It is time to get set for the second race of the weekend for TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School, here at Virginia International Raceway on this Sunday. The weather this morning is gorgeous in southern Virginia. We are looking for another great motor race today and 40 minutes of action. Maddie Aust scored her first win in TCX yesterday as we join Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the booth and Amanda Busick in the pit lane. We saw plenty of argy bargy between Lucas Catania and Colin Garrett. Spencer Bucknum is back in the race at Ryan Eversley had to get a boost pipe from Los Angeles and met someone to get the part in Charlotte, North Carolina. Shaoyi Che finished on the podium yesterday, and proposed to his girlfriend, who said, "yes" on the podium yesterday! Congratulations to them.
A great day for the Techsport team based here at VIR. A 1-2 finish at Fast Track Racing as well. Joseph Catania got promoted on the podium because of a penalty for his son. But, on Father's Day (this race was on June 18th), some amazing stories. 28 cars lined up and ready to go. All three classes produced wonderful racing yesterday. There were some tough moments and hard racing on Saturday and we shall see what transpires on Sunday. Will Lambros had a great run yesterday for Skip Barber Racing School. He knew he wanted to be a driver starting karting at age six and has been racing for 14 years. He is now 20. So, he has had a long career. He had much help from Skip Barber himself, legendary driver, and the founder and owner of the racing school.
Lambros learned a lot in his transition from karting to cars. Doing the school experiences and the racing can get you places if you want to be a driver. That Skip Barber school started many careers. We are set to go racing again here at VIR. 17 corners over three and a quarter miles. So much at stake in the touring cars. Three starts for the three classes. Let's go! Catania and Garrett into the VP Acceleration Zone and were off! Maddie Aust gets a great jump from the second row and is pressing Colin Garrett right away. Garrett swings wide and we watch the start for the TC class field with Jeff Ricca at the head.
Ricca leading into the first corner and Cristian Perocarpi is making inroads on the Hyundai driver already, aboard the Mini. His teammate Clay Williams slots into third place and the TCA spec Mini is also making a fine start, Canadian P.J. Groenke at the wheel of it. The fight is on for second as Will Lambros is dicing with Shaoyi Che and Spencer Bucknum, too, is poking his nose into this scrum as well. Side by side for second and Lambros hangs on and now, Shaoyi Che in the Techsport Subaru is going for it. Lucas Catania vs. Colin Garrett round two. Round one in yesterday's race ended in tears.
Whoops! Adam Gleason has a quick spin and is back on his way, but he will lose bucketloads of time and risk going a lap down. Gleason finished on the podium yesterday. Colin Garrett is beginning to motor. Get into a rhythm and that is what Lucas Catania wants to do. Maddie Aust in another BMW M2 CS Racing and Dai Yoshihara in the Honda Civic Type R TCX are both closing in on the leader, Catania, also in a BMW. Oy yoy yoy. That was my mistake. The frontrunning Honda right now is the TCX car but it is the #73 L.A. Honda World entry in the hands of American driver William Tally. It is not "The Drift King" as he is known, Dai Yoshihara.
Catania and Garrett duking it out into turn one. Garrett seems to have more speed than Catania and in turn, Maddie Aust can afford to close in a wee bit more. Through NASCAR Bend and Left Hook, and into The Snake, leading to the climbing esses. In the meantime, look, we are now focusing here on second, third and fourth in TCA. We can see Will Lambros scrapping with Shaoyi Che, Devin Anderson, and Spencer Bucknum and Che spins! Anderson goes through the dirt. This is Subaru BRZ vs. Honda Civic. Techsport vs. Skip Barber Racing School vs. LA Honda World Racing. While these blokes are scrapping and getting all scruffy, P.J. Groenke says, "thanks, boys!" and proceeds to push the bye bye button.
Poor old Groenke had to make an unscheduled pit stop yesterday which saw his race go pear shaped. But now he is making amends for that massively. Garrett has moved by Catania in TCX but these boys continue racing nose to tail. This is definitely getting spicy! Garrett has a tad more speed in the straightaway. Catania trying to solve the puzzle, solve the riddle. Maddy Aust is looking strong too and could get into the picture. In fact, she is definitely in the picture. We've been racing now for just five minutes. Be patient. Aust does have the pace and William Tally is doing well. William Tally has experience with a TCR car, but he is making his debut here in SRO as he has been racing in a different American TCR championship as of late.
Tally was quickest on the track last time by and is reeling in the top three. Tally suffered a mechanical issue on the right front of that Honda Civic in race one yesterday. The TCX Honda Civic is only a detuned version of the full fat TCR Honda Civic that William Tally drives in his full-season gig in another major championship here in North America. So, as we said, he is fully used to how the car works, how it performs, how it handles. William Tally is doing a wonderful job and it is a darn shame because Kyle Loh who we have seen at races earlier this season, his sponsorship well dried up. Maybe we will see him racing a TCX car again in the future or on the grid in touring car racing elsewhere.
That is a darn shame to hear. Loh was proving himself to be a great driver. Catania picks up a draft on Garrett but has to duck back in line because he is on the wrong side of the road. The top three extremely evenly matched through The Rollercoaster. A big-time lead battle between Anderson and Bucknum in TCA! These are the top two drivers in the championshop as Maddie Aust tries to pass Garrett and Catania. Catania is in big, big trouble. Aust up to second place. Maddie Aust, a former competitive cheerleader, now a racing driver.
My gosh! William Tally is half a second quicker than the leaders and he has just uncorked the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap at 2:01.543! Dr. William Tally is an orthopedic surgeon by day and on the weekends is a racing driver. Aust clears Garrett in the meantime, and she is the new leader of this race in the TCX category and overall. From third on the grid to the lead in under eight minutes. She is leading last year's vice champion and could get a second win in a row if she keeps her nose clean. She'll have to hammer the laps out and try to open a gap. Catania is moving back in on Garrett trying to copy and paste the same move that Maddie Aust used on Garrett.
Aust doing all she can to protect her lead back through The Rollercoaster with only nine minutes on the board of 40 scheduled. Maddie Aust wants to be a professional driver and only started at age 16. Her dad introduced her to racing. There is a gap between Spencer Bucknum and Devin Anderson while P.J. Groenke leads in TCA and poor old Cristian Perocarpi is down at the back of the TC class and his teammate Clay Williams runs second to Jeff Ricca and Williams is the TC class points leader and there is a flapping sideview mirror on Lambros' car. That Honda is damaged. Oh dear.
Jeff Ricca is flying Plummet Airways down the order and once again he has a mechanical issue! After the sad news this week about Jeff Ricca losing his dad, this compounds those emotions. Spare a thought for Jeff Ricca and his family. When it isn't your weekend in racing or in life, take any positive from it that you can find. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ricca family indeed and an emotional Father's Day. God Bless. Yesterday there was an intercooler pipe problem. Today, we wonder what could be going on under the bonnet and under the undercarriage. Jeff Ricca has been at the tip of the spear for Hyundai in touring car racing for many years now and one of their top drivers.
Hyundai has taken notice of Jeff Ricca. He raced in Korea at the end of 2022 and had a chance to be a part of the Hyundai factory touring car effort in the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring which took place back in May. The Hyundai Elantra has done so well. Clay Williams could see his fourth straight win in the TC class today. Maddie Aust is gaining confidence as she continues to lead over Catania and Garrett. Aust's and Garrett's speed are similar. Catania can't quite get the run. What is the scoop for Cristian Perocarpi? His TC spec Mini has a misfire. William Tally had a broken damper, a broken shock, in race one yesterday.
In the meantime, Catania and Garrett have uncorked their individual fastest laps of the motor race. Garrett is dropping off from Aust and Catania while Dr. William Tally is still in fourth. We hear good news that Jeff Ricca is not out. He is back in the race and his mission now is to make it to the 50% mark to score a handful of points in the championship. He is sixth in class in TC. He has to make it to the halfwaymark in another four minutes and before this race is all said and done as Maddie Aust is consistent with her lap times. Catania and Garrett have run their fastest race laps.
Clay Williams in TC is ahead currently. He is looking for his fourth win on the bounce to extend his lead in the championship chase. He was second in TC America points scoring four victories, ten podiums, five poles, and eight fastest laps. He has three podiums to his credit and no finishes worse than fourth as we are watching P.J. Groenke as well. Groenke runs a wee bit wide through turn 11 and is being monstered by Devin Anderson while Spencer Bucknum is chasing down Will Lambros. Luca Catania is chasing Maddie Aust. The amount of times he is running second and is trying everything to win.
Maddie Aust understeers through Oak Tree so Catania could have momentum. Here he comes. He broke through for his first career win at Circuit of the Americas laying the chrome horn tpo the back of Maddie Aust, trying to force her into a mistake. He gets the draft but it is not working. Aust adapting quicjly to toruing cars. Looking all over the shop he cannot find a way by Aust, managing his aggression. They work past the TCA Hyundai in the hands of Eric Rockwell. Through Left Hook they go. Devin Anderson has cut the gap to P.J. Groenke to mere tenths of a second.
P.J. Groenkse has been knocking on the door of the winners' circle now for six years. His last victory was in the old TCB class here in SRO America in 2017. Approaching the halfway mark. Someone dropped a wheel ahead of the overall leaders. Maddie Aust is experiencing pressure and now, Devin Anderson has passed P.J. Groenke into the Horseshoe. Spencer Bucknum is third but eight seconds in-arrears. Groenke tried to fight back before Anderson walked right through the open door past Groenke. Techsport are based right here on the property at VIR.
So, this is a true home race for the Subaru team. Aust hitting her marks. She is not phased by the pressure whatsoever. She is going toe to toe with race winners like Catania and Garrett. Traffic mangement is key as we see Maddie Aust has set the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap. 2:01 dead. 2:01.064. This scrap is a tight squeeze with everyone within a tenth or less down Madison Avenue, passing a lapped TCA car, Ruben Iglesias at the wheel of it, the Puerto Rican driver. Maddie Aust is eking out a gap over her rivals by half a second over Lucas Catania.
Catania's situation as we move into the second half of the year, series director, Jim Jordan, says that Joseph Catania, Lucas Catania's father, is the most improved driver in the TC America class and on Father's Day for the two of them to drive together in the same race, that is so special. We have a spin and Devin Anderson has spun out of the lead of TCA! Groenke and Bucknum have both passed. Anderson in damage limitation mode. in replay, he loses the rear end all by his lonesome with the nose pinned into Oak Tree with too much speed. So, P.J. Groenke, the affable Canadian, is setting sail. He had a nine second lead over Spencer Bucknum last time around.
He has the lead over Bucknum running in P2. Maddie Aust trying to hang on as Catania is all over her like a cheap suit. Aust won her first career TCX race yesterday and she wants to get a second victory in a row with only 15 minutes to go. Lucas Catania, keeping his powder dry for now but Colin Garrett is coming in a hurry and by a sizable margin is the quickest of these three BMW M2 CS Racing cars. Catania goes off and on down Madison Avenue so Garrett makes his move. Maddie Aust is beginning to pull away through Rollercoaster as they swing into the Hog Pen. Aust is hitting her marks and is ignoring the battle behind but she still has to be alert of what is coming behind.
Aust clears P.J. Groenke and Garrett and Catania get bottled up behind the Mini. They do pass him by and Groenke has to hold off the charge from Spencer Bucknum. Garrett looking feisty through turn ten. Colin Garrett also had a great race in Pirelli GT4 America teaming up with Johann Schwartz. Garrett has a lot of his short track stock car racing pals from South Boston Speedway out watching him road race today. In the meantime, Maddie Aust is gapping her rivals. Lap times in the 2;01 range, 2:01.6 and 2:01.7.
These three cars are all BMW M2 CS Racing machines, but they are run by three different teams. Fast Track, Rooster Hall, and Rigid Speed. Joseph Catania in the meantime has his hands full in a battle for sixth place in TCX with Dai Yoshihara. Yoshihara had incredible pace in the early rounds but has won just one race while scoring several poles and now, Maddie Aust understeers again into Oak Tree. They fly down Madison Avenue again. Colin Garrett putting the pressure on and here comes Lucas Catania as well. Aust is savvy and subtle with her car placement into the braking zone. She is a heads up driver and has controlled her braking distances well.
Into the horseshoe again, turns one and two. Aust leads only by 3/10ths of a second. Colin Garrett, over the curbs in turn five, and now Lucas Catania is on his back door once again. Only eight minutes left on the board. Clay Williams in the Mini leads in the TC class over Celso Neto, the Brazilian driver, and Sally McNulty who is looking for back-to-back podiums. Jeremiah Burton and Cristian Perocarpi complete the top five. P.J. Groenke with a solid lead in the TCA class running 12 seconds ahead and Shaoyi Che has recovered to third, chasing down Spencer Bucknum hand over fist. Devin Anderson will be relieved if Che, his teammate can slice into Bucknum's advantage.
P.J. Groenke though is going to have a popular win with a bunch of sponsorship support. A little money can go a long way. Shaoyi Che's lap times are six tenths quicker than Bucknum. Techsport cheering on Shaoyi Che so Devin Anderson can gain. Che is being kind to Jeff Ricca. He lets him through. This might be a memorable weekend for Shaoyi Che, the Chinese driver. Great to see different manufacturers in TCX. BMW vs. Honda. It has been the domain of BMW for a good while now. Maddie Aust knocking the laps out inside the final five minutes.
In the TCX class, we will see a new Acura and this is the car that Lani Unser raced at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb the weekend after these races happened. Aust, Garrett, Catania, the top three. The draft effect is very subtle but keeps things incredibly interesting. No one has thought yet about the divebomb move from turn four. How badly do you want the win? Catania has the drive and through Hog Pen, Garrett gets crossed up and now Catania making hay while the sun shines. Garrett covers. Catania has the door open. Garrett slams the door in his face through Left Hook.
Garrett losing lap time squabbling with Catania and now Aust can motor ahead. She has caught Eric Rockwell in the Hyindai and now Garrett and Aust split Rockwell and Garrett is glued to Maddie Aust's decklid down Madison Avenue again! Lucas Catania losing ground to the top two. Garrett not close enough to push the envelope. White flag this time by. Maddie Aust vs. Colin Garrett for the victory. Garrett has a head of steam. White flag. One more lap to go. 3.27 miles and 17 corners. Into the horseshoe. Here comes Garrett. Into NASCAR Bend, she is not quick. Garrett on the wrong side of the road. Through The Snake and into the climbing esses.
Maddie Aust has to stay tidy into Oak Tree. Cristian Perocarpi, the slow Mini, ahead. Final time through tht eesses, from South Bend to Oak Tree. Don't overdrive this corner. That was good. Garrett remains glued to Aust's decklid as they scream down Madison Avenue for the final time. Aust gets a tow off Perocarpi. Garrett trying for a run into the Rollercoaster. Aust has him covered. Four turns to go. In her sixth start in a fendered race car. Garrett slides. Aust escapes and she holds it together through Hog Pen and sweeps the weekend at VIR! Colin Garrett second, Lucas Catania third. In TCA, the 2017 TCB champion, P.J. Groenke of Canada will break the streak! Groenke wins it!
Clay Williams makes it two wins in two classes for LAP Motorsports winning in TC! Behind Williams, Spencer Bucknum is second and Devin Anderson will likely round out the podium. Anderson passes Che on the final lap. LAP Motorsports based just outside of Indianapolis in Brownsburg, Indiana. Cue the results scroll and the house music.
Overall/TCX: #09 Maddie Aust Fast Track Racing BMW M2 CS Racing
TC: #60 Clay Williams MINI JCW Team Mini JCW Pro TC
TCA: #62 P.J. Groenke MINI JCW Team Mini Mini JCW (2019)
Wow. What a race. Maddie Aust's helmet says Mad Dawg on it and as I, and Calvin Fish have both pointed out, she is the real deal as a driver. P.J. Groenke is floored with a victory with the Boba Fett Star Wars liveried helmet. P.J. Groenke is at a loss for words. He is so thrilled to be in victory lane again. Four wins on the bounce for Clay Williams. Headed for Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, next time out, and that one is coming up very soon, next weekend in fact. So, we look forward to more great racing in the TC America classes next time.
What a race this has been. Plenty more to come. The GT class cars are coming for their races later this afternoon. So, stay tuned everyone. Plenty more to see. Plenty more to talk about here at Virginia International Raceway. But the next event for the touring cars will be at another legendary venue, Road America, the recently repaved 4-mile ribbon of legendary asphalt in the Kettle Moraine of Wisconsin vacation country. So, join us there, actually this coming weekend. It is going to be great.
That track has monster grip and it is going to be an awesome motor race. Join us at Road America, won't you? Hope you enjoyed the show from VIR. Bye for now.
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