For GT Cup drivers at the Pirelli World Challenge, navigating the 3.427-mile course at Circuit of the Americas was like trying to survive rush hour traffic on I-35.

Driving the slowest vehicles with three classifications on the track, GT Cup drivers are often stuck in the middle of a 33-car pack and don’t have the engine power to pull away from the field.

“It’s just a different mentality,” said Sloan Urry, who survived the traffic scrum to win Sunday’s GT Cup race. “There’s no thought in my mind about beating other guys in different classifications, because they’re supposed to be faster. It is extremely difficult at times, though, with some backmarkers for other classifications clogging things up.”

Urry dealt with that firsthand on Saturday, when he finished second in the first race of the season and was stuck behind several GTA drivers, the middle classification.

“I raised some hell about it to officials,” Urry said. “It’s kind of ridiculous that the slower GTA cars are consistently blocking me and don’t realize I’m going for a championship (in GT Cup). Luckily, my complaints were heard, and it worked out better today.”

Raising his voice helped Urry raise the championship trophy in the second race of the weekend doubleheader. It was his first career win after he had 16 top-five finishes last season.

“I came close and was a couple seconds off a win multiple times last season,” Urry said. “Then (Saturday), I was blocked out, and it was frustrating. So this feels good to finally get the first one.”

While Urry won the GT Cup race, Johnny O’Connell won the GT race and overall title as he seized a major opportunity.

O’Connell is the four-time defending GT season champion but is expected to face his biggest challenge in four years after Patrick Long, the 2011 champion, made his full-time return to the series and won Saturday’s race.

Long crashed right off the start on Sunday, slamming into the wall before Turn 1. It put the race under a yellow caution flag for three laps and cost Long any chance of picking up championship points.

“When you see something like that, you have to take advantage,” O’Connell said.

And O’Connell took advantage of the typical traffic that can frustrate racers in slower classifications. Once he passed Michael Cooper for the overall lead, he simply let the race take care of itself.

“In that position, your hope is that everyone behind you starts battling and slows themselves down,” he said. “And that’s what happened today.”

Martin Fuentes won the GTA championship on Sunday, completing a weekend sweep after also winning on Saturday. Fuentes, from Mexico, had one of the bigger fan contingencies on Sunday and considers Austin his home track.

“Great weekend and a great start to the season,” he said.

Earlier, Brett Sandberg won the single-classification GTS race, while Austin native Scott Dallahite took third in the classification.

Source: My Statesman