- 25-car Field of Single-driver GT Racers Debuts at New Nashville Street Course
- Luck, Porsche Lead SRO3 Driver, Manufacturer Standings
- Quinlan, BMW in front of GT4 Field, Multiple Competitors Within Striking Distance
- Entry List - PDF Link
- Event Schedule - PDF Link
Nashville, Tenn. - As Summer starts to fade and the mid-season break comes to an end, it’s time for engines to come alive again in the inaugural season of the GT America powered by AWS. The series heads to a new venue in the Music City featuring a double-header weekend as part of IndyCar’s Music City Grand Prix on August 6th to 8th in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nashville’s downtown riverbanks will serve as the backdrop for the event weekend, a 2.17-mile temporary street circuit laid out and prepped for some high-speed sports car street fights. The twelve-turn circuit will start at Nissan Stadium, race over the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge above the Cumberland River, and into Downtown Nashville. The hot and humid August temperatures, as well as the novelty of the course, stands to serve as an equalizer and leveler of the playing field for SRO3 and GT4 contenders alike.
Showdown in the Streets
Eleven cars will compete in the SRO3 class under six manufacturer flags in Nashville, with familiar names behind the wheels of these machines.
Under the Audi Sport banner, series regulars James Sofronas (#14 GMG Racing) and Jason Daskalos (#27 Daskalos Motorsports) will both pilot GT3 variants of the Audi R8 LMS. Daskalos’ campaign thus far has seen a mixed bag of results but could be hoping that the new-to-everyone street course will be an equalizer and level the playing field. Sofronas, already sitting with a race win and podium finish under his belt in another platform, will look to repeat his success in his GMG stable Audi. Keeping with the manufacturer theme, Sofronas’ teammate Elias Sabo (#8) will pilot the GT2 variant of the Audi R8 LMS under the GMG Racing flag.
Scuderia Corsa makes its entry into the series with the only Ferrari expected to join the grid. Bret Curtis will be tapped as the driver for the #62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 when the team rolls up to the downtown Nashville street course.
Jason Harward (#88 Zelus Motorsports) and Jeff Burton (#191 Rearden Racing) both bring bulls to the street parade as they continue their GT America campaigns in Lamborghini Huracan GT3s. Harward’s consistency thus far has him sitting in a close fourth-place in the driver standings, looking to make Nashville his first of many podium finishes. Burton’s full season also seems to be shaping up as he finished the last VIR weekend with a pair of finishes just out of reach of the podium and is due for a trip up the steps. A strong finish from either or both drivers only serves to heat up the Manufacturer battle in the SRO3 class.
Late-season entry Brendan Iribe (#70 inception racing McLaren 720S-GT3) currently sits in second place with a two-win, three-in-a-row podium finish going into the break. The sole McLaren GT3 driver sets his sights on continuing this trend in search of Manufacturer, Team and Driver points toward the overall championships.
DXDT Racing’s GT America fleet also represents the entirety of the Mercedes-AMG entrants in the SRO3 class. Hoping to close the gap to the Manufacturer front-runners and earn their own race hardware are George Kurtz (#4 Mercedes-AMG GT3), CJ Moses (#58 Mercedes-AMG GT3) and team principal David Askew (#63 Mercedes-AMG GT3).
Currently in the top Manufacturer’s spot with a small six-point advantage you’ll find Porsche. The two Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) drivers - #32 GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington and series points-leader #45 Wright Motorsports’ Charlie Luck - also come prepared to advance their team and driver interests and fly the flag for Herr Porsche.
GT4s to be Reckoned With
In GT4 class competition, eight manufacturers are scheduled to have representation on the downtown Nashville circuit when competitors return for the trophy hunt. A pair of drivers - Jason Bell (#2 GMG Racing) and Gray Newell (#25 Heart of Racing Team) - will independently campaign their respective Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 platforms while Alex Welch (#76 ROTR Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4) will drive the only Audi-badged entry in the class at the Music City street course.
BMW Motorsport has a trio of BMW M4 GT4s with which to contend. Mark Brummond in the #11 Classic BMW entry and Paul Sparta in the #98 Random Vandals Racing entry will, along with everyone else, have their sights set squarely on the #119 Stephen Cameron Racing entry driven by Sean Quinlan. Quinlan is at the top of the driver standings going into the weekend but a handful of competitors sit only a weekend-sweep away from overtaking.
Flying the Ford flag high and proud, Robb Holland will contend the weekend in his #99 Rotek Racing Ford Mustang GT4. With a podium and race win already under his belt and a solid third-place standing in the driver championship, expect Holland to keep his name at the top of the contenders list.
Also carrying the weight of an entire manufacturer for the double-header weekend is Prive Motorsports / Topp Racing driver Thomas Surgent. Surgent’s quest for the hardware continues this weekend in the #26 McLaren 570S GT4.
RENNtech Motorsports again brings all of the machinery from the Mercedes-AMG camp as #39 driver Chris Cagnazzi and #89 driver Ross Chouest will contend in their respective Mercedes-AMG GT4 platforms.
Longtime SRO challenger Derek DeBoer will make his first appearance in the series in the familiar #66 TRG The Racers Group Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CSMR. DeBoer and the TRG team have been putting in work in the two-driver Pirelli GT4 America series this year so expect the entry to hit the ground running as a top contender. Also running the Porsche 718 Cayman variant, Premier Racing’s Adam Adelson looks forward to returning from the break and taking his #120 Porsche through its paces in downtown Nashville.
Finally, Forbush Performance will also utilize the early return from the break to get their solo Toyota some track time away from the two-driver GT4 America series. The entry is expected to be Forbush’s first time driving the #18 Toyota GR Supra GT4 flag-to-flag in SRO competition and the team is looking forward to further proving this new-to-the-series platform is a worthy competitor, an apt homecoming for the racing Tennesseean.
Be a Part of the GT Action
Tickets are available for the Music City Grand Prix at https://musiccitygp.com/tickets. If you aren’t lucky enough to be in the area to catch the action live, you can stream the races live on GT World’s YouTube channel, with audio simulcasts on Sirius XM satellite radio SXM 382 (992 on the web/app). Get up-to-the-minute information on GT America powered by AWS social channels on Facebook @srogtamerica, Instagram @gt_america and Twitter @gt_america_