Weekly Racing Roundup (10.21.19)

Filippi Sweeps TCR America Races in Vegas; Hurczyn Wins Title

Mason Filippi closed out the season by winning both TCR America races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while Michael Hurczyn was crowned champion.

Filippi, driving a Hyundai Veloster N TCR entered by Copeland Motorsports, put on a dominant display in both races, taking his fifth and sixth wins of the season.

This wasn’t enough to secure the championship, however, as Filippi had missed six races earlier in the season, meaning he could only settle for third in the final standings.

Hurczyn wrapped up the title with a seventh place finish in Race 1, which he then followed up with a fourth in the season finale.

He scored three victories during the course of the season, driving one of FCP Euro’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs with consistent results all year round.

He finished in the top three in class at every race apart from the two Vegas rounds, where he picked up fourth-place points on both occasions, despite finishing seventh on track in Race 1, because the three cars ahead of him were TCR Cup entries.

Hurczyn ultimately finished 28 points clear of teammate Nate Vincent, allowing FCP Euro to take the teams’ title with a comfortable lead over McCann Racing.

In the weekend’s races themselves, an identical podium played out in both rounds, with Vincent second and Michael McCann third on both occasions.

RESULTS: Race 1; Race 2

Champions Decided as Inaugural Saleen Cup Season Draws to a Close

Lawrence Loshak won the rescheduled Saleen Cup Race 2 that was canceled due to weather during the Road America weekend. 

Loshak took a dominant win by 37.453 seconds over Young Guns class winner Austin Riley despite contact in the opening stages of the ace.

Cameron Lawrence broke through to claim the overall and Young Guns class win in the first of the Las Vegas Saleen Cup rounds, while Bill Hynes finished second overall and first in Pro-Am. 

The season finale went the way of the Pro-Am duo of Johan Schwartz and Bryce Miller. 

Carter Fartuch was second overall and first amongst the Young Guns after mechanical issues sidelined promising runs in the previous two races of the weekend.

A runner-up finish in the final race of the season was enough to clinch the 2019 Pro-Am class title for Paul Terry by 15 points over Brandon Davis, who dropped out of the finale with a mechanical problem. 

Carter Fartuch and Austin Riley finished the season tied at the top of the Young Guns points table at 141. 

Fartuch’s win in the finale also drew him level with Riley in race wins, which meant that the Fartuch’s 3-2 edge in runner-up finishes was what broke the deadlock in his favor. 

Both the Young Gun and Pro-Am champions now will represent Saleen in Pirelli GT4 America competition next season as a reward for their success, driving the recently unveiled Saleen 1 GT4.

RESULTS: RA Race 2 (Rescheduled); LV Race 1; LV Race 2

News & Notes

***Champions in all of SRO Motorsports Group’s series from around the world were celebrated in its end-of-season gala in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Changes to GT World Challenge America were also communicated at the event in the famous Bellagio.

***Alessio Rovera and Riccardo Agostini claimed the Italian GT Sprint Championship with a win at Monza on Sunday. The pair won the final round of the season driving their Antonelli Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3.

***Saturday’s Race 1 was won by Ken Abe and Christian Colombo, driving a Ferrari 488 GT3. Italian GT previously crowned Stefano Gai as its Endurance champion two weeks earlier at Mugello.

***MissionH24’s hydrogen electric prototype will take part in the Michelin Le Mans Cup Free Practice sessions at this weekend’s European Le Mans Series finale at Portimao. Norman Nato and Olivier Lombard will share driving duties.

Ryan Myrehn contributed to this report