The fabled twists and turns of Virginia International Raceway are rolling out the welcome mat for the cars and the stars of Pirelli GT4 America. This is the first of two races about to get underway on their formation laps. Zac Anderson on pole alongside Kevin Boehm and we will go through the field and get to everyone throughout the race today, the first of two events this weekend. We have a field of 36 GT4 cars ready to race. It is a deep field indeed as we join Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish topside in the broadcast booth, and Amanda Busick covering things in the pit lane. Two points separate two of the classes and in Am it is only a six-point buffer. This 2023 season will be half over when we end today’s race in another hour.
Here we go as the field forms up and we are green! Anderson gets a wonderful start and shoots into the lead! Jesse Webb wants a place but may lose one. Off the horseshoe for the first time and Charlie Postins goes by. A big moment for Zac Anderson and Kevin Boehm is applying the blowtorch right from the off. Tire pressures not in the spot they need to be yet. Anderson and Boehm into The Snake for the first time, and they each drop wheels off into the dirt! Whoa! We did see one of the Porsche’s go high, wide, and handsome around NASCAR Bend. Anderson and Boehm both drop wheels and here comes James Walker Jr. He is third.
This is the home turf for Bimmerworld located a couple hours down the road in Blacksburg, Virginia. Their team ran extremely well just before this event in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America race for GT3 cars with Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen. We can see the cars single file. Fast Track Racing, their fellow BMW team was able to help Random Vandals Racing. Some contact there, look, between Johann Schwartz and Tyler Maxson! Be careful and coexist around this track. Give each other some space. Toyota Supra GT4 vs. BMW M4 GT4, two cars that do share some components.
Three classes, Silver, Pro-Am, and Am. You can have Silvers in Pro-Am, in Silver, two silver drivers, and in Bronze, two Am drivers. Matt Travis is starting this race for Nolasport in their #47 Porsche Cayman. Travis and co-driver Jason Hart have a two-point advantage over their closest competition, Chouest Povoledo Racing and the #50 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the hands of Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo. Ross Chouest is languishing in 16th spot so far. Nolasport could be in the pound seats, however, a lot can change in the next 56 minutes. The BMW’s showing their muscle, flexing it, early doors.
Schwartz passes Tyler Maxson in the Toyota Supra for position. Schwartz’s co-driver Colin Garrett won in TC America earlier today. If he’d had his way he would have run three races today with a touring car, a GT4 car and a pavement late model stock car at his home track, South Boston Speedway just down the road. They are running tonight and the schedule did not permit the short track racing schedule. Peyton Sellers is one of his friends and he was a hometown hero in the SRX race at South Boston and was the car owner for Colin Garrett in stock cars. Driving in Pirelli GT4 America is the road racing equivalent of a Saturday night short track race.
Zac Anderson leads the motor race and let’s hear what his co-driver John Capestro Dubets (JCD) has to say. They are points leaders right now. This race might just come down to tire wear and track position and a huge slice of luck. Zac Anderson said that the Auto Technic team does a lot with a little and they do not have a dedicated race engineer on their staff. Random Vandals has an engineer and a driver in Kevin Boehm who is an engineer as well. It is a big stretch between Boehm’s touring car racing and now moving to GT4. Jesse Webb, too, is driving the #34 car, the Mercedes from Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports in their Mercedes-AMG GT4. Webb has his hands full trying to pass the other Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4 in the hands of Englishman Charlie Postins. They have a six-point cushion in Am over the STR38 BMW #438 of Robert Mau and Chris Allen. Conquest Racing has not been able to extract the straight-line speed out of the Mercedes this season thus far.
Stephens and Webb are chasing the BMW’s but Balance of Performance with these cars is so awkward and frustrating to deal with. Fastest lap so far to Kevin Boehm at 1:55.1. Stay on these tires for the full hour of the race as driver changes are the only part of the pit stops for these GT4 races. Temperatures are coming down from where they were earlier in the day and the track has been soaking up the sun rays all day with clear conditions. Ten minutes on the board already as Kevin Boehm is trying to solve Zac Anderson’s puzzle.
The minimum pit stop time will be 70 seconds. Kevin Boehm has a lot of miles doing testing and development for Honda and cars such as the NSX which is badged an Acura here in the states and a Honda elsewhere in the world, in Japan or in Europe. Kevin Boehm’s day job is an engineer and test driver for Honda, a club racer, and a winner here at VIR years ago, of the SCCA Runoffs. Boehm is racing a rear-wheel-drive car for the first time and comes from a front wheel drive touring car background. James Walker Jr. is the Pro-Am leader ahead of Charlie Postins and Jesse Webb. BMW, BMW, Mercedes. Satakal Khalsa in the other Auto Technic BMW.
Khalsa is seventh overall and second in Pro-Am. He was a quick amateur driver in the west coast club scene doing endurance races. Khalsa in the #253 entry which is another Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4. Khalsa sharing with Rob Walker. Khalsa began finding pace, finding his feet, last time out at COTA. Anderson opened his hands through turn one to get more power and more traction. So, it is Anderson and Boehm 1-2. #92 is 48 points down on Anderson and they have to beat the #51 today to leapfrog their rivals.
They dance through the climbing esses. TV just does not do it justice when you look at how fast and on the edge these cars are, as Harry Gottsacker is picking up spots starting down the order as the leaders go again through Hog Pen. We are nearly a quarter of the way through this race already. By the way, Harry Gottsacker is at the wheel of the #88 STR38 BMW M4 GT4 G82 model he is sharing with Chandler Hull of course. Anderson has been running quicker than Kevin Boehm and is half a second ahead right now. Everyone is executing and hitting their marks.
This is a massive field of GT4 cars. Jesse Webb continuing to harry Charlie Postins in the Am class and there isn’t much in it. Postins is the reigning Am class champion. He said he was done. Not a chance. He is a racer and decided to come back and go for it. When you think you’re out, they drag you back in. Through Oak Tree corner they go as Chouest is scrapping with Gottsacker down Madison Avenue and now we see that Harry Gottsacker has passed the Kiwi Rianna O’Meara-Hunt. O’Meara-Hunt sharing the #26 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with American racer Hannah Grisham in an all-female team.
Anderson goes quicker than Boehm and he uncorked the lap times trying to create a buffer for the pit stop window in nine minutes or so. We have been racing now for 16 minutes. James Walker Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie have had a growing relationship as co-drivers at Bimmerworld. Bringing a new driver into the team can step up the game of the lead driver. Getting new voices in your ear can help. James Clay must appreciate giving him an opportunity. Zac Anderson, in the meantime, has set the CrowdStrike fastest lap of the motor race thus far at 1:54.806.
He ran a 1:54.836 last time by and Kevin Boehm is responding to Anderson, answering the bell. Kenton Koch looking on. Kenton Koch just came off a big win in race one of Fanatec GT World Challenge America for TR3 Racing and now Paul Sparta is being monstered by Kevin Conway in a good battle. Random Vandals Racing in the next few years should have a GT3 entry and it very well could be a BMW M4 GT3. They have run amateur racing in WRL. Paul Sparta, Random Vandals team boss, is good pals with the now former IndyCar racer, Conor Daly.
Daly drove with the team at Random Vandals in the Indianapolis 8 Hours a handful of years ago when the GT4 cars were still allowed to compete in the Indianapolis 8 Hours at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Paul Sparta and company invested in their team and are doing the right things moving to a new shop recently as well. Tyler Maxson aboard the Copeland Motorsports Toyota Supra is in eighth place. Now, Jesse Webb has pounced and passes Charlie Postins, closing on the top two in Silver, Anderson and Boehm as the pit window shall open in five minutes or so.
Car #18 has a quick spin coming down Madison Avenue, from 27th spot in the running order. That is the RS1 Porsche Cayman being shared by Roland and Austin Krainz. He cut to the inside of the apex at Oak Tree and rotated. Postins leads Khalsa by seven seconds and is not fighting Jesse Webb too hard. Stay with the big picture and build a buffer for your teammate if there is a snafu in the pit stop. Johann Schwartz is coming up in a hurry, at his home track with his kids, J.J. and Alden, watching. The top non-German car is the Tyler Maxson driven Toyota Supra for Copeland Motorsports and behind them, the Nolasport Porsche Cayman driven by for Pirelli GT4 America champion, Matt Travis.
Travis will hand off to Jason Hart, a rock-solid driver much like Tyler McQuarrie. Through the compression and then up the hill to the braking zone for turn 11. Keep weight on the nose as you turn in. If you pick up the nose of the car like a powerboat coming out of the water. Eric Zitza spins the Zotz Racing Porsche Cayman and continues. They have been around for a couple of decades, and he dropped a wheel in the rut. That is the one that caught Bill Auberlen out in the Fanatec GT race we just saw.
The rut deepens as the wheels get dropped. Nick Shanny is coming in a urry trying to catch Zitza in the back of the field, with Terry Borcheller is co-driver and his driving coach. Nick Shanny has never played any sports, not even darts, and is a tech guy but wants to go racing. He is getting wins and results. Patrick Gallagher was a pal who was assisting Nick Shanny at the time. We have seen Gallagher in production sports car racing before. Meanwhile, Satakal Khalsa is being harried by both Tyler Maxson and Matt Travis. Three cars in three different classes for seventh, eighth, and ninth.
JCD is ready to go, and the pit window opens now. Too close to call but we should see the dominos falling in a very wee while. Conquest did not take it but here comes Johan Schwartz and Colin Garrett will take over the #44 BMW M4 GT4 for Rooster Hall Racing. Colin Garrett won the TC America event that happened earlier this morning as everyone dives for the pit lane now. Heart of Racing, Nolasport with Nelson Calle, Flying Lizard Aston Martin for Elias Sabo turning it over to Andy Lee, his driving coach. No tire changes, no refueling, only checking and bleeding tire pressure along with a smooth and efficient driver change. 70 seconds is the minimum delta in the lane. The top two have been separated all race by less than a second and here come Zac Andrrson and Kevin Boehm. It is a traffic jam in the lane.
Kenton Koch, the race winner from Fanatec GT World Challenge earlier today. The bonnet is up on the leading car! Uh oh. That’s not good. They do have time to work with. The brakes and the master cylinder need fluid with a long brake pedal. Thankfully they were able to make it work. No change. He could have had a long pedal. Charlie Postins, Satakal Khalsa, and Harry Gottsacker stayed out and so did Tommy Johnson and Richard Edge for both RENNTech and ACI Motorsports.
Harry Gottsacker is now up to third after running caboose on the field early doors. He is in clear air cutting good lap times currently. Gottsacker wants to leapfrog places and now, Postins is in the lane at Bimmerworld handing over to team boss James Clay and Michai Stephens is off the road stuffing the Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports Mercedes into the barriers! He ran wide in turn 11 and was completely on the wrong trajectory as STR38 and Harry Gottsacker hit the lane and Michai Stephens continues. STR38 and Auto Technic have just had their bacon saved.
Clay is back out on track in the Am leading BMW. A battle for position as Tyler Gonzalez has taken over from Tyler Maxson scrapping with Colin Garrett who has taken over from Johann Schwartz. The Hanley Motorsports Toyota’s had pole positions but they were taken away for contact and affected them for both races and Parker Thompson along with co-driver Dan Hanley have been promising and they have already won some races. We can see the battle raging between Garrett and Gonzalez and Garrett runs wide!
Yikes! That was so close! Maybe it is hard for Garrett to adjust between the TCX platform BMW and the GT4 car. John Capestro-Dubets leads the motor race but they could have a braking problem and he is being chased by Kenton Koch now feeling out the GT4 BMW compared to the Mercede-AMG GT3 he won with in GT World Challenge America in their first race we covered. Pro-Am leader Tyler McQuarrie is third in the overall followed by James Clay who is fourth and the Am class leader with four seconds in hand over Rob Walker.
Harry Gottsacker and Chandler Hull (Hull now at the wheel of the #438 BMW) have made a wonderful recovery to ninth place in the overall. A roll of the dice on strategy has paid off in spades. Great battle for the lead and Kenton Koch is glued to JCD! He leaves the gap and Koch goes to the inside on JCD. Koch wants two wins in a row today. Random Vandals Racing is a great little team trying to fight back from the big hit they took at COTA in Austin, Texas. Has anyone won Fanatec GT3 and Pirelli GT4 America in the same day? I don’t think so. Not even an old hand like Bill Auberlen, I don’t think so in SRO. We’ll have to get the stats gurus working on it.
Hey guys, can you deliver me a coffee, please, and then check the statistics? Sure thing, Skip, we’re on it. Thanks, blokes, and ladies, I really appreciate it. JCD and Kenton Koch are 27 seconds up on the next Silver rated car in the field and Tyler McQuarrie is ten seconds in-arrears. Koch sells the dummy and tries to cross over but JCD is not buying it. Koch knows he cannot let the #51 win this thing because they are the championship leaders and the #92 team is currently 48 points down.
He is turning it on and the trouble for JCD is that running a different line puts you on a different part of the racetrack and it will be very dirty. We had qualifying and lots of dirt on the road from the other races we’ve seen today. As David Hobbs would say, the clag is at it’s peak currently. JCD is going on the counterattack and finding pace hand over fist. Can he run his ideal line? Can he maintain or increase the gap with 22 minutes on the board? By the checkered flag we could see more traffic ahead. BMW are really in the pound seats in race one here at VIR today for the GT4 cars.
Chris Allen, third in the Am class, is right there hounding Chandler Hull for ninth place. Allen and Robert Mau have had a win and a couple podiums as Walker nearly spins but keeps it on the island. He is being monstered by Colin Garrett currently. Walker won’t fight an out of class car. Tyler Gonzalez will be chasing down Jason Hart but that is in a separate class and now we have the scrum truly underway as Koch is glued right to Capestro-Dubets’ six! Capestro-Dubets looking weak with Koch working him over big style.
Two of the leading lights in Pirelli GT4 America competition. Koch has driven an Aston Martin for the past two years and in his first season aboard a BMW. Koch tries Dubets to the outside and that was late. No dice. Koch can cut the corner sharper with a tighter radius. Koch is setting up a move between turns 11 and 12. He has to solve the riddle and make the pass for a 14-point swing between finishing behind and in front. He has a head of steam out of Hog Pen and can’t pass yet. Koch looking to the isndie and the outside, tapping the bumper to JCD and has to slot back in line.
That was just a love tap. Koch tries the inside and is on the curb! Oh boy! That’s not good because the berm is there. We saw Auberlen go off the road in GT3 an hour ago of course. Tyler McQuarrie leads Pro-Am and James Clay leads Am, third and fourth overall, eight and 11 seconds behind. JCD leading the motor race despite raising the bonnet during the pit stop. #51 could have more straightaway speed. The gap is extending and the #51 might have a tad more oomph, more speed on the straightaways. Who has a sharpened sword to fight with? Who has a blunted edge?
Koch pulls to the flank and Dubets answers the puzzle. Into the final quarter of this motor race. Who has a weapon? Who has a blunted sword? Koch probing the outer reaches of the defense and can’t crack it. The car is wriggling around all over the shop. Dubets guards the inside and Koch pulls to the flank on the outside, answering the puzzle for Dubets. How long is driving under duress? JCD wants the laps to sift away and goes deep. The front end went numb on him. Koch gives him the bumper through the Rollercoaster!
Out of Hog Pen, Dubets guards the inside and they are pushing each other. Dubets cannot concend and will not. Koch carries it to the outside, not his normal line. JCD slams the door in his face. Koch tries again, and nothing doing. This is sensational! This is quality motor racing! Koch in the meantime resets the Crowdstrike Fastest Lap to a 1:54.713. No major changes in the rest of the field as these two chaps are having an out-and-out wrestling match. How much does he have left in his arsenal? The two pugilists hammer and tongs.
JCD tucks the front end but now here comes Koch sending it to the inside. Watch the curb and he makes the pass through Left Hook! Holy cow! JCD is not going quietly into the good night. He is a fighter and will keep pushing. It was a disastrous weekend at COTA in Austin, Texas, for Random Vandals. This is massive in the points championship table, halfway home in the championship after this race concludes this evening. Tyler McQuarrie third leading in Pro-Am for Bimmerworld who are based here in Virginia with the sister car of James Clay, team owner, in fourth spot. Ten minutes of racing remaining.
Jason Hart for Nolasport just uncorked the fastrest lap of the race for that car at 1:55.9 reeling in James Clay for overall position. To the front of the field, we go back and now Kenton Koch is still fighting. The team at Random Vandals taking a good look. This race is not over by any stretch. Random Vandals are really stepping the game up. Paul Sparta, the team boss, is also looking on as the team boss. A big day for CrowdStrike as Colin Braun and George Kurtz won Pro-Am in GT World Challenge America. JCD is still pushing. In clear sailing, the aero will be more effective giving the car more grip.
Less downforce for Koch in this GT4 BMW compared to the GT3 Mercedes. JCD is a tad quicker. Just a subtle amount. The advantage swings back in the other direction. JCD is flowing through the track while Kenton Koch is carving the corners tighter. A strong race for Jason Hart and Matt Travis at Nolasport, second in Pro-Am. It is horses for courses and the BMW boys are strong here at VIR. So Nolasport are maximizing their results.
Jason Hart and Matt Travis have racked up more wins in GT4 in the last five years than anyone else. Under five minutes to go. This has been a stonking battle between Random Vandals and AutoTechnic. Keep digging Kenton, stay on your game as JCD will surprise you. We have not yet seen JCD in attack mode and he has some understeer through turn five. Through the climbing esses and into South Bend and then up again into Oak Tree, and down the 4,000 foot drag strip that is Madison Avenue with a slight curve and some up and down. This is a real dyno run. Tip it into The Rollercoaster. Hit your marks, hit your gates.
JCD is clean out of Hog Pen and down the front straightaway. Koch on the defensive and JCD tries a late lunge. This is as close as he’s been. Al Carter runs third in Am and could be on the podium. Traffic is up the road, one of the Techsport Nissan Z GT4’s. This is a car continuing development. This is a trial balloon they’ve launched with Tyler Stone and Brian Heitkotter I believe. Capestro-Dubets uses the chrome horn, but Koch absorbs that punch. Clean racing and great respect between these two. White flag this time by. One lap to go. Is there a surprise in store on the last lap?
JCD goes back to the inside. Watch the late move to turn four. JCD not close enough. Koch has JCD right on his six as JCD had a great run through The Snake. Through the climbing esses for the final time. Koch slides the rear of the #92 cresting the hill at South Bend and back to Oak Tree. Koch is great on turn ten exit. JCD puts the power down. Can he make a move? We have a waving yellow. They will clear a stranded car. Here is JCD and he cannot send it. Koch slams the door in his face looking for a win through Rollercoaster for the final time.
Hog Pen remaining and now, Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm, and Random Vandals win race one at VIR y 2/10ths of a second! Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker Jr. win Pro-Am finishing third overall. Third and fourth for Bimmerworld and Charlie Postins and James Clay double up for Bimmerworld winning Am again. Solid run for Matt Travis and Jason Hart in the Porsche for Nolasport. Juan Pablo Martinez just off the podium in Am. Al Carter and Random Vandals take third in Am.
Overall/Silver: #92 Boehm/Koch Random Vandals Racing BMW G82 M4 GT4
Pro-Am: #82 McQuarrie/Walker Jr. Bimmerworld BMW G82 M4 GT4
Am: #36 Postins/Clay Bimmerworld BMW G82 M4 GT4
Maxson and Gonzalez had a great race and so did STR38 finishing sixth overall and third in Silver. BMW sweeps all three classes in Pirelli GT4 America race one here at VIR. What a great race today and we will be back for more tomorrow. What a day for Kenton Koch winning two races in one day! Farewell for today and we’ll be back tomorrow for race two. Have a good evening, everyone. We’ll see you tomorrow. Bye bye.
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