Michai Stephens made a banzai move to the outside of AutoTechnic Racing’s John Capestro-Dubets in turn 13 on the final lap Sunday (April 30) to take the lead. Capestro-Dubets was able to stay with him and just barely beat Stephens to the line to win the sole Pirelli GT4 America SprintX race of the weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park with teammate Zac Anderson.
“I was told that we had two [laps to go] and I knew that Michai [Stephens] had a stronger car than us in the technical sections [of the track],” Capestro-Dubets told SRO America’s Amanda Busick. “I had a rear tire going down, so I was hanging on for dear life.
“[Stephens] gave me so much room, so much respect. I know he’s heartbroken to not get this one. It was a drag race to the line and a heck of a challenge.”
Stephens and Jesse Webb were forced to settle for second by the slimmest of margins. STR38 Motorsports’ Harry Gottsacker and Chandler Hull finished third on the road, but violated the minimum pit lane delta and were moved back to seventh.
As a result, Copeland Motorsports’ Tyler Gonzalez and Tyler Maxson ended up third. The Heart of Racing’s Roman DeAngelis and Gray Newell were fourth, while Chouest-Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo were third.
The top three overall finishers were also the top three teams in the Silver class. Gottsacker and Hull were fourth, while Hanley Motorsports’ Daniel Hanley and Parker Thompson were fifth in their Supra.
Normally, Pirelli GT4 America SprintX weekends consist of two races. Race No. 1 was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, but heavy rains and standing water resulted in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race being pushed back by more than two hours. As a result, SRO America officials made the decision to cut back to one GT4 America race for the weekend since it was after 8 p.m. ET by the time the 90-minute Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS race finished. This race was technically Saturday’s race, while the Sunday race was postponed to an undetermined weekend later in the season.
GT4 cars do come equipped with headlights, so vision may not have been a problem, but no one came to NOLA Motorsports Park expecting to race at night. Had the race run after the primary event Saturday, it would finished in the dark.
Webb led the 42-car field to green in his Mercedes-AMG GT4, but almost immediately lost the lead to Anderson. The safety car came out…
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