It is time now for the second and final race of the weekend in SRO TC America, here at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. If you were with us yesterday, you know how entertaining touring car racing can be. It is the second leg of a doubleheader weekend at Barber Motorsports Park just outside Birmingham, Alabama. P.J. Groenke clinched the TCA title yesterday. TCX and TC remain in the balance under sunny skies in the deep south. Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish, and Amanda Busick are with us to call the action from the booth and pit lane. A gorgeous day to go racing. The TCX and TC battles are good. Chris Walsh could be a possible champion. In TC, it is a battle between Jeff Ricca and Cristian Perocarpi. Only 50 points on offer after today's race finishes.
The front row is going to be one to watch in the battle between Chris Walsh in the BMW M2 CS (Cup) and Celos Neto in the Acura Integra Type S. Both of Chris Walsh's daughters greeted him in victory lane yesterday. Of course, Jeff Ricca is racing teammate Ron Zaras' car this weekend. P.J. Groenke will be on a Sunday drive as a champion today. The engines fire up, like magic. Awesome! The cars roll off onto the circuit. 40 minutes of racing ahead of us. In the TC class, Cristian Perocarpi has a mathematical chance but must finish ahead of Jeff Ricca as he is 35 points behind.
This is going to be a wild race. That is for sure. Celso Neto on pole. A dozen cars taking the start and next year this class will be shuffled with elimination of TCA and a combined single class as well as some weekends having three races instead of two. So much excitement headed for 2025. Celso Neto intends to continue to race touring cars in SRO America. OK. Green flag! Let's go racing! Neto leaps into the lead as Cooper Broll and Aaron Kaplan are scrapping for third through the Alabama Rollercoaster! In TC, Jeff Ricca is on the pole and now the Mini's begin the chase.
Cristian Perocarpi fighting tooth and nail through the Alabama Rollercoaster. They dive downhill into turn five, Charlotte's Web, and Sally McNulty is scrapping with Scott Thomson. Thomson looking for his first professional podium, but he spins! He gets back on his way. No harm done I don't think. He is on cold tires. He spun through turn eight all by his lonesome. Sally McNulty now in hot pursuit of another podium as it is Neto, Walsh, Aaron Kaplan, and Cooper Broll. 37 minutes left in the race. The title is in Chris Walsh's hands currently. Celso Neto wants to make a statement.
BMW's quick through turns 12 and 13. Fascinating to compare the front wheel drive Acura and the rear-wheel-drive BMW. The third sector is where the Acura Integra is lazier with changing direction and gives up some performance to the BMW. Karl Hertel has passed Alex Garcia. Again, TCX and TC cars will merge, and Jeff Ricca has fastest lap so far. Cristian Perocarpi not far behind. Through turns ten and 11, the BMW is stronger in the handling department. The grid today was set by fastest laps yesterday.
Walsh has a good exit through turn 17. Jeff Ricca fastest and leads the TC class running sixth overall. Neto earned respect of Chris Walsh for his defensive driving when Chris termed him "the minister of defense". They both want to win in the worst way. The pressure ramps up 110% at the end of the season. Walsh started the year with six consecutive wins and has eight total on the year. He has not finished worse than second all year. 33 minutes left on the board. Oh dear. Scott Thomson, car #66 is slow. Smoke trailing from behind the car and maybe a loose part.
He spun halfway around. Flat left front tire it appears. Aye yaye yaye. Half an hour to go. Celso Neto must manage his tires. We alluded to that situation in race one yesterday. Aaron Kaplan and Cooper Broll are running solidly and have tweaked their car setups. Kaplan keeping Cooper Broll at bay. With the spin, Scott Thomson pulled the tire off the wheel rim. Not much separating Neto and Walsh. Some drivers might melt under pressure and others thrive. Neto thrives under pressure. Focus forward. No mistakes. They are both right on the limit.
We have a long way to go. 29 minutes. Neto won a Turismo Centro Oeste championship in the 1.4 light category and has raced Brazilian Stock Cars, Brazilian Touring Cars and NASCAR Brazil. P.J. Groenke again on a Sunday drive and was probably the first driver to clinch a title this year save for Gresham Wagner in Toyota GR Cup. Cristian Perocarpi in the pits with trouble. He needs to get to 50%. Something is broken on the Mini. The brakes are not working or there is residual damage from a crash caused by brake loss on Friday. Louis Perocarpi, Cristian's father says this issue is a separate problem.
He was moving the steering wheel. The handling is gone. Broll and Kaplan continue to race for third and fourth. Perocarpi can only score points if he completes 50% of the race distance. Scott Thomson is still running as well and could nab points off his teammate. I wonder if they will park Thomson to allow Perocarpi to gain points and Thomson is looking for his first podium. Celso Neto, 15 minutes in, he can still turn his best lap of the race. Chris Walsh though is quicker still. Walsh is right on Neto's six, but Neto has not cracked. Walsh cannot unlock the safe. Something is not working in the steering on Perocarpi's Mini.
LAP Motorsports cannot figure out the situation and the Mini does not have the power of the Honda. Chris Walsh is biding his time. He has not attempted a move and now, #37 is headed back to the paddock but time is not on their side. If he scores no points, Jeff Ricca is the champion. Celso Neto has traffic ahead. Walsh needs to go a few more laps before he is determined to be the champion elect in TCX. Alex Garcia lets the overall leaders by. He was second yesterday and is a distant third today. All does not seem right. He might be dealing with mechanical problems on the #14 car.
We are closing in on halfway. Walsh and Neto running identical laps and Walsh has to input massive opposite lock to keep the BMW on the road. A great battle between Acura and BMW in TCX. The BMW had the edge at the beginning of the year and now the Acura, in the season's second half has come to the fore. Past the halfway mark and Chris Walsh is now the TCX champion in 2024! Tony Callas, the proud team owner. There are no words for this. What they wanted to do, he talked to team owner Nick Shanny and asked about wins or a championship and Nick Shanny said, "a championship."
Congratulations! Chris Walsh is in line for a military promotion. A college football player, a bobsledder, a sim racer and now, a champion racing driver. Racing is a family atmosphere where drivers and teams put their hearts, souls, and bank accounts on the line. Small partners go a long way. Cooper Broll has passed Aaron Kaplan. 15 minutes of racing to go. They are coming up on P.J. Groenke, the TCA class leader and champion elect. Oh boy! Chris Walsh makes the pass on Celso Neto.
He had been setting that one up for a bit, I am sure. Everyone who has clinched a title this weekend has done so with a victory. He grabbed the place into Charlotte's Web. Neto forces Walsh wide! Oh my! So, that puts the Brazilian back in the lead. The torque of the Acura Integra puts him in the sweet spot. Did Neto leave room? I suppose. Just hard racing. 12 minutes remaining. Oh. In replay, Walsh did go off the road. They were both in the same trajectory and I don't believe Celso Neto forced him out. P.J. Groenke got loose and maybe is showing off for Georgina the mannequin.
Karl Hertel is 23 seconds behind. Jeff Ricca has a 48-point lead over Cristian Perocarpi going into Indianapolis. Those points for Perocarpi might go away. So, this is fuzzy math. This wouldn't be right if Perocarpi fails to score. Perocarpi I believe is out of the race. Less than ten minutes to go. We could have all three touring car championships done and dusted before the finale at Indianapolis next month. The biggest delta is between turns 12 and 13 through the sweeper. Chris Walsh lowers fastest lap time to 1:34.6. Celso Neto is just a tenth off.
He just set the best overall middle sector as well. Celso Neto slightly faster than the BMW by a tenth and a half. P.J. Groenke may have had another off-course excursion through Museum Corner. Kaplan back up to third for the final step on the podim in TCX. Aaron Kaplan vs. Cooper Broll. Groenke gets sideways under braking in a huge way! That was wild! He is slowing. P.J. Groenke's lead has evaporated, and Karl Hertel takes the lead! Oh, my heavens! P.J. Groenke trying to do a systems reset, a Control, Alt, Delete. Groenke has no pressure. But what is wrong? Groenke lost all electrical power and they are recycling the systems.
The Mini might be running again trying to find a safe haven. He is running again. Karl Hertel drives for a team made up of volunteers at the Honda manufacturing facility just down the road. HART Alabama. Celso Neto hanging on over Chris Walsh. Four minutes left on the board. P.J. Groenke in the pit lane with the bonnet up. Karl Hertel is the only TCA car to not experience misfortune while Groenke and Garcia have. Kaplan and Broll still glued together. Cooper Broll, pushing. Kaplan slams the door in his face. Two laps to go. Kaplan in the BMW and Broll in the Acura for Skip Barber Racing School.
Neto and Walsh are both very consistent and not wavering from their personal bests. The Acura Integra Type S and the BMW M2 CS (Cup) have equal performance. We do have another couple laps left as the tires are beginning to cry a bit through the sweeper. Uphill and down dale. Walsh thinking about it. 54 feet to 80 feet of elevation change as Walsh runs deep into the Alabama Rollercoaster. Champion elect, Chris Walsh with Celso Neto trying to spoil the party. Walsh's car didn't grab the downshift I don't think. Acura vs. BMW for the lead and for the final spot on the podium. Cooper Broll timing the run on Aaron Kaplan and the two make contact! Kaplan spins!
Race Control will be reviewing that move. Kaplan did not give Broll enough room. I don't think Race Control will worry. Broll has a left front puncture and big damage to the suspension! Yikes! Celso Neto with a bold move has fended off Chris Walsh who is the 2024 TCX champion and Celso Neto has won four of the last six races!
Champions: TCX: #104 Chris Walsh Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup)
TC: #76 Jeff Ricca Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC
TCA: #62 P.J. Groenke MINI JCW Team MINI JCW
Overall/TCX: #22 Celso Neto Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S
TC: #76 Jeff Ricca Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC
TCA: #93 Karl Hertel HART Alabama Honda Civic Si FE1
Cue the dance music for the results. What a great race in touring car today! Indianapolis beckons. We'll see a great doubleheader of races with the championships now in the bag. We'll see you at The Brickyard! Bye bye.
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