Although the 2024 GT America powered by AWS championship is nearing the closing stages of the season, the intensity continues to rise, especially as tight battles resulted in a dramatic turn of events in race one at Barber Motorsports Park.
Though it looked like Justin Rothberg had the opening win of the weekend in the bag, a last-lap pass by Jason Daskalos shuffled the podium order in SRO3. Meanwhile, it was smooth sailing for Isaac Sherman, who led from start to finish in the GT4 class.
SRO3
The action kicked off immediately in the SRO3 class, as polesitter Rothberg in the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 came under threat from Johnny O’Connell in the No. 3 SKI Autosports Audi R8 LMS GT3. The two went side by side in the first few corners, with O’Connell momentarily snatching away the lead before Rothberg went on to take it right back.
However, it was Daskalos who was charging through the field in his No. 27 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, picking off competitors one by one before closing in on the leaders, putting in fastest laps in the process.
His first challenge was to overtake O’Connell, and as the championship frontrunners drove side by side on lap 16, Daskalos used every inch of the road in order to stay on track and propel himself up into second place. From there, he focused on hunting down Rothberg in the lead.
Major championship implications arose as O’Connell suffered a late stage puncture, dropping him down the running order as he had to make a trip down pit lane for repairs.
The drama did not end there, as Daskalos closed in on Rothberg in the final minutes. They were running nose to nail, with no room for error on either side. The fight for first intensified even further as the two made contact on the last lap of the race. As a result of the impact, which saw Daskalos clip the back of the BMW, he was able to move up into the lead and cross the finish line to claim the race one victory.
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The race win, combined with O’Connell’s misfortunes, has enabled Daskalos to reclaim the championship lead heading into the next race. Nevertheless, the points gap between the top three has been reduced significantly.
“That was a win that almost rivals our victory in Long Beach,” Daskalos said, celebrating his fifth win this season. “We struggled all weekend with the car, and this win is all because of my crew chief, Sheldon Miller, Nick, and Ryan Dalziel.”
Daskalos recalled his last-lap incident with Justin Rothberg, saying; “I was to the outside. He hit the inside curb and launched himself into my car, and we made contact. I was completely to the outside of him.”
GT4
Sherman took the green flag in his No. 098 Rotek Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport and never looked back. With a clear road ahead of him, he set off down the track and continued to gradually expand his lead over the rest of the field.
Curt Swearingin ran in second position in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, but was ultimately unable to raise a challenge to Sherman. Gray Newell also ran comfortably in third in the No. 25 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
The trio completed the race in the same order they qualified in, with Sherman claiming an impressive ninth win this season, while Swearingin and Newell made their podium returns for the tenth and ninth times, respectively.
“ It’s a very tough and technical track,” Sherman said. “There’s no room for error as there are blind corners all around. I just got into a rhythm and a good flow and pulled a gap, so I’m very happy.”
The GT America Powered by AWS field will return to the track for race two on Sunday, September 8th at 8:40 a.m. CT.