Blackdog Racing closed its first Pirelli GT4 America season with a ninth-place class finish for Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples in their No. 9 Nissan Z NISMO GT4 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It marked a progression from Saturday’s opening one-hour race and also from Sunday’s start. Starting from 20th overall and 10th in class, Cooper carved his way forward early and picked up six spots on the opening lap. He drove the first 30 minutes – including nearly 10 behind the safety car – and came to the pitlane as two competitors had issues on track to avoid getting caught out by a potential second full-course yellow.
Gaples got on the power immediately as he rejoined and carried on from eighth in class as the rest of the race ran green.
Sunday’s results made up for a sluggish Race One on Saturday. Gaples had to start from the rear of the field after the team had to perform work on the car during qualifying to fix a locked front brake, which isn’t allowed by series rules.
Gaples still was able to make up a handful of positions and challenge for the overall top-20 at the end of his stint when the Nissan had to take a drive-through penalty for a pitlane infraction during the mid-race driver change to Cooper.
The Blackdog team made an immediate impact during its first GT4 America season. It won in just its fourth race – at Sebring International Raceway – to give the Nissan GT4 its first global race victory. The team also claimed two overall pole positions on the season and was the highest-finishing Nissan entrant regardless of class in three of 13 races and highest-finish Pro-Am Nissan in four events.
Blackdog Racing will announce its 2025 competition program in the coming weeks.
MICHAEL COOPER, NO. 9 BLACKDOG RACING NISSAN Z NISMO GT4: “It was nice to mix it up and make some moves early on. After that I had to settle in and try not to give up any spots on the long straights. The early yellow didn’t make things any easier for us, and neither did some problems for other cars that we thought might bring out another yellow. At the end of the day, I think we made the right decision considering the risk versus reward for track position. It just didn’t work out for us. Thanks to Tony, Ray (Sorenson, team manager) and everyone on the Blackdog Racing team for welcoming me back this year. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future has in store.”
TONY GAPLES, NO. 9 BLACKDOG RACING NISSAN Z NISMO GT4: “Looking back, this was an up-and-down year. The level of competition in this series and in our class is really high with a lot of great drivers. It was gratifying for us to get a win and a couple of poles and podium finishes against this group. Still, we’re disappointed that we didn’t have the performance we needed to compete after the summer break. Thanks to Michael, Max (Root, Sebring co-driver), Ray and everyone on the team for everything they do to help me and our program compete week in and week out. The things we learned and accomplished will make us that much better next year.”