Random Vandals Racing’s Kenton Koch was able to get past VPX Motorsports’ Danny Dyszelski nine minutes into the race Sunday (July 20). From there, Koch and Kevin Boehm held on to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 2 at VIRginia International Raceway. It is the duo’s fifth win of the year and their second straight weekend sweep.
The margin of victory was 1.930 seconds over teammates Sam Craven and Josh Green. Dome Motorsport’s Nate Cicero and Marc Miller were third, then Dyszelski and Alex Ellis. AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson and Colin Garrett were fifth.
In Silver, Boehm and Koch’s margin of victory was 2.262 seconds over Cicero and Miller. Dyszelski and Ellis were third, then Anderson and Garrett. JMF Motorsports’ Braden Arthur and Mike David Ortmann came from the rear of the field to finish fifth.
Dyszelski started from the overall and Silver pole position in his Porsche. In the early laps, he was able to maintain the advantage without issue. However, Koch was able to move up to second and started pressuring the No. 77 for the lead.
It did not take long for Koch to get to the lead, snatching it away nine minutes into the race at the Oak Tree turn. Once in the lead, Koch opened up a decent advantage.
Koch led without issue until the mid-race pit stops. Once Boehm was in the car, he continued to expand the advantage.
What was an 11-second lead disappeared when van der Steur Racing’s Max Hewitt slid off-course at turn 11 and hit the tires. Hewitt was ok, but he was done for the day.
The crash bunched up the field for a final eight-minute sprint to the finish. Boehm was able to get a big jump on Garrett, who immediately surrendered second overall to Craven.
From there, Boehm was able to easily hold on to take the victory. With five overall wins in seven races, the Random Vandals duo are well on their way to the championship.
Blackdog Racing’s Michael Cooper started from the Pro-Am pole, second overall in his McLaren. Early on, he was able to keep pace with Dyszelski, which allowed him to pull away from second-place Ryan Yardley.
Yardley’s teammate Riley Dickinson, who finished second Saturday, was running well early. However, he fell victim to multi-class action as he had contact with AutoTechnic Racing’s Zac Anderson and spun in turn 3.
While Dickinson managed to avoid hitting anything in the wet grass, the excursion dropped him from seventh to 23rd overall. From there, Dickinson nearly got back to the top 10 before the mid-race stops.
During the stops, Blackdog Racing had a slower stop, which allowed ACI Motorsports’ No. 25 with Damir Hot at the wheel to take the class lead in second overall. He had Garrett on his tail from the Silver class, but James Walker Jr. was right behind Garrett. If Garrett could open the door on Hot, Walker could follow through.
Hot made an unenforced error with 22 minutes to go and slid off-course at the Oak Tree turn. That allowed Garrett to get through, but it also resulted in a scramble. Craven in the Random Vandals No. 94 was able to sweep past Walker and take the class lead for himself.
After the final restart, Craven was able to take second overall away from Garrett. With multiple cars between himself and the rest of the class, Craven held on to take his fourth straight Pro-Am win with Green.
NOLAsport’s Michael Auriemma and Matheus Leist actually finished second on the road. However, were given a five-second post-race penalty for contact with AutoTechnic Racing’s Matt Million that put Million onto the grass exiting the Oak Tree turn with a couple of laps to go.
As a result, the margin of victory was 10.197 seconds over Cooper and Tony Gaples. Walker and Tyler McQuarrie were third, then Auriemma and Leist. Dickinson and Curt Swearingin
BimmerWorld Racing’s Charlie Postins, who won Saturday’s rain-plagued race No. 1, started from the Am pole in 13th overall. Unlike Saturday, Postins didn’t have a massive built-in advantage at the start.
Thunder Bunny Racing’s Allen Patten started right behind Postins and managed to hang on to the BMW’s rear bumper. Patten was eventually able to take the advantage away from Postins.
Once Laura Hayes got in the car, she was able to move up into the top 10 overall. However, the caution changed things significantly.
The caution put James Clay right on Hayes’ rear bumper. A couple of laps after the restart, Clay made the move in turn 3 to take the class lead in heavy traffic.
What ultimately decided the class had nothing to do with the Am class. Clay made contact with Hot’s Pro-Am Porsche in turn 1, spinning Hot out. Hot was then hit by Nicolai Elghanayan, who had nowhere to go.
Clay managed to win the Am class on the lead, but a drive-through penalty was assessed after the race ended for avoidable contact. That dropped Clay and Postins to seventh in class.
The penalty resulted in Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Zach Lumsden and Kris Wilson taking the class victory in their debut weekend together. The duo finished 12th overall.
Lumsden and Wilson’s margin of victory was 7.151 seconds over RAFA Racing Team’s Anthony Geraci and Kenny Schmied. Rigid Speed Company’s Joseph and Lucas Catania were third, while Skip Barber Racing’s Alex and Michael Garcia were fourth. Hayes and Patten had a fuel pump go bad in the final laps, dropping them to fifth in class.
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX: VIR Race No. 2 Results
Next up for Pirelli GT4 America SprintX will be Road America in four weeks. Race No. 1 on the long road course is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Aug. 16 with live coverage on 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.