- Cugliari Wins for Third Time in BMW M2 CS Cup for Accelerating Performance
- Smith Outlasts Boehm, Hines, Jones, Wins for BMW in TC
- Anderson Defeats Rumburg in TCA in #22 Toyota 86
- PROVISIONAL RESULTS - PDF Link
Sebring, Fla. - The second race for TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School featured battles in all three classes on a warm and sunny Florida morning at Sebring International Raceway. The #57 BMW M2 CS Cup of Stephen Cugliari outpaced the #81 BMW of Jacob Ruud for a third time this season, matching his winning performance from Saturday’s first race in the TCX class. Cugliari picked up the win over Ruud and the #5 BMW of Roy Block, who fought off a hard charge from the #54 BMW of Garrett Adams in a drag race to the finish line.
The TC class saw the #9 Honda Civic Type-R of Kevin Boehm drive to the front for DXDT Racing in the early moments, but a right-front shock failure allowed the #51 BMW M240iR of Austen Smith to win his second race of the weekend, over competitors in the #21 Nissan 370Z (Rob Hines) and the #28 Honda Civic Type-R (Eric Powell, borrowing teammate Mike Ogren’s car after a crash in qualifying).
After fighting from the back three separate times in the race on Saturday, the #22 Toyota 86 of Devin Anderson was able to drive away from the field on Sunday, dominating the race in the TCA class. Behind him, the #33 Hyundai Veloster Turbo of Luke Rumburg finished second, followed by the #62 Mini Cooper of Cristian Perocarpi, rounding out the podium in TCA.
The start of Race 2 for TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School allowed the #57 BMW M2 CS Cup of Stephen Cugliari to establish a small but steady lead over the #81 BMW of Jacob Ruud in the TCX class. The TC field’s frantic start allowed the #9 Honda Civic Type-R of Kevin Boehm to drive around the outside of turn 3 and steal the lead away from the #51 BMW M240iR of Austen Smith. Behind the front two, the #21 Nissan 370Z of Rob Hines and the #60 MINI JCW PRO TC of Derek Jones joined the fight for the lead in the opening laps.
The TCA field took the green with the Forbush Performance duo of the #33 and #18 Hyundai Veloster Turbos with Luke Rumburg and Caleb Bacon chasing the #22 Toyota 86 of Devin Anderson. The #16 Honda Civic Si of Carter Fartuch ran fourth in the opening moments in his Skip Barber Racing School entry.
A fierce fight broke out at the sharp end of the TC field when Austen Smith’s blue BMW caught the #9 of Boehm for the race lead. Boehm defended from Smith, allowing the #60 MINI of Jones to close, as well as the #21 Nissan of Rob Hines. Boehm, Smith, and Jones entered Sebring’s Sunset Bend three abreast, with Jones coming out ahead of Boehm and Smith. The #51 BMW of Smith would pass Boehm on the following lap, with a bump draft from Rob Hines shoving him past Boehm’s DXDT Racing Honda.
While defending, Boehm ran wide at turn 13, and suffered a right front damper failure that caused the #9 Honda Civic Type-R to retire. His championship rival, the #28 Honda of Eric Powell, missed the first race of the weekend due to a crash in qualifying, but borrowed teammate Mike Ogren’s car to run the second race. Powell drove up to third place and scored a podium in Race 2 in TC.
As Cugliari drove to his second win of the weekend, the #5 BMW M2 CS Cup of Roy Block and the #54 BMW of Garrett Adams fought for the last step on the podium in TCX. Adams spent the last few laps attempting to pass Block, with a last lap, last corner pass giving him the spot. But as the two raced to the checkered flag, Block was able to pass Adams and beat him by 0.078 seconds for third place in TCX.
Championship battles in TC and TCA close in with the season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway looming October 14-16th. All TC America Powered by Skip Barber Racing School races are broadcast live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel, including the last two races of the season in two weeks.