RS1, Blackdog Racing and ACI Motorsports complete GT4 America sweep at Road Atlanta

Pirelli GT4 America wrapped up an action-packed weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with familiar faces returning to victory lane. RS1's Spencer Pumpelly and Luca Mars completed a perfect weekend in the Silver class, extending their championship advantage with a fifth consecutive class victory. Blackdog Racing's Tony Gaples and Michael Cooper followed up their Race 1 triumph with another commanding performance in Pro-Am, while Michael and Alex Garcia continued their remarkable run of form in the Am class for ACI Motorsports, securing their fourth consecutive victory.

Silver Class

Luca Mars controlled the opening stint from the front of the Silver field in the No. 028 RS1 Porsche, building a comfortable margin while benefiting from an out-of-class car separating him from Tyler Gonzalez behind in the No. 68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota Supra.

As the pit window opened, Mars and Auto Technic Racing’s Kevin Boehm were among the first Silver class contenders to make their mandatory driver changes, while Gonzalez elected to stay out longer in search of an advantage.

The strategy ultimately favored RS1. Spencer Pumpelly emerged from the pit cycle with a commanding class lead and immediately began stretching the gap. His pace proved unmatched, with three Pro-Am competitors separating him from Westin Workman in second place and ACI Motorsports' Yves Baltas in third in the No. 7 Porsche.

Following a late-race full-course caution, Pumpelly wasted little time moving into the overall lead on the restart. Behind him, the battle for the remaining Silver podium positions intensified. Baltas worked his way into second, with Francis Selldorff advancing into third in the No. 51 BMW.

However, the No. 7 entry was later assessed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility stemming from earlier contact, reshuffling the order once again. The penalty elevated Auto Technic Racing to second place, while RAFA Racing Team recovered to claim the final podium position.

The victory marked five consecutive Silver class wins for Pumpelly and Mars, further strengthening their championship campaign as they now head into the summer break with a 39 point lead.

Spencer Pumpelly had high praise for his teammate, saying “How about this kid at the beginning? It's awesome having such a solid teammate who not only is reliable and puts us in a good position, but I can sit in the pit box and not stress out because I know it's taken care of. I can't say enough about him, the team, the car, and the preparation this weekend. We knew from the get-go that the left rear tire was going to be an issue, and I felt like we managed it better than everybody else. This is five in a row and wow, I'm beside myself. It's my hometown race, I've got the kids, the wife, the fans and friends here. It's a great place to do it."

"I can say the same about Spencer,” echoed Luca Mars. “I can sit back in the pit box at the end there and watch him because I know he's going to hold onto the car and get that win. Super happy with how the weekend went. Big shoutout to Spencer and the whole team. Everyone has been killing it all year. We have a great little streak going right now, and we're going to see if we can keep that going at the next one."

Pro-Am Class

After claiming the overall victory in Race 1, Michael Cooper started Race 2 from overall pole position and immediately established himself at the front of the field. The Blackdog Racing McLaren driver steadily built a gap of more than two seconds over NOLASPORT's Matheus Leist in the No. 47 Porsche, while Kenton Koch settled into third in class and fourth overall on board the No. 98 Random Vandals Racing BMW.

Michael Cooper immediately established himself at the front of the field in the No. 33 McLaren. Fred Hardy/SRO America

Leist was the first of the frontrunners to make his pit stop, with Cooper responding one lap later. Tony Gaples took over the No. 33 McLaren and maintained the Pro-Am lead, but a full-course caution shortly after the driver changes erased the advantage Cooper had carefully built during the opening stint.

That set the stage for a tense restart, with Matt Travis lining up directly behind Gaples and immediately applying pressure. Gaples successfully defended the lead before Travis' challenge came undone when he spun and made contact with the wall with 14 minutes remaining. Although able to continue, the incident dropped him down the order. In the closing laps, Sam Craven mounted a final charge toward the leader, but Gaples remained composed and consistently matched the pace needed to stay in front.

The victory completed a perfect weekend for Blackdog Racing, while Cooper's win tied him with Peter Cunningham as the winningest driver in SRO America competition history. Random Vandals Racing secured second place, while Allen Patten and Marc Miller delivered a strong performance for the No. 39 Dome Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 to complete the podium.

"It's incredible to be in such formidable company as Peter Cunningham,” said Michael Cooper. “I have a lot of respect for him and he's a very good friend. We've shared a lot of dinners and adult beverages over the years. It's super cool to be in this paddock with all the great people like Race Sorensen, Tony Gaples, the whole Blackdog team, and so many teams and co-drivers throughout my career. I'm not stopping here, that's for sure. I want the record, not just a tie. Sorry, Peter. I've always kept digging and kept fighting, and I feel like I've got at least half a career left in me."

"That race was kind of going away there for a little bit, so it wasn't all fun,” shared Tony Gaples. “But when I crossed the checkered flag, wow, that was a great feeling. As far as milestone weekends go, this one is definitely at the top. To get win number nine, along with the starts record and yesterday's overall victory…what a weekend. Epic."

Tony Gaples: “ That was kind of going away, so it wasn't all fun. But yeah, when I crossed the checker, wow, that was a, a great feeling for sure. During our walk and talk, we talked about milestone weekends. Where does this one rank? Oh, definitely on top. Definitely on top. To get in nine and, you know, with my starts, uh, record, wow, this is it. And, and yesterday's overall victory, what a weekend. Epic.”

Am Class

The Am class battle produced some of the closest racing of the afternoon. Alex Garcia in the No. 21 ACI Motorsports BMW led the opening stages but came under increasing pressure from James Clay in the No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW. With 38 minutes remaining, Clay made an aggressive move through the esses to take over the class lead shortly before the pit window opened.

Clay was among the first to pit, while Garcia remained on track for an additional lap. The strategy initially favored BimmerWorld, as Michael Garcia rejoined the race just behind James Walker Jr. after the driver changes.

Garcia quickly went back on the attack and reclaimed the position moments before a full-course caution was triggered when Judson Holt's No. 188 Random Vandals Racing BMW made contact with the wall exiting the esses. The caution only intensified the battle from there.

Garcia and Walker Jr. continued their fight throughout the closing stages, trading momentum and racing side-by-side as the clock wound down. Ultimately, Garcia held firm to secure another victory for ACI Motorsports and extend the team's winning streak to four consecutive races. Meanwhile, Frankie Muniz and teammate Tyler Stone delivered an impressive drive in the No. 30 TechSport Racing Ford Mustang GT4, charging forward to secure a podium finish in third.

"I think we finally found our groove with the car,” Michael Garcia reflected. “We got all the bad juju out of the way. We were due, and it's nice to bring it home for the team because they work really hard on this car. And for Carter, too, coaching us and teaching us how to do things the right way. We're very happy."

"It's a good little break now to keep all the bad juju away,” added Alex Garcia. “We've got some good practice under our belt and a couple of productive test days. We'll be ready for Road America."

Pirelli GT4 America field will return for the eighth and ninth rounds of the season at Road America from August 28th to 30th, 2026.