AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson was able to get around Random Vandals Racing’s Kevin Boehm with 20 minutes remaining. From there, he was able to hold on to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 2 at VIRginia International Raceway Sunday (June 18) with teammate John Capestro-Dubets for their third win of the year.
“We felt that this weekend was the eureka race when it comes to finding the pace to take it to the Random Vandals guys,” Capestro-Dubets told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “I really enjoyed my time out there battling with Kenton [Koch] and I know Zac [Anderson] enjoyed his battles with Kevin [Boehm]. We kept it clean and that’s what we want to do out there.
Boehm and Koch were second, followed by Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports’ Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb. STR38 Motorsports’ Harry Gottsacker and Chandler Hull were fourth, while BimmerWorld Racing’s James Clay and Charlie Postins were fifth.
The top four finishers were also the top four finishers in the Silver class. NOLAsport’s Andrew Davis and Francis Selldorff were fifth.
Koch inherited the pole for the race after Hanley Motorsports’ Parker Thompson‘s times were deleted due to a technical infringement. Once the race started, the battle that he had Saturday with AutoTechnic Racing’s John Capestro-Dubets re-ignited.
Unlike Saturday’s race, this event was not clean all the way through. On the third lap, a three-car crash exiting turn 5 brought out the safety car. AutoTechnic Racing’s Rob Walker and TechSport Racing’s Eric Powell collided, breaking steering parts on both cars. According to an interview with Fartuch, Powell’s broken car hung a right, hit Fartuch and took both drivers into the wall.
The wreck resulted in a significant interruption to the race in order to retrieve the cars and repair the tire barrier. Both drivers were taken for medical checks, but were otherwise ok. Due to the repair time, the pit stop window was moved back, but remained the standard 10-minute length.
The race restarted with 29 minutes to go. Koch managed to get a big jump on Capestro-Dubets, then decided to pit at the end of the lap for his mandatory stop to swap over to Zac Anderson. Capestro-Dubets followed.
At first, Boehm was able to open up a decent gap over Anderson. However, Anderson turned in the fastest lap of the race in order to run down Boehm.
With 20 minutes to go, Anderson got to the outside of Boehm entering turn 1. The duo ran side-by-side for a couple of corners and had casual contact. Anderson was able to clear Boehm for the lead in turn 4.
With 14 minutes to go, SMOOGE Racing’s Kevin Conway collided with another drivers and slid off course in turn 1. He was able to get himself into a somewhat safe place to prevent a full course yellow from coming out.
Under a local yellow for Conway’s stalled car, Travis was hit from behind by Rooster Hall Racing’s Johan Schwartz, putting both cars off the road. Hart was able to drive away, but Schwartz broke his left front suspension and had to pull off in the Climbing Esses, bringing out another safety car period.
The safety crews scrambled to be able to clean everything up quick enough to get the race restarted, but they ended up running out of time. Anderson ended up taking the win behind the safety car.
In Pro-Am, BimmerWorld Racing’s Tyler McQuarrie started from the class pole and led early. In the opening laps, NOLAsport’s Jason Hart was able to move up to McQuarrie’s rear bumper.
Following the restart, McQuarrie and Hart chose to stay out longer. McQuarrie stayed out an additional two laps before stopping, while Hart stayed out for four laps. A good pit stop to swap over to Matt Travis resulted in Travis beating James Walker Jr. out of the pits to take the Pro-Am lead.
James Walker Jr. reclaimed the Pro-Am lead when Travis and Schwartz collided in turn 1 in sixth overall. That is all the No. 82 team needed to sweep the weekend.
ACI Motorsports’ Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo were second, followed by Chouest-Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo. Travis and Hart recovered from their late spin to finish fourth, while Lee and Elias Sabo were fifth.
The Am class was led to green by BimmerWorld Racing team owner James Clay in fourth overall. He dropped off a bit in the opening laps, but maintained the class lead over NOLAsport’s Juan Pablo Martinez.
Clay decided to pit early in the pit window, giving the lead to Martinez. Then, Martinez had contact with Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Andy Lee, cutting his tire.
Postins claimed the lead once the series of stops were complete. He was able to keep pace with the Pro-Am leaders and moved up to fifth overall when Travis and Schwartz collided. The full course caution gave BimmerWorld Racing a double weekend sweep between the Pro-Am and Am classes at their home track.
STR38 Motorsports’ Chris Allen and Robert Mau were second, followed by KRUGSPEED’s Anthony Geraci and Jaden Lander. Van der Steur Racing’s Brady Behrman and Coby Shield were fourth in their Aston Martin, while Carras Callus Raceteam’s Terry Borcheller and Nick Shanny were fifth.
PIRELLI GT4 AMERICA SPRINTX VIR RACE NO. 2 RESULTS
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX teams will be off for the next couple of months. The next round of the championship will be at Road America the weekend of Aug. 18-20.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.