- Workman and Gonzalez keep Silver title hopes alive
- Cooper and Gaples claim the win, Craven takes the crown in Pro-Am
- Garcia brothers secure Am class victory
- Race 1 Provisional Results
The Pirelli GT4 America field delivered an action-packed opening race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with the largest GT4 grid of the season taking to the track for a pivotal contest in the championship battle. Westin Workman and Tyler Gonzalez returned to the top step in Silver, Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples drove through the field from last to first for a dramatic win in Pro-Am, and brothers Michael and Alex Garcia secured another victory in the Am class to strengthen their championship charge. Meanwhile, Sam Craven clinched the title in Pro-Am, but the Silver and Am titles are still on the line, meaning Sunday’s season finale promises to deliver even more action.
Silver Class
Starting from pole position, Westin Workman led the Silver class field into the opening stages in the No. 68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota, but Yves Baltas quickly moved into second during the opening lap in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche. The race was interrupted by a full-course yellow within the first three minutes, with a lengthy caution period required for barrier repairs before the field returned to green-flag racing.
The No. 68 entry later sustained damage while coming down pit lane during its pit stop, adding another challenge to the race for the frontrunners. Meanwhile, ACI’s Trenton Estep and Parker DeLong engaged in a fierce battle, with the No. 131 Advance Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4 of DeLong making contact with Estep as the pair fought for position. With seven minutes remaining, DeLong held the advantage.
At the front, Workman and Gonzalez delivered when it mattered, securing their return to victory lane at Indianapolis. The result kept their championship hopes alive heading into the final round, as Spencer Pumpelly and Luca Mars of RS1 endured further misfortune and a lengthy pit stop, disrupting their pursuit of the title.
For the RAFA Racing Team pairing, the focus remains firmly on maximizing every opportunity.
“We came into this weekend knowing we have to win both races, and that’s really our only mentality,” Gonzalez said. “So that’s what we did today, and that’s what we’re going to replicate tomorrow.”
“It’s kind of a case of we have nothing to lose, right? All we have to focus on is going out there and trying to win both races,” Workman added. “We’re not the ones defending. We’re on offense right now, and it’s always nice to be on offense. There’s no quit in this team, and there’s no quit in me and Tyler. It ain’t over till it’s over.”
With one race remaining, Workman and Gonzalez will look to carry that momentum into Sunday as they continue their push for the championship.
Pro-Am Class
Michael Tosi led the Pro-Am field early in the race in the No. 77 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4. When the caution interrupted the opening stages, Tosi held the class lead, but he encountered trouble on the restart and ran wide before managing to regain control.
Following the pit-stop window, the fight for position intensified. Michael Cooper, driving the No. 33 Blackdog Racing McLaren Artura GT4, worked his way through the field while battling Stevan McAleer in the Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4 for seventh in class. Cooper continued to make progress as he chased down championship contender Kenton Koch in the No. 94 Random Vandals Racing BMW, with Blackdog Racing looking to keep its title hopes alive heading into Sunday.
Cooper eventually got past Koch in the closing stages, moving into second in class with ten minutes remaining as Koch dropped to third. Further ahead, Nolan Allaer was running first in class and second overall, with two Silver class cars separating him from the Pro-Am contenders behind.
The final lap, however, turned the race upside down. Allaer encountered trouble and dramatically dropped down the order, opening the door for Cooper to take over the class lead. Koch followed close behind to secure second, while the No. 40 Off Leash Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Harry Gottsacker and Kevin Clifford completed the podium.
Cooper and Tony Gaples ultimately delivered the Pro-Am victory for Blackdog Racing, but the result was not enough to prevent Sam Craven from securing the championship. Koch and Craven’s consistent campaign paid off, with Craven celebrating his second consecutive Pro-Am title.
“I hate losing more than I like winning, my father instilled that in me very young,” Cooper said. “It’s just awesome to get another win with these Blackdog Racing guys. Congratulations to the No. 94 guys on their championship. They drove with class, especially today. Kenton gave me a nice push, which gave us the chance to go for the win there in Pro-Am.”
Gaples reflected on the challenge of working through the field, saying, “Just keep it alive. I’m not used to being that far back with those drivers. I didn’t know what they were going to do, and a lot of them just didn’t see me, so I just had to keep it alive.”
For Craven, the championship was a reward for a season in which the competition never let up.
“It wasn’t easy this year, but everyone out there kept us honest,” Craven expressed. “Just being able to do it with this team again, it feels incredible. Today we weren’t able to win the race, but we didn’t have to. I’m super grateful for Kenton and the incredible drive that he had.”
Craven will leave Indianapolis as a two-time Pirelli GT4 America Pro-Am champion, adding another milestone to his career.
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Am Class
With the Am championship battle still wide open, Frankie Muniz made an early move to the front in the No. 30 TechSport Racing Ford Mustang GT4. Michael Garcia, who started from pole position in the No. 21 ACI Motorsports BMW, cycled back to fourth in class, while championship contender James Walker ran seventh at the caution in the No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT4.
The fight for the title took another turn in the second half of the race when Walker Jr. went off course, costing the BimmerWorld entry valuable ground. With the team arriving at Indianapolis just one point behind TechSport in the championship standings, the incident threatened to have significant consequences for the title fight.
As the race entered its closing stages, Alex Garcia made his move for the lead, passing Tyler Stone with 20 minutes remaining. Stone stayed in pursuit, keeping the pressure on Garcia as the battle for the class win continued.
Despite the pressure from behind, the Garcia brothers held on to secure the Am class victory, completing a comeback performance for the family pairing. The result adds an important win to their Indianapolis weekend, while the championship remains undecided heading into Race 2.
TechSport Racing filled the podium in second, with the final spot belonging to Lucas and Joseph Catania in the No. 17 Rigid Speed Company BMW in third.
With the Am contenders still separated by a tight points battle, Sunday’s race will determine how the season-long fight concludes.
Up Next
The Pirelli GT4 America field will return to the track for Race 2 on Sunday morning, October 11th at 10:25 AM ET.
If you can’t make it to Indy, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on SRO RaceControl, YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #Indy8H.