GRIDLIFE Drivers Entertain Thousands at Circuit Legends
Paul Darling (#55) leads Nicholas Barbato (#41) and the rest of the field down the hill for the start of Eibach GLTC Race 1.
Salisbury, CT - GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends drew thousands to historic Lime Rock Park August 15-17, for a weekend of action from Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup, the GRIDLIFE RUSH Series, GRIDLIFE GT, drift, and TrackBattle Time Attack. Fresh from the long straights and high speeds of Road America, drivers were challenged by the confines of Lime Rock, a 1.5-mile, 7-turn circuit that remains the tightest course on the GRIDLIFE schedule.
TrackBattle Field Sets New Time Benchmarks at Lime Rock Park
In GRIDLIFE TrackBattle Time Attack, several records fell across seven classes in a field of over seventy cars. Though the overall GRIDLIFE track record holder, Sasha Anis, wasn’t present, the Unlimited class still saw a record fall in the front-wheel-drive subcategory, courtesy of Jim Rauck. His #921 EK-generation Honda Civic ran a 51.873 on Saturday afternoon, a blistering time around Lime Rock, with an average speed of over 104 miles per hour. He cleared other Unlimited competitors Jake Ertel (in a Chevrolet Corvette) and Jeremy Lowder (Chevrolet Camaro) by over 3.5 seconds. The win propels him to second place in the championship standings in Unlimited, just three points behind Ernestas Puzelis, who didn’t run at Lime Rock Park.
In Track Mod, the weekend was highlighted by a brief appearance by Jackie Ding, who ran just two sessions on Friday morning in his #687 BMW M2. Ding laid down a 54.168, breaking the previous track record held by Brad Perkins, and then drove the car on the road back to Pennsylvania, where he participated in another event. Because Circuit Legends features a condensed schedule without a Podium Sprint, each driver’s best lap of the weekend is what counts for the podium, and Jackie’s time was enough for the win. Chris Boersma closed in on Saturday afternoon, managing a 54.883 in his #33 Honda Civic, with Igor Kesilyov’s high-downforce Tesla Model 3 snagging third place in class and setting a new Track Mod AWD record at 54.999. 2022 Eibach GLTC champion Tom O’Gorman, originally entered in an Oldsmobile 442, took the keys to Alex Moss’s SuperK S2000 on Saturday afternoon running it in Track Mod, managing to finish fifth right behind Chris Smith in his orange 1-Series BMW.
Jackie Ding attacks Big Bend on Friday morning.
Continuing his charge towards another Street Mod championship, Dewey DeWitt outpaced his classmates, resetting his own AWD class record at a 54.413, over a second quicker than Alex Moss in the aforementioned SuperK S2000. Dewey’s 1995 Subaru Impreza leads Ryan Mathews in the championship standings by 15 points - not safe to call locked up in terms of a championship, but well out in front this late in the season. Kal Fortner scored third with a time of 56.264 in his Mercedes AMG-GTS. In the final session on Saturday, Jaime Santos charged hard to score a time good enough for second place, but slipped in the final corner, placing all four wheels into the grass and invalidating his lap. He settled for fourth with a best time of 56.910 over Michael Kosior’s Evo (58.764, fifth place) and Max Gourley’s Subaru WRX (59.603, sixth).
Dewey DeWitt extends his championship lead in Bogeyman, his 1995 Subaru Impreza L.
Street GT was a battleground between two Corvettes - the #364 of Nicholas Hendrix, and the #211 of Ryan Mathews. The next five cars were all BMW M cars - Mark Kilgore’s #909 M4, Steven Cheng’s #868 M3, Carlos Alvarez’s #669 M2, Daley Pagano’s #327 M4, and Mike Janssen’s AWD M3. Janssen leads the standings in Falken Club SC and joined the Street GT battle at Lime Rock, managing a 1:00.348 and earning 7th place. While no records fell in Street GT, Hendrix’s time of 56.756 earned him the 1st place trophy over Mathews with a 56.907 and Mark Kilgore's 57.795. While Kilgore had an incident in the final session, the damage was minor and repairable for future rounds. The victory by Hendrix closes the gap for second place in the standings to four points behind Mathews, but neither driver is in a strong position to run down Luke McGrew in the championship lead.
Street class saw just one drivetrain record fall, with the front-drive record falling to Eddy Segal in his #470 Honda Civic Type R. His time of a 59.150 was strong enough for second in class behind Joshua Halka’s AWD Subaru, which ran a 57.838. Cody Umbaugh’s Honda Civic Type R landed on the bottom step of the podium with a time of 1:00.455. Thomas Halka and Jeremy Hensley fought hard for fourth, with Halka’s 1:01.115 narrowly beating Hensley’s 1:01.126.
One of the most entertaining battles of the weekend took place in Falken Club TR, where Peter Granberg, Evan McLaren, and Jerami Bailey laid down lap after lap on their spec Falken RT660+ and RT660 tires. Both McLaren and Granberg set new drivetrain records, with McLaren resetting FWD to 57.161 in his Integra and Granberg laying down a shockingly fast 56.855 in his #511 Subaru BRZ. The 56.855 was the result of a minimum speed of 105 miles per hour in the final corner, four miles an hour faster than he had gone previously. The time, and the event win, catapults Granberg to the top of the championship standings, with Evan McLaren rising to second, just four points back, and Jerami Bailey just one back from McLaren. The title fight will likely come down to the last two rounds east of the Mississippi, with Autobahn Country Club and Pittsburgh International Race Complex likely to provide an even playing field for the top three drivers. Michael Budai and Daniel Persing rounded out the top 5, two of seven drivers within two seconds of the podium.
Peter Granberg set a new track record in the 56-second bracket in Falken Club TR on the Falken RT660+.
While Mike Janssen, the leader in the Falken Club SC standings, drove an M3 in Street GT, the podium was ripe for the taking from over a half dozen competitors in Club SC Honda Fits. Austin O’Brien led for much of the weekend, but a dyno run revealed the car made too much power for the power-to-weight based class, forcing him to try again on Saturday. Though he still earned a podium with a solid second-place, he wasn’t able to match his pace from Friday. Sam Deuling won the class with a new record, a 1:03.903 over O’Brien’s 1:04.802. Luis Rodriguez scored a 1:05.121, earning him third place over Jason Davidson, Tim Pforzheimer, Ian Stone, and Matthew Reinhart.
Leach, Hosie, Trade Wins in RUSH Series
After a rough round at Road America last month, GRIDLIFE RUSH Series points leader Ryan Leach got back on the horse at Lime Rock Park, scoring two more wins and adding to his total of 14 on the season. Leach won those two races over Blair Hosie, who defeated him in the first two races of the weekend. Hosie was able to win the weekend by just one point, courtesy of the extra point from qualifying after earning pole for race 1 on Friday afternoon. The two drivers didn’t let anyone else get close - but the battle was similar for third and fourth, with James French and Andy Voelkel trading third and fourth. Again, courtesy of a qualifying point, French edged out Voelkel by just one point. The weekend in the RUSH Series featured a fierce freight inside the top ten, with fifth place Jason Oehler tying sixth place Nico Bratz, and a three-way-tie for 7th with Nate Hamilton, Michael Perrotti, and Bryce Mersberger. TJ Hunt, and Bret Digiacomo also tied at 31 points, with Aryton Grim trailing them by just one point. While the front runners rarely found themselves overtaking, the battle pack from Nate Hamilton on back was a tornado of energy through each of the four races, thrilling fans trackside as the high-revving 1000cc engines reverberated off of the hillside. Leach extended his championship lead to 96 points, safely on top with just a few rounds left in the season.
Blair Hosie and Ryan Leach battle on the Paul Newman Straight for the lead in the GRIDLIFE RUSH Series.
Smedegard, Darling Earn First 2025 Wins
Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup featured a grid of 35 cars, including all of the championship contenders and a few locals who join each time GRIDLIFE visits Connecticut. After earning the pole in qualifying, Andy Smedegard led the field to the green flag on Friday afternoon for the first of four races. Andy’s #212 “GT86.2” is a Scion FR-S with an FA24 from a newer Toyota GR86 swapped into the engine bay. While Andy led briefly, Paul Darling and Nicholas Barbato powered through in their inline-six BMW M3s. Darling’s E46 led the majority of the laps, and after several seasons of competing, and heartbreak from a mechanical issue while running in the top 3 last year, Darling held on to earn his first ever Eibach GLTC win. Darling has accumulated a fanbase within the paddock, known as an incredibly humble and talented driver. He followed the performance up on Saturday morning with another win, this time over Smedegard and 2020 champion Eric Kutil.
The weekend tides turned in race three, after Andy Smedegard earned the fastest lap during race 2, placing him on the front row again for the third race of the weekend. This time, Andy held on over Eric Kutil, with Darling third, and Emile Tabb’s NB-generation Mazda MX-5 in fourth. The final race of the weekend featured a seven-car invert, putting the #917 Honda S2000 of Lena Chin on pole. The front of the field re-organized within a few laps, with the #330 of Eric Magnussen leading over Kutil and Smedegard. In a daring display of commitment and precision, Kutil drove up alongside Magnussen on the Paul Newman straight, and swung his JTCC-inspired Honda Civic around the outside of the Uphill. Magnussen lifted, allowing Smedegard to follow Kutil through. The two drivers fought through lapped traffic before Kutil snagged his first victory since Carolina Motorsports Park in April, his fourth of the season.
Aaron Leichty leads Eric Magnussen, Lena Chin, and Nicholas Barbato in a battle for fifth at Lime Rock Park.
Despite the lack of wins since the first round of the year, Kutil’s season has been remarkably consistent, with all 20 of his starts resulting in a top 5, an average finish of 2.6, and 15 podiums. He trails points leader Matan Rosenberg by just 16 points, with two of the three remaining rounds likely benefitting his lighter weight Civic over Rosenberg’s Corvette. However, Rosenberg’s 8 wins, worth 25 points each, are a mountain to climb if the Corvette driver earns any more. Regardless, that battle will be one to watch through the round at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in October, as is the fight for fourth, with Matt Waldbaum and Emile Tabb tied at 205 points with three rounds to go.
Houghton Sweeps Weekend, but not without a Fight
James Houghton’s Honda Civic Touring Car has been a successful entry in GRIDLIFE’s newest wheel-to-wheel class, GRIDLIFE GT, since its debut in June. At Circuit Legends, Houghton continued to demonstrate top-tier racecraft and pace, but it wasn’t without challenge from AJ Hartman in his shadowy Ford Mustang. Hartman’s New Edge Ford Mustang is powered by a Ford F-150 Ecoboost 3.5L V6, and runs independent rear suspension off of a contemporary S550 Mustang. It is most notable for its extensive aerodynamics, taking advantage of the allowances in the GRIDLIFE GT rulebook. Hartman earned pole over Houghton and Chris DeLucia, who spent the weeks leading up to Lime Rock welding the rear of another BMW onto his after an accident last month. At the drop of the green flag, James Houghton was able to snag the lead from Hartman, and the two began a duel for the lead that would last the duration of the weekend. Houghton won all four races, three of them over Hartman, with a retirement from Hartman allowing Hans Horpedahl to claim second in race 4.
Using the Fire Laps Fire Links on the broadcast, the livestream displayed live data from the cars throughout the weekend, noting that Hartman was able to consistently pull more lateral G-force in the high speed corners and carry more momentum into high-commitment corners than Houghton - but once in Houghton’s wake, Hartman’s car struggled to keep pace without clean air. Houghton’s Honda also generated more force on the brakes. The data gave impressively detailed insight into the differences between the cars, highlighting the freedom and effectiveness of the new GRIDLIFE GT rules.
James Houghton and AJ Hartman put on a great show for spectators in their high-downforce GRIDLIFE GT cars.
Houghton won all four races, defeating AJ Hartman and Hans Horpedahl for the weekend trophy. Chris DeLucia had great pace all weekend, earning a podium in race 2, but struggled with left front tire wear around the primarily right-turning course. Jeffrey Zissulis, Alex Peitz, Eric Thompson, and David Bamforth rounded out the entrants in GRIDLIFE GT.
GRIDLIFE drivers compete next at Autobahn Country Club, September 12-14, in Joliet, Illinois, followed by the GRIDLIFE Laguna Festival at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca September 26-28. The season finale for GRIDLIFE will take place October 17-19 at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
All of the remaining rounds will be broadcast live. The last time a GRIDLIFE event was streamed at Autobahn Country Club was 2022, and GRIDLIFE has yet to stream at Pitt Race. The GRIDLIFE Laguna event is likely to feature one of the most unique lineups of entries of the season, as west coast drivers enter late in the year and challenge the regulars.
