JMF Dominates Race 2 Thriller at Barber

Mikael Grenier and Michai Stephens delivered JMF Motorsports its third overall GT World Challenge America powered by AWS win of the season after converting pole position into a Race 2 victory on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park.

The Pro class No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo took the checkered flag a dominant 28.658 seconds clear of Alex Sedgwick and Jan Heylen’s RS1’s Porsche 911 GT3 R after strong stints from both drivers over the course of the last ever 90-minute GTWC America race.

Grenier led at the start, with Connor De Phillippi battling for second in the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO with GMG Racing’s Tom Sargent, who sat at the head of the Pro-Am field in third early on.

However, with still over an hour to go, both the second-place running No. 99 BMW and the sister No. 51 BMW of Varun Choksey made unplanned trips down pit lane to take fuel after a reported fuel pickup issue, dropping both cars to the rear of the 15-car starting field.

After Grenier led the first half of the race, Stephens, now at the wheel of the JMF Mercedes-AMG, maintained the team’s advantage out of the pits, where he remained unchallenged for the rest of the race, leaving RS1 to pick up second.

Kenton Koch rebounded from Random Vandals’ early fuel woes, charging through the field during his stint and taking the checkered flag third overall.

Just behind, DXDT Racing’s Blake McDonald reeled in and caught Pro-Am class leader Kyle Washington and would go on to win in class from fourth overall alongside co-driver Matt Bell in the No. 11 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

McDonald fought his way past Todd Coleman’s No. 88 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720 GT3 Evo after DXDT benefitted from a slow stop for the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW, which lost time adjusting the car’s rear sway bar in the pits.

Once dispatching Coleman, McDonald closed a more than 15-second gap to Washington to take over the class lead in the final minutes of the race.

Bill Auberlen and Choksey rounded out the overall top five in their Pro class BMW.

Washington came home sixth and finished second in Pro-Am, with Jason Daskalos securing a class podium for CRP Racing alongside Isaac Sherman after a chaotic final lap, which saw Daskalos spun into the barriers by a charging Philip Ellis on the final lap after a lengthy battle for position.

Ellis, however, slowed to a crawl on track in order to allow Daskalos, who was able to continue under his own power, through to retake the position at the checkered flag.

Daskalos kept the Mercedes-AMG factory ace at bay for countless laps in the closing stages in what was set to be a class podium finish for CRP.

Race stewards assessed the Regulator Racing driver, who finished fifth in class, a 39-second time penalty for causing the collision, along with four warning points for creating a “dangerous situation by excessively slowing on track.” A separate incident between Gray Newell and AF Corse’s Diego Gomes Nunes will be reviewed post-race.

Eric Powell and Scott Dollahite swept the weekend in Am after a commanding opening stint saw the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT3 run inside the top ten in the first half of the race before Dollahite secured the class win in his stint, comfortably ahead of the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

A late-race incident between Coleman and Justin Rothberg came under review from race control after the Archangel Motorsports driver was sent spinning and tumbled down the order to 12th, resulting in a 39-second time penalty for the Turner driver, who initially crossed the line in fourth.

RESULTS: Race 2

This report was updated at 5:05 p.m. CST to reflect post-race penalties handed to Ellis and Rothberg.