Conquest Racing West (Mercedes-AMG) Take First Race at Indianapolis Finale Double-header

Conquest Racing West (Mercedes-AMG) Take First Race at Indianapolis Finale Double-header
  • Stephens/Mullan Recover Early Position Loss to Win Overall, Silver Honors
  • Champions-elect NOLASPORT (Pro-Am) and Smooge (Am) Add Additional Hardware to their Championship-winning Seasons
  • PROVISIONAL RESULTS - PDF Link

Indianapolis, Ind. - Conquest Racing West (#35 Mercedes-AMG GT4) drivers Michai Stephens and Colin Mullan won the penultimate GT4 America race of the season, taking the checkered flag first overall and for the Silver class. Champions-elect NOLASPORT (#47 Porsche) saw drivers Matt Travis and Jason Hart add hardware to their championship-winning cache this year, while Smooge Racing's Kevin Conway and John Geesbreght accom[plaished a similar feat in the Am class competition.

The race started with the field shuffling almost immediately after the first few turns, with James Clay (#36) grabbing three positions and front-row sitter Michai Stephens (#35) dropping as far back as fifth place but regaining a position to sit fourth overall. An incident involving Jason Bell (#2 GMG Racing Aston Martin), Chris Gumprecht (#79 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes-AMG) and Paul Sparta (#98 Random Vandals Racing BMW) saw Gumprecht end off-track, reporting no steering ability, and sent the Full Course Yellow flag flying. At the return to the green flag, Kris Wilson (#16 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG) was served with a Drive-Through Penalty for causing a collision while Gray Newell (#24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin) and Tim Barber (#22 CCR Racing/Team TFB BMW) jockeyed for the overall fifth spot, swapping positions before Barber settled into the fifth spot.

Up front, the Manufacturer positioning battle continued to heat up as Clay fended off the onslaught from Kenny Murillo (#72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG) for the second overall position as pole-sitter Grahovec (#11 Classic BMW BMW) methodically increased his lead lap-by-lap. Further dings against the BMW charge to the Manufacturer's title were hindered by efforts from Warren Dexter (#062 Dexter Racing Aston Martin) against Barber in the fifth overall position, and the retiring of the #98 Random Vandals Bimmer involved in the previous FCY collision. Still, the three-way battle for second-place saw the #72 and #35 Mercedes-AMG cars with their sights set on the Clay's BMW.

At the opening of the pit window, it was the #47 Porsche of Matt Travis that was first to make the driver change and have the strategies unfold. Just before the close, it was the race leader and CrowdStrike Fast Lap award winner Stevan McAleer in the #11 Classic BMW that took the required pit stop last. Back out and in the rhythm, the field saw the #11 Classic BMW lead dwindle from a charging #35, now driven by Colin Mullan, and a relatively poor pit stop time. The #72 Murillo Car, driven by Christian Szymczak, sat third overall with Pro-Am Class leader Jason Hart behind him in the #47 Porsche. Further back in the pack, Geesbreght held on to the first place position in the Am class, and the battles commenced.

With a little under 15 minutes left in the race, Mullan continued to chip away at Grahovec's lead, while Szymczak held fast Hart worked to stay in front of the Pro-Am class. After non-stop pressure, Mullan was finally able to capture the lead with just under 11 minutes left in the race after which he never looked back. Murillo, too, was able to get by a short time later and the three held the positions until the checkered.

Pirelli GT4 America drivers complete the regular season with a Friday finale fight. The green flag drops at 2:35 pm EDT and is sure to be an exciting close to a season of hard racing. Fans can watch the race for free on the GTWorld YouTube channel, catch the audio simulcast on SiriusXM Satellite Radio channel 392 (992 on the web app) and follow along on the remaining championship battles with live timing and scoring available at gt4-america.com/live