- Terry drives No. 59 Terry Trucking/Rearden Racing Aston Martin Vantage cars to pole
- Burton/Kozarov duo loses motor in testing in No. 91 Burton Lumber Aston Martin, can’t race at Indy
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The thrill of competing at the world’s most famous racing facility, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, had the Rearden Racing team ready to go when testing opened up last Wednesday at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road circuit.
Paul Terry, Jeff Burton and Vesko Kozarov were set to race in the Pirelli GT4 America Sprint and SprintX action in doubleheader events as part of the SRO America season finale weekend.
Entering the weekend, Terry and Burton sat second and third in GT4 Sprint Am class season points and expected to challenge for race wins and pole positions at Indy. Unfortunately, Burton and Kozarov’s No. 91 Burton Lumber/Rearden Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 sports car lost an engine in Wednesday’s testing and were unable to compete in the weekend racing.
“We lost an engine in the testing and I feel badly for Jeff and Vesko as we couldn’t get another motor to race in the weekend,” said Lara Tallman, Rearden Racing team owner. “I know that both guys really wanted to race at Indy. It’s a legendary track. So, we just had to concentrate on Paul’s car for the two Sprint races.”
Terry was left to hold the Rearden Racing flag in the two 50-minute Sprint events on Friday and Saturday at IMS with his No. 59 Terry Trucking/Rearden Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 machine. Paul came to the “Brickyard” with three race wins and a total of ten podium (Top-3) finishes. He also had past IMS racing experience, competing in the Trans-Am Series.
In Friday’s GT4 Sprint race 1, Terry started in the third spot in the Am division and battled his way to second in the 32-lap contest behind class winner Matt Travis. The runner-up spot secured the second-place position in the season-long GT4 Sprint Am category points.
In the Saturday Sprint feature, Paul won the Am class pole position and battled hard with the Pro division racers through the early portions of the 33-lap event and held the advantage in the Am class. However, a charging Michael Dinan was able to corral the top slot from Terry in the middle of the 50-minute sprint event.
Terry took his second runner-up finish of the weekend in the Sprint Am category and locked down second in the season point standings. It marked the 12th podium finish for Paul in 16 starts for the 2020 Pirelli GT4 America tour. Burton, who won at Sonoma Raceway this year, still managed to secure the third place in the 2020 GT4 SprintX Am points despite missing the final two rounds.
“I raced at Indy a few years back at the Trans-Am and was really looking for to this weekend’s racing,” said Terry. “However, it’s tough with limited fans and the atmosphere at this famous track isn’t the same. Michael did a good job driving today. I had a few issues in the middle of the race as I need to find my lines better if I was going run right with him. I was able to up my pace late in the race, but I wasn’t going to catch him. My car was great this weekend. The Rearden team did an excellent job for us this year. We’ll take second this year.”
The GT4 Sprint highlights from the Indianapolis will be televised through the CBS Sports Network on Oct. 15 at 9 p.m. EDT.