It is time now for the second and final TC America touring car race of the weekend here at Sebring International Raceway. Will we see repeat winners, or will new names and faces break through? Chris Walsh won TCX yesterday, while Jeff Ricca was victorious in the TC class and TCA honors went to P.J. Groenke. Alan Grossberg who we just saw race the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo in GT2 in the GT America event, will now switch to a totally different car and he will be racing a Mini Cooper JCW in TC America, car #63 as a third car on that team alongside both Cristian Perocarpi and P.J. Groenke. The tin tops are back to race on the fabled Sebring concrete for the second and final time this weekend. TC America powered by AWS is ready for the second leg of it's doubleheader.
Sebring is both challenging and historic. The TC America cars are rolling off the grid as we join Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth, with Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane. Great for the touring cars, for the performance, that the ambient and track temperatures this morning are 15 degrees cooler than yesterday. Lucas Catania must catch up to Chris Walsh to try and stop his charge in TCX. Lucas Catania has to be getting tired of finishing second, while his dad, Joseph Catania is also going to be a contender. Watch for Celso Neto in the Acura Integra too. Jeff Ricca is on the TC class pole.
P.J. Groenke has won every TC class race. Alex Garcia did not race yesterday and did not set a qualifying time. It is doubtful he will start the race this morning. There's great space here at Sebring for the touring cars to sprint side by side as we have 40 minutes on the clock. No worries about tires or pit stops. Go for it. Have at it, ladies and gentlemen. Alright. We are positioned for a start. Three classes of cars. Green flag, and away we go! Chris Walsh has a late start but grabs the lead as Lucas and Joseph Catania go side by side and here comes Celso Neto on Joseph Catania into Kristensen Corner! Wow!
The Carrus Callas Racing BMW is running well. That is Chris Walsh. Celso Neto has other ideas, and he is pushing hard with the new Acura Integra. It is a front wheel drive car compared to the BMW's being rear wheel drive. Celso Neto was driving on the ragged edge like a slot car yesterday. Catania in the middle of the road making Neto work for it. Two different approaches through Sunset Bend. Chris Walsh leads but the battle is on in earnest for second place. Don't jink from side to side or the stewards will notice. You may be in for a penalty if you don't settle down.
Joseph Catania is getting into the picture, looking for a second career podium. Lucas Catania guarding jealously on the inside. Driving defensively, you compromise your lap time as a driver. In the TC class, Cristian Perocarpi was applying the heat to Jeff Ricca. Neto trying Lucas Catania again 'round the outside. Neto though, he has the cornering advantage. This is the run to Bishop Bend. The Acura's qualified near the BMW's times. The Acura has an advantage in the cooler morning weather on this Sunday morning at Sebring.
Cooper Broll, Aaron Kaplan, and Christopher Defreitas are in the final TCX places. In the TC class it is Jeff Ricca vs. Ruben Iglesias Jr. Cristian Perocarpi in the Mini followed by Joey Jordan in the Mazda 3 and then comes Sally McNulty in another Hyundai and Karl Thomson in another Mini. Christopher DeFreitas' Racer's Edge Acura Integra is in the pit lane with mechanical woes. Now then, Joey Jordan is reeling in the Hyundai of Ruben Iglesias Jr. in TC. The Mazda is a whole new car but with the same powerplant. Jordan in the #71 FTG Racing Mazda 3. Racer's Edge team boss Jon Mirachi says testing is what they are doing with the new Acura Integra, moving over from the Honda Civic.
The braking on the new Acura is different and they were having shifting issues just now with the car stuck in fourth gear, but now, it is fine. The HPD Driver Academy was originally just for GT3 but has now expanded to the touring car ranks. Only nine minutes on the baord, out of 40. Celso Neto has uncorked fastest lap of the race thus far. Now, Alex Garcia is in this race. He has driven from the back of the grid to the top of the shop now. Garcia also races with Skip Barber Racing School in Toyota GR Cup, a very recent college graduate. He wants to go four for four. He leads TCA over P.J. Groenke, Maddy Lemke, and Alan Grossberg.
Oh dear. Celso Neto has dropped back and is being harried by Cooper Broll after running wide into turn five. Neto fended off the challenge from Cooper Broll. Celso Neto flings the Acura into third spot past Joseph Catania. A beautifully judged move! That was good! Neto has the CrowdStrike Fastest Lap at 2:19.568. The gap to Lucas Catania has ballooned to four seconds. Walsh's lead over Catania is now seven seconds even. Cooper Broll is indeed getting more comfortable with his Skip Barber Racing School Acura Integra as well. The Acura Integra Type S. Christopher DeFreitas though, continues to struggle as he is stuck in gear.
Meanwhile, P.J. Groenke continues battling with Alex Garcia, the Miami, Florida, native, vs. the Canadian. Groenke chasing Alex Garcia for position in the TCA class on the dyno run down the Ulmann straightaway. Homologated gear ratios in these touring cars even though the cars are all different but equalized through Balance of Performance of course. Groenke looking to the inside of Garcia, closing in on the TCA race lead. Groenke is putting up faster lap times compared to Garcia. Groenke is thinking of a championship and Garcia is not a full season competitor. Wins matter, though, and P.J. Groenke has a single win since his 2017 TCB class title before getting a hat trick of victories so far in 2024.
Neto is now under big pressure from Joseph Catania in the second Rigid Speed BMW M2 CS (Cup). For second spot in TC, Ruben Iglesias has passed Cristian Perocarpi. Hyundai vs. Mini. Jeff Ricca is well up the road with a seven second lead. Ruben Iglesias Jr. now makes the pass on the Mini of Perocarpi. GenRacer will have more cars on the grid at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, the next doubleheader of races. Aaron Kaplan is running very well and now he is reeling in Cooper Broll and they will soon catch both Celso Neto and Joseph Catania.
Neto has no pace, unfortunately. Catania is making him work for it and we still have both Cooper Broll and Aaron Kaplan catching this third-place scrap, hand over fist. 17 minutes and change on the board. Maybe Neto's car performance is fading. Very surprising. Catania outbrakes himself and runs wide! Broll and Kaplan pass! Holy cow! Neto is also off the road in Tower corner. Neto is in big, big trouble. He went off the road and has rejoined the circuit. Sheesh! This means now that Cooper Broll is moved into fourth ahead of Kaplan and Joseph Catania. Do not follow a driver so closely that you get into their cadence, their rhythm. Neto stays out. I have no idea what could be wrong with Neto's Acura Integra Type S.
He is caboose on the field in TCX. Broll and Kaplan continue their fight and Broll goes by Kaplan for third. Something is underneath Broll's car. Celso Neto's transmission went out. He could not find a gear. A box full of neutrals. That is the second Acura along with Christopher DeFreitas, to report transmission woes. Cooper Broll was a skier and he had lyme disease as a child and it forced him out of school and sports for a good while. Although, he is now becoming a good racing driver. Chris Walsh leads Lucas Catania by 14 seconds. Jeff Ricca leads TC and Alex Garcia leads the TC class. Sally McNulty has passed Joey Jordan in TC for fourth in class.
Groenke has a faster lap time than Garcia, but Garcia remains ahead. Garcia dropping wheels off the road but this is because he is definitely driving on the ragged edge. Joseph Catania tries passing Aaron Kaplan but that's not working. Aaron Kaplan's dad was a crew chief in CART IndyCar in the 1980s, crew chiefing for Bill Alsup who was the second-place driver in CART/IndyCar. Chris Walsh is on a roll, again. Carrus Callas Racing has been racing in both GT America and GT4 America and now they are in the touring car ranks and of course Chris Walsh is an active military member in addition to racing.
Sally McNulty is also running incredibly well having finished second at Sonoma Raceway in one of the races there as Scott Thomson in the second TCA Mini, and he raced over the winter in a Mini at the 25 Hours of Thunder Hill endurance race. Aaron Kaplan made a move on Cooper Broll, but Broll says, "not now, sunshine" and makes the move back. Joseph Catania tries to pass Aaron Kaplan but it is just not on. Broll, Kaplan, Catania, third, fourth, and fifth and Broll is sideways! He is now vulnerable to Kaplan. That was a crash that barely didn't happen! Yikes!
Again, this is third, fourth, and fifth, in the TCX class. Kaplan slides to the inside of Cooper Broll and makes the move to the podium. Cooper Broll is not going to roll over and have his tummy scratched like a big dog. That dog is going to hunt. Catania has a run on Broll and Broll is now unable to defend. BMW vs. Acura, a longstanding touring car rivalry. Memories of Pierre Kleinubing and Will Turner, decades ago. Less than four minutes to go in the race. Kaplan, Catania, Broll, through Big Bend at turn six and into the hairpin, turn seven.
I think Cooper Broll may have used up what he has. The BMWs are scooting away. The new Acura Integra TC America car is only in its second race weekend. Chris Walsh though, is on a Sunday drive. Catania is now closing in with a head of steam, on Kaplan. Traffic has affected this battle all race long that we have seen between Kaplan and Joseph Catania. Kaplan feeling the heat. This is for a podium spot in TCX. How will they handle TCA leader Garcia? Kaplan has a better run and poor old Catania has lost ground. He needs to put his head dpown for the final lap as the clock runs out. One lap to go. Cooper Broll has initiative to make his move.
Chris Walsh and Lucas Catania have now both taken the white flag. Broll totally committed through Sunset Bend. Jeff Ricca leading the TC division with Alex Garcia leading the TCA division as we watch Joseph Catania fending off Cooper Broll's challenge. Kaplan has the gap over Joseph Catania for the final step on the podium. Chris Walsh continues his perfect season streak going in TCX! He sweeps the weekend again for Carrus Callas Racing by 21 and a half seconds! Now we see Catania finishing second and Cooper Broll sends it in and slams into Joseph Catania! That was too desperate of a move! Aaron Kaplan on the pdoium. Yikes!
In TCA, on debut, it is Alex Garcia snapping P.J. Groenke's win streak while Celso Neto gets fourth and Jeff Ricca will double up in TC with a weekend sweep over teammate Rubej Iglesias Jr. and Cristian Perocarpi. Two DNF's for Joseph Catania and for Cooper Broll. Broll, I think was way too committed and tried tos end it but failed. Joseph Catania was an innocent bystander. Tisk, tisk, tisk, Cooper.
Overall/TCX: #104 Chris Walsh Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup)
TC: #78 Jeff Ricca Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC
TCA: #14 Alex Garcia Skip Barber Racing School Honda Civic Si FE1
Alex Garcia stepping up from Toyota GR Cup single make racing. Another great weekend is now complete in the touring ranks. We will see you again, in just a couple weekends at Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas. More racing to come yet in GT4 America and GT World Challenge America later today. So please do stay tuned for that. For now, so long, from Sebring International Raceway, but stay with us, throughout the day.
Let me correct myself. Coming up next, it is the big race. GT World Challenge America, race two. Excited for that one!
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