Random Vandals Racing’s Kenton Koch was able to get past RAFA Racing Team’s Tyler Gonzalez in turn 5 with less than two laps to go Friday afternoon (Sept. 5). From there, Koch held on to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1 at Barber Motorsports Park with teammate Kevin Boehm. It is the duo’s sixth overall win of the year and the fifth in the last six races
“It was all about putting in the work to run down Tyler [Gonzalez] in the end,” Koch told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “We had just a little bit more in the long run. Felt good to get [the pass] done. I was surprised that [Gonzalez] didn’t defend going down into [turn 5] since we were really strong on the brakes.”
Koch and Boehm’s margin of victory was .858 seconds over Gonzalez and Gresham Wagner. JMF Motorsports’ Jonathan Neudorf and Jesse Webb were third, then VPX Motorsport’s Danny Dyszelski and Alex Ellis. Marco Polo Motorsports’ Nicolai Elghanayan and Mads Siljehaug rounded out the top-five. The top-five overall finishers were also the top-five teams in the Silver class.
This race was not originally on the schedule for this weekend. It was added to the schedule after Race No. 1 at Road America was cancelled before ever officially starting due to heavy rains.
The field was set based on qualifying for what would have been Race No. 2 at Road America last month. As a result ACI Motorsports’ Riley Dickinson started on pole in his Pro-Am Porsche. Teammate Loek Hartog was able to sweep into second at the start behind Dickinson.
Hartog’s time in second was short-lived as Silver pole sitter Mike David Ortmann, fresh off his victory at Road America, was able to get second back quickly.
Just before the start of the mid-race pit window, BimmerWorld Racing’s James Clay gave Fast Track Racing’s Judson Holt a tap exiting turn 10. That contact resulted in Holt spinning into the Armco barrier.
Holt’s BMW didn’t hit the wall hard, but it was enough to cause damage to the left front suspension. Most of the field pitted immediately to try to beat a full course caution. By the time the safety car came out, nearly everyone except the top-three teams had stopped.
Dickinson, Hartog and Dome Motorsport’s Marc Miller were forced to pit under the yellow and dropped way down the order. The majority of the Pro-Am class ended up stuck behind the safety car until they were given the wave-by.
As a result, the No. 7 Porsche, now with Curt Swearingin at the wheel, retained the Pro-Am lead during the stops over teammate Dan Sibille.
In Silver, Ortmann led the entire first half of the race without issue until it was time for the pit stops immediately before the caution. Unfortunately, the JMF Motorsports team was a little slow with their service and dropped the No. 4 Aston Martin down the order.
That allowed Gonzalez to move into the class lead. Once Dickinson made his stop under yellow, that equated into the overall lead.
Gonzalez was able to open up a small yet comfortable advantage over Koch’s BMW. However, in the closing laps, Koch was able to run down Gonzalez.
In the final five minutes, Koch put the pressure on Gonzalez while the rest of the leaders were more than 10 seconds back. On the penultimate lap, the time came for Koch to make his move. He went to the inside at turn 5, the best passing zone at Barber Park. He was through quickly and went on to win.
Back in Pro-Am, the restart situation resulted in the three Pro-Am teams that pitted under caution having a huge lead over the rest of the class, who were forced to take the wavearound. Those teams were unable to catch the rear of the field before the restart.
Swearingin ended up being able to drive away for the remainder of the race to take a relatively easy victory with Dickinson in seventh overall. The duo ended up 14.865 seconds ahead of Random Vandals Racing’s Sam Craven and Josh Green, the best pairing that had to take the wavearound. BimmerWorld Racing’s Tyler McQuarrie and James Walker Jr. were third, then AutoTechnic Racing’s Matt Million and Tyler Stone. Blackdog Speed Shop’s Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples were fifth.
In Am, Clay started on pole in 15th overall. However, he lost his lead very quickly to Holt.
Clay was eventually able to run Holt back down along with Thunder Bunny Racing’s Laura Hayes. The three dueled for multiple laps until the contact between Clay and Holt ended Holt’s day.
SRO America officials deliberated well after the restart about the contact with Holt. As a result, teammate Charlie Postins restarted with the team while Allen Patten in the Thunder Bunny BMW was right behind him. It didn’t take long before the process of elimination in Am struck again.
Less than a lap after the restart, Patten had contact with Postins exiting turn 15, resulting in Postins spinning out. That eventually resulted in a drive-through penalty for Patten. When he served that penalty, he sped in the pit lane, resulting in a second drive-through.
KRUGSPEED’s Kenny Schmied was in position to potentially win, but his rear exhaust was dislodged after an off-course excursion. That resulted in a unscheduled stop to fix the issue.
Who was left after all of this? Random Vandals Racing’s Darius Trinka, who managed to keep himself out of trouble. Trinka took the class lead when Patten pulled in for his first drive-through penalty with 15 minutes to go.
At the time, he had a 21-second lead over Postins. With 10 minutes to go, officials penalized Postins for the contact with Holt, resulting in the Optima Batteries BMW having to serve a drive-through penalty.
That left Trinka with a substantial lead. He was able to coast to the class victory with teammate Paul Sparta in 13th overall, the first car a lap down to the overall winners.
The margin of victory was a massive 62.221 seconds over Clay and Postins. Hayes and Patten ended up third despite two penalties, followed by Schmied and Anthony Geraci.
Pirelli GT4 America SprintX: Barber Park Race No. 1 Results
Race No. 2 from Barber Park is scheduled for 5:50 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Coverage will stream live 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.