The final race weekend of the inaugural season of IMSA's new VP Racing Fuels Sports Car Challenge, sprint racing for LMP3 and GSX (GT4) cars, is upon us, in the red clay hills of northern Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia, in support of the season-ending Petit Le Mans enduro for the WeatherTech Championship. This is the first of two 45-minute races this weekend. For both races, a total of 25 cars will start. Nine LMP3 cars, and 16 GSX (GT4) cars are in each of the races. On the pole in LMP3, it is, the #87 Remstar Racing Duqueine Duqueine D08 Nissan of Jagger Jones, grandson of the legend, Parnelli Jones, and in GSX it is the #27 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche Cayman in the hands of Sebastian Carazo from Puerto Rico.
Clearing skies, cool temperatures. One major idea to keep in mind before we get started, as this is the finale of the inaugural VP Challenge season, this championship is the one and the only place where in IMSA, you will see LMP3 cars, going forward. They will not participate in the WeatherTech Championship starting in 2024 and the cars will be here in VP Challenge, so, expect growth of the championship for next year by leaps and bounds. I believe we may very well also see an increase in the number of cars in GSX (GT4). That is then, and this is now, as we prepare for a race start.
Brian Till and Jeremy Shaw on IMSA Radio and Peacock/NBC Sports are set to call the action. Jagger Jones is a third-generation driver. His grandpa, Parnelli, and dad, P.J. both legends. We have Jagger Jones, Bijoy Garg, and Dan Goldburg in the top three and the points battle is on between Garg and Goldburg. Green flag! We're racing at Road Atlanta! Nobody maintain column formation! The start might just be waved off! What oh what will Race Control do?
Deary me! This is going to be interesting. The GSX cars are now underway as well with the #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Tim Probert in the lead. Start under review. I think Sebastian Carazo might be the leader. Jones pulled the trigger on the start early and everyone went single file. Jagger Jones did everything he needed to do and Bijoy Garg did not. Jones has lost the lead to Bijoy Garg as we speak and now, more scrapping in GSX, look. Angus Rogers vs. Patrick Wilmot who is now in the new G82 iteration of the BMW M4 GT4.
In replay, well, the pass already happened or so it appears. Jagger Jones still with a loose race car. Oh boy. We are still watching the GSX battle. Garg says that multiple class racing is more educational for a driver than in single seaters. Damp conditions, a wet track this morning and now it is fully dry here at Road Atlanta. Maybe the conditions caught out Jagger Jones as Sebastian Carazo is now leading the motor race in GSX. Carazo can take the title. He is split by one car between himself and championship leader Francis Selldorff in the #95 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 having to deal with the #44 of Moisey Uretsky, the #44 Accelerating Performance Porsche Cayman.
Carrazo is doing everything he needs to do t finish ahead of Selldorff in the #95 BMW. The Porsche and the BMW do have their strengths and weaknesses, and the BMW's look so much bigger than the Porsche's do and we have Gregory Liefooghe next. Now, the entire LMP3 field has been warned about an improper race start! Criminy! I've never seen anything like that before! Dan Goldburg did nothing wrong. Jagger Jones. It's like when you are a child and being blamed for something you didn't do. It wasn't me! I swear! Gregory Liefooghe is doing all he can to set up the car for Michelin Pilot Challenge tomorrow afternoon, and the finale.
Selldorff looking to the inside and Uretsky slams the door in his face while Greg Liefooghe is going for it and so is Patrick Wilmot in the new G82 model BMW M4 GT4. BMW has the manufacturers' cup lead over Porsche in GSX. For Liefooghe he was farther down the grid than he thought he would be going out on scrubbed Michelin wet tires. The track never dried out. But Liefooghe is surely going for it and Bijoy Garg and company are passing slower GSX cars including the #72 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R.
Coming up on slower traffic in the apex of corners like turn five or turn 12, check up and set up for the corner. Jagger Jones in the #87 car for Remstar Racing, he is going for it. He has been in go karts, stock cars, U.S. Formula 2000 and Indy Next. He has Bijoy Garg leading like a blocker. Jones slides through the hole and slices and dices through the GSX traffic. Jones right on Garg's six going into turn ten. We have been racing for just over ten minutes. Jones is inching closer to Garg. There is a massive clump of GSX cars ahead that the LMP3 boys have to make their way through.
Things are heating up immediately. The GSX leaders are working past the traffic and believe you me, Jagger Jones is pressing Bijoy Garg with everything he has. The Ligier vs. the Duqueine. All LMP3 cars powered by 5.6-liter Nissan V8 motors. Jagger Jones has nothing to lose, and Garg has everything to lose. Jones wants to win both races. He started this race from the pole. Full Course Yellow. A car off the road and in the barriers in turn four through the esses, at corner entry. hard to tell which car it is or what kind. Oh boy! It's Moisey Uretsky! Dan Goldburg hip checks Uretsky who spears off the road and into the tire barriers.
Thank God the tire batriers were there to arrest the speed, and... boom! straight into the tires. Big impact! Game over for Moisey Uretsky. That is such a dangerous part of the road! The LMP3 cars are much faster than the GSX cars are. Left, right, left, right, through the esses and the bloke you are passing needs to know you are there and Moisey Uretsky did not realize Dan Goldburg was there. Listen to your spotter. Just because you are driving a faster car, does not give you the right to divebomb a slower automobile. How will Race Control see this as far as penalties?
Moisey Uretsky out of the car. He is winded but climbing out of the car under his own steam. He was probably doing the better part of 100 miles an hour through there. Once the car is offline and hits the wet grass and the red Georgia clay, it's gone. Goldburg was getting too feisty and making too bold a move. Incident under review between Goldburg and Uretsky, by the stewards. In the championship picture. Dan Goldburg leads the points. Actually I believe he is second and could be in jeopardy of a drive through penalty.
Garg should not take risks. Now, Francis Seldorff is right on top of Sebastian Carazzo and Selldorff has a 230-point advantage. Carazzo has nothing to lose. We're already coming up to the halfway mark in the race. There is no wave by, and everyone will restart in the order they are in now. Penalties are never announced before the green flag. We'll have to wait and find out. We will have the class split before going back to green between the LMP3's and the GSX's. The LMP3 cars are far quicker than the GSX machines are. Tbere's a slight difference between a pass around and a wave by situation. Quite the opening stanza of this first race of the weekend here at Road Atlanta.
Glad to have you with us on this Thursday afternoon as you may be napping, or snacking, or having lunch, or perhaps finishing work. Moisey Uretsky's car is totally destroyed. That car will not be racing tomorrow. Uretsky is racing a different but identical Porsche Cayman for Michelin Pilot Challenge tomorrow and might not race in the second VP Challenge race tomorrow. Assuming he is feeling OK he will drive the other car alongside Michael Cooper tomorrow in Michelin Pilot Challenge for their finale. Extensive barrier repairs still underway, but lights out on the BMW safety car, or safety SUV.
We'll have 18 and a half or 19 minutes left on the board. Fastest lap will be important because that will determine the grid for race two tomorrow morning, either by best race lap or by second lap during qualifying. Green flag. We're back to green? Nope. Nope. Full Course Yellow again! What on earth is going on? The field survives, but there's still debris on the road, and we have not had nay kind of a class split yet. Race stewards, are you there? Are you asleep at the switch? Ah. We have a safety truck and officials checking for debris. No debris? The debris is gone but the marshal is scuffing his feet on the track surface to try and find fluid on the road.
There is a container of oil dry on the back of the truck. Now, if oil dry is applied, that will lengthen this yellow and so we are eating away clock time for racing. The marshals are on a search for fluid. Hey, we've got a problem. Did a driver notice? Did a corner worker see or smell something? This was a last minute call and very dodgy. There is oil dry being put down and then swept up. Race Director Todd Snyder is looking at all of this trying to answer questions.
The sooner we clean up the mess, the sooner we can go back to green as we are now 2/3rds of the way through the race. Safety first. The jet dryer is blowing the oil dry away/. We are still concerned about fluid, and a car still out there, leaking. Some Halloween decorations are around Road Atlanta even though Halloween is not for a while yet. Hopefully we can get back to green flag racing. The safety car lights are still on. Six laps of running behind the safety car, the safety SUV. Fans on the hill watching the races. Petit Le Mans weekend always well attended. There are bubble machines and Halloween decorations everywhere.
"Tiny Bubbles"? No. No singing! Safety car lights out. Drivers weaving, building heat and pressure back into their Michelin tires. Jagger Jones looking for the jump on Bijoy Garg. Green flag. Just over 11 minutes to go. One more race for the season tomorrow. LMP3 and GSX cars mixed into one candy dish. Will Dan Goldburg get a penalty? Not yet. Jagger Jones is moving up as Sebastian Carrazzo is in a position where he must finish ahead of Francis Selldorff to stay in the championship fight. Diving down to the turn ten braking zone.
A car is off the road, stopped at the exit of turn seven. This Alex Kirby in the #7 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan. The field is so strung out, once the last car goes by, can the marshals rescue him? I don't think so. Is there something broken under the car? Is a driveshaft broken? It can't be. nTime is running out. Jagger Jones is being told, "pal, if you are going to get it done, do it now." Stop plus ten second penalty for Dan Goldburg for contact, and he is going to serve this drive through penalty now. Actually, it is a ten second stop and hold. He will be well behind the rest of the field.
For Bijoy Garg, all he cares about is winning another race afte going purple, fastest of all, in sector two as the marshals are covering Alex Kirby's car with a local yellow to be dragged out of the way. Good call by the marshals to avoid a Full Course Yellow. Bijoy Garg is quicker than Jagger Jones. Garg is pulling away. Sebastian Carazo is doing the same and eking out a gap on Francis Selldorff. Patrick Wilmot is going to go for it. He is in this championship and wants to go for it. If he can apss Greg Liefooghe, Wilmot could be an ice cream headache for Carazo.
A mistake from the #82 car, the Aston Martin in the hands of Brady Behrman. Behrman in the van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Can Vincent Barletta catch Angus Rogers? Barletta can still win the GSX Bronze Cup. Angus Rogers looking for his first win of the year as Jagger Jones resets fast lap at 1:17.184. Less than four minutes of racing on the board. Traffic working the way of Bijoy Garg, currently. Garg will catch traffic at the apex of turn 12. Garg defends from Jones! Traffic works for you and against you.
Jagger Jones is hungry for victory. But he is being wise as there is still more traffic ahead in GSX. Garg defending the lead. Garg was balked and now Jones is sticking to Garg and now, Jones is pushed by Garg and slams into the #82 Aston Martin! Full Course Yellow. Brady Behrman has a destroyed race car! His Aston Martin goes from being a great race car to a pile of junk in mere seconds! Behrman cannot believe what has just hit him! You idiot! What did you do to me?! Garg will be penalized for sure.
Behrman was clobbered into oblivion! He is fine but believe me he will be angry. That's 150 miles an hour before he gets punted off the road. What will the marshals decide? Race will end under yellow according to the stewards. Bijoy Garg could get moved to the back of the LMP3 field depending on this penalty. That was an egregious move. Checkered flag is out. Bijoy Garg is your winner followed by Jagger Jones and Courtney Crone and Sebastian Carazo has indeed won GSX and is closer to a championship, finishing in front of Francis Selldorff. 30 points go into Carazzo's pocket before the finale tomorrow. BMW has a lock on the manufacturers' cup.
But the driver's championship is still on. For Carazo, it is his first win of 2023. A perfect performance, from pole to victory for Sebastian Carazo, the Puerto Rican driver.
Overall/LMP3: #3 Bijoy Garg Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GSX: #27 Sebastian Carazo Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS
Race one in the bag at Road Atlanta. Join us tomorrow for race two and the thrilling conclusion to the inaugural season of IMSA VP Sports Car Challenge in 2023. Good night, from Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia. Take care, everybody.
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