RACE 2 | WATKINS GLEN | Pirelli GT4 America 2021

[Music] [Music] picturesque watkins glen international is the site of round 10 of the pirelli gt4 america season this 3.37 mile 11 turn road course provides a unique mix of challenge and opportunity for the 32 gt4 cars that are about to be turned loose here in upstate new york for a 60-minute sprint to the checkered flag hello everyone my name is ryan marine i've got calvin fish alongside me in the broadcast booth kyle heyer down on the pit lane formation laps underway here at watkins glen calvin wild race yesterday we expect more of the same today yeah perfect weather conditions very cool here this morning at watkins glen just in the low 60s right now tracks in perfect shape and we've got a fierce battle on our hands here today between all the uh subclasses within this sprint x format it always puts on a show i don't expect any different here this morning story lines upon story lines and we'll get to them but first let's take a high-speed tour of watkins glen with john haylin in our porsche track preview hi my name is jan halen welcome to the porsche track preview here at watkins glen coming on to the front straightaway crossing start finish getting ready to break downhill into turn one deep on the brakes hitting that apex and then watch for track limits here on the exit of turn one getting ready to turn into the famous assets here at watkins glen really fun part of the track in this porsche gt3r going up the hill no lift here onto the back straightaway and then getting ready to break into the bus stop deep on the brakes here close to the 150 signboard and then hard over the curbs here into the bus stop and then back to power into the carousel carousel one of the faster corners on the track hard in small tap on the brake and then quickly back to power so much downforce here from the car really fun deep on the brakes here into turn six lots of camber here from the track back to power using up all that exit and then same for turn seven lots of camber here from the track so you can really drive it in deep and then accelerating up the hill ready to get on to this little back stretch into turn eight turn eight one of the best places to overtake uh if you're in a hot battle breaking down the hill again apexing the corner and then watch for track limits here on the exit and then breaking up the hill for turn nine turn nine being the slowest corner on the track and you'll see not much room for error here on the exit right next to that wall and then into turn 10 which is the fastest corner on the track over 100 mile an hour using all that exit curb pushing the car back over to the left ready for turn 11 last corner small tap on the brake and then exiting right next to that wall onto the front straightaway and that was a lap at watkins glen gt3 car gt4 car it doesn't matter this place is a roller coaster ride no matter what you are piloting around watkins glen and this gt4 field about to put on a show for us here today first up two formation laps complete which gives us a chance to chew on a couple of the story lines from yesterday and calvin one of them certainly is the late news of a changed the result from race one overnight toby gracovic and stephen mcaleer had finished second on the road overall first in the silver category but a technical infraction not only moved them to the back of all classified cars yesterday but has them starting at the back of the field today yeah and that's a big hit today uh to take because uh they've had a really fast car here this weekend but um you know it's just one of those deals rules are rules and uh one guy's also got a lot of work to do here is bill auberlin his teammate james jr had an incident in the first qualifying session and the rebound affected that was the ability in the seventh time didn't get out during that session so cut his way through the field yesterday they were deep in the pack obviously from the incident and james starting well deep in the field but um i don't think even oberlin can perform magic with the strength of this field to get to the front here today good news for stephen cameron racing their bmw qualified second overall by greg leofooge is good to go to start from the outside of the front row with this race that car was utilized earlier today in the gt america powered by aws race and sean quinlan the car's other driver here in this race format had some contact sustained some damage they only had a little over an hour to enact repairs and there's the car right there good to go and that's big for one of the championship mainly contenders damage but you never know did they have enough time to put it back up on the setup pad and make sure the alignment is correct so i'm sure right now greg leah fuji is kind of feeling this car out on this uh reconnaissance lap here spencer pump ali a brilliant lab in qualifying yesterday to put that trg lasalle solutions porsche on the pole looking for big things today for he and derek deboer and again he'll have that greg leah foods driven bmw starting alongside they were part of the conversation yesterday because their championship rivals the nola sport tandem of matt travis and jason hart did not take part in the race yesterday that's because matt travis was officiating his sister's wedding but he made sure he got back here in time for the race today practiced earlier in the weekend left yesterday arrived somewhere around 4am this morning and he and jason hart will start in 11th the championship lead diminished because they didn't take part yesterday but it could have been a whole lot worse because the cameron car wasn't quite as strong as we might have expected yeah that 63 point lead could have taken a big hit but they only lost eight points with the positioning of the stephen cameron racing bmw but today they got a lot of work to do eleventh overall eighth in class and leah fish starting from the front row those are just some of the manifold story lines up and down this grid of 32 gt4 cars pro am silver and m class is all up for grabs great field in perfect alignment spencer pompelli will take them to the green flag in the trg porsche craig leafy alongside in the orange and blue bmw then it's elliott's skier and aaron povolato in the second row green black flies and they fan out three wide about three rows deep in this field i think it may be john miller they're looking for a way around the outside here they're three four wide there's they're trying to get down towards the apex this is going to be really tight you do have that runoff room there on the x everyone gets through right now i was tight though it sure was but that's a case of the drivers listening to the drivers briefing where getting through turn one was certainly stressed earlier in the weekend side by side for second elliott skier giving that premier racing cayman a great run he grabs second leah foosh has dropped back substantially and here comes a move from owen trinkler aaron povaleto kitten cook here come the aston martin brigade leah fuji is going backwards in a hurry i wonder if that car is 100 healthy aston martin's looking really strong there big battle ken and cook trying to make some moves now they looked really good yesterday too did the aston side by side here close to the outside it's covalently inside for that brand new team that has been so impressive didn't get to hang on to the exact finishing position they had yesterday we could talk about that more later because the paddle is well and truly gone they've been side by side for three corners cook versus paul valedo as they come out of turn seven and head towards the heel of the boot big battles throughout this field is the 47 machine looks like jason hart's now had not the best opening lap here here comes christian to the inside of ian james marilla racing mercedes versus heart of racing aston martin and here comes heart now big day free and james yesterday he and gray newell finishing second in class first podium run for that duo here in spring oh there's a touch there so in the carbon audi just behind toby grahovic who's driving that car that had to start at the back we told that story just a few moments ago up to are able to gain a number of spots here early on looks like trent hidman forced to go defensive in the rs one porsche look at oberlin the back of this field here trying to make some moves but there's no easy pickings it is a really strong feel with all of the pros starting here today and it's surprising to see trent hitman that far back but this is a new program he and charlie beluwardo's opening here this weekend they've got bellhaven sponsorship on that car wanted to give a shout out to matt dalton who started the year with this team of course the belhaven part of his package and matt injured in a crash earlier this year we know you're watching wish you the speedy recovery and all indications are matt would like to be back in a race car asap but for now trent hidden and charlie valuardo in porsche machinery representing the rs1 team look at this battle think about some of the names we'll talk about so much talent out there tom dyer trent [Music] just can't take your eyes off of it everywhere you look there's somebody fighting for position three different classes all mixed up together as well ooh light move there from heart able to get to the inside of i believe that's cole carollo who's starting the ccr team tfb car here today aren't able to make some progress here after dropping back on the initial start to this race conquest racing made its season debut in the last race weekend at watkins glen colin mullin got the call up once again this weekend paired with makai stevens he's in that silver mercedes in the middle of this battle pack yeah great battle here with john miller here through this really fast left-hand sweeper bit of road to use if you need it on exit street rhythm to this section quick tap on the brakes turn it in squeeze back on the pad use all of the road there look how tight they get to that wall [Music] played out man this is fierce stuff all throughout the field dire to the inside of carallo gets the move made hidman having to be defensive there he's still mixed up with shim shack as well as grahovic i'm sure the grouchovic actually started at the back of the package with that formation like we saw one now that would make more sense certainly so apologies there for the incorrect information nevertheless it's still not the kind of starting position you would anticipate from that pairing that has been so strong since they came together back in circuit of the americas in the second race weekend of the year awesome is this racing ship shack there down in 16th position overall our silver class leaders of the championship by the big day here yesterday with the 11 car being demoted there's been a lot that has taken place and we're just five minutes and three seconds into this race still a long way to go if you're new to pirelli gt4 america 60 minutes there is a pit stop in the middle just for a driver change the tires you start on are the tires you finish with we'll see the mandatory pit stop window between 35 and 25 minutes remaining on the clock this is though the front of the field spencer pompeli the overall pulse sitter leading elliot skier back in competitive racing for just the second weekend in a number of years he was racing in for this team at road america and i thought it gave the car a really good ride and had a nice strong run yesterday showing his quality here with a nice run in second at the moment look owen trickler got to the front of that little pack of aston martin's now running third overall and in pro am this is owen in the wr racing aston martin filling in for brandon davis this weekend alongside paul terry terry had a nice run here yesterday as well so a lot of pace in that car can cook up and over the curbing there a little bit pavaletto in his wheel tracks in his shadows there then comes leah foose he's kind of rebounded from not a great opening lap here [Music] that's today in he's still running ahead of his quarry as far as the points are concerned in pro-am that's the 47 nola sport car that came through the back of the shot just a few moments ago keep a close eye on jason hart and then when matt travis is installed he's usually there amongst the fastest in his portion of these races excuse me mercedes at the back of this pack here is uh kyle malcelli and we've done practice the 79 machine for rentec that's a pairing they came together for the first time i believe at road america and they're back together here for the rintech team and putting some pressure here is marceli big time on leah foose leaf shuts the door on him there didn't close it completely but didn't give him a call with where he's looking for sally a gt4 champion a couple of years ago in north america so a lot of experience in this field definitely so has a lot of experience winning races in gt3 as well over the last few years jason hart to the inside of dyer can he get alongside no not for now that will stall out some of his progress at least temporarily that car a nice run he's got thomas merrill and another porsche cayman right behind him fly around this circuit so much grip here at watkins glen international perfectly suited to these gt4 well machines was wild there from auburn really wide there coming off that final corner as he's trying to cut his way through this field got halfway essentially that that shot is equal parts thrilling and terrifying that's a great camera great job by the crew to get that position there really shows the speed and commitment around that corner and that carries through for the rest of this racetrack too art continuing to put the pressure on dyer who himself is trying to find a way around ian james that's the way it goes in pirelli gt4 america spencer pompeli extending the lead now to eight tenths of a second then back down to owen trinkler here in third place as we watch the battle for the final step of the podium let's head to the pit lane and kyle heyer thanks ryan down here with derek deboer for the number 66 trg porsche currently leading overall right now derek so spencer pompeli has a pretty commanding lead at the moment do you think you can hang on when you get jump in the car that's the plan and you know spencer's just up there doing what he does best and staying in front of everybody and trying to build me a gap you know the the team we've been really working on the car this weekend and i think today we finally have the setup that we were looking for had a little bit of you know the racing god smiled on us a little bit in qualifying yesterday and uh let us be in the front so that's where the porsche thrives we know racing could get pretty fierce and the pit stop and driver change always mixes things up so as we head into the final half of this race how comfortable have you been this weekend here at watkins glen it's a fast grippy racetrack how have you acclimated to the speeds around here you know like i said we've been chasing it a little bit just uh trying to find that perfect setup and we were a little bit off through practice and qualifying and not a lot of run time so we kind of threw the dice last night at it the trg guys did an awesome job we've got a bunch of our friends from lasalle here watching so you know my job is to get in the car and keep it where spencer has it so keep those fast life tv uh kids on the hood in the front derek aims to keep the 66 up front after the driver change ryan looks like there was a moment on track for kenton cook we see a bunch of grass in the grill of that aston martin this one right here and he also dropped a couple of spots on that lap aaron povaleto and greg leafous both have made their way past the b sport racing aston yeah he was sandwiched in that aston martin battle between trinkler and pavaletto so he's obviously had a bit of an office drop some track position another big concern is that what sort of readout he's seeing but certainly uh derrick dubois brought up a great point and that the racing guard smiled on them a little bit very damn drying racetrack for spencer pump penalty to grab that pole position but they got the job done and since that point they got the track position they had the poor position and as he said we've worked on the race count got into a sweet spot so let's see what they can do with it maybe come through spencer has been slowly but steadily extending that lead just fractions of a second here and there but it's up to 1.1 over elliott skier owen trinkler has closed in on elliott though and it's now just four tenths of a second between sec uh third make that second and third and aaron povolato certainly in the mix as well interesting to see though the problems here for kitten cook because he has the fastest lap of the race so far i think's not totally uh just perfection for him and the b sport team at the moment especially with all that grass right there sully here at the back of this little lead pack is looking like he has a lot of promise and potential in that car but just cutting through the field mercedes doesn't seem to be strong in the correct places to make a move so here's a big battle here ian james and tom dyer up into the break zone for turn nine this has been brewing for a few laps now fights for second also bruins skier leaves just enough room there and here comes trinkler going to try the long way around in 11. watch pavaletto though he's going to get a big run on these two i feel yup you called it calvin now with the double slip stream up ahead what can aaron do for this brand new team 3r povolato racing he and roshu west have been a great pairing here so far this weekend they're first in an aston martin skier holds off the challenge and that opens the door for aaron he slides through on owen yeah he handled that really nicely didn't over commit down into the brakes on the term one just kind of left oh on out to dry there a little bit on the outside so we saw the opportunity evolve as they came through turns 10 and 11 and just made it stick by the end of turn one that costs twinklers some momentum greg leafous swings to the inside now in the stephen cameron racing car that has dropped back since the start of this race able to swing up the inside and grab another spot so just a few moments ago trinkler was the aggressive at the aggressor rather and now has dropped back a couple of spots here in just a few corners as we keep a close eye on the conquest racing car colin bowen who was slowly bringing this pack into his grasp fastest lap the race right now for the conquest racing machine of colin mullins so he's catching this group as they squabble for positions here nice move there by pavaledo so he's got a round skier and moves him up to second great drive from him and now spencer pompelli becomes the quarry for aaron povaledo who is running there and then aston martin skier has dropped back to second falling into the clutches of another aston denying car here that's trinkler so sorry he didn't drop back as much as i thought that was actually kitten cook now who's behind leofooge and this is the car on the move he made the pass on ian james a few laps ago and since then colin mullin has been flying to the front he has a lot of pace there and i think that fellow mercedes in front of him carl marcelli has got pace but just can't seem to figure out a way to get through this traffic right now told the story yesterday but colin a student at ohio state university and made the drive up to watkins glen after completing his physics lab on thursday a little bit faster here today as he did yesterday two youngsters with a lot of promise that john farrow is in principle alongside eric bachelard of this program and plucked up and given them a great chance we know stevens will be in the car for the rest of the year who will be alongside is a bit to be determined but colin mullin is loving every opportunity he's been given in making a solid case for a repeat performance down the road yeah paul valedo has kind of escaped that little battle that was squabbling over those uh final podium positions right now i know it's early in the going but paul valedo's aston martin has a lot of pace could be interesting on this clear lap now now he's escaped that traffic to see if he can close in on our leader spencer pompelli before we get to the pit stop opening which will be in about 10 minutes time trampler able to pounce on skier and you know that's the car that was started by adam adelson yesterday and he was running nicely at the front but late in his run he started to drop back too and i just wonder if they don't have the long run handling quite dialed into that car because we're seeing basically the same thing happen here today yeah almost identical very strong for about 10-15 minutes in the stint and then kind of fighting just a little bit that's all it takes as close as this field is to my eye at least some of that grass situation has been dealt with by cook and yeah marcel is slowing down sully's slowing he's uh you can see mullen got by and this lab he's lost another couple of positions so some kind of issues here for kyle dyer and james have made the pass recently here comes jason hart as well aren't now 10th in pro-am that would be for them leah just not having a great day albeit he's in and that would be another spot though assuming marceli's problems can't be rectified quickly and as a fellow class car should set the classes for you at the moment here comes hard up the inside we'll see how hard marceli fights this it's quite a wide berth i have to say at the apex but it's not done yet but now it is yeah both drivers trying to fit as much as they could at the critical moment as they came down towards the apex their heart was up and over the inside curve and marcelli as you say gave plenty of room top five like that top six overall are pro-am class cars then you get to the silver leader which is colin mullin he runs seven in the overall problem gosh remember we talked about that contact yep earlier today maybe one of those hood pins or catches was loosened a little bit and this is massive for jason hart and matt travis were buried in the pack a little bit they were the closest challenger in the points well if travis and hart can escape running only one of the two races this weekend and effectively come out actually with a better point situation than they started that's what they're in position to do potentially here today given that issue there for leah foose that's uh that's a pretty remarkable achievement [Music] dexter racing aston followed by the smooch racing toyota supra at supra right now is not in the top two in am a little bit further down the order john jezree driving warren dexter driving this aston martin and they deserve a lot of credit for what aaron povaldo has been able to do because they are assisting that car get up to speed and as i say it here comes aaron he has caught spencer pompeli in the slipstream pokes the nose to the inside then slots back in line but we've got a battle for the overall lead yeah incredible pace there with that 50 machine right now so what a debut weekend with them and that aston martin chassis had the big shunt at road america a couple of weeks ago had to regroup switch teams switch chassis and have a performance like this looking for the lead early how about this a brand new team and 3r povolato racing going up one of the established teams in north american sports car racing trg and right now there's nothing between the two you see a local yellow ahead of the inner loop there and what that does effectively is take away a potential passing zone you can't pass there in the local yellow sector they're using that to cover the stranded car so we don't have to go full course yellow but that's one of the implications he has a great point ryan is a prime overtaken opportunity if you can get that big run but right now palvaledo has better pace but then we get into the racecrafter spencer pompelli he'd love to hold on to this now the pit lane opening time will happen in about six minutes but we expect these pros to really kind of eat into that 10 minute window so there's maybe another 20 minutes here that spence is going to have to try and hang on with this lead with and then the race changes because that's when the driver change occurs and especially in these pro-am lineups it becomes the less experienced driver behind the wheel and they're left to finish out the race on sunday full course yellow comes out that breaks off this duel for now it also occurs just prior to the pit stop window so that's gonna bunch everybody up and make pit stop execution even more crucial than it already is yeah i think uh leah foose's car there's just in a problem area is it meant to be a runoff area if you have a technical issue typically is when you're going to bail down there and with the car just sitting there it's right in an impact zone so they have to get that one cleaned up and it's going to be a little bit of a reset here and i guarantee as soon as we go back to green flag racing that pit lane window will be open and then it's all about strategy what do you do with it now it's absolutely heartbreaking for leo fouge and quinlan the stephen cameron racing team did a nice job as of late to stay in touch in the pro-am championship thought this might be the weekend where they could make some headway just because of the scheduling issues for matt travis and forcing them to miss yesterday's race and they did make some ground up not as much as they might have and then pretty much all that washes away it does unfortunately but that's what championship season is all about i mean you'd love to go through it be a smooth sailing but you're gonna have these ups and downs and just consequences of these dual racing programs that a lot of these teams are doing with the gt america class racing a little bit earlier today and chassis being shared it can have that trickle-down effect on you did want to mention and follow up on a story i i made mention of the fact earlier that aaron povaletto ross west it looked like they had a podium on debut yesterday and that got changed around post race so from that podium they got moved back to fourth fifth overall but fourth in pro-am the stewards ultimately handing down a one position penalty for causing a collision late in that race uh and they actually were affected by a stewards decision in another race yesterday too in in gt america powered by aws competition today's race over there was a bit more straightforward so far it has been here too no matter what however you cut it this has been a phenomenal debut for a brand new team that was thrown together in just a couple of weeks it has uh super impressive because the standard and the level in sprint x this year is simply phenomenal when you look at some of the drivers that are out there and the experience you've got pen pali continuing to lead from poverto but owen tringle elliot skier kenton cook colin mullin died james hart marceli hinman and then oberlin has cut his way from the very back of this deep field all the way up to 12th overall he's going to have another little nibble here i feel before he turns over the reins to his teammate here james walker jr it's all about the timing here and the way the pit window works in the event that the safety car period overlaps with that window you cannot serve your mandatory pit stop under yellow so effectively they'll just move that window back when the race goes green good grief is that matt no that's john allen chris wilson ah speaking of john allen he uh he got sheared yesterday he did they had an overall pull as a team uh and chris wilson put that car on the pole and john was so excited he let john capestro do bets from a rival team come over and shave his big old beard off he's someone who's ready to go james clay looks like he's got his game face on quickly though to close up on the the pit window situation um so if it should have to actually you know what it becomes uh academic here because we're not gonna have to deal with it so we'll save that explanation for another time and instead focus on the restart because spencer papali and company are about to hit the loud pedal once again effects are turned 11 is the go zone and here he goes he goes a little bit early catches aaron pavaletto by surprise now takes the pressure off pompeii as they head down towards turn one looks like the fight is going to be for third fourth and fifth in the overall order skier taking a peek to the inside of trinkler and behind him that's ken cook who for a time had the fastest lap of the race that has been superseded by eric plato a few laps ago nice clean restart in the perfect restart if you're spencer pimpelli look at colin mullin there and that conquest racing silva mercedes there in the middle of this pack he's had some big moves and there's a lot of pace in that machine starting to close up on kitten cook a little bit in this run towards the inner loop pompelli his lead that he earned there with that restart it has disappeared povaldo is right back where he was before the full course yellow came out and broke off their duel on that charge to the front poverto has occurred fastest lap of the race so far nipping colin mullins time so he now sets it at 155.6 side by side between skier and ken and cook there down into turn six two young drivers on a similar career trajectory getting great lifelines with their respective programs and showing just how good they are right now though advantage kenton cook and that b-sport racing team kenton makes the pass on the cayman look at the run that dyer gets on mullen that was beautifully judged there by tom dyer aboard the car bomb with peregrine racing audi and gets to the inside and makes the move colin though trying to fight back along around the outside and he's able to hold firm now the track comes back his direction can dire old station on the outside that was awesome racing between those two and just showcases this watkins glenn layout how you can get super racy still side by side died just clears it by the time they turn in to turn 10 there great fight between the veteran dyer and the up-and-comer colin mullin former champion in this series in a mclaren for andretti autosport alongside jared andretti pit window is open and a few takers here early on and if you've got a good co-driver to jump in you'll take that early opportunity certainly for classic bmw toby did a nice job there but he's going to turn over the reigns to stephen mcaleer ryan dexter set to take over for warren dexter tim barber from cole corrallo and the other thing is these guys will have a clear track to work with with the rest of the field all bunched up full that for that full course yellow we'll soon see some of those pit stop times coming in but the fight for the lead continues with pompeli trying to keep povelado at bay yeah let's not forget you can't use these tires up too much there's no tire change in gt4 sprint x competition you got to maintain that same set of tyres for the full 60 minutes so leave your teammates something to hang on with here that's exactly what spencer papelli has to be thinking about while he's trying to drive the racetrack while he's trying to try to hold off this challenge from aaron povaleto aston martin versus porsche the aston of owen trinkler and getting cook behind much as we saw yesterday calvin as the race has gone along the astons seem to come to the fort they do they're very strong here but spencer's car looks to be well balanced it doesn't look like it's squirming around so that's good news it probably means that the entire life is going to be good here the other thing is with the amount of grip that you see here at watkins glen with the racing surface means you're not sliding across the road and you're generating those tire temps very cool day as well so all of these co-drivers should be in pretty good shape when they jump in here on these uh pit stops coming up initial pit stops are complete 76 seconds is the pit lane delta minimum looks like the dexter's nailed it they were only a tenth of a second over a little bit slower was the grohovic to macclear changes here comes poverto he gets the run ryan down to the inside how deep can he take it on the brakes can spencer roll that outside lane looks like he's gonna have to give it up can he do the crisscross here and get back to the inside he cannot aaron povaleto to the point three are povaldo racing leads in their debut weekend here at watkins glen but spencer pompeli trying to come back through the s's said he loves this part of the track since the rebate of these gt4 cars yeah i think spencer's thinking maybe my teammate can get the job done so let's not fight too hard but it's a big run here down the back stretch not enough to clear aaron aaron slows it down nicely once that tighter line there protecting on the inside it was a good counter punch from spencer but aaron had the answer and now able to pull away showing the strength of that aston martin platform conquest ways racing making their stop colin mullin giving away to makai stevens driver change done they released that car got to be careful where you got hot tires once you got make sure you get the good launch so if you're running it right down to say just go and run at the speed limit and you'll be right on the number you can't afford any baubles otherwise you're going to be giving up time there chris wilson take over as well for john allen they were a little bit under the minimum but i don't believe they used their joker yesterday so they'll be all right good start for conquest a couple of tents underneath that minimum and again i don't think they used their joker yesterday so that should be good everyone's right up with the game in terms of utilizing that on day two if you didn't unuse one on day one most of the stops have been pretty clean a couple from the m class that have extended longer than you would hope anybody else within a second or two of the minimum time you're looking for nearly halfway through the pit window we are expecting these pools to stay out there drive time here today even so you got to watch the traffic up ahead you don't want to get into that gap that you've created by trying to deal with lap traffic off to bail in early whatever the drama was for cook earlier they cost him a couple of spots we saw the grass in the radiator he has answered he has charged his way forward and now is starting to challenge spencer pompeli for second here's a silver class fight this is four-class position here between three cars actually with kenny murillo in the murillo racing car working his way to the inside of ryan dexter in the dexter racing aston and tim barber now on the ccr by tfb bmw something not quite right there for the murillo car lost a ton of momentum but now back up to pace trying to get the spot he just lost to barbara back yeah good good eye there he definitely lost a little bit of acceleration there so trying to regroup just made their pit stop on the previous lap so you're right it's kenny marillo behind the wheel right now trying to repeat what they did yesterday there's his teammate having done a really solid job as they have all year long [Music] this contact coming off that corner which kind of prohibited getting back to power is really tight there coming through the toe of the boot this would be possibly the explanation for the problem for shim shack door-to-door contact there calvin yeah i'm not sure if this was on murillo's out lap or not i think it would have been they came in i believe the second time around whereas we saw the dexter's they were one of the first [Music] that's what happens when you get out there and you're not quite into your rhythm yet just trying to exist on the racetrack now we see the leaders battling their way through a little bit of traffic here that's the automatic racing aston relatively new team to the championship right there in the thick of things that's the silver aston that is behind the leader aaron povaledo and now right in the way there's much he could do about it that's a one lane part of the race track of spencer pompeli getting the cook right there too watching waiting trying to see if he's got a chance to make an attack or if he can just clear the lap car and he does yeah and these leaders gonna have to come in this lap i feel can't squeeze another one out so be a lot of activity a bunch of cars yet to make that first round of pistols would you expect on day two with the pro starting i want to maximize that drive time particularly after that reset with the relatively late full course yellow period during this first in racing elegant skier made the call to the pit lane on this slap he's giving way to adam adelson it's a pro-am class car here comes kitten cook looking to the inside of pompelli that is close between the two of them but they get away without any contact yeah just really great driving between the two of them recognizing to give each other just enough room fighting for position here don't want to throw it all away you're not going to gain much if you're heading a pit lane this go around but certainly it can be significant if you have that track position you do equal pit stops you would assume your teammate would then lead that car when you exit pit lane dyer entering the picture too in the carbon audi just behind these two he'll give way to samir gandhi just a matter of moments we expect to see everyone who has not done so already diving into the pit lane and yes indeed that is the call it would be tight it'd be so super tight to try and squeak another one out as you can see there time on the board been running lap times 156's i believe is the fast 155 maybe fastest lap of the day sort of been really tight to try and squeak another one not worth the risk the skier to adelson stop was pretty good just seven tenths 1.7 tenths over the minimum and here we go new team going to work just the second time they've done this driver change in the line of fire should be plenty of time you've got about 45 seconds to work with you lose 31 seconds just coming down pit lane at 50 kilometers an hour 76 second minimum you plenty of time just keep it calm don't panic don't sit on the belts ideally you should have all of this done and probably have about 10 seconds of play with it just be released working with the stopwatch to know the exact time to release the car and not waste any time schwest will have some recent track knowledge he took part in the prolly gt4 america race earlier today but it does not look like that was a clean stop for the team they dropped a couple of spots there you can see it and it was b sport racing that seems to have taken advantage big gainer right there gunprick may have been holding up a little bit look they were gabbing so either brian pott was going too quick oh gunprick wasn't going fast enough to look like there was a big game here's the problem was released too soon and even slowing down like he did he still was under the minimum that's going to hurt him and it hurt everyone who was stuck in that train behind him too that's exactly right the team must have radioed you've got to lose some time before you get the pit out and he still didn't lose enough but it certainly hurt everyone else including derek gabor derek deboer now driving through the red mist he's moving to the inside trg porsche around rintec mercedes oh he's wide he's wide he just keeps it together pushing hard here tires are not cold obviously they stayed on the race car but just sat still for about a minute on pit lane really tight stuff here all these drivers fresh into their respective race cars and immediately into the fight 24 minutes remaining pit window closed so now we let the field cycle through and take stock of the situation looks like b-sport racing though the big winners in that whole situation there to come out with the overall race lead and look at this gaggle of cars behind this is wild oh big move down to the inside that's paul terry i believe and he gets into the side that's rash light move down to west inside and just turns him and that pivots him around now that's the erstwhile race later maybe yes that's disappointing two really strong cars this morning that's the one that owen trinkler started right here here let's take a look at it again everyone getting really defensive everyone close together and fresh out of the pits right into the thick of the battle yeah just big commitment there down to the inside and look at the 47 the championship leader just escapes nice heads up driving there i think that was matt travis would have been wow think about how that might have changed in a flash uh that was wild just um i think for but i mean paul was a little bit aggressive down at the inside but i think also for schwest he could have given him a little bit of room if he recognized he was there to avoid that accident i would suggest another big winner in this so far as travis now is stalking adam adelson was the silver cup car from uh classic bmw steve mcelroy are taking over for topek rehovac random vandals racing car with a problem here paul sparta driving the number 98 and it is dead stick at the moment gunpricks has gone for a spin there in the inner loop action everywhere right now is things trying to settle in with the second drivers now behind the wheel kevin conway replacing john jespring in that super that's in the middle of that trio but i think what this classic team was able to do they pitted really early and that gave stephen mcaleer a clean race track to work with he turned in a bunch of fast laps and that has vaulted him ahead in the order uh deep inside the top ten now running fifth overall and leading in the silver class ahead of the conquest car but not by much that's makai stevens giving chase right behind it was two tenths of a second at the line i don't think it's changed much from there and they've got derek deboer in their crosshairs yeah and uh some really fast race cars right now piloted by some really fast drivers as well so mcelroy gets the run gets to the inside of derek deboer as they head into turn 10. makai stevens right now in his shadows as well he looks for a way through this is where team communication is crucial this is not a class battle for derek deboer these are two silver class cars coming through and as long as he is aware of that he'll know not to fight them too hard and thereby lose time relative to those he actually is racing for position ray newell doing another great job here coming off the podium run yesterday he sits fifth on the road third at the pro am class i'm gonna try and chase down that trg that's porsche what he's doing the best all-around weekend another great new one we've seen all season long not just in this championship but also in the single driver gt america see uh races so far this weekend another local yellow here going into the inner loop and that's slowing down quite considerably here [Music] you shouldn't have been passing there i did see the green flag at the corner station at the exit of the interlude maybe it had been lifted before the pass was made there oh i see so that was actually travis maybe trying to make the pass and not the other way around yeah that makes more sense yeah that's how they came across the line someone would assume that's the case but it's tough you got to make the right calls there and recognize it and correct it as soon as you can because if you get to a certain point there's a couple of cars in between you and the car that you passed you can't just give it back fight for silver lead going on right there between mcaleer and stevens and this is for second in pro am with derek deboer fending off the far less experience grain newell this is his first season of racing and anything extensive testing last year to get him ready but as you talked about yesterday calvin it's been a learning experience learning how to race and we're seeing that he's made some high marks on his tests here as of late [Music] really done a great job and not that far behind remarkably is james walker junior so we talked about that car starting at the back of the pack is now down at the inside here comes mcaleer makes the move for the overall lead he already leads in the silver class but kai stevens gets a run as well so big battle here brian puck gives it up that's the pro-am leader electing to let those two silver class cars go on by and settle back in focus on the big picture of his class lead as colin mullin looks on and that lead is nearly three and a half seconds between putt and uh the derrick de board driven trg car that is embroiled in a confrontation right now with brain newell so that's absolutely the right play let these silver cars come through that are in the midst of their own fight for the class lead don't lose much time if at all possible and then build your rhythm build your gap he's right where he wants to be as far as the pro-am fight is concerned well i believe this mercedes may be a little bit quicker but trying to get around stephen mcelroy with his racecraft and natural speed has got not going to be easy now makai stevens does not have much gt4 racing experience at all certainly in the pro ranks where road america was his debut but he has done quite a bit of racing in single seaters although it's been a little while he was part of the jeremy shaw's team usa scholarship went over to the uk to race for the ford races and actually finished third in the walter hayes trophy which is no mean feat yeah now give you give you a good idea of what kind of talent he has and turned that into a few opportunities to do some junior open wheel racing here at the states but it's kind of stalled out for him ever since until this chance came and told the story earlier about colin mullen getting the shot thanks in part to a shootout that john farrow put on for aspiring young drivers oh is this uh i thought i might have saw a tire down there but quickly to wrap up the story about makai he's been out of racing since 2016 but this is a chance to get back in it and he's showing just how good he and colin can be with this brand new operation let's go down to the pit lane where kyle was standing by hi ryan with aaron povaleto for the number 50 car and came in leading the race now of course car got spun out after so there's an uphill climb towards the end of the race but how confident are you that ross can take care of that you know ross is going to do the absolute best that he can uh there's a heck of a car underneath him it's our first weekend driving this aston martin i love this machine i'm already falling in love with it it's such a strong car takes care of its tires pretty well it's competitive in all the main boxes it is so much fun to fight and push with it so ross has just got to put his head down push as hard as he can make us all proud here just a momentary setback for the number 50 guys just a little one aaron's a great character always upbeat always smiling look at this battle grey nil has got around derek deboer and james walker has followed him through so that is uh podium positions right there what a run for that 34 bitterworld car stopping at the very back of the field up in reproam podium position that's a great point great opening stint from bill auberlin but now james walker jr doing exactly what he needs to do slowly looks like reeling in gray newell a little bit and matt travis doing what nola sport needs to do their championship rivals had the issue earlier the hood went up for greg leafous that brought out the full course yellow so they will not be scoring points today curious to see the lap times ryan excuse me in terms of what these uh leaders are doing in pro-am brian platt's lead is not insurmountable there's a ton of time left on the board so for gray newell can he feel one better than they did yesterday here in james and get the victory and can james walker go with him that becomes the question right now it's matt travis working his way past derek deboer travis has tom capizzi in that auto technic bmw behind him i think that's uh the sign of a driver racing the championship in mind travis was pretty close to being alongside but backed out of it not to risk the issue and we'll live to fight again another day but in so doing that brings capizzi and also the dexter car into the mix coming up just an hour or so ago in the touring car race where he had contact with the wall up in turn nine so they had a brilliant run here yesterday grabbing that victory and lost in momentum forced travis on the defensive that's allowed the board to scoot away now travis had the answer looks like he's slowly reeling in at porsche once again and capizzi is in the crosshairs of brian dexter this is out of class here with the silver class dexter aston and back to the front we go where mikhail stevens is keeping the pressure on to the veteran stephen mcaleer i don't think flashing your headlights is going to do much to distract stephen mcelroy but nonetheless great performance here by makai car is really carving the corners i think the bmw is uh seems to be sliding a little bit more it seems to have a little bit of an edge in top speed so stephen just got really recognized we're his weak points on this circuit and really defend vigorously there and try and hold on still 14 minutes to go though stephen versus stevens here at the front of the field stephen mcelroy the scott now living in new york state and then we've got the chicago native mikai stevens right behind world from race control driver of the 79 report to the stewards post race [Music] this little gaggle coming off the front stretch de boer is uh really trying to hang on here but he's got a lot of tough cars behind him has passed travis so that's a position and he's about to have an out-of-class car in between him it looked like his ryan dexter was making his way around the outside 13 minutes left overall and silver cup up for grabs here that's one and two in that class good to see that paul sparta has been able to get the random vandals car going again look at gray newell this is for the class lead brian putt defense down to the inside gray is trying to set him up here he's escaped the attention to james walker so we can just focus forward in terms of trying to grab that lead right now what a weekend it's been for gray newell he's been on the podium a couple of times across two different series a win though would be a first for him and for ian james and he could see it it's right there and almost reach out and touch it but it's still 12 minutes to go and brian putt is not going to let that one go easy plus now you've got about got james walker jr entering into the conversation this is one two and three in pro-am yeah that traffic really has uh pushed this lead group closer together here so talking about grain nil does not have much race experience got a lot of track time last year just doing test days with the heart of racing team and james said he's come along nicely want to throw him in at the deep end now in terms of doing both championships here with gt america and sprint x gt4 but it's all about learning racecraft and he is showcasing it here this weekend full course yellow breaks off that fight in oh that's a heavy hit there two caymans trg and premiere and this is how it happened or at least the end of it yeah just uh trying to co-exist here on that little stretch between the toe and the heel of the boot it looked like they were already off further back maybe bounce back across the track even with some of the tire marks there yeah we've seen cars here lockhorns this weekend where you're suddenly accelerating off the corner as the trg looks on the spencer panpalli in the middle there on the headset probably talking to derrick right now oh and he just got sandwiched i think that slower car was uh kind of making everything get really tight there wow that was close for the murillo car silver cup points leader and nothing adam adelson could have done no i think you just had a lot of cars running together you had the uh vandals racing machine running slow on the side of the road so everything just got a kind of pinch there too many cars not enough real estate unfortunately and uh not sure you could point the blame anywhere there that's just an unfortunate racing situation eric deboer i think got the worst end of it adam adelson as well that was unbelievably close for kenny murillo and yeah you can see the disappointment on spencer pompeli just in the body language that's the overall pole sitting card here today yeah had a great run tried to hang on with that lead ultimately had to give it up before the round of pit stops to ever aaron pavaletto and then derek was uh kind of losing a few positions there and just unfortunate wrong place at the wrong time ten minutes left that was a big debris field a lot of fluid on the circuit and look at those barriers too i do wonder if there's enough time left it's gonna be super tight to see any more green flag racing action which is a shame for gray neal because he was right there with brian park for that pro-am lead and third overall same thing for the silver lead as well makai stevens the other side of the equation i think this helps the am class leader update here though on the 15 carve a drive-through short piss stop so i think they were underneath but maybe they're underneath yesterday did i call it with this be the case we'll try and sort that out but while we're doing that let's head down to the pits and kyle hi ryan was just talking with him james from the heart of racing aston martin team they just told me that they were not pushing to get by that number 15 b sport racing essen because they heard about the drive-through penalty so on this restart they should be the leader in class good update thank you kyle for that information yeah that's huge um i don't recall seeing them being more than one second and then he you get that one second joker once a weekend yeah this is huge for this team so much experience there with the crew and with ian james of course so they've got that right smile on their face right now knowing that 15 cars to serve that penalty or they'll get a 31 second time added to their race time at the checkered flag you can't serve the penalty under yellow we stay on the caution which i think we will a big cleanup going on here with not a ton of time to go so what that would do then under yellow conditions it would drop in 31 seconds probably out of the points i think it's safe to say and that would also then elevate a number of cars up further obviously good news i just saw derrick the ball get in the medical vehicle there so he looks to be okay definitely relieved to see that a couple of heavy impacts not just with the barriers but also with the adelson porsche as well uh but back to the implications of such a penalty that would move newell to the class lead walk her to second capeezy onto the podium and then travis and hart would score fourth place points which all things considered especially when quinlan and leofooge will not score points today that that should help put them in a much more solid position with four races remaining yeah and uh when you pass by leah fuji and uh quinlan you then get to cook and put who were leading this who were third in the point so they were going to kind of that championship lead but that's not going to happen now with this penalty that has to be served they're one of those teams the b sport racing team who like to work on those fine margins so we're not sure showing on timing and scoring a short pit stop but i don't recall seeing that we'll wait and see if we can get that information back on our screen to see what sort of time they did just reiterate you're allowed a one second joker so you could be underneath the minimum time of 76 seconds they were actually 74.2 so that's the reason it wasn't that they used it yesterday they were in fact underneath the minimum time by more than a second that is the drive-through penalty and just to uh clarify if you don't do it before the checkered flag you'll have 31 seconds added to your race time which will plummet them down the order i was keeping an eye on the am class prior to the yellow coming out and kevin conway held the lead over chris wilson but it was coming down about a second a lap wilson would have been there in a lap or two i think at that rate there was still plenty of time and this yellow might just have saved them and given smooge racing yet another class win they have won at least once in class every weekend this year but they've not swept yet as i recall this would be the first this is the car in question kevin conway driving john jaspray got the race started what a great combination in terms of the experience of conway and the youth and speed of john jesbray really impressive young man and great team tony ave leads this operation he has so much experience behind the wheel and just runs a great prep shop as well toyota supra this new gt4 machine has certainly made some waves this year getting some very impressive results and i want to see this turnkey platform from toyota sounds like two more are coming to this championship next year potentially a new team potentially a partnership with an existing one but some interesting stuff going on behind the scenes there and you brought up a great point i was going to do the same thing about tony ave and what he is doing with his team we've talked a lot about what smooch has done brand new team jezreel driver without much experience at all and they've been fast from the word go but it does help to have that veteran presence behind the scenes and that's what ave brings he does and uh so much experience there and you know he has a good association with bill riley they've run a co-op on a number of programs over the years so it's a natural choice for trd and toyota to uh get cars underneath tony's auspices and uh they're doing a fine job leading this championship they should probably enjoy running in the m class for the next four races because i don't think it's going to last a whole lot longer john i suspect is staring down the barrel of a silver driver ranking for next season but talking to him earlier he's just loving this he's found the series to be everything he hoped for and more he's been blown away by the amount of success they've been able to have and he's got a real mentor in kevin conway and all indications are they plan on being back together once again next year in some configuration whatever the driver ratings work out to be you only think they have the potential to step up you know to the pro-am class so that would be pretty cool to see it would and that's what this ladder system is all about in terms of the different classes throughout the sro organization we see in the touring car class with teams and drivers jumping from tca to tc and up to tcx this year and certainly within the gt4 competition as drivers get regraded given a different status that allows them to move up to the next class level one thing's for sure we're not going to see any more green flag running here today so they may like to check this early i'm not sure and that's uh unfortunate not the way we want to end these races but the good news is after a big crash everyone appeared to be all right able to watch the safety vehicle really feel for derek deboer he and spencer pompeli had a great race going and again just a strange set of circumstances white flag i think flying along with the yellow so we'll do one more lap behind the safety car here and uh call it done but uh yeah just a lot of cars all mixed together and one that was off the pace with an apparent problem everybody just arrived at the same place at the same time there wasn't enough room yes unfortunate and it's also uh taking the sting out the tail here in terms of some really good battles for leads in all of the classes here going right down the wire we as you mentioned chris wilson had a nice run going aboard the capstone mercedes could he have put pressure on conway for the am win we certainly talked about the pro-am battle with james walker close to pat and newell pat is gonna have to serve that penalty that puts newell in the league could he have hung on and then up front with mclean with makai stevens showing a lot of pace there in that conquest racing mercedes they had a good weekend did conquest at road america ran in the top 10 from time to time this has been an excellent weekend with some good results in both races there's no question everyone noticed they were here this weekend and they appear to be a force to be reckoned with for some time to come b sport racing are going to be super frustrated look good like they're going to grab their second win of the year potential points gain on the championship leaders who have had a difficult weekend with matt travis not competing here yesterday wasn't on site so they'd score any points yesterday obviously by not taking the green and then today a bit of a rebound up in the top five which will become fourth with putts penalty after the chequered flag here this afternoon now it all comes down then to the final four races of the season we head to sebring next for a couple of races there and then it wraps up on the road course at the indianapolis motor speedway in the build up to the indianapolis eight hour fastest lap of the race was set by this car back in the opening stint aaron povaleto we heard from him earlier set that lap rosh west had the spin at the beginning of his stint and unfortunately that has them down in ninth after potentially intending for a podium if not more they were the overall leaders at one stage back in the opening stint of the race had a slow pit stop and that's another team that probably will be kicking themselves a little because the slow pit stop is what put them in the situation to be in the traffic i mean you never know how it would have played out otherwise but the way it did play out they they ended up with the contact in the spin and cost them what might have been a very good result here talk about the venues that we've been seeing this summer went from road america here to the smooth track at watkins glen and then we head to sebring you couldn't help be more opposed in terms of uh respect the grip here to respect the bumps at sebring classic circa iconic airport venue those concrete runways are pretty tough on race cars it's been a long time over a decade since the championship now known as sro america has been to sebring there is a little bit of a history there though going back to the first decade of the century and i'm excited to see what these cars these different series can do there it's a classic venue has so much history home of the first u.s grand prix and obviously very famous for the 12-hour race over the years a unique challenge in a lot of respects with the bumps and it's flat and it's the airport circuit some very iconic and challenging corners around sebring we'll deal with sebring though when we get there for now how about this bounce back for classic bmw got the dq yesterday but came back in a big way steven mcaleer and toby grahovic win overall at watkins glen pro-am win will go to gray newell and ian james heart of racing elevated to the top spot due to the time penalty for b-sport racing and now we just await the am winners to come over the line looks like once again it's set to be smooge racing in the toyota supra with yet another win their first weekend sweep however of the season in pirelli gt4 america kevin conway and john jesbre are the winners in am 14th overall four races left of the season now calvin and a lot up for grabs still what did we learn here this weekend as the table was set for the final run to the end of the year well i just think the field is so deep so competitive and um but it also showcases that if you put the right group together in terms of the team and the driver lineup and the chassis you can come in here and make waves immediately and we saw that this weekend with pablado and schwest with the hasty mark chassis the three-hour affiliation with dexter racing i mean that was a superb performance didn't go their way ultimately in terms of the the win they were potentially going to get today but just outstanding performance and it was provisional results and they have taken into account that time penalty for putt it looks like he ultimately does finish eighth in pro-am hut and cook so there are some points associated with that 17 overall however it could have been a whole lot more if the pit stop had been up to regulation a classic bmw bouncing back steven mcallier toby grahovic winning in the overall order makai stevens and colin mullin though a great run to second in class and overall it might have had a chance to challenge for the win had the yellow not come out at the end and super excited for you and james gray newell and the whole heart of racing team there's a lot of faces on that team that you might recognize from the old panos team that he was a part of kind of got the band back together a little bit with this program and he's been telling us ian has that gray's got the speed and he's starting to put it all together and we saw that on full display this weekend across two championships he's been great in both and now the long-awaited win well i've been so easy to make a mistake with his experience level in these race conditions but he didn't he didn't put a foot wrong was very poised um just a good lap times which we've seen on occasion so far this year but this was the breakout weekend for him to put it together and get a podium run yesterday and go one better today from runner-up finish to the win i'd say for this race at least given what happened about an hour ago not bad tom capizzi to bounce back from his touring car crash and get on the class podium yeah that was an excellent run for that team and uh they're another team that's really hitting their stride now with these gt4 cars auto technique i mean great performances big win yesterday a couple of runner-up finishes at road america another podium here today that is the car and stephen mcelroy are piloted to the finish toby grahovic you see him leaning in to give the fist bump he started this race he runs this operation but he's pretty good behind the wheel of a race car as well and he's got himself quite the partner here in stephen mcaleer as alex perry crew chief watch it on oversees this uh this team well toby's in the race car and they have been fast at every opportunity to display it so far this year unfortunate that they had the issue with the technical infringement yesterday cost them a class win second overall but bounced back in a big way to take not just the class win but the overall win as well head sock comes off for stephen mclear standing by kyle should be in the picture here soon as well and why don't we go ahead and see what toby and steven have to say as they pick up the race win overall and in class in race two redemption for classic bmw today in race two of pirelli gt4 america for toby grohovick and stephen mcaleer toby let's start with you starting in the car today putting yourself in position to win this race after what happened yesterday this has got to feel fantastic yeah this is awesome i had a pretty good start gotta kept the car as close to the front as i could and hand it off to steven and he did an amazing job getting the last few positions and bringing it home at first stephen as the caution flag came out with just a couple minutes left it has to be running through your mind that there is a restart potential what was running through your mind there with all those cars piled up behind you coming to the restart you know would that have been okay for you to hang out up front or you feel pretty confident yeah you know i think so you know we had a good car today the uh the 35 car certainly was there you know we were we were having a good a good battle up front uh toby did an amazing job i mean he picked his way through some really good cars today uh some that i was a little worried about you know when we did the swap so we had a good change good driver stop and uh you know i got some clean laps to get moving and and uh right away we just started picking them off so you know obviously a big difference from yesterday uh so i'm super super happy well done nice work good job classic bmw on top here in gt4 guys classic performance for classic bmw we're used to seeing them in victory lane such an established team they are and uh when this driver pairing was announced back certainly raised everyone's eyebrows in the paddock we haven't seen them every round of the championship but when they show up boy are they a threat for a win yeah we've seen them make inroads in the points yesterday hurt that for sure but uh good race here today as we saw back down to victory lane and a first time winner in gray newell along with his veteran co-driver ian james with kyle that's right ryan first win for the heart of racing team here in pirelli gt4 america gray let's start with you a year ago you were a race car driver now you're a race car driver and standing in victory lane what does that feel like yeah well i'm a little nervous because i've never done this before so you know this guy's just guiding me through everything and it's been fantastic so you know we started p16 today and just everything worked out and we've had an amazing weekend and i kind of can't believe that i'm standing here wearing another hat it's it's pretty surreal so fantastic ian of course nerves running through you there in the closing moments but with the car out front having that penalty you felt pretty confident that regardless of the restart you were going to be in position to win this race but was there a moment uh when you weren't sure if that was going to be the case well first of all my young protege grey here i just can't i can't you know his praises are not enough i can't say enough words i mean where he's coming one year um i know his dad's really proud of him and he makes this possible for everybody in the heart of racing but i was pretty nervous about that i definitely didn't want to go green there although he had the pace you know it's always uh things can happen but you know we executed this weekend and uh we're just having uh so much fun so that's what it's all about fun for the heart of racing team in victory lane here at watkins glen awesome stuff love seeing a first-time winner and uh yeah you could tell praying newell just soaked it all up special moment and special team i mean they're doing great things right now in the world of motorsport that's true in a couple of different series and certainly here within sro america the first of many most likely for young grey newell who is just getting better and better as the year goes along and it's been that kind of season for smoogs racing it's a rare thing when they're not in victory lane they're back once again their first weekend sweep though of the year kyle both races going to the smooch racing toyota supra gr john let's start with you fantastic race for you guys but take me through what was going through your mind you've got a pack of cars behind you a late race yellow what was going through your mind my biggest goal was just to keep as far in front of john allen because we knew he was going to be the biggest threat and that chris wilson would be on us at the end of the race so just minimizing minimizing mistakes and uh yeah just trying to build the gap and kevin you starting in the car today frantic start very busy out there and i think at the beginning of the race everyone's goal is just to keep the car in one piece but you did that and put yourself in position to win the race today your role very important take me through the start yeah so john did an amazing job on the start actually and he actually kept the car out of trouble and helped us build a gap when i got in it was all about trying to maintain our gap back to the 16 and work traffic as well as we could and man what an amazing weekend is finally sweep one we've won at every track this year which has been a huge testament to smoog racing and toyota and the supra gt4 platform that's been spectacular all year and to come here and finally win both means a lot to this whole team and we're able to keep it clean stay out of trouble and have a little bit of luck go our way but our pace was there all weekend john did an amazing job and uh just very thankful for everybody that makes this happen jez break group cooper natural resources fousey and toyota and man just absolutely beyond stoked so super sweep at watkins glenn ryan like the sound of that not as much as they do i'm sure but uh yeah there she is the the supra that brought them home to victory lane twice here this weekend as we turn a look now to the highlights this is how the race played out big start there spencer papelli on the pole led this massive field of gt4 cars to the green yeah it was tight there through term one and greg leafs from the front row did not have a great opening lap and kind of falls down the order a little bit early that was a surprise for sure unfortunately just the first bit of bad luck this was the second the hood comes up on greg early in his stint that car out of contention from there on contact here christian shimshak warren dexter coming side to side that was just after the pit stop so that would have been ryan dexter actually this was big contact here though between a couple of astons yeah paul terry make an aggressive move there down at the inside and a big moment here just too many cars in the same place at the same time and the outcome is two really badly damaged porsches unfortunately admit the race had to end under yellow but the checkered flag flew first for stephen mcaleer and toby grahovic classic bmw gets it done just four more races left in the pirelli gt4 america championship which heads next to sebring [Music] [Music] you

Channel: GTWorld

Views: 19,593

Keywords: BlancpainGT, Blancpain, GT, GT3, Endurance, Sprint, Series, Cup, Motorsports, watch, FIA, driver, sportscar, racecar, car, events, Spa, 24h, team, europe, pro-am, pro, racetrack

Id: 5-0NMKcgdrg

Length: 80min 20sec (4820 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021