SRO America Wraps Up 2022 Season with Awards Gala in Indy

SRO America Wraps Up 2022 Season with Awards Gala in Indy

After a fantastic season of intense racing—including multiple championships that were not decided until the final checkered flags in Indianapolis—SRO Motorsports America honored its 2022 champions at a black-tie gala at the historic Indiana Roof Ballroom.

The honor roll of champions and special awards was lengthy, reflecting an amazing depth of talent across multiple classes for both seasoned professionals and highly accomplished amateurs. Over 180 racers took part in 57 races across four series. That’s a full 60 hours of competition that took place on nine different circuits.

Greg Gill, President and CEO of SRO Motorsports America remarked that “2022 was fantastic with great on-track action and our ability to welcome fans back into the paddock after a challenging time for the world.  It’s great to honor the achievements of our teams for their amazing efforts. While the 2022 season has wrapped in the U.S., everyone at SRO is already looking forward to 2023.”

Let's reflect back on the accomplishments that racers and teams accomplished after this tremendous season.

Pirelli GT4 America

While they indeed scored 11 wins from 14 races, the Silver class RS1 Porsche of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer never had it easy. Gavin Sanders and Michai Stephens scored two wins in their Conquest Racing/MF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG on their way to second place. The battle for third was a close one between the Smooge Racing Toyota of Kevin Conway and John Greesbreght and the AutoTechnic Racing BMW of Austin Smith and Zac Anderson.

The Pro-Am class was impossible to predict with seven different teams taking race wins. Two wins and points scoring finishes in 13 of 14 races delivered the championship to Jason Hart and Scott Noble in the NOLASport Porsche. Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer scored three wins in their Premier Racing Porsche, but three non-points finishes meant that they just missed the gold. 

Third and fourth in points were the Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin of Andy Lee and Elias Sabo followed by the AutoTechnic Racing BMW of Tom Capizzi and John Capestro-Dubets.  The Lizards won at Indy while Capizzi/Capestro-Dubets picked up wins at both VIR and Watkins Glen.

Gray Newell and Ian James scored a win at Watkins Glen on their way to sixth in points in their Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Early season points leaders Bryan Putt and Kenton Koch scored three wins in their BSPort Aston Martin, but were forced to miss the final races due to Hurricane Ian.

The other two Pro-Am race winners were Justin Piscitell / Moisey Uretsky (Accelerating Performance Aston Martin) and Ross Choest / Aaron Povoledo (Chouest Povoledo Astin Martin).

It was a great year for BimmerWorld in the Am class, with James Clay and Charlie Postins taking their BMW to seven wins and a championship that was clinched by the end of the Sebring race weekend. Postins also earned the Rookie-of-the-Year award.

Alain Stad, racing with a variety of co-drivers in his NOLASport Porsche, was second in points having scored a wonderful local win at his home track in New Orleans. Third in points, with two wins was Alex Filsinger and Rob Walker (Auto Technic Racing BMW)  

Consistent solid finishes, including three on the podium, was good for fourth in points for Nelson Calle and Juan Martinez (RS1 Porsche). The other teams to finish strong were Terry Borcheller / Nick Shanny (Carrus Callas Race Team Toyota), Anthony Geraci / Jaden Lander (KRUGSPEED Toyota), Al Carter / Paul Sparta (Random Vandals BMW), Seth Thomas (Nolasport Porsche), and Ben Anderson / Matt Rivard (Dexter Racing Ginetta).

  • Drivers Champions (Silver): Stevan McAleer & Eric Filgueiras (RS1)
  • Drivers Champions (Pro-Am): Scott Noble & Jason Hart (NOLASport)
  • Drivers Champions (Am): Charlie Postins & James Clay (BimmerWorld)
  • Team Champion (Silver): RS1
  • Team Champion (Pro-Am): NOLASport
  • Team Champion (Am): BimmerWorld
  • Crew of the Year: Auto Technic Racing
  • Rookie of the Year: Charlie Postins (BimmerWorld)
  • CrowdStrike Fast Lap Award: Steven McAleer (RS1)
  • Team Manufacturer Award Winner: RS1
  • Manufacturer Champion: Porsche

Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS

In the Pro category, Lamborghini team K-PAX Racing kicked off the season with a continuation of the win streak they started in 2021. This continued for the first six races of 2022 giving Andrea Caldarelli a strong early season points lead. Thanks to a change-up of the K-PAX Racing driver pairings after Sonoma, they ended up securing the top four positions with eight-race winner Caldarelli leading Jordan Pepper, Michele Beretta, and Misha Goikhberg in points. The biggest challenge to the K-PAX Racing Lamborghini’s came from Michael Dinan and Robby Foley in the Turner Motorsports BMW who scored two wins, including the Indianapolis 8-Hour. The other Pro team to top the podium was Philip Ellis and Russell Ward who had a mid-season three-race win streak in their Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. Early season challengers Steven Aghakhani and Loris Spinelli missed four races before returning for the Indy 8-Hour in their US Racetronics Mercedes-AMG.

The Pro-Am class was intensely competitive with three teams fighting for the championship going into the final race at Indy. After the numbers were totaled, it was the Racers Edge Motorsports Acura of Mario Farnbacher and Ashton Harrison earning the hard fought championship. Farnbacher and Harrison scored four wins and a crucial second place in the double-points 8-Hour finale. Harrison was also named Rookie-of-the-Year.  

Just five points behind the Acura was Jan Heylen and Charlie Luck in the Wright Motorsports Porsche, having scored four race wins. Jumping into third in points after scoring the double-points Indy 8-Hour win was the BimmerWorld BMW of Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull.  Fourth in points after scoring three wins was the CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG of Colin Braun and George Kurtz. Finally, the other team to score a Pro-Am win in 2022 was Ryan Dalziel and Justin Wetherall who drove their Triarsi Competizione Ferrari to a picture-perfect win at VIR.

The Am season was all Ferrari with Conrad Grunewald and Jean-Claude Saada winning twice in Sonoma for AF Course. After that it was all Charlie Scardina and Onofrio Triarsi in the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari taking ten wins and the championship.

  • Drivers Champion (Pro): Andrea Caldarelli (K-PAX Racing)
  • Drivers Champions (Pro-Am): Ashton Harrison & Mario Farnbacher (Racers Edge Motorsports)
  • Drivers Champions (Am): Charlie Scardina & Onofrio Triarsi (Triarsi Competizione)
  • Team Champion (Pro): K-PAX Racing
  • Team Champion (Pro-Am): Racers Edge Motorsports
  • Team Champion (Am): Triarsi Competizione
  • Crew of the Year: Wright Motorsports
  • Rookie of the Year: Ashton Harrison (Racers Edge Motorsports)
  • CrowdStrike Fast Lap Award: Andrea Caldarelli (K-PAX Racing)
  • Team Manufacturer Award Winner: K-PAX Racing
  • Manufacturer Champion: Lamborghini Squadra Corse

GT America powered by AWS

In the SRO3 class, George Kurtz and his CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG were often challenged, but seldom defeated. Kurtz scored an impressive ten wins from the 16 races, including the final five races of the year.

Kurtz’ biggest challenger was Jason Dakalos in the Daskalos Motorsports Audi, and the amazingly consistent Micro Schultis in the Mishumotors Callaway Corvette. Daskalos scored two early season wins, while Schultis managed to podium in the final seven races of the year.

Other challengers included Jason Harward, who scored a win at Sonoma in the Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini, and the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari duo of Justin Wetherill and Onofrio Triarsi who split wins on the streets of Nashville. Additionally, the always impressive Andy Pilgrim in the SKI Autosports Ferrari took a triumphant, hard-fought win at Road America.

While one racer (Kurtz) scored ten wins in SRO3, a total of ten racers scored wins in GT4.  This was arguably the closest championship in all of SRO Motorsports America this year, with four racers still looking for the championship heading to the final double-header weekend at Indianapolis. Ross Chouest timed his race wins perfectly by scoring his first and second win in the final two races, which earned him the championship in his Chouest Povoledo Aston Martin. 2021 GT4 champion and St. Pete race winner Jason Bell barely missed out a repeat title in his GMG Racing Aston Martin. Third in points was Adam Adelson in the Premier racing Porsche with two wins, however he unfortunately suffered the worst luck at the Indy finale. In fourth after also scoring two wins was Moisey Uretsky in the Accelerating Performance Aston Martin.

Robb Holland, the only racer to score three race wins this year in his Rotek Racing Porsche, ended up fifth in points. Seth Lucas joined the series mid-season and made a big splash winning his first two races in the Hattori Motorsports Toyota on his way to sixth in points and being named Rookie-of-the-Year.  

The remaining GT4 race wins were scored by Elias Sabo (Flying Lizard Motorsports Aston Martin), Marko Radisic (SRQ Motorsports BMW), Hutton McKenna (Wright Motorsports Porsche), and Steve Dinan (Carbahn with Peregrine Audi).

  • Drivers Champion (SRO3):  George Kurtz (CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports)
  • Drivers Champion (GT4): Ross Chouest (Chouest Povoledo Racing)
  • Drivers Champion (GT2): CJ Moses (GMG Racing)
  • Team Champion (SRO3): CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports
  • Team Champion (GT4): Chouest Povoledo Racing
  • Crew of the Year: Triarsi Competizione
  • Rookie of the Year: Seth Lucas (Hattori Motorsport)
  • CrowdStrike Fast Lap Award: George Kurtz (CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports)
  • Manufacturer Champion: Mercedes-AMG

TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School 

TC America's events once again punched above their weight in terms of clean, close racing, and the majority of the races being all-green sprints.

Jacob Ruud (Fast Track Racing BMW) started the season looking like he would be an easy winner in TCX. While he scored seven wins and the championship, the second half of the season was a nail-biter as Colin Garrett (Rooster Hall Racing BMW) scored seven wins as well, including the final four races to close within two points of Ruud. The other two TCX racers most likely to podium were Lucas Catania (Ridgid Speed BMW) and Stephen Cugliari (Accelerating Performance BMW).

Kevin Boehm executed an engineering-precise season with a perfect 100% podium record, comprising as many as ten wins, on his way to a championship in his CrowdStrike Racing Skip Barber TC class Honda. However, not without Clay Williams putting in the work behind the wheel of his Team JCW MINI always within sight of Boehm and beating him to the checkered flag a total of four times.  The battle for third in the championship was won by Jeff Ricca (Genracer/Ricca Autosport Hyundai) over Matthew Ibrahim (DRS & Garagistic BMW).

TCA was a season-long dogfight between Gresham Wagner (Tech Sport Racing Subaru) and Carter Fartuch (Skip Barber Racing Honda). Wagner scored seven wins and ten podiums vs Carter with three wins and 11 podiums to take a narrow championship. Wagner also earned the title of Rookie-of-the-Year.

Keeping Wagner and Fartuch busy was Chrisian Perocarpi (Team JCW MINI) with three wins and Devin Anderson (Tech Sport Racing Subaru), scoring the final win of the season at Indy.

  • Drivers Champion (TCX): Jacob Ruud (Fast Track Racing)
  • Drivers Champion (TC): Kevin Boehm (CrowdStrike Racing by Skip Barber)
  • Drivers Champion (TCA): Gresham Wagner (TechSport Racing)
  • Team Champion (TCX): Fast Track Racing
  • Team Champion (TC): Skip Barber Racing
  • Team Champion (TCA): TechSport Racing
  • Rookie of the Year:  Gresham Wagner (TechSport Racing)
  • Crew of the Year (TCX): Fast Track Racing
  • Crew of the Year (TC): GenRacer
  • Crew of the Year (TCA): Skip Barber Racing
  • CrowdStrike Fast Lap Award: Jacob Ruud (Fast Track Racing)
  • Team Manufacturer Award Winner: Fast Track Racing
  • Manufacturer Champion (TCX):  BMW Motorsport
  • Manufacturer Champion (TC):  Honda Performance Development
  • Manufacturer Champion (TCA): Honda Performance Development

Special Awards:

In addition to on-track performance being recognized, three very special end-of-season awards were made to individuals for their contributions to the sport.

Alberto Pena from CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports was named the 2022 Jerome Zimmermann Award winner. The Zimmermann Cup is an annual award presented in the memory of multi-time championship winning crew chief Jerome Zimmermann (1967-2003) to the crew chief that best exemplifies the similar passion, dedication and success Zimmermann demonstrated in World Challenge.                                                  

Robert Thompson from the SRO Medical Team was the Mike Pasquale Memorial Award winner.  This award is made in the spirit of the beloved Mike Pasquale (1947-2021).  It is presented annually to an individual who reflects the positive attitude, love of racing and commitment to serving others in support of our racing community.

Finally, Tigh Isaac of Zelus Motorsports was the Jim Cook Award recipient. This award honors the memory of James Edwin Cook (1939–1985), and is presented to the person who's made significant contributions to the overall success of the SRO Championships through promotional activities and a consistent display of good character and sportsmanship.

Complete video coverage of all of the 2022 races can be viewed on the GT World YouTube channel.

After two seasons of COVID restrictions, it was great having growing car counts and at-the-track fan attendance.  2023 promises to be bigger and better, including a return to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas. 

SRO looks forward to seeing strong title defenses among its competitors, and welcomes newcomers to the paddock in every single one of its four series. We also look forward to hosting the inaugural season of Toyota's GR Cup, which will run in conjunction with TC America.

The 2023 SRO Motorsports America season will kick off with GT America powered by AWS at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix March 3-5, followed by all four series ready to take to the tarmac at Sonoma Raceway March 31-April 2.

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