Shift Up Now Athlete Sally McNulty earned two consecutive fourth-place finishes in the TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School series at Sebring International Raceway on September 22-24, 2023.
Practice began early on Friday morning under sunny, clear skies. Running consistently within two seconds of her teammate and team owner at Genracer/Ricca Autosport, McNulty quickly got into her groove in the No. 780 Hyundai Veloster N race car. And keeping consistent with her pace all season, she ran solidly in the top five throughout Friday’s sessions.
On Saturday, the TC class took advantage of the cooler morning temperatures for qualifying. After a clean run, McNulty landed fifth on the time sheet for the start of race one.
Just over three hours later, the green flag flew on Saturday afternoon for the weekend’s first 40-minute race. Despite losing a position at the starting line, McNulty was ready for the fight to regain it. However, an early caution put the Bell Techlogix athlete’s charge on hold.
The double yellow stretched out for an extended period of time and the field continued to circle the track behind the pace car. The race finally resumed with only ten minutes remaining on the clock.
At the restart, McNulty jumped the car ahead and the pair duked it out throughout the first lap. By the time they reached the start/finish line, McNulty had won the battle to run in the fourth place spot.
She quickly put a gap between her and fifth place, and spent the final seven minutes hunting for that last step on the podium. In the end, she crossed the line just three-quarters of a second behind P3.
On Sunday, McNulty’s fast lap from race one gave her a fourth-place spot on the starting grid for race two. At the green flag, she fell back a couple of spots and tucked in just behind the sixth-place car going into the first turn. Before the field could spread out too much, she gained a position back and continued to focus forward. Within the first ten minutes, McNulty was in podium position, running third in class.
Then, with just over half the race left, a competitor on the charge from the back of the field caught McNulty. The two battled it out briefly and in the end her competitor moved into the P3 spot.
Nearing the finish, the TC class field became spread out by multiple seconds. The final minutes of competition became a race against out-of-class traffic, with the goal of steering clear of other battles in the TCX and TCA classes.
When the checkered flag fell, McNulty brought home her second consecutive fourth-place finish, showing strength and consistency toward the TC championship.
“Sebring was fun and I’m looking forward to Indy for the final event,” said McNulty. “Hopefully we can bring home the manufacturers championship for Hyundai!”
McNulty will contest the final races of the 2023 season during the TC America season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 5-8, 2023.
