PF Racing ended their SRO GT4 America season in style at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past weekend. The Missouri outfit campaigned three Ford Mustangs with Harrisonville native James Pesek and Nashville’s Jade Buford, the usual drivers for PF Racing who were joined by 24 Hours of Daytona winner Shane Lewis, driving the #41 orange Mustang.
Both races were action-packed, with Race 1 resulting in a podium finish for Jade Buford. Race 2 saw disappointing finishes for Jade Buford as well as Shane Lewis. James Pesek had a thrilling battle with a competitor, holding him off until the checkered flag, finishing off the season with his best result; 7th overall and 6th in the Pro class.
Race 1
The first race of the weekend saw an excellent start for Shane Lewis, who gained a position on the start, despite challenging track conditions. However, Jade Buford’s #42 machine did not see the same fortune as he was caught in traffic and fell back, but was able to gain back later on in the race. While Jade and Shane were battling for a spot in the Top 5, James Pesek was in a fight of his own, putting pressure on Jeff Courtney, not leaving him any room for error.
As the leaders fell out of luck during the last few laps of the race, Jade Buford was propelled to a third-place finish, with Shane Lewis right behind in 4th position. James Pesek almost had Jeff Courtney on the last lap but had to settle for 9th (P6 in class) after an exciting photo finish.
Race 2
The last event of the GT4 America season saw a heated start as Jade Buford was spun out by a competitor, dropping him to the last place at the start. Shane Lewis had a great start, making his way up the competitive field. Lewis quickly set his sight on a podium finish, as he was running with the leaders and fighting with GT4 America Champion Ian James.
However, he had a racing incident with car #20 of Matt Brabham, resulting in the California-native receiving a 30-second penalty, ending all hopes of getting a PF Racing Ford Mustang on the overall podium.
James Pesek had a thrilling event, picking up where he left off with his spirited fight from the previous race with Jeff Courtney. This time around, Pesek had the advantage over Courtney and held him off all race-long to finish 6th in class, while posting solid lap times throughout the race.
Quotes from Race 2:
Jade Buford
Started: P8
Finished: P6 / P5 in Pro class
“I feel we made the most of a not ideal situation today, after getting spun out on lap one by one of our competitors. Thankfully after the race, he came by and apologized for it. We all understand that’s racing, and it happens. We had a great car, and the team did a great job all weekend to give us the best they could. We finally felt as if we were in our sweet spot to at least be competitive for another podium. I don’t think we had the pace of the guys in front who seemed to be very quick. It was a promising day; we came out with a P5, P6, and P7 in class. I can’t be more grateful to the team for the weekend.”
James Pesek
Started: P11
Finished: P7 / P6 in Pro class
“It was a pretty good race today. It was clean; we came home without any contact. I had a good battle with Jeff Courtney for P7. I went the full length of the race battling him and ended up coming on top. I had a great pass on a Porsche after the restart, which was exciting and fun!
The car was great; the set up was perfect. The team gave us a good car; I have to thank the team for their hard work all season long.”
Shane Lewis
Started: P6
Finished: P14 / P8 in Pro class
“ It was a super aggressive race out there today. While I didn’t want to get in the mix and mess up the Top 3 for their championship, at the same time I also wanted to show my appreciation for PF Racing for what a great car they gave me. My job was to go to the front. Unfortunately, a few other people passed under yellow, did a few things that the officials didn’t see, so that caught us back a little bit. Between that and quite a bit of blocking, I had to get a little aggressive out there. So, the crew is smiling, I’m smiling, everybody is happy! I wish we had another podium, though.”
