The Heart of Racing scores podium finish at Circuit of the Americas in GT4 America
Austin, Texas (April 27, 2025) - This weekend the Heart of Racing Team took to the track in Austin, Texas at Circuit of the Americas with SRO America, where the team secured its first Pirelli GT4 America podium of the season with a third place finish for the only double-points race on the schedule. The Heart of Racing Team’s GT World Challenge America entry secured a fourth and seventh place finish in the double header weekend.
Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier joined forces in the No. 26 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Pirelli GT4 America’s three hour Lone Star Enduro. Grisham qualified for the pair, setting the sixth fastest lap in the Silver category.
Greenemeier took the first stint enduring a full course caution early on, the Colorado-native had a great restart overtaking three overall positions and one position in class. Once the second full course caution was displayed, the team called Greenemeier down pit lane for tires, fuel, and a driver change. Grisham and Greenemeier took their turns behind the wheel for the next hour and a half continuing to have great stints.
Grisham was in the driver’s seat for the final thirty minutes when the battle in the Silver class intensified. Grisham was able to stay out of the chaos and cross the finish line in third, securing the No. 26 Heart of Racing Team’s first podium of the season.
Gray Newell and Darren Turner secured their best finish of the season so far with a fourth place finish on Saturday in the No. 24 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Newell and Turner qualified Saturday morning, setting the eighth fastest laps in both 15-minute sessions.
Newell started Saturday’s race for the duo, an immediate full course caution came out on the first lap due to an incident in Turn 1. Once the field went back to green, Newell quickly moved his way from eighth to fifth in class in his 45 minute stint. Turner wheeled the Vantage to fourth in the closing stint of the 90 minute race.
Turner was in the driver’s seat first for the second race on Sunday. Turner worked his way up to sit sixth before handing the Vantage to Newell under a full course caution. The caution occurred in the middle of a pit cycle landing Newell towards the back of the pack. Newell had a great final few laps after battling for position ahead and defending from behind at the same time. The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team crossed the finish line seventh in the Pro-Am category.
The Heart of Racing Team’s SRO program will be back in action May 16-18 at Sebring International Raceway. Ahead of that, the team will have a World Endurance Championship / IMSA WeatherTech Championship double header weekend May 8-11.
Heart of Racing Team SRO COTA Driver Quoteboard :
Hannah Grisham : “Overall we had a really good weekend. We started by qualifying 15th overall, so we had to start mid pack which wasn’t most ideal. We proved that if you keep the car clean and execute everything on track and off track well, you can make sure that you’re there in the last 30 minutes and it worked out, we walked away with a podium! It’s our first podium of the year, and we couldn’t be more happier about that. Hannah (Greenemeier) drove amazing and smart, the team had great pit stop execution except for a few things that were out of their control. I’m just really happy to get this first podium of the season here at COTA.”
Hannah Greenemeier : “It was a really good weekend. It was a really big step forward from Sonoma. I’m super proud of the team, not only just for what they did this past weekend, but also all the testing and preparation that we put into it the last couple of weeks. I think both Hannah and I did a great job of maintaining track position and improving throughout the race. It’s great to get a podium so early on in the year, but now we’ll just keep digging for more.”
Gray Newell : “It was a really solid weekend with few surprises that I think the team executed super well. We were having issues coming off the corner relative to everyone else, but I would say this is a really solid step forward for my driving, my confidence, and my ability to stay calm and collected under duress. I haven’t had to attack and defend constantly like that for quite some time and never before in the GT3 car, that was just a really great experience.”
Darren Turner : “We had quite a bit better weekend than we did in Sonoma. We had no real issues yesterday and we finished fourth. Gray finished race two in seventh, he had a great battle and once he got free of the McLaren, his pace in the last couple of laps were incredible. We were able to put some more points on the board. I think we need to go back to how we can improve the car over the whole length of the stint and that should put us in a better position as the season goes on. It’s nice to get two solid finishes and some points, now we build from here. Thank you to the team for all their hard work!”
