It was a scorching hot day at VIRginia International Raceway as the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS drivers took to the track for the last 90-minute race of the weekend in front of thousands of fans scattered around the 3.27 mile layout.
Attendees were treated to a spectacular showdown between Pro and Pro-Am competitors, with Regulator Racing’s Jeff Burton and Phillip Ellis claiming the overall win, the first time this season this has been accomplished by a Pro-Am team. DXDT Racing’s Alec Udell and Tommy Milner went back-to-back at VIR to secure the Pro class win.
Pro
It was a clean start in Race 2 as Tommy Milner started from pole position in the No. 63 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with Elliott Skeer remaining close in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 992 GT3 R. Milner focused on pulling away from the rest of the field as Skeer came under threat from Bryan Sellers in the Pro-Am No. 08 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The field was brought back together again as a safety car came out just over thirty minutes into the race. The pit window opened shortly after, with nearly the entire field taking the opportunity to perform their pit stops and driver changes.
Wright Motorsports got the jump over DXDT Racing in pit lane as they performed their driver changes, with Adam Adelson now in first overall followed by Alec Udell. The green flag running resumed with just over 40 minutes remaining, and the action only continued to increase.
Spencer Pumpelly moved his RS1 machine ahead of Udell, but Udell clawed back to take the position back a few laps later, with ST Racing’s Bill Auberlen taking the opportunity to sweep past Pumpelly as well.
Udell then launched his attack on Adelson to regain the overall lead with 20 minutes to go, but came under threat from Phillip Ellis in the Pro-Am No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the final laps, as Ellis went on to take over at the very front of the field.
Udell took the checkered flag to secure a fourth consecutive Pro class victory for DXDT Racing. Adelson and Auberlen made contact with just 8 minutes remaining, sending Adelson for a spin, which resulted in a drive through penalty for Auberlen for incident responsibility. Consequently, RS1’s Spencer Pumpelly and Luca Mars in the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 EVO22 benefitted from the moment as they were promoted up to second and third in class.
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“A lot of things happened in the race,” explained Alec Udell at the podium celebrations. “There was a lot of action, I’m breathing heavier than I was yesterday. Tommy had a great stint, mine was a little less clean than his, but it was nice to get the car passed off. There were a little bit of miscues by some other teams that backed us up in the pit lane, but there was nothing we could really do about that. Then we were just fighting through to the front as much as we could in the end there.”
When looking ahead to the next rounds at Road America, Tommy Milner stated that “we were not quite as good in a straight line as most other cars, so Road America won’t be the best place for us. However, this car does really well in the braking zones, and there’s quite a few there. The Corvette has been great this weekend and it was great at COTA”
Pro-Am
Bryan Sellers made moves in the No. 08 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on the very first lap to move into the Pro-Am class lead and third overall ahead of Race 1 winner Tom Sargent in the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R.
As the driver changes unfolded and Kyle Washington took over from Sargent, he returned to the track in the Pro-Am class lead ahead of DXDT Racing’s Scott Smithson, but the team were handed a drive-through penalty for a pit lane infringement, dropping them down the running order.
Once Phillip Ellis got his hands on the No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 there was simply no stopping him. He made up ground quickly and drove through the field before going on to challenge Pro class challenger Alec Udell for the overall lead. With only 10 minutes to go, the two went side by side and Ellis made the move stick and took it all the way to the finish line to claim the team’s first overall win.
Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen drove a very consistent and controlled race to step back on the podium in second place in class with the No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3, while Scott Smithson fended off a high pressure attack from Justin Rothberg in the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 to clinch third place for DXDT Racing.
“This is perfect,” said Phillip Ellis. “I think this is the opportunity we’ve all been waiting for with the reverse strategy. It didn’t happen for us yesterday, but today was actually quite perfect. It was definitely a fun race. Jeff (Burton) did a great job as well, we’ve just been working hard together. We struggled a bit in Sonoma, but since then it’s been an upward trend.”
“There’s no words that can say how cool this is,” exclaimed Jeff Burton. “Especially with the relationship that we’ve built and how good of a teacher he is. He has really helped me boost my level of racing.”
The Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS field will return for Rounds 9 and 10 at Road America from Aug. 16-18.