Hello, and good morning, everybody. We are glad you are here for the second and final race of the weekend for the IMSA VP Sports Car Challenge, during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona, at Daytona International Speedway. This is the precursor to qualifying for the Rolex 24 itself, which you can see and hear live on IMSA Radio and IMSA TV or if you have a subscription for Peacock Premium, you can watch and enjoy it, there. We shall have a full rundown of what happened during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 qualifying session for the big race, later this evening. In yesterday's race we saw Steven Aghakhani take the #6 MLT Motorsports Ligier to victory lane overall and in LMP3, while in the GSX (Grand Sport X) class for GT4 production cars, it was Luca Mars aboard the #59 KOHR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 who sprayed the champagne.
Will they each double up today? Or will we have new champions taking the checkered flag? Stay tuned over the next 45 minutes with us and find out. These short races for VP Challenge are incredibly entertaining and it shows. It seems the popularity of this series is growing. IMSA, since their inception, has always had series and classes dedicated to drivers who either use them as a springboard to further their careers, or for amateur drivers who enjoy racing but do it when they can, outside of running businesses and being successful in life. We had a great race yesterday and today is race two at the World Center of Racing. 12 corners, three and a half miles long, is the layout of Daytona International Speedway.
Get off the Le Mans chicane well to get to the trioval and the finish lne. The weather is gorgeous as we look at Lake Lloyd. Steven Agakhani and Luca Mars won the race yesterday and now we have race two to look forward to. This is the largest field we have seen in VP Challenge. We should have an even closer race today. Grid positions today set by their second lap in qualifying or their fastest lap from the race yesterday. This is a great idea to combine the old Prototype Challenge class with the GT4 cars to teach drivers in the ladder, who know multiclass racing or are learning how and it is a sprint format with no pit stops.
Many drivers in both classes want to race in the WeatherTech Championship. LMP3 cars and GT4 cars and of course, GT4 are also raced in Michelin Pilot Challenge which we will see this coming Friday. Seven brands in GSX and all cars are closely matched. Here comes the field. Green flag. Stay in column formation and we have a good start. Steven Agakhani takes the lead but the Michelin tires are still cold. Brian Thienes looks to the inside of Alex Kirby who was stellar in the early segment of the race yesterday, race one. Agakhani leads and now, there's a huge problem as Cody Ware with cold brakes barges into Brian Thienes and Thienes spins!
Yikes! That was a bear. Cold tires, cold brakes, and Brian Thienes goes for a ride on the whirligig but poor old Brian just washed out and spun. Ware though, he was in the way! Ugh! Drama there. Meanwhile, Marco Kasic, no, Cody Ware and Alex Kirby, are both pushing hard. Some drivers made a smart move and will need to regroup and focus forward. Wow. The GSX battle is stakced. Jackson Lee passes Marc Miller, Porsche Cayman vs. Mercedes-AMG GT4. Lee has been an open wheel racer and has done a couple WRL sports car races.
Czabok Simpson Motorsports are a brand new team for 2024. They are learning and massaging on the Porsche to save their stuff for the end. The run off the Le Mans chicane will pay dividends on the banking. Michael Cooper in the Baby Bull Racing #44 Porsche Cayman in second being harried by Gregory Liefooghe in the Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4, car #43. Cody Ware up to second and he has both Alex Kirby and Marco Kacic right on his six. Everyone in LMP3 is racing a Ligier save for the FastMD with Remstar #87 car of Kacic is a Duqueine.
This is the same car that Jagger Jones drove at Road Atlanta last fall, Parnelli Jones' grandson. Incident between #51 and #77 under review by the stewards, Cody Ware and Brian Thienes. Race Director Todd Snyder probably told Cody Ware, "hey, bud, be careful out there and be aware of your fellow racers." The student fessing up to the principal for their mistake. So, in GSX, Jesse Lazare in the McLaren is chasing Patrick Wilmot in the BMW M4 GT4. Split Decision Motorsports vs. Motorsports in Action. The BMW teams have had issues with front splitter damage all weekend. So the front end had to be replaced.
Jackson Lee is holding off Marc Miller, a massively experienced driver who has raced in Teans Am and I believe in the WeatherTech Championship and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He also raced in the Canadian Stock Car Championship, CASCAR, and in Formula Ford and Mazda MX-5 Cup. Jackson Lee is 6"4' and was a standout baseball pitcher in high school but he wants to be racer. This is the fourth place scrap in GSX. A small nudge from Miller letting Lee know, "hey, mate. I'm here." The heavy braking zones are a massive deal.
Miller and his team feel they are lacking top end speed so he is going to hold any draft he can possibly get. Sean Quinlan in the Stephen Cameron Racing BMW is chasing another BMW of Marc Brummond. Stephen Cameron Racing vs. Auto Technic and then Scott Blind in the dayglow highlighter yellow Aston Martin Vantage GT4. The team is called Ruckus Racing. Brady Behrman behind in another Aston Martin and the second Baby Bull Racing Porsche Cayman in the hands of Moisey Uretsky, I think.
Marc Brummond is the top Bronze rated driver and now, Sean Quinlan wants a bite pf the cherry but he can't hold on. Now he will try making the move again through the switchback before the International Horseshoe. Brummond has the door slammed in his face as Brady Behrman in the #82 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin is pushing hard but ran wide. Open door on the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 of Joe Dalton. The door is very light and needs to be closed for safety. That's hard to manage. Be careful of the door, Joe.
Michael Dayton in the Swish Motorsports BMW is also making his bid to move up. That is the #12 car, the Swish Motorsports entry. Almost halfway through this race. Agakhani is eight tenths of a second ahead now of Cody Ware in LMP3. The LMP3 cars are much quicker than the GSX entries. This is multiclass sports car racing just like Michelin Pilot Challenge and the WeatherTech Championship. Untie the traffic knot. Be cautious. Scott Blind, I don't think is aware the LMP3 cars are there. Now, Cody Ware is side by side with Agakhani and Brummond in the BMW is the cork in the bottle. Cody Ware says, "thank you" and makes his move on Agakhani. He got it right this time and didn't clatter into anyone.
Agakhani left a small gap there and Ware popped through. He does have a lot of experience in NASCAR Cup in the Generation 7 car and also driving the entire VP Challenge in IMSA. He does have LMP2 experience including winning in the Asian Le Mans Series. Ware racing for Ave Motorsports under team boss and former driver, Tony Ave. If you have talent and spread it around different championships, sporadically, it is hard to get comfortable. Jackson Lee has made good his escape on Marc Miller and now, Jesse Lazare is closing in.
Jackson Lee gets freight trained there by his competition. The spotters on the roof telling their drivers who is there and where other cars are on the track around the other drivers. Alex Kirby in the LMP3 car passes. 23 minutes to go, so we are halfway home. Don't dwell on your mistakes. Focus forward and keep going. Throwing in the towel is not an option. There's no quitting in motor racing until you feel you've done enough in your career. Steven Agakhani in his maiden race in LMP3, he has learned what traffic can do for and against you. What can I do? He will close down, hit his markes, and now, Ware is stymied behimd Greg Liefooghe in the BMW M4 GT4 GSX car.
Yikes! Agakhani gets loose, applying the throttle too soon. He was almost off onto the paint in the International Horseshoe! Holy smokes! Now, Michael Cooper has been given a bite of the cherry and will he take it? LMP3 cars do have traction control but it is turned down to the minimum or turned off to get the car to go faster. The car needs more power from the Nissan V8 engine in the back of it. It is a 5.6 liter V8, atmospheric, based on a truck motor, a pickup truck motor. Jesse Lazare has cleared Jackson Lee and now Marc Miller is behing hounded by Jesse Lazare and Patrick Wilmot has been going backwards as has Jackson Lee.
Thaze Competition is from southeastern Asia, the team ownership, based in the states in Detroit, Michigan I believe. Oh boy. It is now Liefooghe vs. Cooper. Porsche to the inside of the BMW and Cooper makes the pass. Greg Liefooghe knows the BMW M4 GT4 platform so well. Steve Cameron and Greg Liefooghe work together so well. They are extremely competitive. It is a windy day today, wind on the nose into the Le Mans chicane or the tail nto turn one or the west horseshoe. Daytona International Speedway is always affected by the wind, as far as balance of a race car, whether it is a sports car or a stock car. It doesn't really matter either way.
Luca Mars is leading GSX once again. Copy and paste from yesterday as he is 2.2 seconds ahead of Michael Cooper who continues his scrap with Patrick Wilmot and then Jesse Lazare. Lazre is glued to Wilmot's tail. 15 minutes to go. Cody Ware leads Steven Agakhani. Agakhani wants to do the double and is determined to give Ware a tough run for his money. Jesse Lazare makes his move on Jackson Lee. McLaren vs. Porsche. Patrick Wilmot is eking a gap but not too far and some argy bargy between the BMW's #25 and #12. Brummond vs. Dayton. Some argy bargy, some hip and shoulder there.
Marc Miller has now dropped like a stone. What has happened to him? They have had trouble with the Mercedes-AMG GT4. Eddie Kileen will be racing that car in VP Challenge for the rest of the year but needs to have his racing license settled for the future events in 2024. Thaze Competition has a diverse group of people on the crew from all over the world. Cody Ware continues to have his hands full with Agakhani and Alex Kirby is still loitering around, wondering if he can make a move. Keep pushing. Inside 12 minutes of racing left. Yikes! Now, Wilmot and Lazare are still at it while Jackson Lee pokes his nose in as well, look.
Lee tries a move and now Lazare says, "not now, sunbeam" and takes the spot away. Motorsports in Action McLaren vs. Czabok Simpson Porsche, and now, Agakhani passes Ware in traffic! What can he do with it? Alex Kirby wants to have a chance, too, but he is still in third spot. He has good corner exit, balked by the #5 KMW TMR Porsche Cayman of Angus Rogers and Jim Jonsin in the #888 car and a big spin for Alex Kirby and for the GSX cars of Jim Jonsin and Sean Quinlan! Oy yoy yoy! Lee needs a setup change for corner exit. The McLaren gets back to power quicker than the Porsche does.
Lewis Perocarpi is a very experienced team manager working on this team and has been in IndyCar and with LAP Motorsports and their Mini's in Michelin Pilot Challenge and other touring car championships. Full Course Yellow as Alex Kirby has spun and is stuck in the grass. This should be a snatch the car out of the way, bunch up the field, and go racing for the final laps. Kirby tries passing Ware, gets in too hot, off in the clag, the marbles, the dust, and went over the curb, losing control on corner exit. Put the car in neutral. There is a switch that says, N, and the marshals can engage it and put the car in neutral.
Aghakani must focus forward. Cody Ware will be pushing hard. Safety Car lights still on. Less than five minutes to go. I think we will have a one lap dash. We cannot speed up the safety car as much as we'd like. It is a one lap dash for cash for round two of VP Sports Car Challenge at Daytona. Maybe we will get back to green. I hope so. OK. Safety Car lights off. This will be a late race restart. Let's see what happens. One lap to go. That's it. Watch for Marco Kacic and Miguel Villagomez. Scott Locke is a lap down, the third car in line. Green flag. No passing until the green waves. Watch the flag marshal.
Green! One lap to go. Green, white, checker. Agakhani has the jump. Kacic passing Mirco Schultis in the yellow and blue #70 Ligier. Checkered flag this time. Ware is a demon under braking. He loses ground out of the west horseshoe. Agakhani can double up on race victories here. Great racing behind. Side by side between Kacic and Villagomez. Agakhani is in the clear. Steven Agakhani does the double at Daytona! In GSX, so does Luca Mars! A sweep for the Ford Mustang GT4! Break out the broom! It is a sweep in both classes!
Overall/LMP3: #6 Steven Agakhani MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GSX: #59 Luca Mars KOHR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4
A great race again at Daytona in VP Sports Car Challenge. Next time, a new set of races along with the IndyCar season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be the second weekend in March. We'll see you then for more from VP Challenge. Stay tuned now for the qualifying session for the Rolex 24 and the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Go to IMSA TV or Peacock to check it out and we'll talk all about it later this evening. Enjoy the races everyone, and take care. Bye for now.
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