Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Am Class Point Leaders Burton/Kozarov Head to Portland for Rose Cup Races Doubleheader This Weekend

Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Am Class Point Leaders Burton/Kozarov Head to Portland for Rose Cup Races Doubleheader This Weekend

PORTLAND, Ore. – Coming off a double victory weekend last month at Sonoma Raceway, the driving duo of Jeff Burton and Vesko Kozarov bring their No. 91 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS sports car to Portland International Raceway on July 12-14 in hopes of expanding their current point lead in the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Am division.

With wins at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Sonoma Raceway this year, Burton and Kozarov, both of Salt Lake City, Utah, hold a five-point margin the current GT4 SprintX Am standings. Four wins (one overall in SprintX) and several fastest race laps have vaulted the Utah pair to the head of the field with four races remaining in the 2019 road racing campaign.

Last year at Portland in the Rose Cup Races, Kozarov captured both features in the Touring Car class in route to the 2018 series championship for Rearden Racing. He hopes to continue those visits to the PIR victory lane in the Saturday and Sunday 60-minute, two-driver SprintX events with his partner Burton.

Rearden Racing team owner Lara Tallman feels confident with her organization heading to the famed 1.967-mile, 12-turn circuit located at Delta Park, just north of downtown Portland.

“Last year was a tough one at Portland with heat at 100 degrees and track temperature at the 130s,” said Tallman, the only woman team owner in the Pirelli GT4 America series. “Luckily, the forecast is cooler this year and that will be better for the drivers, cars, crews and fans at PIR. I expect the racing to be spectacular again. The Pirelli GT4 America cars hadn’t been to PIR in over a decade when they returned last year. And the racing was great. We just would like to keep our winning ways this weekend.

“The competitive nation of the GT4 SprintX field will not be easy this weekend at Portland. We will have our hands full with the cars like Porsche, BMW, Ginetta, Panoz, Ford Mustang and Maserati. We expect some very good racing and hopefully another run to the winner’s circle.”

Tallman, a former professional driver herself, and her Rearden Racing operation also fields the No. 33 Nissan 370Z TC sports car with driver Paul Terry of Fillmore, Utah, at the wheel at Portland. Terry was impressive last year at PIR with second and fourth place finishes in the two 40-minute Touring Car sprint races.

“Paul was outstanding last year at PIR in his first appearance at the track,” said Tallman. “Paul missed the last rounds at Sonoma, but he was quick earlier in the year with a fastest race lap before some misfortune took him out of the race. We believe Paul will be a contender again this weekend like he was in 2018 at PIR.”

This weekend’s big Pirelli GT4 America racing action begins on Friday (July 12) with practice rounds set for 11:05 a.m. PDT and 3:20 p.m. PDT. GT4 SprintX qualifying is scheduled for 9:35 a.m. PDT Saturday (July 13) with the two 60-minute feature events beginning at 2:15 p.m. PDT Saturday and 1:55 p.m. PDT Sunday (July 14).

TC America runs at PIR begin Friday with practice sessions set for 8:55 a.m. PDT and 12:00 p.m. PDT. TC qualifying takes place Friday at 2:50 p.m. PDT. The two 40-minute TC sprint events will begin at 10:15 a.m. PDT Saturday and 10:20 a.m. PDT Sunday.

All Pirelli GT4 America and TC America races will be streamed on Live.SRO-America.com and heard via audio simulcast on SiriusXM satellite radio Ch. 383 (983 on the app). In addition, race highlight telecasts will be shown on the CBS Sports Network for the TC division on Wednesday, July 24, at 8:00 p.m. EDT and 11:30 p.m. EDT. The Pirelli GT4 America highlights are schedule for Sunday, July 28, at 4:00 p.m. EDT and 8:30 p.m. EDT.

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ABOUT REARDEN RACING: Owned and operated by Lara Tallman and driver Vesko Kozarov, Rearden Racing’s roots date back to the 2000s when Tallman drove in the IMSA ST class. The Utah-based operation consists of several aspects with design, build and service racing cars; offering “arrive and drive” programs in both professional and club racing clients and manufacture and distribute a variety of racing-related parts. On the track, Rearden Racing has been a winner, taking the 2018 Touring Car Championship with Kozarov as well as the prestigious 2017 and 2018 SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge for the GT4 category at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The Rearden name comes from the popular Ayn Rand book, “Atlas Shrugged,” a novel about advocacy of reason, individualism, self-made, independent thinkers, inventors, business owners and risktakers.

Contact: Tom Blattler, TB Communications, tomblattler@earthlink.net, 317.525.5692