PF Racing was back in action after a four-month hiatus from professional racing because of the ongoing pandemic. The Missouri outfit came to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on July 10, 11, and 12 to take part in the SRO GT4 America Sprint event, which featured its usual two-race program and a third race which was a make-up for the first canceled event in the Streets of St-Pete back in March.
James Pesek was driving the #40 Ford Mustang GT4, which was sporting a new pink livery.
Race 1: Qualified P9 (P5 in Pro), Finished P6 (P4 in Pro)
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have a great start, which set me back further in the field,” said the Harrisonville native. “However, making my way back, I had great fights with the drivers, especially Paul Terry.”
James made an impressive come back which allowed him to claim the 4th position in the Pro class and a 6th place overall.
Race 2: Starting Grid: P9, finished: P7 (P5 in Pro)
The second race of the weekend was busy for Pesek. He did not have the best of start, but he had some great on-track battles, most notably with the #79 car of Christopher Grumprecht.
As the leaders at the front of the field started to stretch out, it was the action in the middle of the pack that caught the attention of both viewers and commentators who praised Pesek for his driving abilities.
In the closing stage of the race, Jeff Courtney (#99) passed Pesek, which prompted him to set his best race lap time of the weekend: 1:56.129. This flying lap placed him on the third row of the starting grid of the third race.
Race 3: Starting Grid: P5, finished P6 (P6 in Pro)
James did a great job holding off Jeff Courtney and Michael Dinan (#210). His average lap time during this race was 1:57.3, which was an improvement over Race 1. “The car’s balance was different from Race 2 since we were the last session on track,” explained Pesek. “It was 90 degrees outside, and the track got very hot, so the tires were worn out at the end of the race and hard to manage, but I made the best out of it!” says the driver.
Towards the end of the race, Dinan had set his sight on passing Pesek, but James remained focused on his driving, not giving up under pressure.
“All in all, it was a great weekend, it got us back into the groove for what will be a busy summer. It was good to be back in the car, and at the track. You don’t realize how much you miss racing until you are forced into a four-month lockdown! I appreciated SRO GT4 America’s safety measures to ensure our health this weekend, it must not have been easy to pull off since all of this is very new. It was not the same racing without fans around us, but the turn out on social media and YouTube was impressive,” concluded James.
Catch all of this weekend’s action GT4 America Sprint action on CBS Sports Network, premiering on July 19th at 7:00 pm ET. All races are available now on GT World’s YouTube Channel.
PF Racing is now headed to Sebring for the second event of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season. The team is thrilled to welcome back Chad McCumbee as co-driver to James Pesek in the #40 entry.
