The 2025 VSCA SportsCar Championship returned to Virginia International Raceway for Round 5 of the season—and its third visit overall to the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit in Alton, Virginia. For the first time in series history, the grid featured no prototypes, with only GT3 entries from GT PRO and GT AM taking the green flag in Saturday's Virginia Sports Car Grand Prix.
The race, Round 3 of the Sprint Cup as well, started under mostly cloudy skies and cool 20°C conditions at 2 p.m. local time. Track temperature hovered at 37°C, with strong westerly winds hinting at incoming weather changes. A field of GT3 machines battled early in clean conditions, but the event’s tone would be drastically altered when torrential rain arrived in the final hour, triggering widespread chaos across the track.
Early Leaders and Penalties Shift the Balance
The drama began before the weather did. Pole-sitter Daniel Perez Santiago in the #554 RedLab Motorsport Corvette earned the top starting spot with a lap of 1:45.141 but was forced to serve a 60-second stop-and-hold penalty on lap one due to a car number violation. That dropped the #554 out of contention early, paving the way for a wild shuffle in GT AM.
By lap four, John T Jones had taken command in the #29 Team Vortex Acura NSX, building a 20-second gap over the #64 Vulture Motorsports Ford Mustang of Erol Ureksoy by lap 18. But a long green-flag run forced teams into varied pit sequences. Canadian Cedrik Gaudreault made his series debut memorable by leading his first VSCA laps in the #18 Gowin Racing Mercedes before pitting on lap 24. Several others, including Henry Handy in the #532 and Francisco Martin Diaz in the #13, also briefly cycled into the lead during pit rotations.
Jones reclaimed the top spot after the first pit cycle, but an off-track moment in Turn 14a cost him three seconds and allowed Ureksoy to close the gap to just seven seconds before the weather turned.
Rain, FCY, and Pit Lane Roulette
Rain clouds rolled in by 3 p.m., with radar showing ominous signs of heavier conditions moving in from the west. The full-course yellow came out at 1 hour and 32 minutes into the race—timed disastrously for leaders who were on the 26th lap of their fuel stint. Jones, Ureksoy, and Gaudreault were all forced to enter the pits while they were still closed, each receiving a costly drive-through penalty after the restart.
Benefiting from earlier stops, the #555 PULSAR eSports McLaren driven by Carlos Miguel Duarte inherited the GT AM lead under yellow. But with rain beginning to fall heavily by 3:45 p.m., the field scrambled to pit again for wet tires. Amid the shuffle, Daniel Graulty in the #74 SRN Motorsports Corvette briefly took over the lead—but he too was penalized for entering a closed pit lane earlier in the caution.
As the green flag returned, torrential rain blanketed the circuit, significantly worsening visibility and grip. Several drivers struggled to keep their cars on track as the field braved deep standing water and hydroplaning conditions.
Incidents Multiply as Conditions Worsen
The restart proved treacherous. Graulty and Francisco Martin Diaz both slid off course on the opening lap back to green. With just over 30 minutes left, Jack Hedgcose in the #18 Mercedes suffered a heavy impact into the tire barriers in Turn 14A while running in third place, ending a promising debut run for Gaudreault’s team.
Moments later, a larger multi-car crash unfolded in the same corner. Josh Toothman in the #532 McLaren hydroplaned into the turn, and both the #83 Off in the Esses McLaren of Patrick Boilard and the #94 SWF Motorsports Porsche of Jason Smith were caught in the resulting melee. While Boilard managed to continue, Smith’s championship hopes took a hit.
Back in the lead, Daniel Graulty lost control in the esses and handed the top spot to Thomas E Fisher in the #64 Mustang. Fisher, typically seen behind the wheel of Vulture Motorsports’ LMP2 car, was making his first GT start of the year. He appeared unflappable despite worsening conditions. For the #74 team things got even worse with ten minutes to go, when the SRN Motorsports Corvette was struck by electrical problems, dropping the Portland, Oregon team to a P7 finish.
Fisher sets sail, survives scare to win
With a lead of nearly 47 seconds and less than 20 minutes remaining, Fisher too was nearly undone by the standing water. On lap 71, he lost control in the T14A braking zone but miraculously avoided contact with any barriers. Though his gap shrank to 31 seconds, he held firm until the end to deliver a maiden GT AM class win in spectacular fashion.
The #83 McLaren of Stuart Leslie and Patrick Boilard recovered to finish second, continuing their strong campaign and taking over the GT AM championship lead. Wastegate Racing’s #33 Corvette, driven by Aaron Beaver and Ryan Steinhoff, delivered a clean race to complete the podium in third.
Fourth place went to the #515 Wolf Motorsport Porsche of Christopher Limprecht and Claudio Di Santo, which gained 11 positions from its P15 grid spot. The #29 Acura, despite leading a race-high 42 laps, ended up fifth after its costly penalty. The #555 PULSAR McLaren dropped to sixth, ahead of the #74 SRN Corvette and the penalized #554 RedLab entry.
The #90 Race Spec Dynamics Porsche finished ninth, while the #13 KTD McLaren rounded out the top ten after an off-track excursion and late-race drama.
Post-Race Quotes
Erol Ureksoy, #64 Vulture Motorsports Ford: "This is a huge win for us! To win three in a row is just enormous for the team and a real validation of all the hard work we have put in to get the car ready. A big shoutout to our set up genius, Professor Amir!"
"I don’t know, but it feels great to be a part of this awesome team! I’m just very lucky to have great drivers and support team around me to make these wins and podiums happen – eight in a row!"
"Thomas was amazing in the rain today! We put in a lot of practice in wet and changing conditions, and it paid off! Thomas is just on another level in the rain and his drive was an absolute masterclass to watch."
"We had a heart in mouth moment near the end there, where the car came out from under Thomas, missing the barrier by a few millimeters, I thought our day was over on that one!"
"We also made an error in not updating the fuel load in the car to start the race, so I had to do some massive fuel saving at the start. Then we got caught out by the FCY and almost ran out of fuel and had to take a drive through after the restart, but Thomas' pace in the wet was more than enough to keep us up front!"
Thomas E Fisher, #64 Vulture Motorsports Ford: "It’s an amazing feeling to be able to carry forward the hard work from all of my teammates the last few races. This team has worked very hard and it is amazing to see it pay off!"
"It was very different [on returning to GT racing] (laughing). Especially in a car as big as the Mustang. It took some getting used to. The class of drivers is very strong and respectful as well, which leads to some amazing battling. Especially when I can send it on the brakes and let the ABS do its thing. To see I still have the pace to be competitive in this field, and winning by 95 seconds, is reassuring for me following my return from a broken shoulder."
"The car was brilliant to drive, it inspired confidence. I wasn’t sure what I was doing different for the majority of the lap but I was averaging over a second a lap faster than the rest of the field, according to my spotter. Carving through the field was an amazing feeling but scary to keep it flat down the front straight in someone else’s spray."
"The timing of the FCY coming out on our box lap gave us a drive-through and, after serving it, we came out in traffic which was tricky to manage. The #29 Vortex car braking early at the end of the back straight caught me out and I had that massive moment there. All I could do was make sure I lost the car to the left so I had a chance of missing the wall but it was very close! After that, Erol told me I was leading by over a minute so to leave a nice gap to the car in front and bring it home! P1 Baby!"
Stuart Leslie, #83 Off in the Esses Racing McLaren: "It's a great feeling [to finish second], especially in a race like this. Knowing how difficult the conditions were in this race, we knew it would be critical to keep the car clean in that chaotic second half of the race. We did a great job of that and Pat did a great job navigating the chaos. Overall it feels good to finally be putting the races together like this, having been a part of the series since day one, we always felt like we had this kind of pace but never found everything coming together like it has this year. A result like this is exactly what we were looking for."
On the incident with the #34 Wastegate Racing Corvette: "Yeah there's nothing that Pat could have done on that one. We received the penalty I guess because Pat didn't give the position back but at the top of the roller coaster it also looked like the car we got past gave up a position to a competitor behind us."
"I was spotting at the time and thought it was a slam dunk case of taking evasive action to avoid an incident. At the end of the day it doesn't matter, we still finished second and nobody's race was ruined as a result."
On the incident with the #94 SWF Motorsports Porsche and #532 Pandemonium eSports McLaren: "Even though I was spotting for that one it was still a pretty scary situation. I let Pat know ahead of the braking zone that there was an incident up ahead and Pat broke earlier that he had been on previous laps knowing that there was an accident."
"Whether he hit some standing water that caused the snap I am not sure but the rear end snapped and he went spinning into the incident ahead. We almost won the lottery and completely spun through the incident but unfortunately made contact with the #94 towards the end of the spin which caused both of us some damage."
"Fortunately the damage wasn't too bad for us and didn't affect the car much. Unfortunately for SWF they weren't so lucky and we hate that they of all teams had to be on the losing end of that deal."
"We have a lot of respect for those guys after the battles we had earlier in the race as well as so far this season and would have much rather been able to race them to the finish instead of them going multiple laps down."
"Ultimately it's an unfortunate racing incident and things like that can happen in treacherous conditions."
Jonathan Foote, #94 SWF Motorsports Porsche: "Losing the championship lead really sucks, especially the way we lost it by contact with our championship rivals. How do I feel? I feel like the race should have been red flagged when so many people were struggling to stay on track out there."
"We work really hard to keep the car clean and let the race come to us and it was but, I guess, accidents happen."
On the incident with the #83 Off in the Esses Racing McLaren: "Jason was in the car obviously, but the #532 McLaren sat sideways into the rollercoaster and Jason had cars in front of him. I warned him of the stopped car and tried to tell him which side to take. Jason did a great job of avoiding that stopped car and just as he cleared him, the 83 hydroplaned in on the grass and hits us in the wheel and breaks the suspension."
"We spent several laps in the pits repairing the car while the 83 continued on. Once we finished repairs, there was no point in continuing from our stand point. We were near the bottom of the field and too little time left to do gain anything and Jason and I were both frustrated how today seems like such a waste. It was a racing incident and I know the 83 didn’t do anything wrong but it was frustrating for us."
Jason Smith, #94 SWF Motorsports Porsche: "First off I'd like to say hi to my family back home. (waves at the camera). Yeah, losing the championship lead this way stings a bit but the guys are great. Even in the downpour they loaded up the car and are looking to the next race."
"Luckily we have a break before Detroit which is one of our stronger tracks, so we are looking forward to that race."
"There are still plenty of racing left in the season and we plan on doing the same things that got us to the lead. I won't share everything we have planned, we have to keep some aces close but our biggest advantage is we have a great driver lineup: Jon, Rich, Jason, and Jason. I think the GT AM race is going to come down to Road Atlanta. We will just have to go the distance, keep going for speed."
Championship Standings and Looking Aheady
With the dust—or rather, water—settled, the GT AM class standings have a new leader. The #83 Off in the Esses McLaren now tops the championship with 1,555 points. The victorious #64 Ford Mustang is just 12 points behind in second. The #94 Porsche, caught in the late-race crash, drops to third, 167 points adrift.
In the GT AM Sprint Cup, Vulture Motorsports’ #64 Mustang now leads the standings as well, holding a 115-point advantage over the #83 McLaren and 116 points over the #555 McLaren.
The championship resumes in two weeks at the Canadian Sports Car Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. Scheduled for May 17, the race will mark Round 6 of the season and promises another twist in what’s become an increasingly unpredictable title fight.
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