Burton/Kozarov Pair Wins 5th 2019 Pirelli GT4 SprintX West Am Race; Rearden Racing Combo Extends SprintX West Am Point Lead

Burton/Kozarov Pair Wins 5th 2019 Pirelli GT4 SprintX West Am Race; Rearden Racing Combo Extends SprintX West Am Point Lead

PORTLAND, Ore. (July 14, 2019) – Vesko Kozarov of Salt Lake City, Utah, showed his driving skills this weekend at Portland International Raceway after a brilliant performance in the No. 91 Burton Lumber/Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS sports car in teaming with Jeff Burton Sunday and scoring the pair’s fifth 2019 Pirelli GT4 America SprintX West Am class victory.

Kozarov, the 2018 TC America series champion, proved the PIR 1.967-mile, 12-turn road course is one of his favorite circuits after a double TC win last year and a spectacular racing display in both 60-minute, two-driver main events on Saturday and Sunday.

Starting second in Saturday’s race, Kozarov jumped to the lead with his Rearden Racing machine and led for the first 35 minutes before handing off the Audi to Burton. Jeff fought off some top competition to place second in the GT4 Sprint West Am division. The runner-up spot helped Burton and Kozarov extend their current series point lead entering Sunday’s 60-minute event.

In Sunday’s contest, Burton started 15th in the overall SprintX field and moved up to ninth when he gave Kozarov the controls. Vesko’s charge to the front to impressive as he wheeled the blue No. 91 to second overall, just behind the Pro-Am leader Jon Miller.  The Burton/Kozarov combo recorded its fifth SprintX West Am victory.

“We were carving up some tires in the run Sunday,” said Kozarov. “The Rearden Racing Audi felt great and Jeff did a super job giving me a strong car to drive. The team has really prepared a solid car this year and we are working hard to get to the top of the podium.”

With five wins (two at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), one each at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Sonoma Raceway and PIR) this year in eight races, Kozarov and Burton enter the GT4 America SprintX West Am class season finale set for Oct. 18-20 at las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 24-point advantage in the Pirelli over the TRG team of Kevin Woods and Chris Bellomo.

In addition to the Rearden Racing GT4 SprintX class win, teammate Paul Terry of Fillmore, Utah, returned to the Touring Car series winner’s circle podium with a third place Saturday in the No. 22 Rearden Racing/Terry Trucking Nissan 370Z TC car. Terry also scored fourth in Sunday’s TC America 40-minute sprint race.

Portland race highlight telecasts will be shown on the CBS Sports Network for the Pirelli GT4 America categories on Sunday, July 28, at 4:00 p.m. EDT and 8:30 p.m. EDT with the TC America division race highlights on Wednesday, July 24, at 8:00 p.m. EDT and 11:30 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