RAFA Racing Team’s Gresham Wagner was able to run down and pass AutoTechnic Racing’s Colin Garrett with 55 minutes to go Saturday. From there, Wagner and teammate Tyler Gonzalez were able to hold on to win the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Lonestar Enduro at Circuit of the Americas, their first win together as teammates.
“I knew that we had the pace [to win]. This Endava Toyota GR Supra was absolutely amazing out there, especially as the sun was going down,” Gonzalez told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “I would have liked to have kept the lead that I had, but I was confident in my car and…what we needed to win the race.”
The margin of victory was 4.038 seconds over BimmerWorld Racing’s Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker Jr. Archangel Motorsports’ Adrian Comstock and Thomas Merrill were third in their Aston Martin, then Blackdog Speed Shop’s Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples in their McLaren. JTR Motorsports Engineering’s Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson were fifth.
Gonzalez and Wagner were also the winners in the Silver class. Their margin of victory there was 10.776 seconds over JMF Motorsports’ Braden Arthur and Mike David Ortmann. The Heart of Racing’s Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham were third, then the second JMF Aston Martin for Jonathan Neudorf and Jonathan Webb. Random Vandals Racing’s Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch were fifth after multiple penalties during the race.
McIntosh, who won in the GT4 class in the GT America race earlier in the day, started on the overall pole in his Supra. However, his advantage was short-lived as Wagner was able to snatch the advantage away on the first lap.
Early on, Skip Barber Racing’s Michael Garcia spun his Aston Martin out. He cut his right rear tire trying to limp back to the pits and littered the track with debris, causing the first caution of the race. He would continue after repairs, but lost a lap.
After the restart, Arthur was able to snatch the overall lead away from Wagner. Despite that, Wagner was still running strong with McIntosh and Jonathan Neudorf giving chase.
The second caution flew 22 minutes into the race when Alex Vogel crashed the OnlyFans Racing P1 Groupe McLaren hard in the Esses. Vogel walked away from the crash, but he was out for the day.
Here, Arthur decided to make his first pit stop and swap out for Ortmann. The stop ended up being nightmarish as the team double-stacked their cars, which resulted in the No. 3 getting a drive-through penalty for swapping drivers outside of the pit box.
By the time the multiple laps of pit stops were complete, Thunder Bunny Racing’s Laura Hayes ended up with the overall lead. She proceeded to open up a decent lead before making her first pit stop 48 minutes into the race.
When the stops finally completed, Random Vandals Racing’s Josh Green ended up in the overall lead in his Pro-Am class BMW. However, he had Thomas Merrill charging up from behind. It did not take long for Merrill to take the lead.
Merrill kept the lead until the next round of stops. Here, the Archangel Motorsports team had a slow stop. That allowed BimmerWorld Racing’s James Walker Jr. to assume the advantage. The Red Line Oil BMW was able to consolidate the advantage once Tyler McQuarrie got back in the car for his second stint.
In Silver, AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson assumed the lead after the first round of pit stops in third overall and managed to pull away from Ortmann. A steady pace and good pit strategy saw teammate Colin Garrett move into the overall lead after the second round of stops just after halfway.
Chasing Garrett was Wagner in his Supra. The first round of stops had left the Silver polesitter well down the order. However, a fast race car and good form allowed Wagner and Tyler Gonzalez to get back to the front.
With 55 minutes to go, Wagner was able to run down Garrett for the overall lead. The fight did not last long as Garrett went a little wide in turn 1. That was all Wagner needed to take the lead.
The final round of stops saw the RAFA Racing Team crew pump out an excellent stop. Meanwhile, the AutoTechnic Racing squad’s final stop was a little slow. As a result, Gonzalez exited the pits with a four-second lead.
The lead dropped under three seconds briefly when Gonzalez was caught up in lapped traffic. Once he cleared the traffic, Gonzalez drove back out to a six-second advantage.
With 28 minutes to go, Fast Track Racing’s Nate Cicero stalled in turn 18. He was unable to resume, resulting in the race’s third safety car period. The yellow wiped out Gonzalez’s six-second lead and brought everyone back into play.
The green came back out with 12 minutes to go. Gonzalez got a decent start, but Anderson ended up in a complete scrum. Ortmann was able to take second at turn 1, but Anderson came back.
By turns 7 and 8, Anderson went wide to try to get back past Ortmann. That allowed McQuarrie to get in there. All of a sudden, it was a five-car race for second while Gonzalez drove away.
Any chance of Anderson getting back to the front ended a lap later when he got in the back of Webb in turn 11, spinning out the Aston Martin. That resulted in a drive-through penalty for causing the incident. Anderson and Garrett ultimately finished 17th overall, sixth in Silver.
McQuarrie was ultimately able to get up to second overall, but ACI Motorsports’ Riley Dickinson wanted the lead as well. The two battled for about a lap, but that only brought Merrill into the fold.
At the very front of the field, the restart squabbles were more than enough for Gonzalez and Wagner to hold on for the overall victory. For Wagner, it is his first career Pirelli GT4 America SprintX win.
Further back, Merrill goaded Dickinson into a battle for second in class that waged on for multiple laps. That was all McQuarrie needed in order to pull away and take the class win in second overall.
McQuarrie and Walker’s margin of victory was 1.258 seconds over Comstock and Merrill. Cooper and Gaples were third, then McIntosh and Thompson. Dickinson and Curt Swearingin ended up having to settle for fifth.
In the Am class, Hayes started from pole in seventh overall. Making only her third start, Hayes moved up to fifth early on, way ahead of the rest of the class.
The varied pit strategies jumbled up the class significantly. Hayes staying out until after the caution and then pitting from the overall lead dropped the No. 606 way down the order. Michael Kanisczak in the No. 98 Random Vandals BMW ended up in the class lead as a result, but eventually came under pressure by Fast Track Racing’s Judson Holt.
Holt was able to get the lead during the second segment of the race, but a substandard stop resulted in BimmerWorld Racing’s James Clay taking over the lead past halfway. From there, Clay pulled out a lead of five seconds over Judson Holt. Kanisczak and Paul Sparta were still third in class, but violated the stint length rules (stints are limited to a maximum of 51 minutes) and drew a drive-through penalty.
The caution was a double-edged sword for Fast Track Racing. While their Pro-Am entry was out, it allowed Dave Ogburn to get into contention for the Am class victory.
Once the race restarted, Ogburn was able to put the pressure on Charlie Postins for the lead. With two laps to go, he tried to make the move at turn 11, but Postins was able to hold him off. From there, Postins held on to take the victory in 11th overall.
Clay and Postins’ margin of victory was 1.508 seconds over Holt and Ogburn. RAFA Racing Team’s Anthony Geraci and Kenny Schmied were third, then Lone Star Racing’s Marc Austin and Jason Golan. OGH Motorsports’ Sean Gibbons and Sam Owen were fifth in their McLaren.
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Lonestar Enduro Unofficial Results
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX teams will have a couple of weeks to recover. The fourth race of the season will be at Sebring International Raceway on May 17. The race will stream live on the GT World YouTube channel at 4:35 p.m. ET.
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.