- Garrett and Rooster Hall Racing pulling ahead in TCX
- Tight battle emerging in the TC Class
- LA Honda World and TechSport Racing face off in TCA
- Entry List | Tickets
The TC America Powered by Skip Barber field is heading to Virginia International Raceway for the next round of the highly exciting and competitive championship. A total of 25 drivers across three classes will be lining up to try their luck around the 17-turn, 3.27-mile race track. As the halfway mark of the season looms overhead, drivers and teams alike will be giving it their all to secure important points in the hunt for the top spot.
TCX Class
In the TCX class, it is Colin Garrett who will be coming into VIR with the upper hand. He has stood on the podium in every race so far this season on board his No. 44 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup), including a win last time out at COTA. His consistency and ability to deliver top performances has enabled him to accumulate 119 points thus far, building up a nearly 30-point buffer to his competitors behind.
Lucas Catania, who sits second in the championship with 93 points, has also been a frequent podium finisher in his No. 26 Rigid Speed Company BMW M2 CS (Cup). Kyle Loh is currently just a mere three points behind, but this time around it will be William Tally jumping in the No. 73 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCX at VIR.
The Fast Track Racing pairing of Adam Gleason and Maddie Aust are occupying the fourth and fifth slots in the standings in their No. 21 and No. 09 BMW M2 CS (Cup) cars. Aust most recently stood on the podium in third and second place at Circuit of the Americas and will be chasing a repeat performance at VIR.
Joseph Catania will be jumping back in the driver's seat of the No. 24 Rigid Speed Company BMW M2 CS (Cup), with Dai Yoshihara, Kenny Schmied and Christopher DeFreitas completing the grid in the No. 99 VGRT Honda Civic Type-R TCX, No. 14 AOA Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup) and the No. 93 Ian Lacy Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCX.
TC Class
While Jeff Rica has had a perfect season thus far, driving his No. 78 Genracer / Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TC to victory in all four races he has competed in, his absence in the previous round at COTA allowed Clayton Williams to move up ahead in the championship after winning both races in Texas in his No. 60 MINI JCW Team Mini JCW Pro TC. The two are now separated by 13 points and will be facing off for the top spot at VIR.
Celso Neto added two more podiums to his tally during the prior round, sitting third in the class championship in his No. 7 Skip Barber Racing School Honda Civic Type-R. Cristian Perocarpi also grabbed his first second-place finish of the season in his No. 37 MINI JCW Team Mini JCW Pro TC, and will be in search of more hardware.
Michael Hurczyn brought home another third-place result for his VGRT team, equipped with the No. 8 Honda Civic Type-R, with Jeremiah Burton also utilizing the same car model with his No. 34 Skip Barber Racing School machine.
Sally McNulty came fourth in Race 2 at COTA in the No. 780 Hyundai Veloster N DCT TC, equalling her best result of the season, and will be back on track at Virginia in search of another strong performance.
TCA Class
Current class championship leaders Spencer Bucknum and LA Honda World Racing will be heading to VIR ready to defend their top spot on the leaderboard. Bucknum has driven his No. 5 Honda Civic Si FE1 to a podium result in every race so far and will be pushing hard to keep that streak going.
TechSport Racing’s Devin Anderson follows in second in the championship standings after he scooped up another win in the previous round in Race 1 in his No. 22 Subaru BRZ, giving him a small 5-point gap to William Lambros in the No. 77 Skip Barber Racing School Honda Civic Si FE1, who took the other win of the weekend.
Anderson’s teammate, Shaoyi Che, occupies fourth place in the standings in the No. 23 sister car. TechSport Racing are trailing behind LA Honda World Racing by only 5 points in the team standings, and the upcoming round at VIR could be a make-or-break opportunity for either side.
Completing the TCA grid is Cooper Broll in the No. 19 Skip Barber Racing School Honda Civic Si FE1, P.J. Groenke and Landon Lewis in the No. 62 and No. 63 MINI JCW Team Mini JCW, Ruben Iglesias in the No. 88 VGRT Honda Civic Si FE1, and new entry Eric Rockwell with the No. 15 Rockwell Autosport Development Hyundai Veloster Turbo TCA.
Let’s Go
The three-day event hosted at VIRginia International Raceway takes place Friday, June 16, through Sunday, June 18. Fans can purchase single-day tickets or three-day ticket packages. Nissan owners can join the Nissan exclusive car corral. At the same time, the Patriot Car Corral is open to vehicles of all kinds, with proceeds going to helping veterans of the United States and Canadian military. Tickets are on sale here.
For fans unable to attend the event in person, the GT World YouTube page may do just the trick. The live stream covers all series races over the weekend, including Fanatec GT World Challenge America qualifying rounds. For those wanting to get to know the community a little better, join DJ Clark, Kyle Heyer and Daniel Gilligan on the SROMotorsports Twitch stream, where the trio interacts with fans and interviews drivers while covering on-track activity.