The SRO TC America and GT America championships closed out their seasons this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and it ended up being a very successful year for teams campaigning the M4 GT4 and M2 CS Cup.
Some of the championships were already decided before the teams even got to Indy. BimmerWorld Racing drivers James Clay and Charlie Postins clinched their second consecutive GT4 America Am class championship in the last race at Sebring, driving the #36 M4 GT4. Colin Garrett and Rooster Hall Racing also clinched the TC America TCX class championship at Sebring in the #44 M2 CS Cup. Garrett closed out the year strong at Indy with two second place finishes in the pair of races, while Fast Track Racing driver Adam Gleason finished second in race one and AOA Racing driver Kenny Schmied finished third in race two in M2 CS Cup cars.
Colin Garrett goes up the inside of Dai Yoshihara at Indy.
There were still two GT4 America titles up for grabs coming into Indy, with the Silver class and Pro-Am class championships to be decided. Auto Technic Racing driver Zac Anderson was leading the Silver class points and clinched that championship in the first race at Indy when the Conquest Racing Mercedes, who was his primary rival, had a mechanical issue toward the end of the race while leading. The fifth-place finish in race one at Indy for Anderson and co-driver John Capestro-Dubets won Anderson the title, as he drove in the pair of races at Road America alone when Capestro-Dubets was out with an injury. The Random Vandals duo of Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch closed out a very strong season with a Silver class win in race one at Indy in their #92 M4 GT4.
Random Vandals Racing drivers Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch won the Silver class in race one at Indy.
In Pro-Am, the BimmerWorld Racing duo of James Walker, Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie had a nineteen-point lead over Nolasport Porsche drivers Jason Hart and Matt Travis coming into Indy. The hopes for a championship for the BMW pair went down the tubes in race one, when Walker, Jr. was hit by an Aston Martin and had to retire from the race, while the Nolasport Porsche duo finished second in class to close the gap to one point behind the BimmerWorld drivers going into race two. The Porsche started well ahead of the BMW in race two, making it a real challenge for the BMW drivers to catch up and pass the Porsche. That challenge was made even more difficult when two cautions gave them much less time to race. Walker, Jr. and McQuarrie ultimately finished one position behind the Porsche and just three points behind them in the championship.
James Walker, Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie finished second in the GT4 America Pro-Am class.
The MINI JCW Team also had a great finish to the year at Indy, with Clay Williams winning the TC class championship in the final race over Hyundai driver Jeff Ricca. The weekend didn’t start well for Williams, as he had a gearbox failure in race one while Ricca went on to win, but Ricca was the one with bad luck in race two, as he had contact with another car that set him back early in the race. Ricca fought back to finish second in race two, but Williams finished just ahead of him in second in his MINI JCW PRO TC car to win the championship. Teammate Christian Perocarpi also had a strong finish in race one at Indy with a second place.
Clay Williams clinched the TC class championship with the MINI JCW Team.
—David Haueter
[Photos by David Haueter]
