Blackdog Speed Shop Aiming for Championship Push in Virginia

Blackdog Speed Shop Aiming for Championship Push in Virginia

Gaples, Cooper hope to add to recent VIR success, this time with McLarens

LINCOLNSHIRE, Illinois – Following two consecutive street circuit races to open the season, Blackdog Speed Shop heads to one of America’s greatest road courses this weekend in the Pirelli GT4 America Sprint championship.

Scenic Virginia International Raceway is the locale for Saturday and Sunday’s pair of 50-minute GT4 races for Blackdog Speed Shop’s Michael Cooper and Tony Gaples. It will be the first time at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit for Blackdog Speed Shop with its McLaren 570S GT4 race cars.

Both Cooper and Gaples have good memories of racing at VIR in the past. Gaples, in the No. 11 Blackdog Speed Shop McLaren, posted his first career podium finish in racing in 2001. 
 


He and the Blackdog team competed for the first time together at VIR in 2017, and last year he shared a car with Cooper in GTS SprintX competition. They finished fifth in the second GTS race a year ago despite a significant performance gap.

In addition to last year’s top-five finish, Cooper placed third and fourth in a pair of GT SprintX races at VIR in 2017. A three-time Drivers champion, Cooper is coming off a third-place GT4 podium finish at Long Beach two weeks ago.
 
Another pair of podium finishes – and better yet, a victory or two – at VIR will go a long way in helping Blackdog Speed Shop close an early-season championship gap in the Driver and Team races in GT4 Sprint. The program has won four Drivers titles and three Teams championships.
 
The Pirelli GT4 America event at Virginia International Raceway is April 26-28. Race 1 is set for 1:05 p.m. ET on Saturday with Race 2 scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Sunday. Live coverage will be available at gt4-america.com.

MICHAEL COOPER, NO. 10 BLACKDOG SPEED SHOP McLAREN 570S GT4: “Street races are enjoyable, but there’s nothing like racing at a place like VIR. We’re lucky to be able to compete at a number of great tracks and VIR ranks right up near the top. It rewards a car and a driver that can be consistent not just over a lap but throughout an entire race. There are a lot of places around VIR where you can get it wrong and pay a big penalty. That risk/reward factor is part of what makes this a great track.”

TONY GAPLES, NO. 11 BLACKDOG SPEED SHOP McLAREN 570S GT4: “I can’t wait to get back to VIR. It’s such a great, classic American track that gives you every possible challenge you could want as a driver. We need tracks like this on our schedule. Everyone on the Blackdog Speed Shop team is eager to improve on our Long Beach showing. We’re not used to being that far behind on performance. We’re hopeful things are better this weekend and we can race with the rest of the competition.”

About Blackdog Speed Shop
Blackdog Speed Shop Blackdog Speed Shop is a high-performance, custom car builder in the northern suburbs of Chicago specializing in ground-up car builds, high-performance upgrades for engines, transmissions, suspension and exhaust including computer and dyno tuning. Whether you have a modern muscle car, vintage muscle, 1930s hot rod or a foreign exotic, you will enjoy the Blackdog experience.
 
Ever dreamed of piloting a real World Challenge race car? Blackdog offers rental and “arrive and drive” racing in addition to purpose-built cars. Call Blackdog today at (855) 4-BLACKDOG to schedule an appointment or discuss the best way to put you in the driver’s seat!