It is the second and final race of the weekend, on the penultimate sprint race weekend for SRO GT World Challenge America, here, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Such a historic track this is, built by construction magnate Cliff Tufte and opened in 1955 as an alternative to running sports car races in the streets of the village of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, it has been an institution to American road racing and sports car racing fans for nearly seven decades. In race one of the weekend for GT World Challenge America, with the beginning of an expanded entry of GT3 cars before the end of the year, we saw yet another victory taken by the #63 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R shared by Tommy Milner and Alec Udell. They have now won five consecutive races in GT World Challenge America in 2024, and today are going for six on the bounce.
You can bet the competition is beginning to wonder what they can do to stop the Corvette steamroller. Some good competition there is, too. The Mercede-AMG's from Esses Racing with Mercedes Benz of Austin, the Regulator Racing Mercedes, the Porsche's from Wright Motorsports, RS1, MMG, and GMG, the BMW's from ST Racing and Flying Lizard, (their new BMW M4 GT3), and the Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 in the hands of Zach Veach and Luca Mars who had a good run going until they had a botched pit stop in race one yesterday. We have a 15-car field here in GT World Challenge America. Numbers should increase with additional entries from the SRO's Intercontinental GT Challenge globetrotting GT3 championship, when we get to the season finale, the Indianapolis 8 Hours endurance crown jewel in October.
That is in the future. This is the here and the now. Again, we have WW. I. veteran and Civil Engineer Cliff Tufte, to thank for the construction of Road America. There is a statue of the man himself outside the gates. We have two Am class cars, an AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and the Esses Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo as well. GT3 cars hit 165 miles an hour plus on three different parts of the circuit. Road America is one of the classics. Sunshine breaking through the clouds. We might have weather coming, an hour into the race as we join Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and D.J. Clark.
There is a threat of a shower. We'll see what happens. It is time for the grid walk and pe-race ceremonies very soon. It is a gorgeous Wisconsin afternoon. We are going to possibly have a dry race today. There are some driver lineup swaps between yesterday and today's race. Time for the Star-Spangled Banner. 60+ Scouts camping here in the crowd, and they can earn a Road America motorsports merit badge! Cool! Alec Udell will start the race for DXDT Corvette. Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen hope to bounce back. Their rain tires gamble did not work in race one. Samantha Tan, a team owner and driver, and the sister car of Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey will also be pushing hard.
Tan and Neil Verhagen hope to "send it" in the waning moments. Happy Birthday, Richard Hay, the broadcast producer for SRO. His father, the late, great racing historian and commentator, Neville Hay. Alec Udell and Tommy Milner are closing in on Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson. The Pro class is extremely competitive. Wright Motorsports have not won a race since the season opener at Sonoma Raceway in California, in April. Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson will do all they can. Thomas Sargent and Kyle Washington have not won since VIR.
Team boss at GMG Racing, James Sofronas, won race two of GT America earlier today. Will Hardemann, a star of the Am class in race one. He focuses on driving tidy laps, feeling out what the car wants, what the tire is doing, staying relaxed, staying on the limit through the corners. Hopefully today will be clean running. Full dry running with a high pace which could favor Esses Racing. The plan for the team for the rest of the season, Will Hardemann is a part-time driver. They are done for the year after Road America. They will not race at Barber Motorsports Park or in the Indianapolis 8 Hours. Hope to see Esses Racing again next year.
Alan Metni is Will Hardemann's co-driver. Watch the AF Corse Ferrari of Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Jay Schreibman. Racer's Edge Motorsports almost snapped the DXDT Corvette streak, but they lost time with being hung up on the driver change with the seat insert and now, Luca Mars and Zach Veach will be going for it. Kenton Koch and Random Vandals Racing want to start their GT3 program well. They had a misstep in race one yesterday. Kenton Koch and Madison Snow going for it. The #92 MMG Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R are going to go for it after a podium yesterday, Kyle Marcelli and Jean Fredric Laberge.
Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis at Regulator Racing were flying yesterday on their alternate strategy. They need a Full Course Yellow at the middle point of the race to get into the picture. One formation lap with the four-mile circuit here at Road America with the sun coming out. 15 starters. No Chouest Povoledo Racing Mercedes of Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo this weekend. A real mix of cars and some of the featured ones from yesterday are down the order. Different starting drivers as well, and a compressed field insofar as pace.
Here comes the field. Green flag! Thiago Luccidi, the Pershing watches brand manager waves the green flag and away we go! Skeer throws the block up to second passing Tommy Milner and here comes Tom Sargent in the #32 EBoost GMG Porsche. Clean through the first three corners up to turn five. So far so good. Argy bargy between Negri Jr. and Marcelli! Yikes! Ferrari vs. Porsche. Zach Veach drops down the order. Argy bargy again as the cars coexist. Kenton Koch on debut in the #99 Random Vandals BMW M4 GT3 sharing with Madison Snow.
Zach Veach has to regroup and get into his rhythm. Veach trying Koch. Connor Daly will join Random Vandals at Barber Motorsports Park and also, Connor De Philippi will be the third driver at Indianapolis, nominated to represent BMW for Intercontinental GT Challenge. Madison Snow knows the BMW M4 GT3. Robby Foley leading Elliott Skeer by six tenths of a second as Tom Sargent now runs fourth. BMW has strength in numbers, and they have the straightaway speed. Corvette fast over the lap wth braking and handling, both.
Tom Sargent, through The Carousel, wriggling through The Kink at 150 miles an hour on corner exit before slowing down through Canada Corner. Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson leading the Pro class. They are looking for another victory even though they have had podium finishes. DXDT Racing has had a great run since the car debuted at Circuit of the Americas and they debuted their first car at Sebring back in May. Of course, Bryan Sellers is now driving the sister car alongside Bryson Morris. Niclas Jonsson is his coach and mentor.
Jeff Burton now fighting with Alan Metni in the #19 Esses Racing Mercedes. It has been a lonely race for Jeff Burton or it was yesterday. The car is 13th but they will be making their moves towards the end as Veach and Hindman are racing. Trent Hindman sharing with Jake Pedersen in the #85 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3R. It is a Pro-Am car and has been a Pro entry before teaming with Spencer Pumpelly. Jake Pedersen is a racing driver and a musician, an avid guitarist. We could see him at the Indianapolis 8 Hours. RS1 are not entirely sure of the plan for Indianapolis. We'll see.
Such a great variety of engines in GT34 from Canada Corner through Thunder Valley and up to Billy Mitchell corner. We send best wishes to Paul Sparta at Random Vandals who was injured in race one in GT4 yesterday. Hope to see you soon, mate. ow, Tom Sargent is chasing Tommy Milner. Bruan Sellers right behind in the sister DXDT Corvette. Think of the aero wash, these GT3 cars are downforce cars, very aerodynamically dependent. A quiet weekend for the BMW duo of Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen. They have not yet found the sweet spot, the#38 car. The sister #28 of Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey has done better.
They made the wrong call to start on wet weather tires in race one yesterday. They couldn't recover and were off the podium for the first time in 2024. The top seven cars are within 4/10ths of a second of each other. Foley, Skeer, Milner, the top three. Jeff Burton has dropped behind Alan Metni. Varun Choksey hanging in there. Bill Auberlen will drive the second stint. Last year, Auberlen was teamed up with Chandler Hull for the BimmerWorld team in another BMW M4 GT3. Zach Veach raced in IndyCar for a while and then ran with the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team in GT3 in IMSA. Best laps all in the 2:06 range with Tom Sargent fastest at 2:06 flat, the Aussie is on top of this Porsche.
Sargent teamed up of course with Kyle Washington. Washington raced in Porsche Carrera Cup and Porsche Sprint and Endurance Challenge and two GT World Challenge America races. Tom Sargent came to the U.S. with McElrea Racing in Porsche's in Australia. Hunter McElrea of course has been in IndyCar and in IMSA. Neil Verhagen chasing Bryan Sellers and the two of them are teammates in endurance races in other championships. Madison Snow, too, has been a teammate for Bryan Sellers. Meanwhile, we are watching the Montreal Motorsports Group Porsche 911 GT3R of Kyle Marcelli and Jean Fredric Laberge.
Jeff Burton is keeping it clean aboard the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Have a car that is compliant, the chassis shakes but the car stays together. Jeff Burton is being smooth. Robby Foley still leading the motor race. Justin Rothberg is having a wonderful weekend between GT America and GT World Challenge America. Fastest laps all in the 2:06 range and the top five within 3/10ths of a second on a four-mile circuit with 14 corners. The SRO are doing a fabulous job balancing performance of the cars.
Neil Verhagen chasing Bryan Sellers. Corvette vs. BMW. John Edwards was a BMW factory driver with Samantha Tan before switching careers from being a race car driver to being a pilot. Andy Lee, Flying Lizard Motorsports, the team's first weekend racing the BMW M4 GT3, Andy Lee is doing a wonderful job teamed with Elias Sabo and the results are immediate. They swapped over from an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. Since VIR they switched and did yeoman service to try and make the new car work.
This is a former BimmerWorld car. Metni and Hardeman lead the Am class with the #19 Esses Racing Mercedes. They are staying ahead of the penalized AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. They were penalized for transporting tires in the tire blankets. We will not see tire blankets next year save for the Indianapolis 8 Hours probably. Esses Racing has competition for the AF Corse #163 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Oswaldo Negri and Jay Schreibman. The two of them are racing together in Italian GT and in GT Open in Europe.
Random Vandals Racing could run two cars in the near future. Paul Sparta and Michael Harvey overseeing the team operations. Up the 4,400-foot frontstretch and onto another lap. Road America has no giveaway corners; every single one is important. Montreal Motorsports Group, active in touring car racing but also debuting in GT3 in GT America and now, Fanatec GT World Challenge America. Kyle Marcelli doing very well after dealing with a nerve issue and nerve pain. He was the 2019 GT World Challenge Pro-Am champion. The condition was thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve issue in his arm. 58 and a half minutes to go.
The pit window will open in another seven minutes, or the maximum stint length would be up for driver number one. Tom Sargent continuing to chase Tommy Milner. It is the Tom and Tom Show. Quick hands from Tom Sargent but he steadies it into The Carousel. GT3 cars are very aero reliant and through a high-speed long duration turn, you are fully loaded on the tires. Bryan Sellers set to turn the #08 DXDT Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R set to turn it over to Bryson Morris. Samantha Tan will take over from Neal Verhagen. Bryson Morris has driven with Samantha Tan in Creventic 24 Hour Series races, and both mentored by the Swedish veteran driver Niclas Jonsson, living in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bryan Sellers is also an advisor for DXDT Racing. Bryan Sellers has also tutored Madison Snow, and Snow is a BMW factory driver. Keep an eye on Jeff Burton in the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Phillip Ellis is suited and booted and ready to get into the car for the second stint. He just needs to keep it clean. Oswaldo Negri Jr. passes Alan Metni for the Am class lead and then we will see Jay Schreibman vs. Will Hardemann in the second stint. Schreibman raced Ferrari Challenge for a while. He also was injured and had to recover.
The global reach of AF Corse is incredible, reaching through the factory prototypes that have won Le Mans the last two years and customer racing in GT3 and in Ferrari Challenge. They are running the factory Ferrari Hypercars and have done LMP2s before as well. Justin Rothberg is setting up to take over from Robby Foley at Turner Motorsports BMW. Same for Bill Auberlen taking over from Varun Choksey. Jeff Burton immediately to the pit lane to turn it over to Philip Ellis. The halfway mark in the race in five minutes.
The minimum pit stop time, line to line is 86 seconds. Tires, fuel, and a driver change. Tommy Milner immediately into the pit lane to hand off to Alec Udell. Here comes the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Varun Choksey, as we said, handing off to Bill Auberlen. Zach Veach handing off to Luca Mars and of course they had huge trouble with a giant seat insert yesterday. Robby Foley leads chased by Elliott Skeer who dives to the pit lane to hand off to Adam Adelson. Alec Udell was a tenth of a second shy on the pit stop so they could take a time penalty when the race ends.
Adam Adelson is set to go and will take over the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Adam Adelson takes the Wright Motorsports Porsche back on track. Alec Udell will have tire temperature and pressure. Adam Adelson must get up on the wheel. Wright Motorsports did the undercut. Will it work? Porsche vs, Corvette, halfway home. 45 minutes into the race. Udell is a graduate of Clemson University in mechanical engineering. Udell has to gap Adelson to avoid a time penalty. Foley stays out. Udell's pit stop is under review by the stewards.
The top six is Robby Foley, Tom Sargent, Bryan Sellers, Neil Verhagen, Kyle Marcelli, and Andy Lee. Random Vandals Racing in the pit lane and Kenton Koch handing the car to Madison Snow. Udell looking to the inside of Adelson and Adelson slammed the door in his face. The leader, Robby Foley in the lane ready to hand over to Justin Rothberg. Sargent, Sellers, Verhagen, Marcelli, they are all set. This should be a calm, unflustered pit stop. Adelson defending from Sellers coming up on the Pro-Am leader, Rothberg. Let these two chaps go and don't worry about them.
Adelson flings it down the inside and Udell follows him through. The Porsche porpoising under braking. There is another pit stop under review for Esses Racing, the Haredemann/Metni Mercedes. Bryan Sellers is in the pit lane set to hand over to Bryson Morris. Jay Schreibman is shown for a drive through in the pit lane for a short stop and a pit lane speed limit violation as well, I think. Pro class cars battling, and Adelson runs wide with Udell moving forward and we have a whole gaggle of Pro cars.
Udell flashing the lights at teammate Bryson Morris. Udell looking to follow through ad so is Morris. He is past Kyle Washington. Stop plus 30 seconds for pit lane speed violations and a drive through penalty as well for a short pit stop. Two consecutive penalties for Esses Racing that must be served separately. Kyle Washington now in the #32 GMG Porsche. Here comes Justin Rothberg pulling to the inside of Washington and making the pass. Rothberg cuts down a tire! Oh, my goodness! He will have trundle around for a full lap and be very careful. He is in big, big trouble.
Slow down. Don't do any more damage. Elias Sabo goes by in the #8 Flying Lizard BMW M4 GT3. There is no margin for error if you want to win the championship. 36 minutes of racing to go. Maybe there was debris that Rothberg hit to cut the tire down. Rothberg flying Plummet Airways down the order. Adam Adelson being monstered by Samantha Tan. DXDT Corvette 1-2. Udell ahead of Morris. Remember, Bryson Morris is Samantha Tan's erstwhile teammate in a different championship. Tan must deal with Adam Adelson ahead in the Porsche.
A one second time penalty post-race for being slightly under the minimum pit stop delta for Alec Udell and Tommy Milner. Justin Rothberg sojourning to the pit lane thankfully with no bodywork damage, but it is brutal because he dropped a full lap down. Samantha Tan is now contending for the win, but Bryson Morris uncorks a 2:07.8 and is answering the bell. Is there wheel well damage to the Turner Motoraports BMW. The points spread is now 45 points, 190-145 between ST Racing BMW and Turner BMW. Only 100 points left on the table in the final races.
Hopefully for Turner Motorsports they don't have the tire wrapped around the suspension. Ellis scores fastest lap of the race at 2:05.656. The fastest drivers are in the 2:05-2:06 range. Half an hour of racing left on the board. A good scrap brewing now between Kyle Washington and Elias Sabo. Sabo in the BMW and Washington in the Porsche. Robby Foley is about to tell the sad tale for Turner Motorsports. They just got a flat tire. Justin Rothberg felt something odd on the out lap. Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug.
Two races at Barber Motorsports Park and double points at the Indianapolis 8 Hours. Auberlen passes Washington for position. He has work to do to catch Luca Mars in the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3. Justin Rothberg is a wee bit ahead of schedule and the future holds good things for Turner Motorsports and BMW. Whoops! Off the road, Jean Fredric Laberge in the #92 MMG Porsche 911 GT3R, MMG = Montreal Motorsports Group of course. We have seen them in the touring car ranks of a different championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Philip Ellis moves up another place with Jake Pedersen up the road.
26 minutes to go. It was an easy decision for DXDT to hire Bryson Morris. Bryan Sellers is very proud to be a mentor for Bryson Morris. He is lapping now within a second and a half of Sellers' lap times. You can cut Road America in half. A second and a half here is 7/10ths or 8/10ths of a second at a shorter circuit. Morris chasing teammate Alec Udell. For David Askew and the team, they would love to have a feather in their hat with a double victory. This is a customer program of course. 70% of the parts between the engines for the street legal Corvette and the race cars. GM and Pratt & Miller design the cockpit so that customer drivers can make the car work.
The steering wheel is so complex with all the switches on the steering wheel, and there is a whole manual, a handbook, of how to use the switches on the steering wheel and the dashboard. Flying Lizard drinking from a firehose this whole weekend, but they could be rewarded for their efforts. Sabo is in line to score his first GT3 podium. Kyle Washington and Jake Pedersen behind in two of the Porsche's. Pedersen loves music and racing. My kind of person. 20 minutes to go. Jake Pedersen has multiple partial schedules in different championships.
Oedersen and Washington in two colorful Porsche's change places. Kyle Washington has a dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada. Washington has done offroad racing and so has the Pedersen family. No action on the incident between Hardemann and Laberge, the #19 Mercedes and the #92 Porsche. Philip Ellis resets fastest lap of the motor race at 2:05.340. We have 17 minutes left in the race which means about eight laps to go. A podium potentially in play here for Ellis. Hardemann's pace is good, though. But Will Hardemann after that rash of penalties earlier in the race, is laps down.
Ellis just ran another 2:05.3 lap time. Madison Snow has now caught Elias Sabo. Two cars in two different classes, but both BMW M4 GT3's. The two BMW's running in lock step. Ellis has caught and passed Washington. He'll have to put the hammer down for the final 13 and a half minutes. They will need to get by Jake Pedersen first. Ellis looking for a podium, the fourth podium of the season including the overall win in race two at VIR. Ellis is sending it through Billy Mitchell corner. Two and a half seconds faster than Jake Pedersen who is five seconds up the road.
Pedersen is closing in on Elias Sabo with 11 minutes to go as Alec Udell and Bryson Morris possibly setting up for a DXDT Corvette 1-2. The final step on the Pro-Am podium is up for grabs. Ellis harrying Pedersen, chasing him down. 2;05.5 for Ellis. 2:08.6 for Pedersen. 2:09.6 for Sabo only four seconds ahead, up the road, on Pedersen. Samantha Tan second and Bryson Morris the leader in Pro-Am. Ellis chasing down Jake Pedersen. How hard will Jake Pedersen fight the Mercedes-AMG factory driver?
Ellis rolling to power earlier and smoother through the turns, wringing the neck of the Mercedes. Pedersen guards the inside but Ellis powers past Pedersen and he can see the podium. His next target, the Flying Lizard BMW #8 of Elias Sabo. Seven minutes remaining. Sabo will be more interested in keeping Pedersen at bay for fourth spot. That is, if Ellis can reel in and pass the Flying Lizard BMW. Ellis gets the run. Sabo crowds him. Ellis backs off the accelerator. Elias Sabo is one tough cookie. Ellis tries outside, then inside. Philip Ellis can make the pass but then Sabo will fall into the clutches of Jake Pedersen.
Ellis sends it around the outside through turn two! Holy smokes! Ellis up to third looking for a fourth podium for he, Jeff Burton, and Regulator Racing. Elias Sabo has lost a place to Jake Pedersen, somehow, some way. Sabo down to fifth place. Ellis did run wide. The stewards are being consistent with track limits which is not what I expected. Race Control has ruled all is fair. Pedersen fourth and Sabo fifth. 2:46 left on the board as DXDT could go 1-2 and win both classes. DXDT and Regulator Racing, two different teams, run out of the same shop, and they could all be on the podium! Holy cow! Years ago, DXDT were struggling with pace with the Mercedes but now they are finding success. White flag. One lap to go.
Bryson Morris being harried by Adam Adelson, but they are not in the same class. One more lap around the Road America circuit, four miles and 14 corners. DXDT came in with a 42-point lead. DXDT would have to be perfect in the double races at Barber Motorsports Park and the Indianapolis 8 Hours which would be hard to do. Udell and Milner are about to go six for six! Alec Udell and Tommy Milner win again! DXDT sweep the weekend! They win in the Pro class winning in Pro-Am, too, Bryson Morris on debut with Bryan Sellers! In the Am class it will be Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Jay Schreibman for AF Corse in the #163 Ferrari 296 GT3!
Overall/Pro: #63 Udell/Milner DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Pro-Am: #08 Morris/Sellers DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
Am: #163 Schreibman/Negri Jr. AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
Cue the dance music for the results. What a dominant run of form for DXDT! No attrition in this motor race this afternoon. Heartbreak for Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg. What a race for DXDT Corvette. Another victory. So, that's all we have for you, from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. One more conventional doubleheader weekend for GT World Challenge America coming up at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, coming up in three weeks. Six for six for DXDT Racing, Corvette, Alec Udell, and Tommy Milner at Road America!
What a race! What a race! We'll see you soon at Barber Motorsports Park. For now, so long everybody. Bye bye.
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