INDIANAPOLIS – Victor Gonzalez Jr. claimed his first victory of the season in the TC America finale Saturday, earning the overall and TCR division victories on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The TC class was once again won by Mat Pombo, with Eric Powell claiming the TCA victory. James Clay finished fourth in the TC division to capture the division championship.
“It’s amazing. I was crying the whole last lap because of the all the hard work we’ve put in this season,” said Gonzalez. “This is what racing is all about. I have to thank SRO, Honda, and the team for getting us here to victory lane. I also want to congratulate Tyler Maxson on the championship, he deserved it.”
At the start of the 40 minute contest it was C.J. Moses that led the field to the green flag and, much like Friday’s race, the TCR field saw some bumping as teammates Moses and Olivia Askew, collided, with Askew spinning. That allowed Friday’s winner Tristan Herbert to grab the lead, with Gonzalez sliding into second.
In TC, Mat Pombo would keep the lead as title contender Toby Grahovec would sit second. Championship leader Clay would slot in fifth. Clay would quickly get around teammate Chandler Hull and move into fourth position in class with 33 minutes left on the clock.
The TCA field would see Powell lead with recently crowned class champion, Kevin Boehm, sitting second.
With 24 minutes left on the clock, Gonzalez would close to within .183 seconds of leader Herbert and make an attacking inside move at turn seven, grabbing the overall and TCR lead.
As the clock ticked past the 15 minute mark, Gonzalez would grow his lead to more than four seconds in TCR. Pombo would also extend his TC lead to more than 11 seconds and Powell would hold a nearly three second lead in TCA.
With less than 10 minutes to go, Johan Schwartz would make two quick moves around Clay and Chandler Hull to grab fourth position in TC, then on the following lap sweep around Mike LaMarra for third in class. LaMarra would seemingly face an issue and fall five spots.
On the next lap Schwartz would run wide at turn 12, allowing Clay to get on the outside of and drag race around Schwartz down the front straight. At the same time, Bryson Lew would slip stream with Clay, then pass both Schwartz and Clay going into turn one to grab third position in class.
As the checkered flag waved Gonzalez would claim the TCR and overall win, Pombo would take his second TC win of the weekend and Powell would claim the TCA victory, his first of the season.
“Two days in a row for us. The LAP guys got this car about a month ago, and they have worked so hard to make it go, so I think everyone sees we have a contender here in TC. The car was lights out all day, I have to thank everyone who put in the work to get us here,” said Pombo.
“What an absolutely awesome race. I could not be more proud of the guys on the team, they put it all together and we’re in victory lane at Indianapolis, how cool is that,” said Powell.