Another Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Am Win for Burton/Kozarov Pair With Burton/Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS Machine at Watkins Glen
● Paul Terry drives No. 33 Rearden Racing Nissan 370Z TC to Touring Car Win Saturday
● Tire puncture hurts Burton chances on Sunday in GT4 Sprint event
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Sept. 1, 2019) – Rearden Racing continued its regular appearances to victory lane this weekend with wins in the GT4 SprintX and Touring Car divisions at Watkins Glen International in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America road racing competition.
Entering the Labor Day weekend GT4 SprintX doubleheader races with seven SprintX Am victories this year, the tandem of Jeff Burton and Vesko Kozarov, both of Salt Lake City, Utah, kept their record rolling in the No. 91 Burton Lumber/Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS sports car with an impressive Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Am class win Saturday in the 60-minute two-driver Round 11 of the SprintX national series at the famed 3.4-mile, 14-turn Glen road circuit.
Kozarov, who turned in a sensational qualifying lap Saturday of one minute, 54.343 seconds, led the overall 23-car field in the first half of the 25-lap contest before turning the car over to his partner Burton. Jeff, despite his limited racing experience, continue to lead in his debut at Watkins Glen International.
On the final lap, veteran Greg Liefooghe took the Pro-Am category win, while Burton received the checkered flag as Jeff and Kozarov scored their eighth SprintX Am division win of the 2019 GT4 campaign. In addition, Vesko set the fastest race lap with a 1:55.713 clocking in the 60-minute event.
“Both Vesko and Jeff drove beautifully on Saturday in the GT4 SprintX race,” said Lara Tallman, team owner of Rearden Racing. “Initially, we were going to stay in the GT4 SprintX West Am class and that is still our focus for the 2019 season (Burton and Kozarov lead the points in the SprintX West Am class). And Jeff wanted to compete in the SprintX national series at selected events too. For his first time at Watkins Glen, he was outstanding this weekend.”
Unfortunately, the Burton/Kozarov duo could not start the Sunday round of the GT4 SprintX at Watkins Glen after a tire puncture sidelined Burton and the No. 91 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS car in Sunday’s GT4 Sprint 50-minute race with some car damage. Tallman said the Rearden Racing will be ready for the next GT4 SprintX action set for Sept. 20-22 at the historic Road America in Wisconsin.
The Rearden Racing winner’s circle celebrations also continued in the Touring Car class with Utah’s Paul Terry driving to his first TC race win this year in the No. 33 Nissan 370Z TC sports car. Last year, the TC division national championship was won by Kozarov in a Nissan 370Z TC.
Terry, running a limited schedule in TC in 2019, has been a regular on the TC podium (top-three) this year but hadn’t reached the top step of victory lane until last Saturday in the 19-lap, 40-minute TC feature. Paul scored a 0.462-second win over current TC point leader Johan Schwartz and Robert Nimkoff.
On Sunday, Terry took the third position on the winner’s podium following Schwartz and Steve Streimer at the finish line. Sunday’s 20-lap TC main event was Paul’s sixth race in the first ten TC races and his fifth top-five finish this season.
“It was great to see Paul grab the win in TC with the Nissan,” said Tallman. “Last year, Vesko had to fight off the challenges of the BMWs throughout the season. And that has also been the case this year for Paul. Now, the Rearden team is so excited for Paul to take the TC race win at a classic circuit like Watkins Glen. We are ready to go to another classic track in Road America for the next TC doubleheader.”
CBS Sports Network highlights coverage for GT4 SprintX races at Watkins Glen is set to air Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. EDT with TC coverage scheduled for Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. EDT.
# # #
ABOUT REARDEN RACING: Owned and operated by Lara Tallman and driver Vesko Kozarov, Rearden Racing’s roots date back to the 2000s when Tallman drove in the IMSA ST class. The Utah-based operation consists of several aspects with design, build and service racing cars; offering “arrive and drive” programs in both professional and club racing clients and manufacture and distribute a variety of racing-related parts. On the track, Rearden Racing has been a winner, taking the 2018 Touring Car Championship with Kozarov as well as the prestigious 2017 and 2018 SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge for the GT4 category at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The Rearden name comes from the popular Ayn Rand book, “Atlas Shrugged,” a novel about advocacy of reason, individualism, self-made, independent thinkers, inventors, business owners and risktakers.
