The penultimate race of the 2024 SRO TC America season is about to kick off here at "The Brickyard". It is time to bring the action, touring car style! With every single championship now buttoned up, now signed, sealed, and delivered, drivers and teams from TC America can completely focus on racing here at "The Brickyard" as we have the pleasure of bringing to you, the first of two events to close out the 2024 season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend and to assist with that, we welcome SRO GTWorld and the commentary team of Ryan Myrehn, and Calvin Fish in the broadcast booth, with Amanda Busick reporting from the pit lane. The sun is now beginning to set behind the massive grandstand and the temperatures are beginning to come down for the evening. We have the largest grid of touring cars we've had for some time.
It is all about knowing you as a driver and a team can win at Indianapolis, at the most famous raceway in the world. TCX champion Chris Walsh was married in Indianapolis, and it is his wife's birthday! Happy Birthday! We wish you both very well. Awesome! Motor racing in SRO America and especially in touring cars, is a family sport. Chris Walsh will be scrapping hard for a victory with the pole man, Celso Neto, the Brazilian, at the wheel of the #22 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S. Walsh of course, driving the #104 Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS (Cup). The Acura has come alive in the second half of the year and Neto has four wins in six races while Walsh has won eight races on the way to a championship.
With that said, Celso Neto has been on a roll, and you cannot forget another Acura driver with Cooper Broll at the wheel of the #19 Skip Barber Racing Acura, a sister car on the team to Celso Neto. There is also the #39 Acura Integra Type S of Chris DeFreitas. DeFreitas though, is on a different team, driving for Racer's Edge Motorsports under team boss Jon Mirachi and the same team who fields the #93 Acura NSX GT3 in Fanatec GT World Challenge America who will be in the Indianapolis 8 Hours, tomorrow. Last time out at Barber Motorsports Park, in the TC class, Jeff Ricca's Hyundai Elantra for his GenRacer team caught fire and he had to use a teammate's race car for the two races in Alabama.
Nonetheless, he won the championship with a borrowed race car! The team has repaired his primary car, and he is ready to race once more here at Indianapolis. However, the bonnet of the Hyundai still has battle scars. It still is singed from the Barber Motorsports Park fire. Finally, after all these years, Jeff Ricca, is a champion. In TCA, it is the swansong of the division. Looking ahead to 2025 in SRO America, TCX and TC touring cars shall be merged into a single class to make things easier for fans to work with and easier for yours truly to blog about these races without getting so confused.
P.J. Groenke, the affable Canadian, is the champion elect. He won the 2017 TCB championship in its final year. He has won at every track except here at Indianapolis and is desperate to kiss the bricks. We have some returning drivers, who have raced earlier in the year, as part of the GenRacer Hyundai team. Connor Attrell from Canada, and American drivers Ron Zaras and Vin Anatra are back to give it another shot here at Indianapolis in the final hurrah for the touring cars today and on Sunday, to cap off the 2024 season. Sally McNulty is here, too.
Celso Neto on the pole as we said. One of the debuting drivers lines up in fifth place. Look out for American racer Cameron Steller at the wheel of the #23 Fast Track Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup) in the TCX class. Ricca is the TC class polesitter. Kris Valdez makes his return to TC America competition driving car #11, the DRS Honda Civic Type R TC. P.J. Groenke has the pole in the penultimate race of the TCA class aboard the #62 MINI JCW Mini Cooper. Mini JCW has reinforcements in this race with Canadian Touring Car Championship veteran racer Alain Lauziere, and Bruce Myrehn, father of our lead play by play man here in SRO America, Ryan Myrehn. We have one more JCW Mini starting caboose on the field, the #65 car in the hands of Andy Sellers.
Sellers is from Indianapolis, a transplant, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sellers had brake trouble during qualifying but those issues on his Mini Cooper are now fixed. Sellers is in his first ever professional race. Watch the TCA battles with the four Mini's and Alex Garcia's Honda. Garcia is making his Pirelli GT4 America debut and on Sunday he will be racing in Pirelli GT4 America, touring cars, and the one make Toyota GR Cup championship. So, he may not be racing in a GT3 car in the 8 hours. But he will still be one very busy driver.
Alright. The safety car has pulled to pit lane. Celso Neto in the Skip Barber liveried Acura has the pole. 40 minutes of racing now on the clock. Here comes the field. Cars beginning to jump out of line. Race Control and the stewards' office will not be happy about that. Green flag! Let's go! Touring car racing is underway at Indianapolis! It's a three abreast drag race in TCX down the front straightaway heading for the first corner. Please, tell me you all know what to do at the first turn! Chris Walsh gets his elbows out early and is making a bid to pass Celso Neto! Walsh nails his colors to the mast and grabs the lead!
Jeff Ricca controls the start in TC. Woohoo! Neto licks the stamp and sends it! He is quite literally pushing the envelope with a bold, bold pass on Chris Walsh! There is a pun that says no matter how far someone pushes the envelope it will still be stationery. Well, well, well. Neto pushed the envelope and then some! Chris Walsh is being monstered on all sides and now Aaron Kaplan wants a bite of the cherry! Kaplan giving the 2024 TCX champion everything he can handle here, early doors. Neto the king of the late brakers doing a Scandinavian flick but keeping the car on the island! Oy yoy yoy! Race Control, unsurprisingly is reviewing that pig's breakfast of a race start we saw.
You are supposed to remain in side by side, Noah's Ark formation until the control line which here at Indianapolis is the yard of bricks. Sally McNulty in the TC class aboard the sister GenRacer Hyundai Elantra N TC to Jeff Ricca, the Borla exhaust systems sponsored racer, she has made it to second in class already. McNulty is having her best season ever in touring cars in SRO America competition in 2024. Her helmet is painted with sparkles and glitter from a first-time helmet designer. Cristian Perocarpi is an Indianapolis native and he wants to win here at home on the most famous racing circuit in the world.
His father has crewed on many an Indianapolis 500 team over the years. P.J. Groenke controlling the TCA class. Alex Garcia in the #14 Skip Barber Racing Honda is in a spot of bother and dropping like a stone through the field. McNulty is third in the points just 15 points behind Cristian Perocarpi who wants to win at his home track at Indianapolis. Again, we see Groenke running well, but Alex Garcia is falling into the clutches of the other Mini's of Andy Sellers and Bruce Myrehn. Kaplan and Broll meanwhile, nearly collide! Oof! That was a close shave! If you run the ideal line through that long radius final turn you can open the door for a competitor to poke their nose in and have a Captain Cook.
Car #23, Cameron Steller is right in the mix with Cooper Broll. Acura vs. BMW. I think Christopher DeFreitas was the chap who jumped out of line on the start. The stewards will tell us. Celso Neto now leads Chris Walsh to the tune of 1.6 seconds. DeFreitas tries lunging from way back and he didn't get a head of steam. What he got was a rude meeting with the inside curb in turn one! DeFreitas' Acura bicycled and looked like it wanted to tip over! It was up on two wheels, like a sprint car, almost! DeFreitas, to add insult to injury, along with Sally McNulty, have been handed drive through penalties for jumping the start, by the SRO stewards.
These drivers will need a reset to get back into contention. Cristian Perocarpi in the Mini was running right behind Sally McNulty. Now, however, he has flown Plummet Airways all the way down to 19th in the running order. Perocarpi is in the pit lane with mechanical problems. This isn't the first time we have seen the Mini in mechanical strife late in the season. LAP Motorsports has six cars in the two touring car races, but they are also running in the Mustang Challenge sanctioned by IMSA which is also here at Indianapolis. Cristian Perocarpi made his Mustang Challenge debut this weekend. There is trouble on the left front in either the braking system or the suspension it appears.
Perocarpi is motivated to race and win here at the speedway. Kaplan, Broll, and Steller continue their fight and Steller is looking "stellar" at this point. Oh, drat. Another pun! Steller is off and running as he makes a move and takes a spot away from Cooper Broll. He is on the racing line and has more grip there as the motor through the chicane. Game over for Cristian Perocarpi, he was yelling to the team, "it is the same problem we had at Barber!" He cannot believe it! It appears to be a vibration somewhere in the car. He had a great battle in the races last year here at Indianapolis with Jeff Ricca and Clay Williams who was the champion in the TC class in 2023.
The sports car racing community are all racing with heavy hearts this weekend as we remember longtime competitor Ramin Abdolvahabi. You saw the obituary about him posted here on the blog some time ago. He raced for LAP Motorsports in Mini's in IMSA. He was a very enthusiastic racer in touring cars and GT4 alike. If you follow my blog, you will know his name for being successful in the GT4 portion, the Grand Sport class in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge for several years. Rest In Peace, Ramin Abdolvahabi. You will be missed.
Meanwhile, P.J. Groenke has a 12 and a half second lead in TCA. He wants to win at Indianapolis and has won every weekend this year save for VIR. He has won at VIR. Winning at Indianapolis is probably the most meaningful win a driver can have in their career no matter what car they are driving. We see a good battle brewing for third place. Aaron Kaplan vs. Cameron Steller vs. Cooper Broll, all in TCX. BMW vs. BMW vs. Acura. Kaplan still holds the final step on the podium. Steller hounding Kaplan passing by Broll. Steller makes a move on Kaplan to the inside in turn one! Holy cow! That was a textbook pass!
Now through the esses, the car needs to be well balanaced before turns five and six the little chicane. Now, down the backstretch on Hulman Boulevard for 2,400 feet off the exit of turn six and into the braking zone for turn seven. Kaplan pokes his nose out locking the right front brake trying to get the spot back from Steller! Kaplan uses up all the road and Steller still manages to slam the door in his face! Great racing between these two in identical TCX BMW M2 CS (Cup) automobiles. Turn ten, eat up the curb, straighten out the radius. The braking zone into turn 12 is a tricky one to get right.
Move over to driver's left and then steer the car back to the right while braking. Braking and steering simultaneously is a hard thing to do. Aaron Kaplan's father was a longtime crew member in the CART, Championship Auto Racing Teams, days. He was on the pit crew for 1981 CART championship runner up driver Bill Alsup. Kaplan goes really deep on the brakes back into turn one closing right on the decklid of Steller! Yikes! Steller on debut knows he must execute lap time with a rival pursuing you like mad. He is beginning to gap Kaplan it appears. Aaron Kaplan has three third place finishes in 2024.
Neto and Walsh wrestling for the lead but their lap times are fairly consistent and neither one has uncorked a lap that makes you stand up and go, "oh boy!" So, things are seemingly copacetic at the top of the shop with just 12 minutes of racing elapsed. We are close to the halfway mark in race one for TC America here at Indianapolis. Neto will maintain the balance, the pace of his race car. Chris Walsh on the other hand is playing the long game. 28 minutes left on the board. Oh, my gosh. Kikko Porto who is a driver who is on the Road to Indy ladder system to IndyCar and also has raced in IMSA in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo championship, he is Celso Neto's brother-in-law. Hmmm. Maybe it won't be long before we see those two on some form of a team for an endurance sports car race.
You never know. Walsh straight lining the chicane. That is fine by the rulebook. The curbs here at Indianapolis are usable save for turn one. We hear from Amanda Busick in pit lane that Andy Sellers in the Mini has a left front puncture. Sellers, in a series debut, is not running the best. He has been racing in Spec Miata. Alex Garcia is now second in TCA being chased by both Mini's of Bruce Myrehn and Alain Lauziere. Garcia and Myrehn were tied at the hip for a wee while. But now, Garcia is lowering his best lap as Lauziere gets to the inside of Bruce Myrehn and things are sorted out as Lauziere is on the podium provisionally.
Speaking of final podium places, in the TCX class, Steller continues hanging on over Kaplan. Be disciplined with throttle application as Kaplan is looking for lap time but overdriving the turn. Cooper Broll has dropped back just a wee bit. Kaplan almost loses the back of the BMW. We expect the BMW to get better relative to the Acura. A rear-wheel-drive car vs. a front wheel drive car. Deary me. Bruce Myrehn is now in limp home mode coming to the pit lane. That is very disappointing. He was in a battle for a podium spot. Walsh in the meantime is chasing down Celso Neto. Neto is making a massive statement. He continues to improve as a driver. The pendulum is swinging back in Chris Walsh's favor.
Walsh is trying to find a way around Neto and gave the man a nickname of "The Brazilian Minister of Defense". He is aggressive but clean. At Barber Motorsports Park, I think Neto was in desperation as far as points were concerned and that was controlled aggression. OK. Walsh working the wheel trying not to oversteer through turn 14. The lead has stabilized at 1.3 seconds between Neto and Walsh with Steller in third place. P.J. Groenke in trouble! Left front tire! Groenke wanted to win the race here but he is definitely in trouble. We have seen trouble for the Mini and the Honda but now Alex Garcia leads the TCA division. Garcia has won four races after not racing at Sonoma and joined midway through the Sebring weekend back in May.
Tire trouble in the Mini camp as we hear reports of punctures for both Bruce Myrehn and P.J. Groenke. All on the left front and we saw Andy Sellers with trouble. Mini and Pirelli will have some time to sort the incidents out as the finale is on Sunday with the Indianapolis 8 Hours tomorrow for the GT3 cars. The beneficiary of LAP Motorsports' and Mini's troubles is the Honda Civic of Alex Garcia who runs ahead now of Alain Lauziere at the back of the picture. Lots of load with the clockwise track on the left side tires here at Indianapolis especially with the front wheel drive touring cars.
Celso Neto's advantage is less than a second as Chris Walsh is chasing after the Brazilian. Neto still has the fastest lap to set the grid for race two on Sunday. Car #66, the Mini of Scott Thomson locked up and has smoke coming from the car. Cristian Perocarpi looking ahead to Sunday. He has been extremely busy with Mustang Challenge and touting cars, both. They had an issue crop up from crunching the wall at Barber Motorsports Park last time out and had a vibration. His girlfriend and the family are coming to see him race on Sunday. Everything turns out peachy in Free Practice and qualifying but then in the race, everything turns pear shaped. A peach, or a pear, or a coconut, please.
Perocarpi was limping around after a pickup soccer game a few weekends ago. It is bizarre when you hurt yourself trying to stay fit especially as a race car driver. The lead battle between Neto and Walsh has really been going on since mid-season. Next year with the TCX and TC combination. Sad to see the TCA cars go away but it is time to change the format, and we will have shorter, 25-minute races and on some weekends, two of the seven, there will be three races instead of two. We see SRO following the ethos of touring car races with short, sharp races that will keep fans on the edge of their seats. It should be fun.
Jeff Ricca leading the TC class. He is four and a half seconds ahead of his teammate, Connor Attrell. Ricca has been a dominant force the last few years. Ricca races but is also working on other Hyundai's. He has real passion for this sport. Connor Attrell passes by Alain Lauziere. He has not been racing as much in recent years but might have his last chance to race here in TCA. Meanwhile, Walsh still shadowing Neto through traffic. It is hard to hit the disappear button through traffic. Not much to choose between the TC and TCX cars as Neto passes DeFreitas. DeFretias notices Walsh as as well and cordially moves out of the way.
Walsh is closer to Neto, only 8/10ths of a second behind Neto now. In the meantime, look, Aaron Kaplan is falling well into the clutches of Cooper Broll. Broll part of the Skip Barber Racing School stable along with Neto and Garcia. Broll has had four podiums in 2024. Kaplan has an ill-handling race car under him now and Broll is closing the gap. Broll looking threatening down Hulman Boulevard. Kaplan won't cover it and Broll throws it up the inside and makes the pass or tries too. Kaplan hanging tough on the inside and Broll makes the move. This is for fourth and fifth in TCX. Andy Sellers is traffic, the red Mini. He will point Broll and Kaplan by.
Just over ten minutes on the board. Kaplan trying to regroup. It is harder for him to hold the car through the transitions into the corners. Now Kaplan gets a great run through the esses, and poor old Cooper Broll might be losing steam here. Broll might have missed a shift, or the car is coughing and spluttering. Neto and Walsh are still slicing and dicing at each other, like a couple of swordsmen on horseback here. It is toasty out there this afternoon and these production-based cars have thresholds for temperature that shuts the motor off. The ambient temperatures are in the low 80s Fahrenheit as we see Neto and Walsh continuing to battle and Walsh runs wide through turn four.
These touring cars with the higher ride height and softer suspension than the GT cars, can absorb the shots over the curbs. This 40-minute race is split up like four quarters in a basketball game. Chris Walsh was a college football player up the road in Valparaíso, Indiana, and of course, Tom Walkinshaw Racing was based there with their Jaguar GTP and World Sports Car program in the late '80s and early '90s in the first iteration of IMSA GTP. Walsh is still looking for a way past Neto. He tried the inside but was not close enough to do a lunge. He has to think this out, keep the pressure on, and don't throw it away.
Neto is determined and knows he is in the fight. A handful of cars ahead are lapped traffic. The gap is still 6/10ths of a second. Nothing to choose between Neto and Walsh. Neto is determined and unflappable at this stage. Ah. Cooper Broll is indeed in trouble with the hood up. Such a shame because he was running fourth scrapping with Aaron Kaplan. Broll's Acura has a misfire. Walsh has a decent run trying to catch and pass Neto. Of course, catching is one thing and passing is different entirely. Neto knows he is there. Walsh goes around the outside or tries to and Neto hangs on as they almost bang doors!
It is so hard to protect your line under braking and they almost ran into each other at the apex. You cannot slow the car down efficiently. Neto has Walsh on his six. Down Hulman Boulevard, Walsh pokes his nose out again. Neto keeps Walsh at bay. Walsh establishes his line as Neto throws it off the road and into the grass! Walsh sees his rival's mistake and takes the lead back! Oh, mama! Walsh, the champion elect, back to the front in TCX with four and a half minutes to go. Walsh wriggles through the final turn and now he is vulnerable to Neto making a move.
These two have been the class of the TCX field. Walsh is the champion, but who will win and kiss the bricks at Indianapolis? They split the Mini of Alain Lauziere, the French-Canadian touring car racer. Walsh slams the door back in Neto's face. Walsh will consolidate his advantage. When you are two or three lanes over you don't know where your competitor is. Neto's dander is up. Walsh is motoring away on the defensive. There is offline debris that Neto goes over. They make contact, door to door at the end of Hulman Boulevard. Neto gets chopped and moves ahead of Neto. Neto fighting back to the inside with the door slammed in his face. Neto shows his nose. Walsh not giving him room under braking.
Two and a half minutes to go, two laps, in the second to last race of the year. Neto again to the inside. No dice. No grip on the inside line. Watch out for turn seven. Keep it clean. Walsh runs wide bounding over the curbs! He is back on track almost right in front of Neto who must take evasive action! Side by side! Neto through the grass! Neto gets his nose chopped again! Neto has clag, grass, and junk all over his tires now. He mowed the lawn, taking care of Roger Penske's well-manicured grass unintentionally. Neto is wrestling with a loose race car. I think this victory is going to be signed, sealed, and delivered, for Walsh.
White flag next time by. Neto, was he inside track limits? We'll have to see. One minute to go. White flag. One lap left. Cooper Broll is just up the road. Neto's car recalcitrant under braking. He backs it into the turn, dancing the Acura on its nose! Cooper Broll and the TCA leader of Alex Garcia up ahead. Neto closes in but cannot attack at the end of Hulman Boulevard. Walsh is balked. Walsh clears Garcia and here comes Neto on the isndie on the south end of the oval! Walsh looking to the outside hits the grass. Two corners remaining. Next the right hander to the frontstretch. Celso Neto wins it! The Brazilian prevails! What a motor race! What a motor race!
Alex Garcia wins in TCA for the first time since Virignia International Raceway back in July. Jeff Ricca will win the TC class in controlling fashion over the sister GenRacer Hyundai's, his customers, including Connor Attrell, Ron Zaras, and Vin Anatra. Cameron Steller at 16 years old in his first race, he scores a podium. The team are working on a plan for 2025. A podium is a great place to start.
Overall/TCX: #22 Celso Neto Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S
TC: #78 Jeff Ricca Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N1 TC
TCA: #14 Alex Garcia Skip Barber Racing Honda Civic Si FE1
Cue the dance music for the results. 6/10ths of a second the margin at the yard of bricks. What a drive for Celso Neto! An incredible battle and Cristian Perocarpi comes in to congratulate Celso Neto. Wow. Great day for the Skip Barber organization and team boss Joe Denitto and the owners of Skip Barber Racing School, Dan and Anthony Demonte. Skip Barber Racing School has big plans in the realm of motor racing. So, that puts race one for TC America in the books. One race remaining in the championship, on Sunday morning. Join us then, to put the cherry on the sundae for the 2024 SRO TC America season. For now, from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, bye bye.
No comments:
Post a Comment