Dateline: Friday, August 15, 2025
Apparently, Zack has far more spare time on his hands than I do these days! To this end, he has elected to continue writing our newsletters until further notice. And maybe ‘elected’ isn’t the proper word choice – he has simply done so without asking parental permission. Not that I am not objecting to this arrangement for a second, but Zack’s only request is that I insert a “daddy preamble” to provide some small amount of context to each narrative. So here we go.
His second diatribe of 2025 is being pushed out on the first day of official practice here at Road America. After our strong (but not strong enough) showing at VIR last month, Tyler and I sit in a very solid (that’s for you, Mr. Clay) second place in the SRO GT4 America Pro-Am Championship. With the effort the whole team has been putting forth that’s not exactly making us happy, but as Zack will let you know down below, there are still battles still to be waged at Road America, Barber, and Indy. In other words, it’s nowhere close to being decided yet (that’s for you, Mr. Craven).
These are the best fake smiles we could manage.
As I shared last time, if some of the references below are obscure, arcane, or otherwise make you scratch your head, it just means that you haven’t been on this distribution list for the past 28 years. The boy knows his scR motorsports history, and it makes me proud that he has offered to step in and fill the newsletter void here when I simply cannot. Love you, buddy.
In any case, regardless of who is in control of the keyboard, thank you for reading along and being a part of this journey. I can say with authority that this is our best season yet, and I remain beyond thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this team (that’s for you, BimmerWorld people).
See you at the track!
JWJr
#82 GT4 America
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teamscR.com <- click here to e-mail us!
Dateline: Thursday, July 17, 2025
Q: I hear Virginia is lovely around this time of year?
A: I don’t know where you heard that. BimmerWorld’s backyard is doing its best to keep up with Texas on the unpredictable-weather front. Soaring temperatures on Sunday (for unconditioned northerners, that is) were preceded by a Very Intense Rainstorm on Friday and Saturday. The skies of Alton dumped enough water to cancel afternoon practice on Friday and red-flag Saturday’s race after one singular lap. The rain only let up enough to restart the race with less than seven minutes remaining. Fortunately, those seven minutes were still enough for some Very Intriguing Racing, and Sunday’s race went forward as planned when the sun returned the next morning.
There was not much for announcers Ryan and Calvin to talk about
after they ran out of jokes about Amanda’s hair.
Q: How do world-class drivers respond when nature interrupts their finely-tuned routines?
A: By recording the weather for posterity. Many of them are also world-class dads, after all.
Tyler was greatly amused by the rain.
Q: Why isn’t Charlie recording the rain with them?
A: He’s British, so he’s used to it. Credit to the announcers for that one, as they slip in a reference to the Postins motherland every time the sky darkens.
The headlight shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.
Q: SRO doesn’t sanction the art of racing in the rain?
A: Technically, as is common in community pools and high-ropes courses across America, the thirty-minute pause was not strictly due to rain, but also thunder and…
Q: And do you know what always comes before thunder?
A: Lightning!!!
Kachow!
Q: And the race results? Were they dreary or sunny?
A: The weather may be Random, but it doesn’t bother the Vandals. Fellow Pro-Ams Josh Green and Sam Craven in the #94 orange and blue BMW won both of this weekend’s contests. They are now on a four-race winning streak and have jumped into the Pro-Am championship lead. Couple that with the mirror image double win from Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm in the Silver class, and the Vandalism is out of control. Still, our fearless #82 team can hardly complain about being nine points shy of the points lead with six races to go. Virginia brought my father and Tyler two third-place finishes, which may fall slightly short of historical expectations at BimmerWorld’s home track, but let’s not be too negative about another strong, consistent weekend.
Sunday’s finish-line photo. A sport of inches on a track of miles.
Q: How did Saturday’s rainy chaos go down?
A: It would probably take less time to watch all of Saturday’s green flag laps than it will to read this newsletter. According to my secret inside source, less time was spent racing on Saturday than discussing the recent news of the tech CEO who was caught cheating at a Coldplay concert. One wonders if the BimmerWorld crew called Ryan and Calvin for their opinions on the matter during the red flag. Now that I think about it, cheating on your wife with your HR manager certainly is a red flag; you can’t say the guys picked an irrelevant topic of discussion.
Q: Who’s your secret inside source?
A: If I revealed his name, it wouldn’t be a secret.
Q: Can I have a hint?
A: No. But I’ll make you a deal: we’ll have a big reveal IF he ever manages to wrangle that Buc-ee’s sponsorship that my dad has been fantasizing about. With the combined forces of Hello Kitty and Buc-ee the Beaver, BimmerWorld would truly be unstoppable.
If she drove a Mustang, we could call her Hannah the Hoodless Horseman.
Q: Soooo… race recap?
A: Right. Your fault for asking so many distracting questions. The car generally felt speedy during the abbreviated practice sessions and qualifying. My dad started P5 in class for Saturday’s contest, completed one clean lap, and then hung out in the pit box for the rest of his stint. Every team changed drivers during the two laps of pre-restart safety car, which moved Tyler up into P4. Thanks to some slick car control, as well as some slick patches on the track affecting other drivers, he came home in P3 for a solid podium finish in an abbreviated race. The Nolasport Porsche’s spin had me worried, as it looked like Tyler may have caused it and could be penalized. He turned out to have merely been inches away from #23’s bumper as the camera cut away, and the spin was a solo effort.
It’s still cathartic to see a yellow Porsche spin in the mirror.
Q: Matt Travis would never. Where has he been?
A: The World’s Fastest Accountant? Last I saw, he was making an unexpected appearance at Ace Hardware in The Woodlands to gift me some FCP Euro sunglasses that he picked up on his travels. I admit, I was very confused when my dad called and told me to remain at the hardware store until further notice, but then Matt arrived, having decided that I needed a new pair of blue shades after reading about the demise of the originals. Thanks, Matt! I hope you enjoyed your trip to the 24 Hours of Spa.
Q: Matt raced in the 24 Hours of Spa? He’s big time now?
A: No, he was actually there to battle his arch-nemesis: The World’s Fastest Custodian.
It was not a relaxing Spa day for the World’s Fastest Custodian.
Q: What about sunny Sunday?
A: Sunny Sunday started similarly to Saturday. (Like my father, I love the Esses.) Tyler qualified in P4 and completed a drama-free stint. He was passed flat-out on the back straight by the #94 BMW, which is powered by secret magic raccoon garbage juice. My dad sat in P2 after the pit stop cycles at the 25-minute mark, closing in on the green ACI Motorsports Porsche. The second one, that is. They are increasing in number. My dad led for about twelve seconds after a bobble by the Porsche, but the Vandals rummaged around (again!) in the trash can for a few more MPH of straight-line speed and quickly overtook #82 for the Pro-Am lead heading into the complex known as Rollercoaster. Now you lead, now you don’t.
At COTA it was a “thundering maelstrom”; this time it was a “BMW armada.”
After losing a few spots on a late restart, the end of the race consisted of a few valiant late-race charges down Madison Avenue at the Blackdog Speed Shop McLaren (the one that’s G-rated), though the opportunities weren’t quite there and the Red Line Oil BMW came across the finish line P4 in class, only fractions of a second behind Blackdog as shown in the earlier photo. One more lap would have surely done it, but you can’t argue with the clock. Unfortunately, while the speed was there all weekend, P3 and P4 were all that resulted from our heroes’ efforts on track.
Green grass and little green gremlins, everywhere!
Q: I remember reading about two podium finishes…?
A: Yes, you do. A post-race time penalty for The Car Formerly Piloted by Matt Travis was just barely severe enough for our heroes to improve into P3 post-race, finishing one spot ahead of the offender. Champagne was sprayed and hats were donned, and the trophy case got a little heavier. Unfortunately, though, just as it was a weekend of contrast between sun and clouds, there were similar mixed vibes under the BimmerWorld tent.
Q: Did the tent blow over in the storm?
A: No, the vise grips are still preventing that. Only after a few plates of chicken feet could any other hauler hope to match Dave’s structural engineering prowess.
That’s not goin’ anywhere!
Q: What brought down the mood?
A: As the SRO stewards giveth, they also taketh away. James Clay and Charlie won the on-track race but were penalized for causing a collision after unfortunately rear-ending one of those little green gremlins. Much to the disappointment of friends, family, and team, they dropped down to P7. Their winning streak ended thusly after a rainy victory on Saturday, but they still lead the Am championship and continue to fend off challenges from the quick-but-mechanically-unlucky Thunder Bunnies, who should have drawn more strength from Saturday’s thunderous weather. Charlie, being British and all, simply drew more.
Wabbit season.
Ultimately, BimmerWorld’s weekend concluded with one win, two thirds, one car leading its championship, and the other in second, so despite the #82’s results being mildly disappointing, who can complain?
A weekend of light and dark. Light speed, that is.
Q: Seems 50/50 to me. Was it REALLY a good weekend?
A: You can tell it’s a good weekend if my dad brings out his trademarked half-open-mouth smile (you know, the one where you can only see his top row of teeth) at least a few times, so consider VIR 2025 a moderate success. It certainly could have been better, and it seemed to be heading towards higher planes of success earlier in the weekend, but we’ll keep the smiles up because that’s the best thing to do.
Q: Will we? Even if we’re rather frustrated about SRO’s lifting of the all-Ams-start-the-first-race rule?
A: I said we’re being positive, Dad! Fans, you’ll have to ask him yourself if you want a more passionate explanation of this point of contention. He’s clearly not pleased about having to fend off “freakin’ IndyCar drivers” late in his stint.
There’s the smile! Tyler, not so much.
Q: Is that an iPhone image of your computer screen?
A: Yes, it is. What are you going to do about it? If you want more of the “good” pictures, you can ask the driver.
Q: Our drivers are clearly still learning how to pose for the cameras.
A: More podiums, more practice. Since GT4 is real racing, we have no time for PR consultants or things of that nature, although there is certainly some untapped marketing potential here. If Buc-ee’s doesn’t work out, could we perhaps get NIL deals from, say, Burger King or McDonald’s? James Whopper Junior? Tyler McFlurry? Maybe an official Hello Kitty sponsorship? Ethan, Shelby, get on Instagram and make this happen.
Anderson, we’re going to need seven Red Lines. In the form of a kitten.
(dad edit: this link is really worth watching)
Q: Seven Red Lines? Counting error.
A: True, it has only been six years for scR motorsports in the Red Line Oil BMW. But I thought of that joke the other day and I didn’t want to wait another year to use it.
Don’t let Tyler’s anti-aging hat fool you. He’s equally bald.
Q: Speaking of branding, has the Bills Mafia McLaren been doing well?
A: Not exactly. He found himself spinning right round, right round like a record at Oak Tree corner this weekend and couldn’t get back on track for half a minute. I highly recommend watching.
Q: Are his championship hopes Dead or Alive?
A: Definitely dead. Does this indicate anything as my Bills prepare to kick off their preseason games? Would that McLaren team need a Chiefs Kingdom livery in order to make it to the top step? I dare to hope not. Go Bills!
We could use some giant BimmerWorld driver faces.
Q: How are things looking for the rest of the GT4 season?
A: Similarly to years past, August will bring us Road America (cheese) on August 16th/17th, September’s race takes place at Barber Motorsports Park (mannequin) on September 6th/7th, and the season will conclude on October 18th/19th at Indianapolis (bricks). Here’s the calendar.
While our heroes’ results this year have closely resembled their season progression from 2024, there is still time to snatch this season away from the Vandals. With six races left and only 24 (whoop!) points separating the top three Pro-Am teams, anything is possible, and you won’t want to miss a race. BimmerWorld loves their fans, and if you happen to know where the team could get some of that secret magic raccoon garbage juice, you are especially welcome in the paddock.
A red race car on a race track. Sponsored by Microsoft Word auto-captions.
Q: Should I be optimistic?
A: Always! That orange and blue M4 moves pretty fast, and the little green gremlins, The Car Formerly Piloted by Matt Travis, and Blackdog can’t be counted out for a second. But true fans (that’s you, if you’ve made it this far) know that BimmerWorld is more than equipped to handle the challenge. It is time to break out of the GT4 America season routine and do everything (within BoP) to get over the hump which has repeatedly loomed large in recent years. Everything old is new again, and time goes in a circle, just like the Bills Mafia car. Will the rest of this season be more of the Sam? Or will Tyler and my dad start Craven some wins? Find out soon! My dad would love to see you out there at the track.
He would also like to be a little further above your eye level next time.
Q: Wait, before we go…what exactly is Buc-ee’s?
A: You unfortunate out-of-towner, you need to visit Texas immediately if you wish to experience the world’s greatest gas station. Particularly Waller, Ennis, Bastrop, or Luling.
Q: Are those made-up-sounding words real towns?
A: You need to visit Texas even more immediately.
You haven’t raced until you’ve… you know.
See you at Buc-ee’s!
ZJW