Heart of Racing Team Wins at Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Ala. (8 September 2024) - The Heart of Racing Team delivers overall victory with the new Aston Martin Vantage GT4 during its SRO America debut at Barber Motorsports Park. Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell drove to first after starting 26th in Sunday’s Pirelli GT4 America race. Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier earn their second Silver class podium in Pirelli GT4 America. Newell also scored two third place finishes adding to his tally of podiums in GT America powered by AWS this season.
Coming off of a win at Road America last month, De Angelis and Newell followed it up with a second win for the season. Not only did the duo earn the top step in Pirelli GT4 America’s PRO-AM category, but also won overall for the first time this season.
Saturday morning De Angelis qualified the new No. 24 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with a fast lap of 1:28.848-seconds to earn pole position in their category and second overall. Saturday’s afternoon race didn’t go quite as expected, the duo crossed the finish line sixth in class.
Sunday was a different story, Newell started from the rear of the field after qualifying 26th overall. On the first lap, the field slowed for a 10 lap caution that took the first 24 minutes of the 60-minute race. The lap before the field went back green, the Heart of Racing Team made a last minute call to pit for a driver change. Due to the change in strategy, De Angelis was at the front of the field when the track went back to green. The Canadian driver was able to maintain his lead to earn their second win of the season.
“It was a very good day for the Heart of Racing,” said De Angelis. “It was a great day for both us and the No. 26 car who got a podium in the Silver class. It seemed like the track kind of suits the Aston Martin. We gained some points today on the guys that are in front of us in the championship, so we will head into Indy with an outside shot at the championship. We'll do what we can, but this weekend put us in a better position. Thank you to the Heart of Racing for another great weekend!”
The No. 26 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 driven by Grisham and Greenemeier has a similar story of their teammates. The Hannah duo came back after a mechanical issue during Saturday’s race to earn their highest overall finish of the season on Sunday.
In Saturday’s race, Greenemeier was in fourth defending off fifth coming to the white flag but unfortunately mechanical gremlins got the best of the No. 26 machine not allowing the No. 26 Aston Martin to finish the race.
“Overall, a really great weekend with lots of positive notes to take from it,” said Greenemeier. “The team did a great job with the strategy call again, and then Hannah and I had really good race pace on top of it. Saturday was fun to fight it out with all the silvers and just show that we have the pace to contend with the top class in GT4 America. I think we can build on this momentum heading into Indy and land on that top step!”
On Sunday, the No. 26 team used the same strategy as their PRO-AM counterparts. Grisham to the wheel for the final 35 minutes of the race leading several laps in the Silver class before ultimately finishing second, earning their highest Silver class finish to date. Grisham and Greenemeier also won the Super Fuel Hard Charger Award for their drive from 23rd to third overall.
“Finishing second today was amazing, honestly,” said Grisham. “I think a big part was just the really smart strategy call and switching our usual driver lineup like we did at Road America. It seemed to really pay off. Hannah and I are really excited to get our second podium in the Silver class with a second place finish. I’m excited to get to Indy and continue this trend! Congrats to our sister car on their win today as well!”
Newell added two podiums to his GT America powered by AWS resume with back to back third place finishes in his debut at Barber Motorsports Park. Saturday morning Newell set the third fastest lap in qualifying with a 1:29.684-second lap.
Saturday afternoon Newell defended his third place starting position in the No. 25 Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for the full 40 minute race securing his tenth GT America powered by AWS podium of the season.
Sunday’s race was a repeat of Saturday with the exception of two caution periods in the first half of the race. After starting from third, Gray battled for second as the 40 minute clock ticked down, ultimately the Washington-state native finished third.
The Heart of Racing will head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the SRO America season finale at the beginning of October where De Angelis and Newell will be fighting for the Pirelli GT4 America PRO-AM championship.
