On the final lap Saturday (Sept. 7), CRP Racing’s Jason Daskalos had contact with Turner Motorsport’s Justin Rothberg in turn 16. With damage to the rear of Rothberg’s car, Daskalos was able to slip around the outside to win GT America powered by AWS Race No. 1 at Barber Motorsports Park.
“I was completely to the outside of [Rothberg]. He hit the inside curb, launched his car into me and made contact,” Daskalos told SRO America’s Amanda Busick in victory lane. “Then, he kept making contact and actually hitting me. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a racing incident and we’re the winners.”
Daskalos won by .196 seconds over Rothberg. GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington was third, then Chouest-Povoledo Racing’s Ross Chouest. Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Jason Bell was third.
Rothberg started from pole in his BMW, but came under instant pressure from SKI Autosports’ Johnny O’Connell. O’Connell didn’t wait to make his move.
Coming into turn 5 on the first lap, O’Connell was able to make the move to the inside to take the lead away. However, this battle was far from over.
A lap later, Rothberg was able to get a run on O’Connell exiting turn 5. He was able to get back alongside the veteran racer and out-braked him getting into turn 8 to retake the advantage.
Once Rothberg had the lead back, he immediately pulled away as O’Connell fell into the clutches of Washington and Daskalos. Daskalos got past Washington and eventually threatened O’Connell for second.
The two drivers battled side-by-side for multiple corners before Daskalos was able to make the pass for second. The battle allowed Rothberg to extend his lead up to more than five seconds.
O’Connell ended up slowing with a flat tire after contact with the BMW of Carrus Callus Raceteam’s Nick Shanny with a little more than 10 minutes to go. The contact ended up being enough to bend the wheel.
The combination of a slow trudge back to pit road and a team that really wasn’t ready to service their Audi meant that O’Connell rejoined the race a lap down. Shortly afterwards, O’Connell pitted again and retired the car.
Despite starting off more than five seconds behind, Daskalos set a series of quick laps to catch up to Rothberg in the closing laps. Daskalos got to Rothberg on the final lap, then the contact happened with two turns to go.
O’Connell’s DNF means that Daskalos also takes over the points lead with three races to…
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