AUSTIN, Texas – Tyler Maxson continued his impressive TC America campaign by winning Friday’s event at Circuit of the Americas to unofficially lock up the TCR class championship.
Toby Grahovec won at his home track in TC, while Kevin Boehm crossed the line first in TCA.
Scott Smithson and Roy Block finished second and third, respectively, in TCR. James Clay and John Castro Dubets finished second and third in TC while Tyler Gonzalez and Caleb Bacon were second and third in TCA.
Maxson, in his Copeland Motorsports No. 74 Hyundai Veloster N, led the combined 31-car field to the green and launched successfully into the overall and TCR lead. Behind the TCR field, Grahovec launched into the TC lead from the class pole in his No. 26 Classic BMW BMW M240iR, while Boehm also launched successfully in the TCA class.
Action on the first lap of the race focused on the TC field as Phil Bloom, Johan Schwartz and TC Championship points leader James Clay moved by Dubets, who had started second.
By lap two, Maxson grew his lead to a healthy 2.8 seconds over Roy Block, with Taylor Hagler third and Scott Smithson fourth. Behind the TCR field, both Grahovec and Boehm also grew their leads in TC and TCA to healthy margins. With Schwartz encountering some mechanical issues with his machine, both Clay and Dubets moved up and began a pursuit of Bloom.
Back in TCA, Bacon had moved up into second while class championship contender Tomas Mejia slotted into third.
By lap five, Maxson, Grahovec and Boehm had all pulled away from their nearest class competitors, leaving battles to wage behind them. Action focused on battles for second between Block and Smithson in TCR, Bloom and Clay in TC, and Bacon and Tyler Gonzalez in TCA.
By lap 12, Bloom succumbed to the constant pressure being applied by Clay and ran wide through turn one, allowing both Clay and Dubets to slide by. Then on the white flag lap, and after being consistently thwarted by Block throughout the race, Smithson finally found a way by and up into second.
At the checkered, Maxson secured his 10th win on the season by 3.6 seconds over Smithson and provisionally claimed the TCR championship, his second consecutive SRO America driver’s championship after claiming the TCA championship last season. Grahovec won by 12.5 seconds over Clay to keep his TC championship hopes alive. Boehm scored his fourth win in a row and unofficially takes the lead in the TCA championship from Mejia.
“It really comes down to the quality and preparation of the Copeland Motorsports team, they are top notch,” said Maxson after the race. “These guys put in more work on this car than anyone I know, and it feels great to pick up my 10th win.”
“It’s amazing to get the win on Classic BMW’s home soil,” said Grahovec, “I have to thank all of my team for this win.”
“I’m really trying to take it one race at a time, we’ve been doing that all year,” said Boehm. “We’ve learned so much since we were last here in March and the result here today shows that. To go on a four-win race streak is pretty memorable. Everything seems to be coming together at once, and it doesn’t get better than this.”