Blackdog Speed Shop’s Tony Gaples and Michael Cooper scored a podium finish Saturday in the team’s first SprintX race with a fantastic effort in Pirelli World Challenge GTSX at Circuit of the Americas.
Gaples and Cooper placed third in the No. 11 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R on the heels of a solid qualifying effort by Gaples and a great pit stop by the Blackdog Speed Shop crew. Meanwhile, Lawson Aschenbach and Andy Pilgrim were seventh in their No. 1 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R.
Saturday was the first time that Blackdog Speed Shop – defending World Challenge GTS Driver, Team and Manufacturer Champion – delved into multi-driver racing. The team’s strategy and execution paid dividends as the two cars combined to finish 20 positions higher than their starting positions.
Gaples qualified the No. 11 Camaro GT4.R in an encouraging 10th position, but he spent almost all of his stint behind the safety car after two early-race caution periods for incidents at the first turn. He handed off to Cooper with 32 minutes left with the Blackdog crew gaining seven spots once the 10-minute pit window closed. Cooper, the 2015 GTS Champion, ran a clean, uninterrupted race to the end.
The second full-course caution left Pilgrim with front-end damage to the No. 1 Camaro after he came up to a car stopped in the middle of the track. There was nowhere for the former World Challenge GT Champion to go when he arrived at the scene and suffered contact with another car as they tried to evade the incident.
Pilgrim came in for the driver change to defending GTS Champion and St. Petersburg double-winner Aschenbach at the 35 minute mark. Aschenbach tried his best to maintain his position in the top-five after the pit stop but the damage and lack of pace hampered that effort.
