Gray Newell claimed the ROWE Pole Award for Race 1 of the GT America powered by AWS weekend at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, earning his first pole position as a GT3 driver with The Heart of Racing Team.

While GMG Racing led the times early, Newell banked his 1:21.754-second benchmark in the No. 24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo just before a red flag interrupted the session and brought out an early checkered flag.

James Sofronas was second-fastest, 0.150 seconds off of Newell’s pace in the No. 14 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, with stable mate Patrick Mulcahy in third aboard the No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Turner Motorsport’s Justin Rothberg was fourth-quickest, with George Kurtz rounding out the top five fastest SRO3 times in his No. 4 CrowdStrike Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
Adrian Kunzle will sit on the GT2 class pole for Saturday’s Race 1, eclipsing GMG’s CJ Moses’ best time by over two seconds.
Paul Sparta claimed the GT4 class pole for Random Vandals Racing ahead of Judson Holt.

Jeff Burton ground to a halt on the back straightaway in his No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG roughly halfway through the 15-minute session, ultimately bringing out the red flag.
Burton lost his two fastest qualifying times as a result of bringing out the red.
Moments later, Jason Bell also appeared to stop on track in the first sector in his No. 2 RacersEdge Aston Martin.

Race 1 is slated for 5:20 p.m. PST on Saturday with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube Channel, Twitch, and on MAVTV.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Long Beach delivered its fair share of drama, with a red flag stopping the session with just seven minutes remaining. The interruption added a layer of complexity as drivers were forced to adapt quickly, knowing their shot at pole could come down to a single flying lap.

In the end, it was Gray Newell who claimed his first career pole position in the SRO3 class. Adrian Kunzle set the pace in GT2, while Paul Sparta came through in the final moments to secure the top spot in GT4.

SRO3 Class

Gray Newell delivered a breakthrough performance in the No. 24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO, setting the fastest time of the session and securing his first pole in a GT3 car. It also marks his second career pole at Long Beach, as he previously earned the top spot in GT4 last year.

“It was pretty satisfying to come away with a solid fourth place in our first practice session,” explained Gray. “It gave me a good feel for the track and the car. Everything was still green for me, as this is only my second weekend in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3. In the second practice, I think I was the only car not on fresh tires, but we still put down competitive times. That gave me confidence going into qualifying, knowing we had a strong car. I just had to dig a little deeper.”

“I’m still learning where the limit is without overdriving it. We knew there was a high chance of a red flag during qualifying, especially with the changing temperatures and traffic. So the plan was to go all-out from lap one. I did catch a bit of traffic, so I wasn’t sure how representative the lap was, but then the red flag came out. I came into pit lane not thinking much of it, and they told me I was first. Furthermore, I didn’t really believe it because I thought we would go green again. But we didn’t. And here I am. I am pretty happy with that outcome.”

Newell rose to the top just before the red flag was shown for Jeff Burton, who encountered issues in his No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Before the stoppage, Patrick Mulcahy appeared to be in strong contention in the No. 54 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R, with James Sofronas close behind in the No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVOII. Justin Rothberg also made an early impression, running third aboard the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

Sofronas will start alongside Newell on the front row, with Mulcahy and Rothberg occupying Row 2. Series veteran George Kurtz rounded out the top five in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3.

GT2 Class

Adrian Kunzle delivered a commanding performance in the GT2 category, putting the No. 142 MLT Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 on pole. Taking advantage of the improving tire temperatures, Kunzle’s quick lap held up even after the red flag brought Qualifying to an early end.
CJ Moses followed closely behind, earning second place on the grid in the No. 58 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 after a consistent and competitive run.

GT4 Class

Paul Sparta claimed pole position in GT4 aboard the No. 98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4, edging out Judson Holt in the No. 188 Fast Track Racing entry. The battle between the BMWs was tight, with Sparta emerging ahead as the session came to a halt.
Ricco Shlaimoun completed the top three in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. He briefly topped the charts early in the session with an impressive lap, but Sparta and Holt responded with quicker times to secure the front row.

The GT America Powered by AWS field will return to the track for Race 1 on Saturday, April 12th at 5:20 PM PDT.

If you can’t make it to Long Beach, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free livestreams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #GTLongBeach.