Yahoo Autos Garrett, Ricca, Bucknum win TC America race one at Road America
TC America Powered by Skip Barber’s 40-minute first race at Road America had two full course cautions and a red flag come into play. Once the dust settled, Colin Garrett, Jeff Ricca, and Spencer Bucknum emerged victorious in the TCX, TC, and TCA classes.
TCX
As race one got underway, the TCX field sprung into action as soon as the green flag began to wave. The frontrunners were all challenging for the lead, going three-wide into the first corner. However, this resulted in a collision that ultimately took pole sitter Matthew Pombo out of the race as his No. 73 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCX was caught in the wreck. Maddie Aust and Adam Gleason were also involved in the No. 09 Fast Track Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup) and the No. 21 Fast Track Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup). The incident currently remains under review.
The incident brought out the yellow flags instantly, with the field proceeding under full course caution for a little over 10 minutes before the race was then red flagged. After a momentary delay, the race was resumed with just under 28 minutes remaining on the clock. Colin Garrett was the new leader in the No. 44 Rooster Hall Racing BMW M2 CS (Cup), followed by Dai Yoshihara in the No. 99 VGRT Honda Civic Type-R TCX.
As the green flag waved once more, Colin Garrett sped away while Yoshihara tumbled down the running order, finding himself in fifth shortly thereafter. Another full course caution packed the field back together shortly after the halfway mark, which sent them off on a final sprint to the line in the closing stages of the race once they went back to green.
Garrett went on the claim victory, followed by Lucas Catania completing a great drive to finish in second place in the No. 26 Rigid Speed Company BMW M2 CS (Cup), with Aaron Kaplan completing the podium in third in the No. 18 Kaplan Racing Systems BMW M2 CS (Cup).
TC
Cristian Perocarpi got the jump over his teammate Clayton Williams at the start, with the No. 37 and No. 60 MINI JCW Team Mini JCW Pro TC cars swapping positions before Ricca further went on to move up to second place in the No. 78 Genracer / Ricca Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TC.
Ricca continued to lunge forward on the race restart, moving up into the class lead as he charged down the track, but Perocarpi remained in pursuit as he waited for a moment to strike again. The two went back and forth, with Perocarpi retaking the lead as the race approached the final minutes. However, Ricca had one last trick up his sleeve.
As the finish line came into view, Ricca powered past Perocarpi in a sprint to the checkered flag, snatching away the win as he sped into the lead on the final straight. Perocarpi therefore had to settle for second place, finishing just 0.091s behind. Celso Neto stepped up to complete the top three in his No. 7 Skip Barber Racing School Honda Civic Type-R.
TCA
The TCA Class running order remained relatively unchanged before the red flag came out, but they certainly did not hesitate to get their elbows out on the restart. P.J. Groenke got to jump over Bucknum, moving his No. 62 MINI JCW Team Mini JCW up into first, relegating Bucknum to second in the No. 5 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Si FE1.
However, Bucknum was not going to back down that easily, and fought back to reclaim the top spot. The two continued to battle back and forth, giving each other no room for error. Soon enough, Anderson inserted himself into the conversation, maneuvering his way through the field in his No. 22 TechSport Racing Subaru BRZ before going on to overtake Groenke for second place just before the halfway mark.
Anderson gave it his best shot to challenge Bucknum for the lead, but the LA Honda World Racing driver went unmatched, adding another win to his tally this season. Anderson crossed the finish line to claim second place, with Groenke following in third to complete the TCA podium.
Let’s Go Racing
The series will be back on track for race two on Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m CT. Stream the races live on the YouTube page, GT World, or join the conversation on Twitch.
