Rearden Racing Enters Three GT4 Cars for SRO Season Finale at LVMS
Burton/Kozarov Pairing Seek to Secure GT4 SprintX West Am Title
● Jeff Burton & Vesko Kozarov Duo have scored 8 GT4 SprintX wins in 2019 with Audi
● Cattaneo/Trinkler & Novikov/Lazzaro pairings to drive Rearden-prepped cars at LVMS
Rearden Racing brings three GT4 entries to the Las Vegas 2.513-mile road course inside the popular 1.5-mile oval track at LVMS in the Blancpain GT World Challenge season wrap-up weekend. And the two 60-minute, two-driver GT4 SprintX contests set for this Saturday and Sunday could be huge for the Rearden squad with title ramifications.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Oct. 16, 2019) – Rearden Racing, the successful Utah-based road racing organization, comes to the Pirelli GT4 America season finals this weekend — Oct. 17-20 — at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with many things on the line including an important series championship.
The combination of Jeff Burton and Vesko Kozarov have enjoyed a sensational 2019 GT4 SprintX Am class tour with eight race wins (three in national and five in West division competition) and the Salt Lake City drivers enter the LVMS events with a 24-point in the GTSprintX West point standings.
The Rearden Racing duo have recorded GT4 SprintX Am division wins at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, VIRginia International Raceway, Sonoma Raceway, Portland International Raceway and Watkins Glen International this year.
The Burton/Kozarov duo again will drive the potent No. 91 Burton Lumber/Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 sports car in the two GTSprintX races set for Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT and Sunday at 11:10 a.m. PDT. Joining Burton and Kozarov for Rearden Racing this weekend will be pairings of Sarah Cattaneo and Owen Trinkler in the No. 43 Rearden Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 in the SprintX West Pro-Am class as well as Dmitri Novikov and Anthony Lazzaro in the No. 64 Rearden Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the SprintX Am national class.
“I’m a little taken back because of our success this year,” said Burton, the Salt Lake City businessman who took up racing later in life. “I’ve worked really hard, and Vesko and I really gel well together. Luckily, I’m a quick study and really enjoy driving fast cars. It’s funny because I’m horrible about competing. Like Ricky Bobby would say, ‘if you don’t take first, you might as well be last.’ Haha. I should have gotten into racing years ago instead of trying to play baseball for a career. Now, we want a nice clean racing weekend and, hopefully bring home a championship. I want to thank Lara (Tallman, team owner), Vesko and the whole Rearden Racing team for a great 2019 season.”
Tallman, one of the few women team owners in motorsports, has developed a strong operation with the Rearden Racing organization dating back over a decade, and she looks for another road racing title in 2019. Kozarov won the 2018 Touring Car drivers crown for Rearden Racing.
“We are very excited for this weekend in Las Vegas,” said Tallman. “We have won a good number of races and we are working hard towards a championship with Jeff and Vesko. Plus, we are running more race cars this weekend with the No. 43 and Sarah and Owen as well as the No. 64 with Dmitri and Anthony. The team has worked extremely hard all season and we want to cap it off in fine style. I’d like to thank everyone at Rearden Racing for their hard work in 2019.”
In addition to the three GT4 entries in SprintX at Las Vegas, Rearden Racing has also entered Novikov in the two 50-minute GT4 Sprint events in the SRO America season finale. Dmitri will drive the No. 64 Rearden Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 sports car in Saturday’s GT4 Sprint race scheduled for 2:40 p.m. PDT and Sunday’s Sprint event set for 9:00 a.m. PDT.
Action for the GT4 SprintX events begins Thursday with testing and a practice round followed by Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions.
The two Las Vegas SprintX races and two GT4 Sprint contests are scheduled to be streamed live on www.gt4-america.com. The Blancpain GT World Challenge events will be aired live via audio simulcast on SiriusXM satellite radio Ch. 385 (980 on the web stream).
CBS Sports Network highlights coverage for GT4 SprintX races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will air on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m. EDT with an encore at 10 p.m. EDT. GT4 Sprint race highlights from Las Vegas will be televised on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 3 p.m. EDT with an encore showing at 9 p.m. EDT.
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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.
Contact: Tom Blattler, TB Communications, tomblattler@earthlink.net, 317.525.5692
