RAFA Racing Team returned to victory lane at Barber Motorsports Park today, with Tyler Gonzalez and Westin Workman delivering an overall and Silver class win to keep their Pirelli GT4 America championship challenge alive.
The duo’s No. 68 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 finished 9.336 seconds clear of its nearest challenger. It marked RAFA’s third victory of the season and its first since Gonzalez and Workman swept the opening weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
Workman set up the victory with a strong opening stint from pole position, building an early advantage before a full-course caution brought the field back together. RAFA retained the lead through the mandatory driver change, and Gonzalez took control of the closing stint to complete the team’s return to the top step.
For Gonzalez, the result reflected both the team’s preparation and its determination to keep fighting.
“What a way to keep this championship alive. I know it’s a long shot, but we’re fighting till the end,” Gonzalez said. “Honestly, I can’t thank the RAFA team enough. They gave us a great car all weekend.
“We did all the hard work last year tuning this thing in, and we’ve been pretty happy with it since the first test session. So thanks to RAFA again, and Westin drove a great stint as well, made my life a lot easier.”
That confidence in the Toyota carried through both halves of the 60-minute race. Workman gave Gonzalez the track position he needed, and Gonzalez rewarded that effort with a closing performance his teammate was quick to praise.
“Feels good to be back on the top step, obviously,” Workman said. “Tyler ran a great stint. His out lap was insane. I’ve learned so much from this guy over this year. Just thank you to him for a great stint.
“Thank you to RAFA Racing. We loaded this thing off the trailer and it was bad fast. So hopefully we can do the same thing again tomorrow.”
Gonzalez and Workman remain 44 points behind championship leaders Luca Mars and Spencer Pumpelly, with three races remaining. Friday’s victory ensures the title fight continues into the second race of the Barber weekend.
RAFA Racing Team will return to action today, September 26, at 1:35 p.m. Central, looking to turn today’s breakthrough into another winning weekend.
