(PORTLAND, Ore.) – Mason Filippi won Saturday’s action-packed TC America TCR/TCA contest at Portland International Raceway, part of the 59th Annual Rose Cup Races presented by Fastlife.TV. Bryan Putt was victorious in the TCR Cup division, while Nick Wittmer won in TCA.
At the green, pole-sitter Filippi, in the Copeland Motorsports #12 Hyundai Veloster N grabbed the lead with second-on-the grid FCP Euro’s Nate Vincent in the #72 Golf GTI TCR going side by side through turn 1 with third-on-the grid James Walker in the #34 Risi Competizione Alfa Romeo Giulietta. Vincent was able to hold off Walker to slot into second. FCP Euro’s Michael Hurczyn, who started fourth in the #71 Golf GTI TCR slotted in behind Walker.
In TCR Cup, pole sitter Putt, driving the #15 eEuroparts.com ROWE Racing Audi Sport RS3 LMS (DSG) grabbed the lead over Stephen Vajda in the #18 EXR Team by Premat Audi Sport RS3 LMS (DSG) and Christian Cole in the #27 McCann Racing Audi Sport RS3 LMS (DSG).
In TCA, pole sitter X-Factor Racing’s Chris Haldeman in the #69 Honda Civic Si went three wide through turn 1 with Wittmer, in the #91 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ tS and Nate Norenberg in the #60 MINI JCW Team MINI Cooper JCW. Haldeman was able to hold off Wittmer for the lead with Norenberg slotting into third. Tyler Maxson in the #74 Copeland Motorsports Mazda Global MX5 Cup ND.2 slotted into fourth.
Through lap 4, Filippi continued to lead Vincent with Hurczyn moving into third in TCR, while Putt, Vajda, and Cole held positions in TCR Cup. In TCA, Haldeman and Wittmer held their positions while Maxson moved past Norenberg for third.
By lap 9, fierce battles ensued as Vincent started to pressure Filippi for the lead in TCR, while in TCA Wittmer pressured Haldeman, with the driver of the #91 machine eventually taking the lead on the back straight through turns 8 and 9. Haldeman would drop back to third, with Maxson moving into second. By lap 12, the TCR leaders began catching the TCA pack with Maxson using the traffic to help him move into the lead over Wittmer.
At the mid-point of the race, Filippi still led over Vincent and Hurczyn in TCR, while Putt held the lead over Vajda and Cole in TCR Cup. Maxson still led over Wittmer and Haldeman in TCA.
Race control then issued a full-course yellow on lap 16 to remove the disabled #07 Mazda Global MX5 Cup ND.1 of Jose DaSilva. On the lap 19 restart, Filippi led the pack to the green flag for a 11-minute shootout to the checkered. In TCR Cup, Cole got the jump on the restart and moved into the lead over Putt. In TCA, Wittmer would regain the lead passing Maxson.
By lap 22, Race Control issued a drive through penalty to Cole for a passing violation on the restart giving the lead back to Putt in TCR Cup.
At the checkered, Filippi would cross the line ahead of Vincent and Hurczyn in TCR, while in TCR Cup, Putt won over Vajda and Cole. In TCA, Wittmer took the win over Norenberg and Maxson.
“It was a great day,” said Filippi in victory circle after the race. “The Copeland Motorsports #12 Hyundai Veloster was awesome and held the tires under it for the entire race. I’m looking forward to Sunday’s race.”
Results are provisional until posted final. The weekend’s second TCR/TCA race (Round 10 for TCR and TCR Cup, and Round 8 for TCA) is scheduled to start Sunday at 12:40 pm PDT. All races will be streamed live on TCAmerica.us. CBS Sports Network coverage for TC America races at Portland airs July 24 starting at 7 pm EDT. Check your local listings for additional broadcast time and channel information.