DXDT Racing’s Alec Udell took the lead with six minutes to go Sunday (Sept. 8) when Random Vandals Racing’s Conor Daly ran out of fuel and was forced to pit. From there, he held on to take his and Tommy Milner‘s seventh Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS overall win of the year.
“I think that the Random Vandals car was…super fast today. We were just trying to hitch a line to them,” Udell told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “It’s a bummer for [Random Vandals Racing], but we picked up the pieces and we’re glad to take the win.”
Milner and Udell’s margin of victory was five seconds over ST Racing’s Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey. Regulator Racing’s Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis were third, then Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg. Racers Edge Motorsports’ Luca Mars and Zach Veach were fifth. Daly and Kenton Koch ended up 13th overall.
The top-two finishers were the top finishers in the Pro class. Mars and Veach were third in class ahead of Wright Motorsports’ Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer.
Foley started on pole in his Pro-Am class BMW. With clear air in front of him, he was able to pull out a two-second lead early on.
In the Pro class, Koch started from pole in fifth overall. On the first lap, he quickly moved forward to third, putting distance between himself and Milner.
Koch was eventually able to run down ST Racing’s Neil Verhagen for second, but simply couldn’t get by him. That allowed AF Corse’s Riccardo Agostini and GMG Racing’s Tom Sargent to catch up.
When the mid-race pit stops came, there was a split strategy. Most of the Pro teams pitted early. Foley stayed out pretty late. Verhagen led a group to the pit lane that went an extra lap beyond Foley before stopping.
The result was that Samantha Tan exited the pits with the overall lead. However, her tires weren’t up to temperature. That allowed Rothberg to snatch the lead half a lap later.
The Pro leaders were much closer to the front after the stops. Daly came out of the pits in front of Udell and was able to run down Tan and Rothberg in a hurry.
While battling with Udell, Daly was able to take the overall lead away from Rothberg with just under 35 minutes to go. Once out front, Daly was able to put a little bit of distance between himself and Udell.
Behind the Pro leaders, Rothberg and Tan were fighting hard for the Pro-Am class lead. Rothberg struggled a bit with grip, but was able to hold Tan off.
Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Elias Sabo spun his BMW in turn 15 with 26 minutes to go. He was unable to resume, forcing officials to put out the safety car.
The safety car bunched the pack up and put Udell right on the back bumper of Daly. Despite that, Daly got a jump on him and got his advantage back. Tan dropped down the order, giving Rothberg a gap.
Everything seemed to be wrapped up until Daly was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop with six minutes to go when he ran out of fuel. That gave Udell a lead he would not lose.
The yellow was the saving grace for Ellis. He was well down the order after Burton’s stint in the car and 20+ seconds behind. The bunching allowed him to snag a number of positions on the restart.
Ellis made quick work of Tan for second in Pro-Am, then ran down Rothberg. With 16 minutes to go, Ellis took the class lead. From there, he ran away to take the class win in third overall.
Burton and Ellis’ margin of victory was 11.439 seconds over Foley and Rothberg. Tan and Verhagen were third, then DXDT Racing’s Bryson Morris and Bryan Sellers. Agostini and Custodio Toledo were fifth in their Ferrari.
Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS: Barber Park Race No. 2 Results
For Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS teams, there is only one more race remaining on the schedule. That race is the Indianapolis 8 Hour, run in conjunction with the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The Indianapolis 8 Hour is scheduled to go green at 12:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 5. The race will be streamed live on the GT World YouTube channel and on SpeedSport1.
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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