LEEDS, AL (Sunday, September 8, 2024) – After suffering a heartbreaking broken wheel and a flat tire in Saturday’s round of GT America powered by AWS, SKI Autosport’s Johnny O’Connell pulled out a great fightback to finish second today at Barber Motorsports Park.
The weekend started well for O’Connell when he lept into the lead on the race start in Saturday’s race. Contact with a lapped car ruined the team’s day, with O’Connell having to limp back to pit lane for a new right rear wheel and tire.
After being credited with a seventh-place finish, the SKI Autosports ace knew he had to fight back on Sunday to remain in title contention.
O’Connell started third and dropped back to fourth early in the race, but the team’s Audi started to come alive in the second half of the race.
He recorded a series of stunning laps to close the gap to the race leader but ran out of time to eventually cross the line in the wheel tracks of race winner Jason Daskalos.
Heading to the final weekend of the series at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 4-6, O’Connell is now 18 points off the championship lead.
“Luck wasn’t on our side on Saturday, but Johnny’s fightback today was outstanding,” SKI Autosports owner, Kent Hussey said.
“Our job is to make the most of both our good days and bad days. Every one of the championship contenders has suffered some misfortune in recent races and the title is going to go right down to the line.
“We will be leaving no stone unturned to give Johnny the best car possible for Indy, and we’ll be ready to come out swinging.”
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JOHNNY O’CONNELL
“So pretty good day for us at SKI Autosports at Barber Motorsport Park,” O’Connell said.
“We didn’t win, but we had a really strong Audi today. We finished P2. The car was a little slow coming alive and we fell back on one of the restarts, but I had some really good fun racing with my buddy, Kyle Washington.
“The car really came alive at the end. I think if we had another two or three laps, I might’ve been able to push through to the win. But I’m really proud of everybody on the team.
“Yesterday was a bit disappointing. We had contact with a guy that we were lapping and got a puncture and a broken wheel.
“So the guys had to spend a little bit of time going through the car last night. Like always, everybody on the team pulled together and gave me a great car today.
“Sadly, we went from first in the championship to second in the points but we have two races to go at Indianapolis.
“I will be focused, pushing hard, and doing all we can to get that championship win. We’re a tiny little team with one heck of a big attitude. We are looking forward to good things ahead when we get to Indy.”
