Shift Up Now Athletes Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham earned a season-best, second-place finish in the Silver Class on Sunday, preceded by a sixth-place finish on Saturday, in rounds 10 and 11 of the Pirelli GT4 America at Barber Motorsports Park on September 6-8, 2024.
Driving the No. 26 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 for the Heart of Racing team, Greenemeier and Grisham were competing in the Silver Class for only the third time this year.
The penultimate event of the season began with two practice sessions on Friday. “The Hannahs” spent their first session dialing the car in on the tricky, 2.38-mile, 16-turn road course. When rain fell during the second session, the Heart of Racing team opted not to run,
due to the forecasted dry weather the rest of the weekend.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning, with Grisham behind the wheel first. She had a
strong run, putting herself and Greenemeier inside the top ten for the first race. When
Greenemeier took the wheel to qualify for the second race, she had limited track time but set
the seventh-fastest time in class.
Later that afternoon, the field was lined up two-by-two for the 60-minute competition set to
begin at 5pm CDT. Grisham, starting in ninth place, took her place on the inside of row five.
The start was clean through the first two turns, with most of the field still running two-wide. As
they spread out to a single-file line, Grisham held her ninth-place spot. While still in the first
lap, she made several passes, including one on the inside into the final corner to advance to
seventh place.
Next up - and still only five minutes into the race - she caught the fifth- and sixth-place cars and
made consecutive passes, putting her fifth in the Silver Class. Holding that position would then
prove to be a tall order. Not only did the two cars Grisham just passes continue to contend for
her spot, but the two behind them also pursued, creating a five-car battle for position. Grisham
emerged sixth in class.
When a full-course caution came out for a stopped car on track, the racing gaps were closed
and all of the leaders opted to pit. Grisham followed suit and handed the car over to
Greenemeier.
With 28 minutes remaining, Greenemeier went on the attack. She made a pass at turn 16 to
advance to sixth-place overall and regain her fifth-place spot in the Silver Class. One lap later,
she caught up to the car that ran fifth place overall, and started applying pressure. A second
safety-car period then occurred for an on-track incident.
Greenemeier had just eight minutes to go when the track went green again. At the end of the
first lap, she mimicked Grisham’s earlier pass on the inside to run fifth overall. With the position
secured, she focused on the fourth-place car. She nearly pulled off an audacious move at turn
five, but was forced to slot back into position at the top of the corkscrew.
Now attacking and defending at the same time, Greenemeier used her experience and talent
to finally pull several car lengths clear of her pursuers as the field drove into the final lap. With
a solid finish in her sights, disappointment set in when she was forced to pull over, retire the
car, and instead focus on the next day’s race.
On Sunday, race two began at 10:45am CDT. This time, Greenemeier was behind the wheel to
start. Going into turn one, the field was mostly three-wide, then two-wide through turns two
and three, and fanning out again to three-wide heading into the hairpin at turn five.
Halfway through the first lap, a car at the front of the field spun at the tunnel, coming to rest
partially on a racing line over a blind crest. Chaos ensued as cars tried to avoid it. Some made
contact and others ended up in the tire barriers.
Greenemeier was able to avoid the melee, protecting her Heart of Racing car. During the
lengthy caution period that followed, Greenemeier’s team called her into the pits once the pit
window opened. The call resulted in a substantial position gain, and Grisham took the wheel in
fifth place with 30 minutes remaining.
As the racing resumed, she spent several laps within a half-second of the fourth-place car
before making the pass to take over the position. Once again, she set her sights on the car
ahead and closed the gap to the competitor in third place.
When the overall race leader was given a drive-through penalty, Grisham found herself fighting
for the second-place spot overall. She applied relentless pressure, causing her competitor to
make a mistake by dropping a wheel on the grass at the bottom of the corkscrew. She made
the pass to capitalize, running second overall and leading the Silver Class.
With 15 minutes to go, the second-place car in the Silver class had torn through the field and
caught up to Grisham. The pair raced cleanly, side-by-side for several corners. Heading into the
corkscrew, Grisham was forced to cede the position, but stuck closely to his bumper.
The three overall leaders then gapped the rest of the field by more than five seconds, with
Grisham holding strong in her second-place Silver Class position. She crossed the finish line
with a second-place finish that marked “the Hannahs” second race weekend in a row standing
on the podium.
"I want to say a huge thank you again to The Heart of Racing for giving me this incredible opportunity to drive for them this year," Greenemeier wrote on social media. "Thank you to my parents, Bonnier and Beeny, for their never ending support, and to Jeff for once again making sure I am prepared physically for the race. Indy is coming up in a few weeks, and we only have one step higher on the podium to a win - let’s go for it!"
Next up, Greenemeier and Grisham will head to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for
rounds 12 and 13 - and the final race weekend - of the 2024 Pirelli GT4 America championship
on October 3-6, 2024.
