NASCAR on TV this week
Kenton Koch during GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Race No. 1 at Sonoma Raceway, 3/29/2025 (Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO Motorsports Group)
(Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO Motorsports Group)

Kenton Koch, Connor de Phillippi Win 1st GTWCA Race for Random Vandals

by

Random Vandals Racing’s Kenton Koch made a move to the inside of Rennsport One’s Alex Sedgwick entering turn 1a for the lead with two laps to go Sunday (March 30). He was able to clear the Porsche by turn 3, then held on to win GT World Challenge America Race No. 2 at Sonoma Raceway with teammate Connor de Phillippi.

“It was kind of tricky in [turn 11] with some of the water [on track] drying up,” Koch told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “I think that [Sedgwick] got a little wide off the corner and I got a mega run. The one time he made a mistake in the corner, I was able to capitalize.

“I knew I was strong going up the hill in [turn 1],” Koch continued. “I stuck my nose in there. He gave me the space, we touched a little bit, but it was good, hard racing.”

The margin of victory was 1.512 seconds over Sedgwick and Jan Heylen. JMF Motorsports’ Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens were third, then Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey. Regulator Racing’s Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis were fifth.

The starting grid was a little weird Sunday. This was due to the fact that Kyle Marcelli crashed his Porsche during qualifying Saturday morning and brought out the red flag, ending the session early. Due to that, plus the banning of tire warmers, many of the teams hadn’t set representative times by the time session ended.

CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports’ Colin Braun started from the overall pole in his Mercedes. An excellent start saw Braun open up a big gap over the field. Meanwhile, Archangel Motorsports’ Aaron Telitz drove up to second in his McLaren.

In the Pro class, Random Vandals Racing’s Connor de Phillippi started from pole in fifth overall. Early on, de Phillippi’s primary challenger was Rennsport One’s Jan Heylen, but they had multiple Pro-Am cars between them.

In the opening laps of the race, de Phillippi was able to move up to fourth overall. Heylen was able to follow him, but not before spotting de Phillippi a few seconds. Meanwhile, both Grenier and Choksey were trapped down the order due to failing to set a representative time in qualifying.

Further back, CRP Racing’s Isaac Sherman had a wild stint in his car. First off, he spun entering turn 4 onto the short course. Later on, he executed a bump and run to get past The Heart of Racing’s Darren Turner.

Just before the mid-race pit stops, Sherman clipped the grass under braking for the turn 9 chicane. The result was a wild spin through the runoff and the grass.

When the mid-race pit stops came along, the leaders stayed out as long as possible to maximize their Pro driver stints. Braun pitted with 42 minutes to go in order to hand over to Kurtz. Telitz and Foley followed him on the same lap.

When the stops were complete, Kurtz ended up with the overall lead. Meanwhile, the Archangel team had a slow stop that allowed Justin Rothberg to jump over Todd Coleman for second.

De Phillippi was able to get up to the rear bumper of Robby Foley in third before putting to give way to Koch. However, the raccoon squad had a slow pit stop. That allowed Sedgwick to take over the Pro lead in second overall.

Kurtz ended up with a 15-second overall lead over Sedgwick once the stops were complete. The rookie racer was a couple of seconds a lap faster than Kurtz and wasted no time running down the Mercedes.

The pass for the lead took place in turn 7 with 30 minutes to go. Kurtz was hung up behind the AF Corse Ferrari of Allam Khodair and Sedgwick was able to get past.

Shortly afterwards, the other AF Corse Ferrari of Jay Schreibman spun into the tire barrier in turn 11 to bring out the safety car. Schreibman, driving the sole Am class entry in the field, was fine. The tire barrier needed to be realigned.

The caution brought everyone back together, wiping out a big lead for Sedgwick and a 17-second Pro-Am lead for Kurtz.

On the restart, Sedgwick got a big jump over the rest of the field. However, it only took a lap for Koch to run down the Porsche. Stephens was not far behind in his Mercedes after the team started 12th overall.

The three Pro drivers dueled at the front over the final laps. Koch tried to get past multiple times, but Sedgwick was able to head him off.

The move that ultimately won the race was a very aggressive move. Ultimately, the move was clean and Koch was able to snatch the win.

Ellis was a man on a mission in Pro-Am. He restarted in fourth, then quickly dispatched of Coleman and Rothberg. With 17 minutes to go, he was able to catch and take the Pro-Am lead from Kurtz.

Once in the class lead, Ellis drove away from the rest of the pack. He had enough pace to harass the Pro teams in the final 20 minutes of the race and that was more than enough to take the Pro-Am win.

Ellis and Burton’s margin of victory was 27.820 seconds over Braun and Kurtz. Foley and Rothberg were third, then Sherman and Jason Daskalos. AF Corse’s Khodair and Marcelo Hahn were fifth.

GT World Challenge America powered by AWS: Sonoma Race No. 2 Results

GT World Challenge America teams will take four weeks off before returning to action at Circuit of the Americas. Race No. 1 is scheduled to go green at 2:10 p.m. ET on April 26. Coverage will air live on MAVT and the GT World YouTube channel.

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.