AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson was able to get past Rennsport One’s John Capestro-Dubets on the final restart with eight minutes to go. From there, he held off Random Vandals Racing’s Kenton Koch to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1 at Barber Motorsports Park Saturday (Sept. 7) with teammate Colin Garrett. It is Anderson and Garrett’s second win of the year.
“The amount of pickup and clag on the track was immense,” Anderson told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “I thought…that it was going to be a spicy restart. I calibrated for it and I knew [John Capestro-Dubets] would leave me a lane [if he was having trouble].”
Anderson and Garrett’s margin of victory was .446 seconds over Koch and Kevin Boehm. Smooge Racing’s Tyler Gonzalez and Corey Lewis were third, then Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueiras. NOLAsport’s Jason Hart and Matt Travis were fifth.
The top-four finishers overall were the top-four finishers in the Silver class. Fifth in Silver went to the Porsche of VPX Motorsports’ Danny Dyszelski and Alex Ellis.
Lewis, a last-minute replacement for recent ARCA winner Brent Crews, started on the overall pole in his Supra. However, he didn’t last long at the front.
The Heart of Racing’s Roman DeAngelis, debuting a new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo, was able to hang on the outside of Lewis in turn 1 and managed to take the lead in the turns 2 and 3 complex. Once DeAngelis snatched the overall lead, both him and Lewis drove away from the pack.
Shortly before the mid-race pit window would have opened, TechSport Racing’s Johan Schwartz stalled on track due to fuel pump issues. This brought out the safety car. Schwartz was done for the day.
The caution brought the whole field into the pits for their driver changes. Most of the field maintained their positions, but there was a change for the Silver lead. Rennsport One was able to pit their car and get Capestro-Dubets into the car quicker than Smooge Racing was able to get Gonzalez into theirs.
OnlyFans Racing’s Matt Bell chose not to pit and restarted with the overall lead. It did not take long for Capestro-Dubets to get the run on Bell and take the lead away in turn 5.
Gray Newell was first off the pit lane in his Aston Martin, but was almost immediately overtaken on the restart by Capestro-Dubets. In the throng of traffic on the first lap after the restart, Hart was able to take the class lead.
Once the dust cleared, the top-four cars were in the Silver class. Capestro-Dubets maintained a small advantage over Anderson’s BMW.
With 17 minutes to go, the second safety car period of the race came out when Random Vandals Racing’s Kris Wilson was forced to pull off with suspension damage. The entire field closed up for one more sprint to the finish.
After the restart, Anderson got a run out of turn 3 and was able to get past Capestro-Dubets prior to the braking zone for turn 5. Capestro-Dubets’ Porsche was extremely squirmy due to the excess rubber buildup and dropped down the order.
The caution also put BimmerWorld Racing’s Tyler McQuarrie right on the tail of Hart for the Pro-Am lead. A couple of laps after the restart, McQuarrie was able to make the move in turn 5 to take the advantage. RENNtech Motorsports’ Matheus Leist was also right there in the hunt.
The battling became very fierce in the final five minutes. Coming to two laps to go, McQuarrie was stuck behind The Heart of Racing’s Hannah Greenemeier, allowing Leist to try for the lead in turn 16. Contact was made, resulting in McQuarrie spinning out.
The incident resulted in Leist taking the lead with Hart right on his tail. However, the stewards looked dimly on the contact. He was given a drive-through penalty for the contact.
Leist won the class on-track in fifth overall, but that drive-through penalty was converted to a time penalty. As a result, Hart and Travis were awarded the class win.
Hart and Travis’ margin of victory was .768 seconds over ACI Motorsports’ Curt Swearingin and Kay van Berlo. The Nissan of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Rodrigo Baptista and Damir Hot were third, then the debuting Sam Craven and Josh Green in Random Vandals Racing’s new No. 94. Blackdog Speed Shop’s Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples were fifth.
The penalty for Leist and Michael Auriemma was converted to a 39-second penalty. As a result, they dropped all the way back to 22nd overall, 12th in Pro-Am.
In the Am class, Rotek Racing’s Robb Holland started on pole in his Porsche. He started 10th overall, but faded a little in the opening laps. That allowed BimmerWorld Racing’s Charlie Postins to close in.
The two drivers ran nose-to-tail, fighting hard for the advantage. Random Vandals Racing’s Michael Kanisczak, driving in place of the injured Paul Sparta, was right there as well.
Eventually, Holland caught Schwartz, who was struggling with his issues. That held Holland up just enough that Postins was able to snatch the lead.
The pit stops didn’t really change the order all that much, other than to move the Am leaders up a couple of spots overall. After the restart, Kris Wilson was able to move past Rotek Racing’s Jaden Lander for second in class.
With 22 minutes to go, James Clay tried to get past Newell for eighth overall and got held up. That allowed the Pro-Am Mercedes of RENNtech Motorsports’ Matheus Leist to get by.
It created an opportunity for Wilson to go for the lead in turn 5 on the next lap. Wilson proceeded to go too hard into the turn. Contact was made and Wilson dropped down the order.
It was not just casual damage to Wilson’s BMW. The damage led to Wilson pulling off and causing the second safety car period.
The battling gave Clay a nice cushion for the final restart. He took advantage of that cushion to hold for the victory in 11th overall. It is Clay and Postins’ second Am win of the year.
Clay and Postins’ margin of victory was 3.059 seconds over Holland and Lander. Carrus Callus Raceteam’s Nick Shanny and Chris Walsh were third, then NOLAsport’s Lee Carpentier and David Peterman. KRUGSPEED’s Lance Bergstein and Anthony Geraci were fifth.
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX: Barber Park Race No. 1 Results
There is one more Pirelli GT4 America SprintX race this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. That race is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. ET Sunday morning. The race will stream live at 11:40 a.m. ET on the GT World YouTube Channel and on SpeedSport1.
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.