The final Pirelli GT4 America SprintX and SprintX West race took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway under sunny skies but windy conditions. A mere one point separated the SprintX Pro-Am championship-contending No. 19 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4 and No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR drivers.
Due to a car swap earlier in the weekend, the Gregory Liefooghe-driven No. 19 would start from 11th instead of pole, with the No. 47 starting third for the 60 minute race.
Guy Cosmo (SprintX Pro-Am No. 89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4) paced the field to the green flag with SprintX West Pro-Am champion Harry Gottsacker chasing in the No. 28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4.
Jarrett Andretti (SprintX Pro-Am No. 36 Andretti Autosport McLaren 570S GT4) quickly moved up to fourth with Trent Hindman (SprintX West Pro-Am) sliding into fifth.
With 43 minutes remaining, Liefooghe and the No. 19 BMW had moved up to eighth overall, fourth in class. Minutes later, Owen Trinkler in the No. 43 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 powered past Hart with championship rival Liefooghe just behind.
Just before the pit window for mandatory driver changes opened with 35 minutes remaining, Hart moved to pass Gottsacker in Turn 1, but slid wide, allowing Andretti and Hindman both through to the third and fourth positions overall.
With 29 minutes to go, Hart lost more positions in Turn 1, dropping down to ninth overall, fifth in class, Liefooghe taking advantage to slot into fourth overall, third in the SprintX Pro-Am class.
After the pit window had closed, it was the No. 36 McLaren, now with Colin Mullan (SprintX Pro-Am) driving, leading overall with Jon Miller (SprintX West Pro-Am) in the No. 28 BMW second overall, first in class.
Alan Brynjolfsson (SprintX West Pro-Am, No. 77 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR) ran third overall, second in class, with Patrick Byrne (SprintX Pro-Am, No. 89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4) dropping to fourth. Sean Quinlan (SprintX Pro-Am) in the No. 19 BMW was fifth overall, third in class, looking good to claim the championship as Matt Travis (SprintX Pro-Am) in the No. 47 Porsche 718 slipped to 10th overall, sixth in class.
With 20 minutes to go, Byrne passed Bryjolfsson for third overall, second in class.
With 14 minutes left on the clock, the No. 43 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 driven by Sarah Cattaneo (SprintX West Pro-Am) lost its right rear wheel on the approach to Turn 3, triggering a full-course yellow. The caution packed the field and brought Travis to within two car lengths of Quinlan as the pair fought for the Pro-Am championship.
The race went back to green with only 3 minutes remaining, Mullan leading Miller with Brynjolfsson diving past Byrne for third overall — which was short lived as Brynjolfsson ran wide in Turn 12, dropping to ninth overall, second in the SprintX West Pro-Am class.
Mullan would not be challenged over the remaining three minutes and sped on to take the team’s second SprintX win of the weekend.
“Amazing! A fantastic way to close out the season. We went out on a high note, getting our first two overall SprintX wins. Hats off to this Andretti Autosport crew; I can’t believe it!” exclaimed Mullan.
Travis took fifth, just behind Quinlan going into the final lap of the race to decide the championship. Travis made an aggressive pass attempt in Turn 10, but ran wide, handing Quinlan, Liefooghe, and Stephen Cameron Racing the 2019 Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Pro-Am Championship.
“This has been a weekend of ups and downs since the first practice for us,” said Liefooghe. “But the team never gave up. We were nervous, but we got it done and brought the championship hope for Cameron Racing. I am so happy right now.”
“It was exciting — more exciting than I wanted, but I’m glad we got to race for it,” said teammate Quinlan. “We slowly picked up our game this year, but have been clicking lately and it all paid off with the championship.”
Behind Mullan, Miller and the No. 28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT4 finished second overall, first in class, with Byrne and the No. 89 RENNtech Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT4 third overall, second in class.
Quinlan came home fourth overall, third in class, in the championship- winning No. 19 BMW, with Michael Dinan and the No. 21 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR finishing fifth.
James Sofronas and the No. 2 GMG Racing Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR finished sixth overall, first in the SprintX Am class.
Derek Deboer in the No. 17 TRG Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR would take the SprintX West Am victory, finishing 12th overall.
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