage spinning off the road through NASCAR Bend. Oh dear. He has escaped damage but loses time hand over fist. What a restart lap for Memo Gidley and now Jason Daskalos and Johnny O'Connell have passed by Anthony Bartone and now Adelson on the attack as well. Poor old Bartone went off the road and got clag and dust all over his tires. SKI Autosport with this Audi could indeed be on for a podium place with just over 16 minutes of racing still remaining. George Kurtz, the reigning GT America champion is gaining on Adelson through the slalom.
Holland holds the GT4 lead with Ross Chouest coming in a hurry. Chouest is the 2022 GT America GT4 champion as Gaples and Bell have been battling. Jason Bell, though, has lost two places! He is in sixth spot running behind both Matt Joffe in the Porsche and Nick Shanny in the Toyota Supra. Oh dear. Bell is pushing Nick Shanny out of Hog Pen. Bell has been up, down, up down, like a yo-yo. Bell given a wide berth by Shanny and Bell makes his intentions known and makes the pass. Egad! A late move by Paul Kiebler. Kiebler recovering well in the TR3 Aston Martin. Bell spins off the road (or rather spun off and continued) trying to get inside Gaples and having the door slammed on him.
He was jolly lucky to not crunch right into Tony Gaples' Camaro. Chouest is keeping Holland honest at the top of the shop in GT4 with less than 15 minutes on the board before this race is done and dusted. Chouest has been the model of consistency even without winning races. He had a breakout performance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and for the competition in GT4 it was that death by a thousand paper cuts. Ross Chouest has three wins in his pocket after getting only the two at Indianapolis in the finale all of last year.
Chouest wants by Holland and Ross Chouest knows he might just have the championship lead by the time we end the race this morning. Chouest chasing down Robb Holland. Chouest had to play defense yesterday but can focus forward today. Anthony Bartone has now set the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap of the motor race at 1:47.1 and change. Gidley, Kurtz, Treffert, Adelson, all of them have been extremely quick as Kurtz is reeling in Adelson. Into the last ten minutes of race two here at Virginia International Raceway.
Most of GT World Challenge America had a big break after this event concluded. However, as I said, we are going to bring you the action from the doubleheader at Nashville on the street course in The Music City. The Nashville street course is going to be an interesting event. Adelson is monstering Anthony Bartone. All three of these drivers will be in the Fanatec GT race later, Adelson, Bartone, and Kurtz. Adelson might be challenged by Bartone! Nope. Nope. Discretion is indeed the better part of valor in this case. Adelson wriggles and then keeps the car on the road tipping it into The Rollercoaster. Kurtz is next to take aim at Bartone.
Memo Gidley now cuts a 1:47 dead to up the fastest lap. Daskalos doing all he can to nibble away at the lead held by Memo Gidley in the GT America points. Last year at this time it was George Kurtz at the top of the tree in the points standings. The bar is raised tenfold as far as the competition coming into this season in GT America. Gidley and O'Connell have also had multiple IndyCar starts. Kurtz to the inside of Bartone for fifth place into turn one and he dusts Anthony Bartone who knew he had to give it up as the lap times are tumbling.
Vin Barletta is only a second slower than Memo Gidley. Barletta flying in the #096 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. Working through testing and tweaking, you know if you have a good car in qualifying. Other teams going into qualifying have their own magic sauce. But for now, Gidley is looking to break out the broom and sweep for the fourth time in five weekends. Circuit of the Americas was the only race weekend he will want to forget. He has rebounded amazingly after that big accident at Daytona almost a decade ago. Daskalos is quietly having a solid season save for a conundrum here at VIR yesterday.
Holland and Chouest still duking it out in GT4. The lead has hovered between 4/10ths and 7/10ths of a second. The top three's fastest laps are eight hundredths of a second apart. The gaps are decreasing between Gaples, Chouest, and Holland. Tony Gaples at Blackdog Speed Shop has the experience of team manager Ray Sorenson who worked at Newman Haas Racing in IndyCars with drivers like Michael and Mario Andretti, and Nigel Mansell. Gaples flashing the lights. Robb Holland is not buying that. Gaples is selling the dummy, but it is not working. Robb Holland was a professional cyclist before coming to motorsports. The mentality in cycling is very similar to motor racing.
Chouest hopes that Gidley won't catch the GT4 cars before the race is over. Less than 45 seconds to go. Down to 35. We could see an additional lap. Daskalos runs three and a half seconds behind Gidley while Johnny O'Connell is under all sorts of pressure from Adam Adelson, George Kurtz, and Anthony Bartone. Checkers will be out this time. Memo Gidley out of Hog Pen and he breaks out the broom and sweeps! Jason Daskalos second. O'Connell gets a podium over Adelson, Kurtz, Treffert, Bartone, Barletta, Wilzoch, and Vogel, the top ten places in SRO3.
In GT4, Holland is still hitting his marks. He is looking to sweep the weekend. Ross Chouest is in a great spot with Jason Bell running fourth. Gaples still up on the wheel. Gaples could get another podium. He had one in race two at St. Petersburg back in February. Holland through Hog Pen is going to hold on and win in GT4 in race two for GT America at VIR!
Overall/SRO3: #101 Memo Gidley TKO Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
GT4: #099 Robb Holland Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport
Next up, join us for the two races that happened in the Music City, Nashville, Tennessee, at the Music City Grand Prix on the street circuit. We'll see you there, in due time. For now, stay tuned for more racing action here at VIR on Sunday. Bye for now.
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