Dateline: Sunday, April 19, 2026
Welcome to the highly anticipated 2026 scR motorsports season-opening newsletter! I know, I know, y’all have been on pins and needles waiting to hear about our plans to dominate this year’s…
Q: Hang on, hang on, this is once again cut-and-paste from last season’s opening newsletter.
A: But that’s because you cut me off prematurely. There is SO much NEW this season you won’t believe it!
Buckle up. Because here we go. It’s all new. Well, sort of.
Q: Try me.
A: Well, for starters, this is scR motorsports’ 30th anniversary. Think about that for a moment. Some of you have been reading these newsletters since Bill Clinton was our sitting President. Not that he was best known for his sitting, but…
Q: Stop the attempt at political humor.
A: Sorry, I didn’t plan it. It just happened that way.
Q: A milestone anniversary is worthy of congrats but isn’t “new.” What’s actually new?
A: As Zack will explain in some detail below, we have a new car, a new class, a new co-driver, a new car chief, a new number on the door (when we have a door…stay tuned), and a new teammate.
Whoa. That’s a lot of newness!
Q: Judging from the matching suits, seems like you and Clay are now co-drivers.
A: The Men in Black, or as Zack has taken to calling us, the Jameses.
Q: Who is the new guy on the right?
A: That’s the new guy. For the moment, we can call him and Tyler the Men in White.
Q: So clearly this is indeed a lot of new. What’s staying the same?
A: First and foremost, I’ll be spending another season (my seventh for those that are counting) in the BimmerWorld GT4 America trailer. So thankful they continue to allow me to play with their toys. And second, I failed to write a newsletter after our opening round at Sonoma. So, that’s staying true to form.
Q: The more things change…anything else new that’s worthy of mention?
A: For the first time in 30 years, I’m going to be a part of a Championship-winning GT4 America team. So, there’s that.
Q: Bold move. Especially since I read ahead and you’re not off to a particularly great start this year.
A: No matter. It’s a long season and we’re just getting warmed up. Enjoy Zack’s missive below and know that someday, maybe, just maybe, I’ll write a newsletter of my own.
The next chapter of BimmerWorld Racing. So proud to be a part of the effort.
See you at the track!
JWJr
#36 GT4 America <- this is new!
@teamscR34 <- click here to follow us!
teamscR.com <- click here to e-mail us!
Dateline: Friday, March 27, 2026
Q: Is the long winter over? Is racing season back?!
A: Racing season is certainly back! As for the other question, I’ll have to refer you to the groundhog. Not that he ever appears after February 2nd to be held accountable for his inaccurate prognostications. Speaking of small woodland mammals, it would appear that BimmerWorld has officially lost the race to be the first team in the paddock with a Buc-ee’s sponsorship.
First one to California gets Buc-ee all to himself!
Q: Dang it. No free beaver nuggets in the trailer?
A: No free beaver nuggets in the trailer. But the break between racing seasons (some call it winter) has ended and SRO GT4 America has returned for 2026! You may wake up from your hibernation, crawl out of your cave, shake off the cobwebs, and settle in for another seven months of go, stop, and turn. We have a new car, a new co-driver, a new class, a new door, and are ready for Year Seven of the BimmerWorld experience. Let’s go!
The thumbs-up was much clearer in the live shot.
Q: We have a new door?
A: We’ll get there eventually. Your orientation for this season will follow the order established in the previous paragraph.
Q: We have a new car?
A: We do indeed. It’s still a BMW M4 GT4, with “EVO” added onto the end to make it sound cool. But James Walker, Jr. has bid farewell to the #82 Red Line Oil machine and is piloting the #36 Optima Batteries M4 this time around.
Last year you looked for the red-on-black BMW. This year you will look for the black-on-red BMW. The one that you always mistakenly think is #0 (I’m inside your head). This is the former “James Clay-and-Charlie” car that captured the Am-class championship a year ago but lost one half of its dynamic duo to motorsport retirement. The question rolling into the offseason: where could team founder James Clay find a driver to help him continue the success he enjoyed with his long-time running mate?
This one is the good one this year. Root for this one.
Q: We have a new co-driver?
A: You heard correctly on the broadcast: BimmerWorld is double-stacking the Jameses this year. Walker, Jr. and Clay are teaming up in the #36 after six years of competing under the same tent in separate cars. This will make it easy on the SRO announcers, who can now refer to the driver of the #36 as “James” without checking who’s actually behind the wheel. I think the new driver pair will get along just fine.
He never wears buttons, but he’s got a cool hat, and his homies agree
he really looks good in black, fool.
Q: We have a new class?
A: As you may have gathered from watching the race, James and James are competing in the Am class this year, as they are both Bronze-rated drivers. BimmerWorld’s second car this year is still competing in Pro-Am, is white-on-red now, has been re-stickered as #38, and is being piloted by Tyler and Michael the new guy.
I have yet to meet Michael the new guy, but he and Tyler achieved a podium in Sonoma, so he has made a decent first impression. No need to discuss his second impression, which may or may not still be visible from the Turn 3 grandstands. Like my dad, he comes to GT4 with Ferrari Challenge on his resume, so perhaps they can bond over that. Fortunately, my dad seems to like him, which is not always a given with certain Ferrari Challenger competitors (okay, just that one).
Speaking of that, let’s tune into the 2026 12 Hours of Sebring to check in on our old nemesis, shall we? I won’t say his name, but it rhymes with “Ravine Cow.”
You can’t park there, you ***REDACTED***.
[Dad edit: that’s a pretty deep cut, Zack.]
[Zack edit: I was on the radio in 2018 in Miami, I’ve heard worse. Mr. Rao finished fourth in class, he’ll be alright.]
Q: So, the first race already happened? Where was my heads-up?
A: Yes, there was no pre-season introductory newsletter this year. Sorry about that. I told my assistant (he prefers I call him “Dad”) to write one, but he has been quite busy. The season-opening race weekend at Sonoma has come and gone. Can we blame the late start to newsletter season on the groundhog? Anyways, I hope you’ve enjoyed your orientation.
Q: We have a new door?
A: Are we there already? That will require me to get into the actual racing, so a quick recap: this season, your favorite race car driver is competing in SRO GT4 America for a seventh year with BimmerWorld, co-driving the #36 BMW M4 in the Am class with team owner and friend James Clay. Everyone got that?
Q: Yes, but what are those doodles all over the new car?
A: For the official record, that’s Sparky, the mascot of Optima Batteries. Off the record, let’s hope there are no Cinnamon Toast Crunch lawyers on the newsletter distribution list.
Crunching up the competition?
Q: Was the first race weekend of the new era a rousing success?
A: No.
The stone was rolled away a week early this year. Happy Easter!
[Dad edit: did you really just compare our racing mishaps to the empty tomb? I’m not sure if I should laugh at this or not. It feels blasphemous, but I truly appreciate the witness.]
Q: Is the new door made of glass? Or is this a weight reduction initiative?
A: Barely. Those doors weigh about four pounds. They are made of carbon fiber, a material that explodes upon impact with the front end of a GT4 race car. So yes, the team had to get a new door for the #36 after the original was reduced to tiny black shards.
Turns out pretty much all the teams brought a spare driver’s door, but only a few had one for the passenger’s side. Did you know that M4 passenger-side-doors are back-ordered at the BMW factory? Did you know that they can’t just flip the mold upside-down and make an equal amount of left and right doors? How lame is that? Where’s the Ultimate 3D Printing Machine when you need it?
Q: Is the right-side-door factory on the wrong side of the Strait of Hormuz?
A: Unclear, but luckily you only need one friendly neighbor to lend you a door in your moment of need, and a bunch of handy men with paint and tape to make it look like nothing ever happened.
It pays to love your enemies.
[Dad edit: there is a lot more to this story. Once I find the time to write my own newsletter, I’ll be sure to work it in. While the Vandals offered to help out, the door technically was not theirs to give. It’s complicated…]
Q: How did this happen?
A: We begin on Friday, attacking the new qualifying format with refreshed energy from a restful offseason. This year, there is only one qualifying session per weekend. Driver 1 qualifies and takes the green for Race 1, and then Driver 2’s best time in Race 1 qualifies the car for Race 2, which Driver 2 starts.
This will be important later on.
In California, my dad was Driver 1, so he took the beast out for qualifying, and in the final promising moment of the weekend, qualified in the top ten overall! He was second in class, only lapping one-hundredth of a second behind the Am class polesitter in P9. His fitness classes appear to be paying off. This excellent qualifying effort capped off some solid practice sessions and positioned the #36 to start the season strong.
Front-row start to the season! Welcome back, Mr. Travis.
Q: How many opponents are we facing in this new class?
A: It always fluctuates throughout the season, but at Sonoma there were nine Am-class entries. The SRO race graphics only show the top 25 overall, so hopefully the (rest of the) season will go well enough that we can avoid having to do guesswork. I’d say nine is enough to make qualifying P2 in class an accomplishment. Anyways, hopes were high and the future looked bright enough to wear shades.
Q: Changing driver pairings, and moving between classes?
A: Thanks again to Travis for the cheap sunglasses!
Oh yeah!
Q: Did the weekend’s promise vanish with the drop of the green?
A: More or less. Someone directly in front of my dad (might have been the defending Pro-Am champ) got a little eager on Turn 3 of Lap 1 and got into the driver’s door of the Buc-ee’s Mercedes to his right, rotating it counterclockwise. The Am polesitter (sponsored by PolePace…how accurate) to my dad’s right at this moment had nowhere to go and therefore plowed into the Mercedes…you know, this is all sounding very familiar.
This is the LAST time we want to be orthogonal to a striped Mercedes!
Q: When did the door fall off?
A: Roughly three seconds after that screenshot, as the #21 pinkish-purple BMW was elevated up into the passenger door of the #36 in its futile attempt to quickly skirt around the mess. The impact loosened the door enough that it fell off as my dad approached the carousel. Note that the pinkish-purple BMW, driven by the Garcia brothers, was the Am polesitter, so the door did stay on long enough for my dad to lead his class as the yellow flags flew.
Look, he’s leading the race!
Q: Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
A: Yep, I thought of the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor too. Henceforth, the #21 shall be known as the Cherry Garcias.
I knew what Cherry Garcia was before I knew who Jerry Garcia was.
Q: Does SRO let you race without a door?
A: Only at a slow speed. The stewards let my dad circulate under caution while the team scrambled to find one of those rare, collectible passenger side doors, but it was not to be found.
According to my secret inside source, not just anyone is as generous with their spare parts as our friends the Random Vandals. When the restart was imminent, the #36 was called into pit lane, and there its race ended. But not in last place! The Cherry Garcias retired immediately following the opening-lap collision, so I believe the Jameses technically finished in P8. We’ll take four points for a DNF…it could be worse!
My secret inside source wanted his identity revealed, despite failing to secure our dream sponsorship.
Q: Hi, Saturday here. Did you say worse?
A: Did I? Sh!t. I shouldn’t have.
This shiny McLaren is one with the sheep.
Q: Since Mr. Clay never took a racing lap, did he start from last?
A: Well done, you remembered the foreshadowing. He started from last and was driving well, making moves, had passed a few competitors and ran as high as P3 in class…and then nudged the wall and broke some suspension pieces, relegating the rest of the race to an extended testing session.
It happens. This makes four consecutive races to forget at Sonoma for the #36, so we’ll call it the Curse of Central California and accept no further blame in any direction.
This is not ideal.
Q: They didn’t finish either race?
A: The car was quickly made drivable again this time but finished the race six laps down by the time the race-ending yellow flags came out. My dad got a callout from the announcers for good sportsmanship for letting the leaders pass him by, so maybe we can print a little certificate in lieu of any trophies. We’ll take two points and be thankful there were only nine cars in the field.
The race leader did not have similar awareness during the subsequent wave-around.
Q: Why did the race end under yellow?
A: Remember, we’re not going to discuss Michael the new guy’s second impression, the speed at which he made it, or if the unsuspecting corner workers had to call State Farm afterwards.
Q: Just one of those weekends all around for BimmerWorld, huh?
A: That it was. However, it was not without silver linings. The Jameses managed six points despite completing 20-ish fewer race laps than the leaders, Tyler and Michael scored a third-place finish on Friday…and that’s about it.
Oh, and BimmerWorld has a cool new door. From a distance, you can hardly tell it was borrowed from the opponents. Said opponents won both races because they’ve added another Am car to their stable and are inescapable. It has a Texas flag on the roof, so please cease rooting for the Texas flag car. It ain’t us no more.
The Tortilla Killas? I’ll work on it.
Q: Do you have anything with which to wash out the bad taste of Sonoma?
A: It was a weekend full of sour grapes in wine country, that’s for sure. But we know these things happen and there’s only one team happy at the end of every race. That being said, some poetry may help to smooth over the rough memories.
Q: That’s debatable –
A: Hello? I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish the freakin’ door didn’t fall off at Sonoma…
Q: That’s not poetry, that’s rap. Do you wish you had a brand new car?
A: Not really. So far, I got this hatchback, and everywhere I go, yo, I gets laughed at.
My mom thinks that song is the pinnacle of cool.
Q: What’s next on the GT4 calendar?
A: Not Sonoma! Thank goodness. Next up is the world-famous Lonestar Enduro at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. This will be a one-race weekend, a three-hour contest at 4:30 central time on Saturday, April 25th. Make sure to keep up with the schedule this year, as GT4 America will sometimes be racing on Friday and Saturday, as opposed to previous seasons’ Saturday-Sunday schedule. Lame. How am I supposed to watch a race on Friday if I’m at work, like an adult?
Strange, I don’t usually have late meetings on Fridays. Must be important.
Q: Will BimmerWorld bring extra doors to COTA?
A: I recommend it, but if the factory is still struggling to keep up with the extra demand, hopefully the Vandals let us keep the door we borrowed from them. That door has now done more laps on a BimmerWorld car than on any other BMW, so it’s part of the team now. Note that the new addition to the Random Vandals, the yellow tortilla BMW, was the one to destroy the fallen door, so it’s only right that they gave BimmerWorld a replacement. And it looks (nearly) perfect.
You can’t even see the line!
Q: I see they decorated the new door with Sparky…but what about Hello Kitty?
A: Can’t forget about Hello Kitty. It’ll be bad luck for the competition when the black cat crosses in front of them.
Hello Kitty doesn’t mess around.
Q: If that’s true, then why did BimmerWorld get all the bad luck this weekend?
A: Maybe Mr. Clay needs to prohibit the drivers and crew from walking behind the car. That couldn’t hurt.
Can’t think of any other Bimmers in this World I would rather support.
See you in Austin!
ZJW