RAFA Racing Team’s Tyler Gonzalez and Westin Workman dominated the proceedings Friday afternoon (Sept. 25). The duo led nearly flag-to-flag to win Pirelli GT4 America Race No. 1 at Barber Motorsports Park. It is their fourth overall and Silver class victory of the season.
“We had to do everything possible to keep this championship alive,” Gonzalez told SRO America’s Amanda Busick after the race. “I know it’s a longshot, but we’re fighting to the end.
Gonzalez and Workman’s margin of victory was 9.336 seconds over Random Vandals Racing’s Sam Craven and Kenton Koch. AutoTechnic Racing’s Kevin Boehm and Francis Selldorff were third, then the second Random Vandals BMW of Bruno Colombo and Josh Green. Advance Motorsports’ Parker DeJong and Austin Jurs were fifth.
In Silver, the margin of victory was 10.517 seconds over Boehm and Selldorff. Colombo and Green were third, then Rennsport One’s Luca Mars and Spencer Pumpelly in their worst finish in class so far this year.
Workman won the pole for Race No. 1 by five-eighths of a second. He was able to maintain the advantage early on. Meanwhile, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge regular Trenton Estep, driving for ACI Motorsports this week, was able to move up to second.
Early on, Workman had the fastest car. While others battled behind him, the No. 68 Toyota slowly pulled away.
The race’s only full course yellow flew 11 minutes in when Dome Motorsport’s Allen Patten spun into the gravel in turn 1 after contact from McCumbee-McAleer Racing’s Carlton MacFarlane. Even though the spin was minor, additional issues put Patten out. MacFarlane had to serve a drive-through penalty for the contact.
The mid-race pit stops brought a wrinkle to the proceedings. Normally, Pirelli GT4 America pit stops do not involve tire changes unless it involves changing to or from wet tires. Barber Motorsports Park has high tire wear, so officials allowed teams to change one “joker” tire. If they chose to do so, they had to spend an additional six seconds in the pits. Ultimately, only a couple of teams chose to take advantage.
Workman handed over to Gonzalez and from there, it was on. Gonzalez quickly pulled away to an eight-second lead over Yves Baltas.
With that advantage, things got comfortable. Gonzalez was able to simply maintain his position to take the win.
Mars and Pumpelly entered the race with a 59-point lead over Gonzalez and Workman. They could have clinched the title Friday, but a fifth-place finish dropped the margin to 44 with three races to go.
In Pro-Am, McCumbee-McAleer Racing’s Michael Tosi started from the class pole in fifth overall. In the opening laps, Tosi was able to move up to third overall.
Behind him, Craven was able to maintain his position in second. Most Pro-Am squads start their Am driver in Race No. 1, so the rest of the pack was sprinkled throughout the field.
Once Firestone Indy NXT Series regular Nolan Allaer took over, he immediately came under pressure from Koch. It did not take long for Koch to make the move for the lead in turn 5. Allaer slowly dropped back down the order.
Once he pulled away from Allaer, Koch spent the final quarter of the race in a back-and-forth battle for second overall with Boehm. With two laps to go, Koch was able to take second away for good. That gave him a very comfortable class victory.
The margin of victory for Craven and Koch was 3.946 seconds over Blackdog Speed Shop’s Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples. NOLAsport’s Matheus Leist and Matt Travis were third, followed by Allaer and Tosi. AutoTechnic Racing’s Roland Krainz and Stevan McAleer were fifth.
In Am, ACI Motorsports’ Michael Garcia started on pole in eighth overall. After a big crash at Road America, the team switched from a BMW to a Porsche.
Unfortunately, the start didn’t go so well. Michael went wide exiting turn 1 and ended up in the grass. That allowed Dome Motorsport’s Laura Hayes to slip past and take the class lead.
TechSport Racing’s Frankie Muniz, fresh off of a weekend sweep at Road America, moved up to second when the No. 21 Porsche went off the road and was pretty strong early on. Prior to the mid-race pit stops, he had driven up to 10th overall.
During the mid-race pit stop window, trouble struck in turn 5. Muniz was up close to Hayes when his ABS locked up and rendered his Mustang out of control. He ended up hitting Hayes, spinning her out.
The contact ultimately broke a tie rod on his car, putting him in the pits. Repairs would be made and teammate Tyler Stone would finish the race 18 laps down.
The contact elevated Colorado Motorsport with Flying Lizard’s Kris Wilson to the class lead. He then chose to run long before handing over to Zach Lumsden.
Once in the car, Lumsden dropped off pretty quick. That allowed Alex Garcia to take the lead. From there, the Garcias were able to hold on to take the class victory in 15th overall.
The margin of victory was 13.367 seconds over Rigid Speed’s Joseph and Lucas Catania. Wilson and Lumsden were third, then ACI Motorsports’ Muzaffar Gafurov and Ross Poole. Random Vandals Racing’s Judson Holt and Denny Stripling were fifth.
Pirelli GT4 America: Barber Park Race No. 1 Results
Race No. 2 for Pirelli GT4 America is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Coverage will begin at 2:20 p.m. ET on the GT World YouTube channel. Cooper will start on the overall pole in his McLaren.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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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