AutoTechnic Racing’s Colin Garrett snatched the overall lead away from RENNtech Motorsports’ Michael Auriemma with just under 20 minutes to go. From there, he held on to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 2 from Sonoma Raceway Sunday (April 7) along with Zac Anderson. For Garrett, it is his first career Pirelli GT4 America SprintX victory.
“[That race] was awesome,” Garrett told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “Zac Anderson put us in excellent position. AutoTechnic Racing is an amazing group and I’m honored to be able to work with these guys.
The race ended under yellow due to a late incident. Behind Anderson and Garrett was Random Vandals Racing’s Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch in second. Auriemma and former INDYCAR racer Matheus Leist were third, then Hanley Motorsports’ Daniel Hanley and Parker Thompson. Smooge Racing’s John Geesbreght and Tyler Gonzalez, who won Race No. 1 Saturday, finished fifth.
Thompson started from the overall and Silver class poles in his Supra. Unfortunately, it was not a good start for the VasserSullivan regular. Thompson went too fast into turn 2 and went wide, stacking up the field.
Exiting turn 3a, Anderson took the class lead away from Thompson as the No. 999 dropped all the way back to fourth in class, sixth overall. Eventually, Thompson was able to move back up to fourth before giving way to Hanley.
Anderson eventually took the overall lead away from Leist less than 10 minutes into the race. He was unable to pull away very far from the pack, though.
Behind Anderson, TechSport Racing’s Michai Stephens was able to hold onto second in class. Stephens was extremely quick despite not really being comfortable in the Nissan Z GT4.
After the stops, Garrett ended up with the class lead, but Neudorf was right on his tail. The next player in the race was Boehm in the CrowdStrike BMW, but he was 18 seconds back.
The two Silver leaders were behind Auriemma, who won the race off pit road, but was a couple of a seconds a lap slower. Garrett worked on Auriemma for a number of laps before making the move for the overall lead in turn 11 with just under 20 minutes to go.
Neudorf attempted to give chase, but mechanical troubles struck. With 12 minutes to go, smoke coming out of the Nissan forced Neudorf to pull into the pits and retire.
The race ultimately ended under caution after Rotek Racing’s Jaden Lander and Carrus Callus Raceteam’s Nick Shanny collided in turn 9. Replays indicated that Lander had some kind of a mechanical issue that led him to blast into Shanny.
In Pro-Am, Leist started from pole in third overall and got an excellent start. In turn 3 on the first lap, Leist was able to take the overall lead away from Thompson.
Leist ultimately was the last of the leaders to make his mandatory pit stop. A quick in-lap allowed teammate Auriemma to emerge from the pits with the overall lead over Garrett and Neudorf.
Garrett did take the lead with 20 minutes to go, but the fast pace from Leist meant that Auriemma had a huge lead. Had the late crash not happened, Auriemma would have won by 20 seconds. Regardless, he held on to take the win in third overall. For Leist, this weekend was his first time in a car in four years and the first time he’d won in anything since before his INDYCAR stint.
ACI Motorsports’ Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo were second in Pro-Am. BimmerWorld Racing’s Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker Jr. were third, then The Heart of Racing’s Roman DeAngelis and Gray Newell. TechSport Racing’s Colin Harrison and Eric Powell were fifth.
The Am class saw Rennsport One’s Austin Krainz start from pole in 12th. Krainz was able to hold onto the lead early, but AutoTechnic Racing’s Matt Million was hot on his heels.
Three laps into the race, Million was able to make the move on Austin Krainz to take the class lead. Once out front, Million opened up a small advantage.
BimmerWorld Racing’s James Clay was likely to be in contention for another class victory, but he spun out early in turn 7 after after contact from TechSport Racing’s Colin Harrison.
Harrison was given a drive-through penalty for the contact. Clay drove his BMW back to the pits, but was forced to retire from the race.
As the race continued on, Million was able to put a couple of Pro-Am drivers between himself and the rest of the class. As a result, when Troy Lindstrom got in the No. 53, he had a decent advantage over Random Vandals Racing’s Paul Sparta.
Sparta was a little faster than Lindstrom, but simply ran out of time. The Lander-Shanny crash ended the festivities, giving AutoTechnic Racing two class victories on the day.
Sparta and Kris Wilson were second for the second straight day, followed by The Heart of Racing’s Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham, who won Saturday. Austin and Roland Krainz were fourth, while KRUGSPEED’s Lance Bergstein and Anthony Geraci were fifth.
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX: Sonoma Race No. 2 Results
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX teams will be back in action at Sebring International Raceway. Race No. 1 from the 3.74-mile road course will be May 3 at 5 p.m. ET and will be streamed on the GT World YouTube channel.
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.
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Thanks for the article recap Phil! Great work, it is awesome to have memories of my first professional weekend :)