The 40 minute TC America TCR/TCA race 2 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway went green with race 1 winner Mason Filippi and the #12 Copeland Motorsports Hyundai Veloster N TVR leading the field.
In TCA it was Chris Haldeman and the #69 X-Factor Honda Civic Si leading the class to the flag, but he would be quickly swallowed up by the #61 MINI JCW Team MINI Cooper of Mat Pombo for the lead. Haldeman would face an issue and begin dropping through the field ultimately forced to retire, as a full course caution was called was after the #22 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ tS of Damon Surzyshyn stopped on track.
TCA Championship leader Nick Wittmer in the #91 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ tS came into the final race with an 11 point lead over Tyler Maxson and the #74 Copeland Motorsports Mazda Global MX5 Cup. Wittmer would sit in the eleventh position as the caution flew with Maxson in fourth, looking good for the Mazda driver to claim the title by a single point.
The race would go back to green with 21 minutes remaining with Filippi leading the #72 FCP Euro VW Golf GTI of Nate Vincent and #3 McCann Racing Audi RS3 LMS of Michael McCann Jr. Previously crowned TCR champion Michael Hurczyn would run fourth in the #71 FCP Euro VW Golf GTI TCR. The race would finish in this order. “It was amazing. This was a great weekend, the Copeland Motorsports crew gave me a Hyundai Veloster N and I’m also really happy for Maxson in TCA,” said Filippi.
In TCA Mat Pombo lead the class with Tomas Mejia and Nate Norenberg chasing in a hoard of MINI Coopers. Tyler Maxson would remain fourth in class, but title rival Nick Wittmer would gain two positions at the restart to sit ninth in class with the championship swinging back to Wittmer’s favor.
With 12 minutes remaining however Wittmer would face an engine issue and retire, giving the championship back to fifteen-year-old Maxson. “Oh man it means the world to me and the team. This just couldn’t be a better year for us here in SRO. We were struggling for a bit during the middle part of the race but got through it. This is unbelievable, what a race, what a season!” said TCA Champion Tyler Maxson.
With 2 minutes remaining, TCA leader Mat Pombo and the #61 MINI would drop out from the lead, giving Norenberg the class lead and win with Mejia sitting in second and Maxson inheriting third on the final lap of the race. “This is my first win in any series and even though it took to the final race to get it, I can’t complain, it was worth it.” said Nornberg.
The TCR Cup win would go to Stephen Vadja with class champion Bryan Putt and the #15 BSPort Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG finishing second and Christian Cole and the #27 McCann Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG third.
Results are provisional until posted final.
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TCR/TCA RACE 2 RESULTS (Provisional) - PDF Link