The cars are rolling off for the second and final race of the weekend in TC America. This track is 3.27 miles and was built back in 1957. Kyle Heyer and Calvin Fish are calling the race action with Amanda Busick reporting from pit lane. There are some cool corner names. Oak Tree corner is a great one. The oak tree no longer exists. I thought somebody planted an acorn to grow a new oak tree and water it. But I don't believe that has happened. On the pole, for the race today, Chris Walsh in TCX. Jeff Ricca on pole in the TC class. Alex Garcia has the TCA class pole after winning race one yesterday. Safety Car lights off. Next time by we go racing. Celso Neto must keep in touch with Chris Walsh. Walsh will be poised. The Hyundai has a longer wheelbase than the Mini does. Both have turbocharged 4-cylinder engines. TC America powered by Skip Barber VIR race two is coming up, and it begins, now!
Green flag! Away we go! Split starts for the TCX field as well as the TCA and TC fields. Great launch and now, Celso Neto lunges to the outside with the rubbered in racing line. Jeff Ricca vs. Cristian Perocarpi. Perocarpi is right in the shadow of Ricca as the race begins. Ron Zaras is working his way into touring cars after being a hoonigan drifting racer. The BMW M2 CS is rear-wheel drive while the Acura Integra Type S is a front-wheel drive platform. Katherine Legge took one of these Type S Integra touring cars up the hill at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb.
It is harder for these touring cars to draft in the heat. They will shut down in high heat. But in cooler weather the systems work better. Perocarpi scrapping with Ricca through turns one and two and Ricca tries the over/under and it is very risky! Perocarpi hauling the mail through NASCAR Bend. No love lost between Ricca and Perocarpi. Ricca at the Indianapolis finale last year thought his championship run was thwarted by Perocarpiand the Mini team. We saw Jeff Ricca's car come alive at the mid point of the first race yesterday as Ruben Iglesias Jr. is third in TC in another Hyundai Elantra.
Perocarpi has the lead in the TC class. Ricca will do to Perocarpi what he did yesterday and be the mosquito in Perocarpi's ear. Alex Garcia leading in TCA in the #14 Skip Barber Racing School Honda Civic Si FE1. Perocarpi has scampered off as Ricca is knuckling down and getting with the program. The Mini is hopping it's way through the turns with the short wheelbase as they motor down Madison Avenue. Ruben Iglesias is ready to pick up the pieces of something should happen between Perocarpi and Ricca. The lead between Ricca and Iglesias is eight points, 149-141. Perocarpi is third on 107 points, 42 behind.
This is the battle we thought we'd see, and we are seeing it and will do that for the next 33 minutes. The cars are making speed in different ways, but they are on equal footing. The lap times are developed by each car in a different way. It is for the competition and the show, the spectacle. Into The Rollercoaster, Ricca is crawling all over Perocarpi. Perocarpi's Mini has come alive early. Does the balance on the Mini deteriorate later in the race? The front tires on the Mini are cambered in compared to the Hyundai. It is controlled. You cannot crank two extra degrees of camber into the wheels. If you change too much, the sanctioning body will throw you out and say,"get out of here! Fix it, or don't come back!"
LAP Motorsports and Mini adjusted the dampers. Perocarpi is hungry for the victory. Literal hunger. Eat breakfast late. Maybe just an energy bar and a coffee. OK. The longer wheelbase of the Hyundai could help with stability and with braking. The Mini though, seems to have speed still. It is all about overall lap times. You can only do what you can if your competitors have the edge. Is it easier to lead or chase? Leading works well. But having a great race can expose another drivers' weaknesses and it becomes a chess match. Alex Garcia is being pursued by P.J. Groenke. Honda vs. Mini. Groenke and his team didn't have a great race one.
But now, the battle has resumed. Alan Grossberg in another Mini is third, a long way back. Groenke is enjoying digging deeper and getting the car more dialed in. Through South Bend, Garcia has the rear end walking around on him. The Honda is a front wheel drive car, keep your foot in it. In rear-wheel drive cars, you need to modulate the throttle. Oh no. Trouble indeed, a spin, for Alan Grossberg. He went out wide in the mud and clanged the wall. Chris Walsh takes fastest lap so far at 2:01.320. Walsh leading TCX over the two Acura's of Celso Neto and Cooper Broll. Celso Neto and Skip Barber Racing School won race one yesterday. This team at Skip Barber has a new workshop on the premises here at VIR. Their racing schools are renowned for building drivers' careers or providing bucket list track days for car nuts.
Perocarpi and Ricca in TC are reeling in the aforementioned Cooper Broll in TCX. Up Madison Avenue they drive again. 24 minutes to go. Perocarpi is steadier in his driving now as we are closing in on the second half of the race. Ricca is so close and yet so far trying to find an advantage over Perocarpi and he is outbraking the Mini by two corner markers. Ricca is quicker and can roll the speed more. Meanwhile, Sally McNulty and Scott Thomson are scrapping in the sister Mini #66 and the #780 Ricca Autosport Hyundai. This is for fifth spot. McNulty has had podium finishes but they came at the beginning of the year at Sonoma Raceway in California back in March or April.
Ruben Iglesias Jr. third and Ron Zaras fourth. Zaras in his first weekend in TC. He took a Hyundai Ioniq 5N to the top of Pikes Peak creating a new record for electric crossover vehicles. Perocarpi stays in front of Ricca rolling the speed on the outside. The halfway mark is coming and now, Thomson makes his move on McNulty, and she runs a tad wide through NASCAR Bend! There is a loose piece of plastic trim through The Snake. it appears if it is a wheel arch from one of the Mini's. The Pirelli P Zeros are squealing for mercy through Oak Tree. Perocarpi's car seems OK. The body cladding that came loose is not from his car I don't think although it could be. Maybe another piece of trim fell off.
It didn't. Someone else dispatched that trim and a marshal has gone and picked it up or someone has flipped it off course. Meanwhile, Cooper Broll is keeping his distance ahead of these two blokes. Perocarpi wide through South Bend. Ricca has yet to solve Perocarpi's puzzle and answer his riddle. Sally McNulty has moved back past Scott Thomson. Has Thomson slowed down? Maybe he went off and on. Ron Zaras has had an issue too and is slowing through the climbing esses. McNulty went through the grass, doing the Dale Earnhardt pass in the grass from the 1987 NASCAR All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Normally, if you have track limits issues here at VIR you are off in the Tooley's.
Now, Scott Thomson and Ron Zaras I think are both losing some pace. Maybe Thomson went in deep under braking. Chris Walsh continues to lead down through Hog Pen by seven and a half seconds over Celso Neto. Walsh also has a program with Carrus Callas Raceteam with a Pirelli GT4 America program as well. Ron Zaras is doing a great job for his first-time racing in TC America in the Hyundai Elantra. He is learning because being a drifting racer, it takes more discipline. The grass has been lava here because it is wet and slippery but if he has driven Pikes Peak, he knows what to do. You cannot make a mistake at Pikes Peak or you are falling off a mountain. Pikes Peak is the ultimate in commitment.
Now back to the Scott Thomson and Sally McNulty story. McNulty positioning the car nicely and making her move. Compression through traffic. Scott Thomson wants it, awkwardly passing teammate Alan Grossberg in the #63 Mini. Zaras again has lost power somehow or other. I don't know. Whatever is ailing the #76 must be being caused by clattering over the curbs. Perocarpi leads in TC with 11 minutes left on the board. Ricca's fire has turned down to embers. Ricca might be cooling his tires but time is of the essence. Perocarpi and Ricca have both passed Cooper Broll. Thomson has position but McNulty and Thomson have both gone off the road!
Both of them wash out and going side by side into NASCAR Bend, two into one won't go. Oy yoy yoy yoy yoy! McNulty snags the tire bundles. I wonder if she will be able to find the fire and relight it. Ricca continues chasing Perocarpi. Perocarpi comfortable running the cushion. The safety car is deployed, and we will have a race that is being shortened up. Eight minutes and change left on the board. I don't believe the tires were scattered all over. The tire bundles are wrapped with conveyor belt material. The grass is very muddy so there is little to no grip out there in no man's land. Chris Walsh is looking to extend his points advantage in the TCX class.
Chris Walsh has always had motor racing as his life's passion. You don't do it alone. You need family and connections to help you. There are key people you meet and give you an opportunity and they have the belief to take you to the next level. That is the great thing about the SRO ladder system not just in America but in Europe, Asia, and Australia as well. We will need to restart quickly if we get this race done. There is of course even a ladder system in the touring cars. Safety Car lights off. So, we are going to have a shootout to determine who will take home the trophies.
Through Hog Pen and onto the frontstretch. Green flag! Celso Neto moving past TCA traffic and here comes Ricca past Perocarpi! Ricca wants it. Perocarpi rubbing elbows with Ricca! Using P.J. Groenke as ampick. No dice. Perocarpi clears Garcia in the Honda. This stymies Ricca. Garcia pulls to the right. Maybe the damage has been done already. Celso Neto had to clear the TCA car before trying to run down Chris Walsh and Walsh might have had his bacon saved. Celso Neto is hanging tough. We should see the white flag this time by.
Neto is digging deep. Can he gain ground on Walsh? It is so important to manage the race and use the pace, taking energy out of the tires. You need something left in the race car if there is a reset before the end. Take your competitor by surprise but get the car into the sweet spot with the torque and the gearing. Up to The Rollercoaster for the final time. Walsh has dominated TCX in TC America all year. He did have the start time miscue yesterday but has now rebounded and is back to his winning ways in TCX in race two! In the TC fight it is Cristian Perocarpi and Mini winning! With damage, Alex Garcia sweeps the weekend in TCA.
Overall/TCX: #104 Chris Walsh Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup)
TC: #37 Cristian Perocarpi MINI JCW Team MINI JCW TC Pro
TCA: #14 Alex Garcia Skip Barber Racing Honda Civic SI FE1
Cue the dance music for the race results. So, now, we have three rounds of the championship left and the next doubleheader will be around the fabled and awesome 4-mile ribbon of asphalt that is Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Those races will be here before you know it in another month or so, a little less. Join us in the Kettle Moraine at Road America, coming up soon. Plenty more racing today still to come. Again, keep it tuned in to Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, for more action.
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