Hello, again, everybody. We are ready for the second of today's two races for the IMSA VP Sports Car Challenge at the Albert Whitted Airport circuit, the street course in St. Petersburg, Florida. The party is downtown in St. Petersburg, and not necessarily on the beach. This is round four of the 2024 season. 1.8 miles and 14 corners on the circuit. In race one, Jagger Jones, son of P.J. Jones and grandson of Parnelli Jones won LMP3. Jesse Lazare and McLaren took the GSX victory. We have another 45 minutes of racing coming up. I wonder if everyone will let it loose here. This morning was nuts and we will have at least a couple cars that will not start race two as I predicted, in LMP3 for Alex Kirby in the #7 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier and the #51 car of Cody Ware, also in LMP3, the Rick Ware Racing with Ave Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan. Neither of them will start.
We should see a car back on the grid that had electrical woes during race one this morning, the #88 car, the Split Decision Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 in the hands of Roswell Georgia's Patrick Wilmot. This morning, everyone had to be saying, "hey, I have another race to run this afternoon! I've got to go!" You cannot afford to put a wheel wrong with two races on the same day and if you are in the season long championship, you cannot tear the car up. Two of the drivers, Steven Aghakhani and Luca Mars, in LMP3 and GSX, swept both races at the beginning of the year at Daytona International Speedway.
It is a warm, pleasant day here at St. Petersburg with a stiff, southwest breeze. The track conditions are great, too, as this track has been smoothed out. Jagger Jones could sweep the weekend this weekend, and unfortunately, he was not able to take part in the opening races we mentioned that were at Daytona. Only one pace lap. The field needs to pack up and get ready for a start. Here we go. A late pulloff into the lane by the safety car. Stay in line until after the start/finish line. Green flag. Stay in line, please!. Some contact between Aghakhani and Jonathan Woolridge.
Woolridge just did what we said you cannot do. He chopped across the front of a competitor before the control line. I wonder what the IMSA stewards will have to say about that. Aghakhani has a lot of smoke as that left front tire is rubbing on the bodywork. Hopefully he does not have a blowout. The start is under review looking at the cars that were out of line. Stay in column formation. Woolridge did not do that. Aghakhani needs to pit now. He will not go too much farther. He does the wise thing. They do not have regular pit stops in this series like in Kichelin Pilot Challenge or in the WeatherTech Championship.
MLT Motorsports have won the championship in the precursor to VP Challenge which was Prototype Challenge. If there is a Full Course Yellow, Aghakhani can recover. A great start in GSX for Jackson Lee. Woolridge, in replay, he pulled way over and Aghakhani tagged the back of the Woolridge car as we look at the replay. Well, well, well. He has made a pig's breakfast of the race starts in both races today. Tisk, tisk, Jonathan. You need to be more careful, sunbeam. He will no doubt be issued a penalty by the stewards. The start of the motor race is a false start with a ten second penalty added to total race time or he has four laps to make a stop in the penalty box.
He could recover. A Full Course Yellow could help. Taking the penalty at the end of the race would cost him more time. How much of a gambler do you want to be? They are going to take the ten second penalty. It is rolling the dice. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Jackson Lee had a great start, and I don't know how he got around Jesse Lazare at the start in GSX, but he is building a lead. Practice and qualifying were very close between Jackson Lee and Jesse Lazare. Jackson Lee is getting his head down and going for it right from the start, but big trouble once again, look, for poor old Vincent Barletta who has piled the BMW M4 GT4 #96 for Turner Motorsports, again, in those new colors, into the barriers.
Barletta has crunched the wall and he has three wheels on his wagon. Game over. There is no way he can make it back. I think he just has three wheels. Too much speed into the turn, and... kaboom! Right into the walls. Full Course Yellow is out. That impact was massive, so the jersey barriers will need to be repaired. This will bring everyone back together and allow Jesse Lazare to do everything to make a move on Jackson Lee. They will have some more time, but they cannot service a penalty under the Full Course Yellow. That will only happen under green. It is always so easy to make the decisions when I am at the computer telling the story of the race.
I am not qualified to make decisions for teams that are out there in the actual race. So, take what I say with a generous pinch of salt, please. Jackson Lee is driving the #82 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin in place of Brady Behrman who originally thought business commitments would keep him away from the cockpit this weekend. However, he is here at the track this weekend as well. Lee did not sit in the Aston Martin until Free Practice 1 yesterday. Although he has driven Formula 2000 cars here, open wheel cars that are feeder championships to the NTT IndyCar Series who are running the main race here this weekend, tomorrow.
If Jackson Lee could win this race in GSX, that would be a feather in his hat. There is a boatload of talent in the GSX class. You have Jackson Lee, Jesse Lazare, Luca Mars, Patrick Wilmot, Greg Liefooghe, and more. Liefooghe has to be one of the best BMW drivers in North America. Jackson Lee stepping out of open wheel cars and into GT cars. He is doing well, a tall, lanky kid, who was a great high school baseball and basketball player. Jackson Lee will also be driving in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, next weekend in their support race for the 12 Hours of Sebring, in the Czabok Simpson Racing Porsche Cayman GT4.
Green flag! We are back to racing. Jagger Jones leads the field ahead of Jonathan Woolridge, the only Duqueine chassis in LMP3. Meanwhile, Jesse Lazare is coming right after Jackson Lee going for the GSX class lead as the slam on the brakes into turn four! Nothing doing for Lazare. Sector one has the speed for the Aston Martin. Heads up driving by both of them. Good, clean racing with respect and no contact. Very well done, lads. Greg Liefooghe in the Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 is moving up. He has had braking troubles with the antilock braking system on that car all weekend. However, between race one this morning and race two this afternoon, maybe the problem has been cured.
He makes the move on Luca Mars in the Ford Mustang GT4. Liefooghe is one of the most experienced, talented drivers in the field and believe me, he will be giving Jackson Lee and Jesse Lazare a hard time. Now we move back up front looking at the scrap in LMP3. Brian Thienes doing all he knows t reel in Miguel Villagomez. This is the major LMP3 scrap. Thienes wants to get back on the podium. Before having issues in race one, Villagomez was remarkably quick. Poor Brian Thienes has not had the best luck in the opening races of the season.
He is now running fourth and leading the Bronze driver's category. Miguel Villagomez is rated as a Bronze this weekend as well. Fifth place driver Ryan Phinny is closing the gap. Phinny has not been a full-time racing driver for a while. His family has raced for a long time, and he is a banker from central Tennessee. Jesse Lazare is putting Jackson Lee under pressure in GSX. It is great to see all the different GT4 spec cars racing each other in the GSX class. Aston Martin, McLaren, BMW, BMW, Ford Mustang, the sole Ford Mustang in the field.
Jesse Lazare is being given all he can handle. It is not a Formula 1 race, with Aston Martin and McLaren, but it is just as interesting to watch. You have two drivers who don't know each other all that well. Greg Liefooghe seems to be backing up. I wonder if the gremlins in the ABS are returning on that BMW M4 GT4. There are shadows and some sunshine around. A good idea is to look after the tires as we are closing in on the halfway mark. Some trouble into that first turn on the course with the #45 Ruckus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 of Scott Blind out of Fenton, Missouri.
He outbraked himself into turn one. Sometimes you get on the paint and the ABS does not know what to do and the brake pedal gets hard, and you can't turn. Scott Blind has flown Plummet Airways down to 14th place. He is another Bronze category driver. So, Jackson Lee and Jesse Lazare are still racing each other in GSX. Jackson Lee is clawing his way ahead, but Lee has to use a lot more road to find the lap time compared to Jesse Lazare in that lighter, nimbler McLaren Artura. The Michelin tires in the heat of the day are getting slimy. The Aston Martin is around 100 kilograms heavier than the McLaren is.
The McLaren could be easier on it's tires as poor Mirco Schultis in the Mishumotors Ligier is slowing down and I don't think he will be able to drive it to a corner station with 24 minutes to go. This is the turn ten area behind the grandstand. He does a downshift into the braking zone, and there's some contact from another LMP3 car! I am not sure who tagged him. Schultis is now back up and running. Maybe he had to do a Control, Alt, Delete. Steven Aghakhani clipped Schultis and is losing more time after his puncture on lap one. We are almost halfway home in race two.
Briaj Thienes lunges into turn one locking up the brakes and thankfully saves it! At Daytona, for Steven Aghakhani, everything went fabulously! But here at St. Petersburg, things are turning pear shaped for the MLT Motorsports driver. Fortunes change rapidly in motor racing, as Jesse Lazare is right on Jackson Lee's six and Lee does not have to defend over Jesse Lazare. Lazare s glued to his tail. Fascinating to watch the body language of those two cars. Lee has to move the car around to get the optimum lap time or is moving around and Lazare is not sliding the McLaren around.
Jagger Jones, the overall leader, is once again, working his way through traffic as the #43 BMW M4 GT4 is pulling off the road. Sean Quinlan is heading for the pit lane with troubles as we are over the halfway mark. Lee and Lazare scrapping for the GSX lead. This is a fascinating scrap to watch. Lazare making mental notes about where and when he will make his move. Jackson Lee is driving within himself as Sean Quinlan continues to struggle. The McLaren is glued to his rear bumper and he tries pulling out to pass. Lee is telling Lazare that he is not close enough and he won't sacrifice the line. Lazare really wants it.
Lee is not giving in to the pressure. The McLaren gets the power down of the north end of the circuit. There's battles all the way up and down the field and in the Bronze part of GSX is the car that won this morning, Michael Dayton in the Swish Motorsports BMW M4 GT4. Mirco Schultis is off the road, again. Schultis has had trouble with the handling on that Mishumotors Ligier all weekend. He came into the turn a bit too hot right in front of Michael Dayton and spun out. Secod in the Gold Cup section of GSX is Jason Bell aboard the #2 Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Schultis is still attempting a three-point turn but is having trouble. In the runoff area there is another GSX car in trouble. That is the #37 car, the Thaze Competition Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the hands of Eddie Killeen from Buffalo, New York. Hard to tell where he is stranded out on course. In this replay, Kileen never turns in, leaving his braking way, way too late. He has overshot the corner and wisely takes the escape road before finding exactly where he should be on the circuit. That will cost him quite a bit of time. Jagger Jones has things his own way, leading Jonathan Woolridge by almost five seconds. 4.8 seconds is the margin.
Jagger Jones is running very well with the only Duqueine LMP3 car in the field. He has once again built up a comfortable lead to work traffic. Jesse Lazare is continuing to chase down Jackson Lee. 15 minutes to go and Lazare is trying to force Jackson Lee into a mistake. We have gone Full Course Yellow because of Eddie Kileen's stopped car. Jonathan Woolridge is having a better race this afternoon than he did this morning. The AMR safety team is moving Eddie Kileen's Mercedes-AMG GT4 out of the way. The #37 car has an interesting license plate on it that says Just Say No on it. I don't know what it is about.
Kileen is now back underway but we have gone Full Course Yellow for something that we did not need to go Full Course Yellow for. A great dark green and gold paint scheme on that Mercedes. Eddie Kileen was not able to race the car at Daytona in the opening rounds of the championship. Jagger Jones leads as we have the GSX cars in front of the class leader to do the pass around back to the leader to remove the buffer between Jagger Jones and Jonathan Woolridge. Jackson Lee and Jesse Lazare are the only GSX cars that are still on the lead lap.
Jackson Lee is now at the back of the pack. Many of these drivers have not been involved in multi class racing before. That is hard to do on a street course. I wonder if the team is on the radio with Jagger Jones telling him to not defend too vigorously. Jonathan Woolridge has a ten second penalty in his future. Jagger Jones is a racer, like his dad, like his grandfather. He has driven a wide range of cars from stock cars to open wheel cars to sports cars and he is still only 21 years old. His birthday is in July. He took to sports car racing like a duck to water at Road Atlanta last fall.
Race Control are now reviewing the order of the cars given the pass around. I wonder if we will go to green yet. Parnelli, Page, P.J. and now Jagger Jones, they can drive anything. He is smart. He knows what to do. Green flag. A bad start for Jackson Lee who is passed by both Jesse Lazare and Greg Liefooghe in GSX! Oh dear! Michael Dayton in the #12 Swish Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 has also dropped down the order. You cannot pass until the green flag waves and Lazare made a pass before Jackson Lee plummeted and he was supposed to keep in line with the LMP3 cars.
The LMP3 cars are quicker down the straightaways while in the corners the GSX cars have a slight edge. Maybe, just maybe, Jackson Lee made a mistake. I have no idea what Race Control will do and how they will call that. Just over six minutes remaining. Jones is pulling a second gap out on Jonathan Woolridge in LMP3. 1:13.9 best lap for Jones in the lead. Fastest lap was on lap 13, 1:11.5. Jackson Lee right behind Jesse Lazare who wriggles his way through the corner! Will this give Jackson Lee an opportunity?
Jackson Lee is letting Lazare know he is playing for keeps, but they are driving superbly. Some of these cars, as I said, will be racing next weekend at Sebring in Michelin Pilot Challenge. The McLaren has the speed at the far end of the racetrack. Patrick Wilmot and Luca Mars in a fabulous battle of their own, the Ford Mustang GT4 and the BMW M4 GT4. The Mustang was very strong at Daytona and had Balance of Performance added to it. Daytona is a totally different venue to anywhere else that VP Challenge will race at. Horses for courses, different cars are suited to different circuits, in different ways.
In fourth spot, Patrick Wilmot in the Split Decision Motorsports, Genie Garage Doors BMW M4 GT4, crowd funded for this race. Mark Brummond, one of the competing drivers in this race, chipped in some cash to help the Split Decision team be able to race here today at St. Petersburg. Brummond, from Charlotte, North Carolina, at the wheel of the #25 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4. Jagger Jones looks like he will break out the broom and sweep the weekend. Jonathan Woolridge has plummeted down to fifth place. I wonder why.
Farther down the order is championship leader in LMP3, Steven Aghakhani. He is behind Brian Thienes and Ryan Finney is behind him. That is the third and fourth place battle. Brian Thienes has the spot and Ryan Finney wants it. Miguel Villagomez will finish in second place. We will have two laps to go here in St. Petersburg before Jagger Jones does the double and might win another race here at St. Petersburg this weekend.
Steven Aghakhani will not be racing anyone, but fortunately, he will retain the championship lead, as Miguel Villagomez sets fast lap and then, Jagger Jones lowers fastest lap and now, Marc Brummond is in the tire barriers! Oh dear! We were just talking abot him. White flag. Jagger Jones has one more lap before he does the double here passing by more GSX traffic late in the motor race. One lap left. Focus forward and finish the race. What a great weekend, though, for Jagger Jones. FastMD with Remstar have done a fabulous job today.
Jagger Jones wins! He does the double in St. Petersburg! Two poles! Two race wins! He will be celebrating in style tonight! Jesse Lazare too, does the double! He is victorious in GSX once again!
Overall/LMP3: #87 Jagger Jones FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 Nissan
GSX: #21 Jesse Lazare Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4
Good for Miguel Villagomez winning the Bronze trophy and Brian Thienes holds off Ryan Finney for the final podium spot. So, we have seen a masterclass from Jagger Jones just like his dad and his grandfather. The third round of the championship, with another doubleheader, will be a support race for a big, four-hour event for the Michelin Pilot Challenge, coming up at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, the second weekend in June. So, we'll see you for that race in about three months. Between now and then, there will be plenty more sports car racing action to talk about.
Thanks for joining us everybody, here at St. Petersburg. We'll see you next time.
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