Flying Lizard’s Andy Lee, Elias Sabo Win Indianapolis Pirelli GT4 America Race No. 1

At a chilly Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday morning (Oct. 8), Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Andy Lee was able to sweep around the outside of both Rennsport One’s Eric Filguerias and Conquest Racing’s Gavin Sanders on a late restart to take the lead entering turn 1 from third. He then held on to win Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Race No. 1. It is Lee and teammate Elias Sabo‘s first overall win of the year. Lee also stopped to celebrate on his cool-down lap, throwing his racing gloves to some fans.

“I hadn’t won a race since 2015,” Lee told SRO America’s Amanda Busick. “It’d been so long that I had to celebrate. My co-driver Elias [Sabo] has been working so hard for so long and I’m just so proud to be standing up here with him.”

Rennsport One’s Stevan McAleer won the pole for Race No. 1 in his Porsche, despite the team claiming that they were down on speed. He was able to keep himself ahead of Conquest Racing’s Michai Stephens. The two drivers proceeded to drive away from the field. Meanwhile, Fast Track Racing’ Tim Horrell spun in turn 10 on the first lap in his BMW after contact from AutoTechnic Racing’s Austen Smith. He was able to continue without incident, but Smith was given a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.

Right as Smith was serving his penalty, the first full course caution came out when Horrell slid off-course and hit the tires in turn 9. That contact ended a very short and expensive race for Horrell.

The race restarted after a long yellow to fix the tire barrier with less than three minutes until the mid-race pit window opened. Stephens viewed this situation as his chance to get past McAleer and tried to make a run on him heading into the chicane. McAleer was able to hold him off. McAleer then opened up a small gap as the window opened.

In the Pro-Am class, most of the contenders all pitted at the first possible opportunity. Chouest-Povoledo Racing’s Aaron Povoledo won the race off of pit road, but got busted for speeding. That gave the Pro-Am lead to The Heart of Racing’s Ian James.

The man on the move in Pro-Am was Lee in the No. 8 Aston Martin. He was able to dispatch of James fairly quickly after the stops to take over the Pro-Am lead, then pulled away from his fellow Aston Martin racer.

McAleer and Stephens pitted two laps later in their Silver class entries. Conquest Racing’s Gavin Sanders was able to beat Filguerias off the pit lane to take the class lead. Filguerias was able…