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.

Corvette Z06 GT3.R drivers Robert Wickens and Tommy Milner met with members of the media Friday morning after the first practice for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The two recapped the one-hour session in DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, the preparations ahead of the race and the continued progress of the Corvette with Bosch’s state-of-the-art hand-control braking system.

ROBERT WICKENS, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R

Rob, take us through the first session on-track for you.

“The first session was definitely not the session I had envisioned or dreamed. It was honestly a pretty shaky start. We had some issues on my installation check at the start of the session, which we got resolved, but we missed probably the first 20 minutes or so of FP1. And when you only have 60 minutes of the first practice, you want to try to utilize everything you can.

So I think a lot of it was probably just myself, but I just felt like I was rushed kind of the whole time. I had a hard time kind of just settling down and finding a rhythm. But Tommy drove the car, put in a great lap.

And then when I got in at the end of the session, I had a great reference lap on the dash to kind of understand how to extract lap time from this Corvette Z06 GT3.R around Long Beach. And it’s kind of the exact reason why I was so happy to have a teammate like Tommy here this weekend.
I know after this practice when we’re done here we can look at some data and we can calm down and come up with a strong approach to try to find time and improve.

It’s my first time here in a GT3 car, it’s only technically my third day and in the Corvette, so I feel like I’m still a little rusty.
The last time I did a race was Road Atlanta last year, so a lot of my competitors here have already done the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring; they already have 36 hours of racing experience under the belt and I’m just still getting through rough stuff a little bit but we’re going to keep pushing and keep working hard. I’m excited for the second practice this afternoon.”

Robbie, can you just talk a little bit, if you could, about how the systems are coming together for you with the Bosch system?

“This track is kind of the ultimate challenge for hand controls given how tight some of the corners are. The fountain and obviously the Hairpin, so something I’ve never experienced with racing with hand controls is kind of having to deal with so much like steering angles around these tight corners.

I was relatively prepared to know what to expect into the Hairpin, but when you experience it in real life… I’ve done iRacing sessions and other stuff where you understand there’s a lot of steering involved to get through the Hairpin, and I drove it in an IndyCar, so you also understand.
But once you live it with hand controls going through the Hairpin, when you turn so much and you realize that you can’t reach the brake paddle that

I was initially using and I need to switch hands to continue to slow down the car, it’s going to take some time to continue to get lap time.
I think that’s honestly probably one of my biggest time losses to Tommy that I could see inside the car in that session.
But the Bosch electronic braking system is working flawlessly.

It’s giving me confidence. It’s definitely not the reason why I was struggling for pace in that session. I think it’s just going to take some time to get up to speed and hopefully get a good look at data, look at some on-board videos and do some self-coaching and with the help of Tommy beside me, we’re going to find some more speed for second practice.”

Robbie, obviously you’ve had test sessions in the Corvette with the hand control system, but this was your first day on track, not in a testing capacity with others on track.
How was that for you? Did that change your approach at all?

“It did. It was hectic. It’s kind of like what I touched on. I felt like I was just kind of flustered the whole session. When I did my two days in Sebring, there were only maybe three other cars on track the whole two days, so we pretty much had the entire track to ourselves.

This was my first time obviously experiencing the speed difference of a GTP versus a GTD car. Then with our issues that we had at the start of the session, when I finally went out for my installation lap I felt like everyone else already had hot tires and I was just like a nuisance on the track so that was an adjustment.

Then once Tommy got in and set a good baseline time for the car and everything, I think we all settled down a little bit. It’s a busy track out there when all of us are out there.”
Now that you’ve had some seat time in testing capacity and practice capacity, can you talk a little bit about the feel of the system? Obviously it’s going to be wildly different compared to what it was in the TC car because it’s a different beast, but you said you were happy so far.

“From the feeling of it, I know exactly where I feel like the threshold is on the brake and I feel like I understand how much I need to brake for each corner.
I just need to try and figure out how to extract performance from the Corvette, and I think that’s kind of the beauty of this Bosch EBS it’s just integrated into this car so well that I don’t even really there’s no quirkiness or I feel like I’m not driving around any issues. It’s just I hit the brakes and the car slows down, which is pretty much exactly what you want it to do.”

Can you maybe take us through the rest of today, what the schedule is, you know, the next practice session, maybe assume that you’re going to get back to the bulk of the time?

“The rest of the day we’re going to finish up here, get back to the truck, look at some data and some video, and harass my teammate Tommy on how to drive one of these cars quicker.
Honestly, the car balance felt like it was going to be in a really good spot. With it being a temporary circuit with no room for error, I’ll set up to err on the side of caution.

I just need to figure out how much more I can push, if I need to brake later, harder, more entry speed, kind of stuff like that. Then, hopefully a bit of lunch. We get an hour and a half in FP2 instead of an hour, like we had this morning.
So I’ll focus a little more on getting settled into the car and then keep working away on driving the Corvette.”

Can you give us a walkthrough of a lap at the Long Beach Grand Prix from your own perspective?

“First off, it’s great just to be back. I’ve had the privilege of racing here in IndyCar in 2018 and then being here every other year that IndyCar’s been here with the coaching roles that I do with Andretti Global and IndyCar.
So I feel like I’ve experienced this culture for so many years, but to be putting on a fire suit and sitting in the car again, I feel like I’m home where I belong.

It’s just such an amazing event, the track obviously has so much history, the 50th anniversary this year… I think everyone wants to win to kind of be a part of that milestone. Regardless of the category, whether it’s been Formula 1 races, CART races, IndyCar races, Champ Car races, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races, I think every driver wants to win here because just being on the podium, it’s just an historic place. The track is amazing.

It’s raw, it’s unforgiving and you have to commit to put the lap in. For me, I think that’s the next step, I felt like I got to a point in that first session, where without risking the car, I needed to kind of see a lap of data to understand how to go quicker.
So I’m just really excited for Practice Two here coming up in a little bit and try to make it a big step forward.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 36 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R

Now over to Tommy, a four time winner here at the Grand Prix. How much did that help you in this session?

“Certainly having been a racer helps me in situations when things are a little bit rushed, just to get settled in quickly.
I’m very fortunate to have spent so much time with Corvette Racing over the years and spent a lot of time in the Z06 GT3.R. I know the last two or three years now I’ve missed this race but didn’t feel like it hopping this Corvette and then getting comfortable again.”

Milner on Wickens’ first session…

“For somebody who’s in his third day in this GT3 car, I know his standards for himself are super high, but to come here for the first time to Long Beach in a long time, driving basically a car new to himself and be a second off the pace in about 10 minutes of practice is quite impressive. He’s talking from the position of who he is. He wants to be the fastest.

And that’s why, for me, I’m excited to be here this weekend with him and his journey. But also just having a teammate as competitive as Robbie is awesome, rewarding and exciting for me. It’s been easy talking to him about driving this Corvette because it’s like talking to any other teammate that I’ve ever had in my career. So he sounds a little bit down right now.

But I can tell you for 10 minutes in the car here at Long Beach, that’s a good place to start from, for sure.”
Robbie, so much of being a race driver is second-nature, instinctive feel.
How long does it take for a lot of these things you need to do in the car to become instinctive?

“From a hand-control perspective, it’s definitely instinctive now. I guess it is like using your feet… understand that, you know, your right foot applies the throttle and sometimes with race drivers your left foot applies the brakes.
So I’m still trying to get up to speed with understanding the ABS system and if the car likes it a lot or less or whatever the case is.

So I’m still trying to figure out a bit of that muscle memory of how hard do I have to squeeze my brake to kind of achieve that happy threshold for braking performance. I think definitely it’s driving with my hands that has been second nature now for quite a while, but I’ve said it every time I feel like every time I’m driving a race car, I’m continuing to learn something and continuing to perfect my driving ability with my hands. Obviously I’m jumping into a different car with a slightly different control system.

There’s going to be a level of adjustment but for the most part, I feel like I’m in a pretty good starting spot.
I think that’s down to a lot of the design work. It was such an evolution from what I used in my TCR car, and we needed to learn in TCR to be where we are now, 100 percent. The first time I drove the Corvette at Sebring, I was all blown away by how comfortable I was with the brake system straight away and how much feeling I had.

Even here, I’m not worried of figuring out how to apply the brake or apply the throttle. I know all that, and it all feels great. It’s just trying to extract pace from the car now.”
Can you give us a walkthrough of a lap at the Long Beach Grand Prix from your own perspective?

“It’s such a high-commitment racetrack. Obviously, any mistake here typically ends in a concrete wall. So it’s a place that requires a lot of comfort and confidence in the car. It’s one of the best street tracks that I’ve ever raced in my life.
Just got a good flow and rhythm to it. It ends up being pretty good for multi-class racing with some passing opportunities to let the faster GTP cars go by.

The first section has lots of character and has a lot of nuance to it to find lap time. It has the pretty unique corner there with the fountain in turns Two and Three. Then you go to two of the more difficult corners on the racetrack in turns Four and Five where there are curbs here at the apex in some places. For us it’s quite difficult to use all of those.

So for me, it’s just a lot of fun. You know, it’s a place where when the car gives you the confidence, you can really hustle around here, and I think that’s what makes the Long Beach Grand Prix circuit so much fun for us as drivers.
And then you add all that with just the atmosphere of the fans being on top of you and being close here on Shoreline Drive the whole event itself is one of the races that I’ve missed the last couple of years. Now that I’m back, it reminds me of how special this place is.”

In your experience, how much does the track change and evolve from what was this morning’s session?
What do you want to just see here when you go back out?

“Yeah, certainly it’s a big part of this weekend. Typically we’re one of the first series on the racetrack. So parts that are dusty and doesn’t have a whole lot of rubber laid down after our next session, once the IndyCar guys come on track a little bit as well, it just adds grip to the racetrack and makes the first session or two for us a little bit tricky because you start finding lap time as time goes on.

It’s always not entirely clear if that’s you making gains with your driving or with car setup or it’s just the track itself getting faster. So this weekend is challenging.
It’s a compressed schedule, and playing catch-up with the racetrack and continuing to improve yourself in the car while the track is improving is just always a moving target. So that’s another aspect of this weekend and this race that makes it challenging but also rewarding when you have success.”
Do you learn anyt
hing from the way Robert approaches this racetrack?
I realize you might have some differences in the car, but what about the way he looks at data? Are you able to pick up any things that will help do his driving?

“Certainly. I’ve been very lucky throughout my career with Corvette Racing to have very talented teammates, and with every single one of them, you learn something about their driving style, about their preparation, how they look at data, things like that. And this will be the most important thing for me.
The first thing I’m going to do is I’m going to be the first one to take a look at data with Robbie. But already from the experience that I’ve had with him, we rode together after the first test that I did with this hand-control car in between the Daytona Roar and the Rolex 24.

Just talking to him, understanding how his brain works a little bit, there’s always things to learn and pick up, and someone with the talent that he has, I’m always keeping my mind and my ears open to understand what makes him as good as he is.

So I’ll be stealing as many secrets as I possibly can this weekend.”

The story continues in 2025 Porsche Penske Motorsport, Nick Tandy, and Felipe Nasr remain undefeated in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Tandy and Nasr drove the No. 7 Porsche 963 to victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, leading a Penske 1-2 finish 3s ahead of the No. 6 Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell. It’s Porsche and Penske’s second straight 1-2 finish, and extends the No. 7 car’s lead to 123 points in the WeatherTech GTP standings.

Pole-winning RLL BMW with their No. 24 M Hybrid V8 of Dries Vanthoor and Philip Eng led until the race went under a full course yellow after the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s 100-minute sprint. Quicker pit work from Porsche Penske Motorsport’s two crews helped get the two factory cars out ahead of the No. 24 BMW, where they remained until the checkered flag.

Whelen Cadillac led the V-Series.R contingent as the No. 31 (Jack Aitken/Earl Bamber) finished fourth, holding off the No. 25 RLL BMW (Sheldon van der Linde/Marco Wittmann) in fifth.

Behind the two Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillacs, the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie of Ross Gunn and Roman de Angelis completed a trouble-free race and finished eighth, while the two Meyer Shank Racing Acuras lost out on strategy and, in the case of the No. 93, a mechanical black flag for damage from an earlier incident that dropped Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly to last in class.

The No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-06 (Tom Blomqvist/Colin Braun) could only muster a ninth-place finish, and lost its left-rear wheel after the finish, just to add further insult to a tough day.

Laurens Vanthoor also remains undefeated in the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech series, as he and co-driver Jonny Edgar teamed up to give AO Racing the win in GTD.

AO Racing and “Rexy” used the overcut to their advantage as the No. 177 Porsche 911 GT3 R, making a one-off cameo appearance in GTD, took the win. It was AO Racing’s second GT win in a row, after taking the GTD PRO victory in last month’s 12 Hours of Sebring.

Vasser Sullivan Racing narrowly missed out on a Long Beach three-peat. The No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 of Parker Thompson and Jack Hawksworth led early but dropped to second, one place ahead of the No. 89 of Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz which, like the winning car, was making a special entry out of GTD PRO.

GTD Championship leaders Russell Ward and Philip Ellis finished fourth in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO (Patrick Gallagher/Robby Foley) in fifth.

Robert Wickens and Tommy Milner ran a strong race in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, but contact between Milner and Foley at the hairpin Turn 11 inflicted damage on the Corvette and forced Milner to pit from fifth place.
They finished a lap down in 15th.

The 13 Corvette was also hit by another car so it also ended up at the back of the pack, 1 lap down in 13th place

IMSA returns to action further up the California coast at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 11th.

Race 1 of GT America at Long Beach completed
There were 3 Corvettes in the race
#70 is a Callaway older C7 Z06 and the other two #11 & #50 are C8 GT3.Rs
Finished 5th, 6th and 7th
Race 2 tomorrow, Sunday

Justin Rothberg won the opening GT America race of the weekend at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to become the third different winner in as many races this season, after late drama for James Sofronas.

The GMG Racing team owner/driver looked set for a comfortable victory in Southern California after making an early pass for the lead before bringing his No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II to a stop on the main straight, bringing out a yellow flag with less than two minutes to go.

Rotherberg then assumed the overall lead of the race just before the field fell under caution to complete a charge up the order from fourth on the grid in his No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

Sonoma Race 2-winner Kyle Washington finished second after making early progress from his starting position of seventh. Washington was locked in numerous battles, including one with eventual third-place finisher and pole-sitter Gray Newell.

CrowdStrike Racing’s George Kurtz came home in fourth, with Ross Chouest rounding out the overall top five in SRO3 aboard the No. 50 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Seventh-place finisher Blake McDonald will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Race 2 after reeling off the fastest racing lap in Saturday’s contest.

With fellow GT2 class competitor CJ Moses encountering an electrical gremlin on the formation lap, MLT Motorsports’ Adrian Kunzle took the class win in the No. 142 Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2.

Paul Sparta held off consistent pressure from Judson Holt behind for the GT4 class lead with the pair of BMW M4 GT4 EVO drivers running nose-to-tail for roughly 15 minutes before the Random Vandals Racing driver went long at Turn 1, allowing Holt to assume the class lead and eventual GT4 win by the time the checkered flag fell.

Multiple cars fell by the wayside before the field took the green flag, with Jason Bell’s RacersEdge Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo unable to join the field for the formation lap due to electrical issues before Moses took to pit lane before the start.
Patrick Mulcahy was set for a third-place start in his No. 54 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 R, but a throttle cable issue prevented him from taking the start.

Race 2 is slated for 11:20 a.m. PST on Sunday, with live-streaming coverage available on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch.

Justin Rothberg swept the GT America powered by AWS weekend on the streets of Long Beach after jumping to the overall lead in the first corner of the opening lap to become the first repeat winner of the season.
The Turner Motorsport driver wasted no time bringing his No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to the head of the field, passing pole-sitter Blake McDonald into Turn 1 seconds after the drop of the green flag in the 40-minute sprint race.

Kyle Washington and GMG Racing stablemate James Sofronas followed suit, leaping past the DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on Lap 1 to claim second and third, respectively.
With clean air, Rothberg led every lap of the race to take a 2.482-second win over second-place finisher Washington in his No. 32 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 R.

McDonald’s Corvette came alive mid-race, however, with the DXDT driver engaging in a tight battle with Sofronas and Washington for the podium positions, which came to blows on the final lap.

McDonald initially forced his way into third after making final lap contact with Sofronas’ Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II at the hairpin, with the GMG team owner/driver nosing into the outside wall as a result.

While Sofronas eventually continued, McDonald was handed a post-race time penalty for incident responsibility, demoting him to eighth overall and handing the final SRO3 class podium position to Elias Sabo in the No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW.

George Kurtz finished fourth in his No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, with Ross Chouest completing the top five.
Adrian Kunzle swept his SRO America debut weekend, taking the GT2 class win for MLT Motorsports over CJ Moses on Sunday.

Paul Sparta and Saturday GT4 class winner Judson Holt resumed their battle from Race 1 in the early stages, with the Random Vandals team principal fending off the Fast Track Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO before a loose nail forced him to relinquish the lead and take to pit lane with a right-rear puncture.
Ricco Shlaimoun took second in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

Mishumotor’s Mirco Schultis suffered right-rear suspension damage in the opening stages, managing to limp his Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R to the pit lane after running in the top five.
On the opening lap, Gray Newell spun his No. 24 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo after tussling with Schultis at Turn 2, temporarily lodging his Heart of Racing Team entry into the flowerbed of the fountain before continuing to pit lane.

In the final ten minutes, Jeff Burton slowed on track and brought his Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG into the pits.
Jason Bell, meanwhile, made multiple trips down pit lane with early reported front-end damage to his RacersEdge Vantage GT3 Evo.

RESULTS: Race 2

• Clean Sweeps for Rothberg, Kunzle and Hudson in SRO3, GT2 and GT3
• Kurtz Earns Hard Charger Award
• 05_Provisional_Results by Class_Race 2

The GT America Powered by AWS championship wrapped up the Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend with an exciting Race 2 on Sunday morning in front of packed grandstands.
Action was non-stop throughout the 40-minute race, a testament to the talent found in the GT America field.
It was a flawless weekend for the winners in the SRO3, GT2, and GT4 Classes, as Justin Rothberg, Adrian Kunzle, and Judson Holt each claimed back-to-back victories in their respective categories.

SRO3 Class

The closing round on Sunday delivered once again in the SRO3 Class. Blake McDonald took the green flag from pole position, having set the fastest lap in Race 1 aboard his No. 11 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. However, he wasn’t able to hold the lead for long, as Race 1 winner Justin Rothberg surged ahead before Turn 1 in his No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.

Kyle Washington in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R followed closely and managed to slip by, as did series veteran James Sofronas in the No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVOII.
Trouble struck for Gray Newell, whose No. 24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO spun briefly at the iconic fountain.

Rothberg wasted no time building a solid lead, while the GMG Racing teammates battled it out for second place. Behind them, a heated fight developed between California native Elias Sabo in the No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 EVO and George Kurtz in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 for fifth position.

As the race wore on, the pressure mounted. Washington and Sofronas continued their internal duel, while McDonald re-entered the mix in the closing laps, eyeing a podium finish.
In classic GT America fashion, the action came to a head in the final lap when McDonald made contact with Sofronas at the hairpin, sending Sofronas wide and dropping him to seventh.
McDonald was handed a post-race penalty, promoting Elias Sabo to third. George Kurtz, who earned the Eboost Hard Charger Award after gaining five positions, finished fourth, with Ross Chouest rounding out the top five.

“We started out second behind the Corvette, and I was able to get by him into the first corner. From there, it was pretty smooth sailing,” said Justin Rothberg.
He added, “This win is huge for me. Winning at Long Beach once is insane, but twice? That’s just crazy. I didn’t expect this at all, and I’m thrilled with the weekend.”

GT2 Class

Adrian Kunzle completed a weekend sweep in GT2, once again taking the win with a commanding drive in his No. 142 MLT Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2. He came under constant pressure from CJ Moses in the No. 58 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2 throughout the race.

Kunzle remained unfazed, responding to the challenge by laying down purple sectors lap after lap.
“This track is surprisingly punishing,” said Kunzle. “I definitely felt yesterday’s race today. But it’s such a blast. You start getting comfortable with the walls. It’s just so much fun!”

GT4 Class

Paul Sparta led the GT4 field to the green flag in his No. 98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4, having set the fastest lap time in Race 1. As the 40-minute race unfolded, the seasoned driver had increasing pressure from local driver and Race 1 winner Judson Holt in the No. 188 Fast Track Racing BMW M4 GT4 machine.
Though Sparta remained cool and collected, even when the GT4 pack got caught up with the GT3 field, adding a layer of challenge.

With 22 minutes left in the race, bad luck plagued Sparta who had to come down pit lane due to a flat tire caused by a nail. Holt inherited the lead, with young driver Ricco Shlaimoun running in second place in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.
As the race came to a closing stage, the order didn’t change, however Paul Sparta was caught up in some GT3 traffic, but mastered the situation perfectly, staying out of the way of their race.

“ It was all about being patient, and waiting for an opportunity to make a pass,” hometown hero Judson Holt. “ And the opportunity came. It was just right there in the right moment. I am ectatic about the weekend, now on to COTA where I will be back in GT4 America!”

Paul Sparta led the GT4 field to the green flag in his No. 98 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 after setting the fastest lap in Race 1. Early in the race, he faced increasing pressure from local driver and Race 1 winner Judson Holt in the No. 188 Fast Track Racing BMW M4 GT4. Despite GT3 traffic creating added complexity, Sparta remained composed until misfortune struck.

With 22 minutes to go, Sparta was forced down pit lane due to a flat tire caused by a nail. Holt inherited the lead, with young standout Ricco Shlaimoun moving into second in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. The order held until the checkered flag. Despite being shuffled in some GT3 traffic, Sparta handled the situation cleanly, staying clear of interference with their races.

“It was all about being patient and waiting for the right opportunity to make a pass,” said hometown hero Judson Holt. “The opportunity came, it was just right there at the right moment. I’m ecstatic about the weekend.
Now, on to Circuit of the Americas, where I’ll be back in GT4 America!”

Up Next

The GT America Powered by AWS field will be back on track in just two weeks at Circuit of the Americas from April 25th to 27th. Tickets are available for purchase and package options can be found here.

To follow the action from home, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free livestreams on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels.