Hello, and welcome, everybody, back to the legendary, fabled streets of Long Beach, California. Since 1975, the Long Beach Grand Prix has been one of the greatest races in the United States. SRO America are once again, a part of the race weekend, with their GT America sprint race championship. 40 minutes, a single driver per car, and a blend of exotic GT race cars in GT3 (SRO3, a catch all for many generations of GT3 cars), GT2, and GT4 sports cars, are ready to race both today, and tomorrow. This happens to be the largest field of GT2 cars ever assembled for a GT America doubleheader weekend. We join the SRO America commentary team of Ryan Myrehn, and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth, and Amanda Busick, in the pit lane, for both races this weekend.
From Sonoma Raceway, we have trekked 400 miles to the south with perfect weather along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. It is a Chamber of Commerce weather day today at Long Beach. The first time for GT America back here since 2019 and SRO/World Challenge has been running races here since 2006. Again, we have a melting pot of different race cars. At the very front, Johnny O'Connell is on the pole and James Sofronas at his elbow. Johnny O'Connell raced here at Long Beach for the first time in Formula Atlantic way back in 1986 and James Sofronas has been racing here in World Challenge at Long Beach since the early aughts, the 2000s. Sofronas is from Long Beach, California. He will sleep in his own bed this weekend.
Johnny O'Connell on the pole for SKI Autosport with their brand-new Audi R8 LMS GT3. To win this race, be bold. However, there is a fine line between pushing too hard, and then hitting the wall. A conveyor belt material has been wrapped around the tire barriers and so, that should help lessen impacts as we check in with Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane. We have seven manufacturers here. This is like Monaco for GT America. Monaco of course, being fabled ground in Formula 1. Justin Rothburg is ready to go. He has raced in Ferrari Challenge at Le Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Montreal is a fabulous circuit. It is not necessarily a street course though because it has more curves to it than 90 degree turns. The layout here at Long Beach that is used has really existed since around the year 2000 and has not changed. I do remember some of the layouts from the 1990s when it was predominantly the IndyCars racing here, and they still do of course. Along with the SRO GT America and IMSA races, IndyCar was the headliner on the bill of course. This place does flow more like true road course. There are blind corners and major braking zones with 11 challenging corners.
There is elevation change as well downhill from turn six to turn eight. There are many overtaking opportunities, and the vistas are incredible. This will be fun racing to watch. Here to give the command to start engines, co-founder and chairman of 5.11 Tactical, Francisco Morales will get us underway. The command is given. Drivers, start your engines! GT3 and GT2 will be in the first group followed by GT4. GT2 cars are taking off in Europe and now in North America. There is much momentum, and the class is growing exponentially. You will hear more about GT2 racing in Europe. I am planning, when time permits, to write more about it. So, stay tuned for that.
Towards the end of 2024 and into 2025, we will see more GT2 cars. Todd Coleman in his GT4 Aston Martin is ready after making sure the car was working properly. Elias Sabo in this race, he is fresh off of also racing the recently completed IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship event that you read about on Saturday. We have a field of 22 cars for these races. Watch out for the hairpin, the last corner. Watch out for a stack up like rush hour in Los Angeles. 40 minutes of racing to come. Jason Daskalos coming off of his first victory of 2024 in race one at Sonoma. Everyone wants to win this race. The championship thoughts are just not there.
If you can say you are a Long Beach race winner, that is incredibly special. Johnny O'Connell is currently the championship leader in SRO3 in GT America. In the early days of this race, the Long Beach Grand Prix, in 1975 it was for Formula 5000 open wheel racers with their big Chevrolet V8 motors in the back. We miss those days, although there is an equivalent V8 open wheel series in Australia and New Zealand right now. It transitioned to Formula 1 from 1976-1983. IndyCars came first in 1984 and have been here ever since. Sports cars is a major component of southern California car culture and in these races.
The sun is shining for the first of two races. Troy Brown, CEO of 5.11 Tactical waves the green flag, we are underway! Let's go! Johnny O'Connell gets the jump early and already we have James Sofronas in an identical Audi R8 LMS GT3 looking, probing for position. Justin Rothberg, too, in the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 is right up at the sharp end. Sofronas defending from Jason Daskalos in the #27 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Daskalos clears Rothburg. The GT2 cars are also in the fight as the GT4 cars get a green flag as well.
Isaac Sherman, the newcomer to GT4 competition is taking no prisoners and diving to the outside of Gray Newell. Contact, look, between Elias Sabo and Gray Newell! Robb Holland has passed by Newell and here comes the other Porsche Cayman of Curt Swearingin. Rotek Porsche Cayman 1-2. Mirco Schultis in the Callaway Corvette has lost places. At the top of the shop, through the fountains ection, Justin Rothberg is chasing down Daskalos while Johnny O'Connell leads James Sofronas. I think the Audi R8's are only in SRO GT America as Audi brings their customer racing program to an end.
O'Connell is getting his teeth back into motor racing and is in fighting form. He just turned in the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap of the motor race and we'll have to check the time if it flashes up on the screen. In sixth overall, our GT2 leader, it is Dan Knox. He leads Aaron Farhadi who swept the GT2 class at Sonoma Raceway last time out. Knox at the wheel of the #10 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2. He leads Aaron Farhadi, the Sonoma winner, driving the #127 TPC Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2. Into The Fountain section they come. The battle is now on in GT4 between Elias Sabo in the #8 Flying Lizard Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 and Samantha Tan in the #38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4.
Now, we are used to seeing Samantha Tan in Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS in the GT3 spec BMW. The BMW M4 GT3. She has stepped back to GT4 for the weekend going for a Long Beach victory. ST Racing also have shops here in southern California even though they are a Canadian team. The gorgeous paint scheme on that BMW is inspired by Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night painting. Blimey O'Reilly! The gap at the top of the shop has been compressing and closing hand over fist between O'Connell, Sofronas, and Daskalos! Daskalos staying in touch with the veterans, O'Connell and Sofronas.
Jason Daskalos though has shown his prowess on street circuits, and they seem to be leaving Justin Rothberg in the dust. The lifeblood of what we now know as GT World Challenge by SRO used to be these short sprint races that we see in GT America. GT America brings the tradition back. Trouble in paradise, as we speak, for Mirco Schultis in the #70 Mishumotors Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3. He has dropped like a stone through the GT4 rankings as well, right at the tail end of SRO3 and down farther than that. We'll have to have a Captain Cook in a wee while. Curt Swearingin is warned by the stewards for cutting the course, including Race Director Brian Till. Schultis had a transponder issue and he is farther up the field than we thought.
Curt Swearingin, who has the Damocletian penalty over his head right now, he has moved up in GT4 and may have gone past both Isaac Sherman and Robb Holland. The Heart of Racing has multiple programs between SRO America and IMSA here at Long Beach and in the FIA World Endurance Championship event at Imola, Italy. Heart of Racing, Ganassi Racing, and Penske Motorsports all have huge efforts here and in Europe this weekend. We will have more about World Endurance, hopefully soon.
Rothberg is aware he needs to keep going and place the race car in the right spots. He has Robby Foley coaching him who just finished the IMSA race in an identical BMW M4 GT3. Foley also coached Rothberg in Ferrari Challenge. Back in the day, drivers did not even have radios. Now they do have spotters, and they have the ability to use realistic racing simulators, bringing what you learn on the sim and into the car itself. There is a good battle brewing now for third spot in the GT2 class. This is Brent Holden aboard the #44 GMG Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2 vs. Alan Grossberg in the #102 TPC Racing Lamborghini which is a sister car to Aaron Farhadi I believe. Holden has the final podium place. Both of them raced at Sonoma Raceway and had a coming together in one of the races there.
GMG Racing does a wonderful job with their customer racing programs. Leaders are catching GT4 traffic. Yes indeed. Johnny O'Connell has put a lap on Samantha Tan and will be doing likewise as he goes past Elias Sabo, Gray Newell, and Curt Swearingin. O'Connell leads Sofronas, in the traffic, by over two seconds. O'Connell was a linchpin for Corvette Racing for years. He also won endurance races, 30 years ago, for Clayton Cunningham Racing and the factory Nissan team in IMSA. Daskalos sweeps by Sofronas for P2! Wow! This is spicy motor racing! Extra hot!
O'Connell has a healthy lead currently. We know Jason Daskalos is racing for the whole season but we don't know if Sofronas is. They clear Curt Swearingin, racing through The Fountain, with all the lovely flower beds. They painted the walls orange to give drivers a better reference oj where the edge of the road is. The apex of that turn had a huge curb, but it was removed several years ago and painted a fake curb on the same spot. Well, well. Isaac Sherman's lead over teammate Robb Holland has ballooned to two and a half seconds. This is Isaac Sherman's first ever street race and at first, he was truly terrified of the walls being so close. Eventually, they did disappear.
Sherman began racing doing circle track racing in modifieds and Legends cars. He is used to driving around walls, so that did not spook him. If you are scared of the walls, you are pinching your hands and binding the car up so the handling goes away. Meanwhile, the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap has indeed been displayed as Jason Daskalos setting the time at 1:19.913. It is the fastest lap of race one that sets the grid for race two tomorrow evening. In the meantime, the battle rages in GT4 between Elias Sabo and Samantha Tan. It is a true adjustment between a GT3 and a GT4 car. This is the fifth and sixth place battle.
Right before this event, Elias Sabo was in a GT3 car in IMSA competition. A different car entirely, and a whole different tire. SRO are contracted to use Pirelli tires from Italy. In IMSA, they use the French Michelin tires. Less power, downforce, and mechanical grip in GT4 cars. Yikes! Yikes! Sabo almost turns Newell in the hairpin and the GT4 drivers are swarmed by the SRO3 cars! Sabo and Tan are side by side for position, cleared by the SRO3 car, the #32 of Kyle Washington aboard the GMG Porsche 911 GT3R. That is not one of the new 992 models Washington is driving, but instead a 991.II generation two, 991 model).
Ross Chouest is doing all he can to make a move too, in the #50. That is the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Chouest Povoledo Racing. He is making a move on his old rival. Ross Chouest had many scraps in GT4 in SRO America with Elias Sabo. Newell tries the inside of Swearingin, and they do make contact! We are close to the halfway point of this motor race. Newell taking a peek. Chouest and others are able to clear the GT4 cars including Mirco Schultis who had to go to a fabrication shop to fix parts that were damaged on the Callaway Corvette. Swearingin's car is being recalcitrant and will not respond to steering inputs. Gray Newell is right on his six currently.
Halfway home. Ebb and flow between the manufacturers under acceleration with different gear ratios. The hairpin is an important corner onto the front straightaway which is not straight. It has a curve in it. Blend the power and unwind the steering but not at the same time or you will smoke the tires and spin. Johnny O'Connell in the lead of this motor race, but believe you me, he does not have it all his own way because Jason Daskalos is coming in a big hurry. Daskalos eating 3/10ths of a second out of O'Connell's lead. Daskalos claims yet another CrowdStrike Fastest Lap of the race at 1:19.831, and bringing the margin down but maintaining a probable pole position for race two tomorrow.
O'Connell and Daskalos see each other as the competition for their teams this year. Who will be able to save the tires? We have run half this race and there is not too much tire degradation on the streets of Long Beach. O'Connell answers the bell with his personal best lap of the race. Don't panic. Stay focused and steady. Sofronas and Washington have a strong pace as well. Washington within half a second of O'Connell and Kyle Washington is chasing down Justin Rothberg. Traffic ahead for O'Connell. That is a clean pass for O'Connell on Nick Shanny aboard the #21 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M4 GT4.
Daskalos in this tight single groove section, he is going to have trouble being the cork in the bottle behind the traffic. You cannot drive over the top of another car, and this is racing, not spy movies, so, you do not have the option of hitting a disappear button as you would in an advanced spy car, James Bond style. Mirco Schultis and Ross Chouest are carving their way through the field. Robb Holland is second in class in GT4. Rotek Racing is an initialized team name with Holland and another friend of his. With 15 minutes to go, the third-place battle in GT4 remains hot! Gray Newell has been trapped behind Curt Swearingin for a good while.
Robb Holland has definite pace with Swearingin driving the same race car, the Porsche Cayman. These two though, Swearingin and Newell, they have been pushing each other all race long. Just a love tap there from Newell to Swearingin. Swearingin in his second season in GT America. Newell rolling speed through the middle of the corner. Last year, Gray Newell won three races and finished fourth in points. Newell could indeed step up to GT3 next year, running G3 cars in Europe. Now, Swearingin has the spot but slides wide in an off camber turn and the two of them are very close! Newell has to back out of it. Samantha Tan has passed by Elias Sabo as well, as we have been having a Captain Cook at this particular scrap.
Smantha Tan is closing in, being mentored and coached by Niclas Jonsson and her co-driver in GT3 is Neil Verhagen of course. She is prepared physically and mentally just the same and has support from Jon Miller who runs the team at ST Racing but also is a driver. Newell is closing back up on Swearingin. Newell is off the pace! Oh my! Something could be amiss with the Aston Martin as Tan is catching him hand over fist! Johnny O'Connell is still leading overall and in SRO3 and is going to have a hard time slicing and dicing through this traffic.
Tan runs wide as O'Connell is trying to pass and Daskalos is right on O'Connell's decklid! Daskalos to the inside of Tan and makes the pass and here comes Sofronas! This is a three-car battle for the lead with ten minutes left in the first race of the weekend. It would mean a ton for James Sofronas to win here at Long Beach with the GMG shops in greater Los Angeles. Sofronas pulls alongside Dasskalos but is caught in traffic. Watch out for the GT2 Mercedes because he will have a ton more speed even than a GT3 car. I cannot tell which of the Mercedes GT2 cars that is. It appears to be the #44, the Brent Holden driven GMG Racing Mercedes.
The GT2 cars have less downforce compared to SRO3, a catch all for new and old homologated GT3 cars. Now, Sofronas dashing and darting to the outside, to the inside, and cannot pass Daskalos. O'Connell had to force the issue on Swearingin as well! Less than ten minutes of racing remaining. Be patient and precise through The Fountain. The top three now separated by less than two seconds. Dan Knox leads the GT2 class with Isaac Sherman out in front, all by his lonesome in GT4. O'Connell, Daskalos, Sofronas, the three veterans scrapping with each other. The Audi has good gear ratios for the exits of these corners. The lap times are dropping as Jonny O'Connell has taken fastest lap of the race but Daskalos and Sofronas are pushing as well.
The tires could be degrading quicker as the fuel burns off and the car gets lighter but not with these Pirelli P Zeros. Johnny O'Connell has indeed reset the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap at 1:19.686. GT4 traffic ahead and it is the two leaders. The teammates, Sherman and Holland! O'Connell to the outside and Daskalos follows as they try playing through the GT4 traffic. This will put Sofronas behind and with this pass, Robb Holland's lead gap in GT4 expands as well. Beautifully played by Sherman who does not have the experience in multi-class racing and on street courses. Daskalos right behind O'Connell and going for the pass!
Daskalos with the preferred line takes the lead away from O'Connell in the Audi. O'Connell has the strength out of the hairpin. Turn one braking zone, Daskalos guards it and Johnny O cannot quite make the pass. Two, maybe three laps left. Daskalos looks comfortable and he has the track position. He does not have pole for race two tomorrow. He is hitting his marks, running his lines. Jason Daskalos has been runner-up in the championship in GT America the last two seasons but is going for the 2024 crown and now, he has reset CrowdStrike Fastest Lap once again! 1:19.511! Oh my! Daskalos is pushing, finding all the road, all of the curbs.
The team is racing with heavy hearts as their crew chief has been diagnosed with cancer. Daskalos is feeling it right now. Daskalos increases the margin to one second and now, Sofronas is losing ground to the top two. Just a couple laps left in the first race of the weekend in the Grand Prix of Long Beach presented by 5.11 Tactical. Daskalos holds the advantage but only at 6/10ths of a second. O'Connell closing on Daskalos' Mercedes. We should see the white flag this time by. It waves. One lap remaining as they clear the GT4 class BMW M4 GT4 of Nick Shanny.
Dust flyung everywhere. Daskalos climbing the curbs and into the flower bed! Oh wow! The gap is half a second. Here comes O'Connell! There is traffic ahead, possibly. Can Daskalos hang on for his second win? Knox leads GT2. Sherman leads GT4. Daskalos in the braking zone, O'Connell closing in. Will he have enough time? Will he get there? Just a handful of turns remaining. Into the hairpin and to the finish line. O'Connell tries. Not enough there. Daskalos wins race one! O'Connell and Sofronas complete the SRO3 podium!
In GT4, Robb Holland has closed up on Isaac Sherman, but it won't be enough. 400 miles south of Sonoma in Long Beach, California, Isaac Sherman is three for three! In GT2, welcome back to Lone Star Racing and Dan Knox. Dan Knox and Mercedes Benz win GT2 over Aaron Farhadi in the Lamborghini. Green to checker all the way with no Full Course Yellows! What a fun motor race to watch! Just incredible! This win will be for Daskalos' crew chief Sheldon Miller for CRP Racing.
Overall/SRO3: #27 Jason Daskalos CRP/Daskalos Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3
GT2: #10 Dan Knox Lonestar Racing Mercedes-AMG GT2
GT4: #098 Isaac Sherman Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS ClubsportA
An emotional win for Jason Daskalos and Sheldon Miller. Sheldon has been Jason's crew chief for 18 years. Incredible! God Bless Sheldon Miller. Fight the good fight, mate. Cue the dance music for the results. Jason Daskalos wins the race. The margin is less than 3/10ths of a second. Aaron Farhadi finishes second to Dan Knox in the GT2 class. Isaac Sherman of course, is the GT4 winner in his first street course event. He had no idea how things would work out. But he has been given tips by his teammate and team owner, Robb Holland. Isaac Sherman, batting a thousand so far this year.
Dan Knox has been familiar with driving a GT3 car. He has been familiar with racing on street courses and ten years ago was doing a lot of it. Now he is back on a street course and back in victory lane, too. A.J. Peterson and Lone Star Racing, victorious. Aaron Farhadi kept Dan Knox honest. Farhadi is not sure he can race for the rest of the year. We'll have to wait and see. Brent Holden completing the podium in GT2. Johnny O'Connell said he was not as lucky as he could have been but knows he and his competitors have put on an incredible show. We will be back here at Long Beach tomorrow for another race to finalize the GT America part of the weekend here at Long Beach. For now, good evening, and so long, everybody. Take care.
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