After starting last in the SRO3 class, George Kurtz ended Friday’s GT America race in victory lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – while Ross Chouest scored a crucial GT4 class win in his pursuit of the series championship.
The SRO3 grid had a bit of a shakeup after Kurtz originally qualified on provisional pole. However his #04 CrowdStrike Racing with Riley Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 failed post-qualifying technical inspection, putting the New Jersey native and last on the SRO3 grid for the penultimate race of the GT America season.
But in time, Kurtz moved up to second place and chased down polesitter Jeff Burton’s #191 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 in the second half of the race. The #04 Mercedes-AMG GT3 caught Burton and made the winning pass heading to Turn 12 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the 40-minute race.
Kurtz pulled away and won by over 16 seconds over Burton, with Mirco Schultis in the #70 MISHUmotors Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R finishing third in class. The SRO3 podium finishers were the only cars in that class running at the finish, all ahead of the sole GT2 entry, CJ Moses in the #58 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT2, which finished in fourth.
Andy Pilgrim (#56 SKI Autosports Ferrari 458 Italia GT2) did not start after an incident with Kyle Washington (#032 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R) during qualifying, but Washington had to pit on the opening lap after going off course, and he would not be classified.
The two first-generation Audi R8 LMS’ of Jason Harward (#888 Zelus Motorsports R8) and Jason Daskalos (#27 Daskalos Motorsports R8) both had mechanical issues – Harward retired after five laps, while Daskalos completed enough laps to be classified fourth in class but 16th and last overall.
Daskalos has clinched second in the SRO3 Drivers’ Championship behind Kurtz, Schultis and Harward are separated by seven points for third place.
In GT4, Ross Chouest finally broke into the 2022 win column after a heroic defensive driving effort against Seth Lucas. The Louisiana native used every inch of pavement around the 3.9 kilometre circuit to keep the 16-year-old rookie behind him, succeeding as the #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 led the #016 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 across the Yard of Bricks by 1.25 seconds.
The final GT4 class podium position was hotly contested between Jason Bell and Gray Newell’s pair of Aston Martins. Newell made similar advances on Bell but could not get around the Floridian as the 2021 GT America GT4 champion kept third place – and his lead in the 2022 standings.
Chouest’s win brings him firmly into the GT4 championship fight after an early incident eliminated Adam Adelson’s #120 Premier Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport machine from competition. Adelson was second in points going into the race, but contact from Elias Sabo (#8 Flying Lizard Motorsports Vantage GT4) eliminated the Las Vegas native from competition.
As the field approached Turn 1 on the second green flag lap of the race, Sabo missed his braking point while defending third place from Lucas’s advances. The #8 Aston Martin approached the corner too quickly and hit the right rear of Adelson’s car, knocking both cars out of the race.
Accounting for the lowest weekend scores for each driver being dropped, Bell leads Chouest by four points heading into Sunday morning’s season finale. Adelson remains at 150 points scored after his retirement today, but he still has an outside shot at becoming champion.
Moisey Uretsky (#55 Accelerating Performance Vantage GT4) finished ninth in class, while Robb Holland (#99 Rotek Racing Cayman RS) finished tenth. Both have been eliminated from title contention with their results.
The second GT America race of the weekend, and the 16th and final race of 2022, will be Sunday morning at 9:00 AM EDT.
Images © Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports Group America
