Success in race one turned to disappointment in race two, but the 2024 Aspiring Driver Shootout winner shows solid pace on his learning curve in the series
SONOMA, Calif. (April 2, 2025) – PT Autosport with Copeland Motorsports’ Zach Hollingshead started off the Toyota GR Cup season with a solid performance in Saturday’s race one at Sonoma, bringing home his first top 10 finish in the series.
Though several off course excursions in rapidly changing conditions on Sunday put him back in the field, the 22-year-old Florida native showed that he has the confidence and the pace to take the No. 88 PT Autosport Toyota GR86 Cup Car to the front.
Rain limited the entire Copeland team’s testing time on Thursday and Friday, but the wait didn’t hurt Hollingshead, who paced on a dry track Friday afternoon. He continued to work on perfecting his timing on the tricky 12-turn, 2.520-mile circuit and at the checkered flag, had set the 15th quickest time.
“The track was really wet in the first test session Thursday so I couldn’t really learn much other than like where I’m going and where I’m shifting,” said Hollingshead. “The second session was much better, with a dry track so I could home in on the small stuff and push the limits of the car. This is a difficult track to master, with all the elevation changes and all the niche driving styles that you have to do all within a single lap – there are techniques that work in one part of the track and don’t work at all in other parts. There are a few boxes that I like to check when I’m learning a new track, taking it sector by sector, and I still need to put it all together in one lap.”
In dry and cool conditions during Saturday morning’s race one qualifying session, Hollingshead searched for open track, only to get held up on his flyer lap – but still able to put the No. 88 P13 on the race one starting grid, with the top 14 separated by less than one second.
At the drop of the green, the 31-car field launched into Turn One, with Hollingshead wisely playing the cautious card, slotting into P14 and biding his time. He retook P13, then moved into 12th when a car ahead slid off track in turn three, bringing out a caution with 35 minutes remaining.
Back to green with 24 minutes left, Hollingshead outbroke the cars ahead into Turn 11, kept his foot on the gas and moved into the top 10 into turn two. Keeping his head down, Hollingshead hit his marks and held off the cars behind, taking a solid 8th place in his first race in the No. 88 GR86, pacing his quickest lap of the weekend at 1:52.554.
“As chaotic as these races can be, it’s all about getting through the start clean but from there on, I was on full attack mode,” said Hollingshead. “The restart gave me a great chance to make a move because the car had started fading a bit, and I think I did a decent job at that. We’d tightened the car up a bit before the race, but the track gripped up much more than we thought it would, so it was all about managing tire wear and temps. It was difficult to hold on to the car and make it to the finish, so I was extremely happy to do that.”
The expected weather arrived early Sunday morning, making for a cold and wet qualifying session. A lengthy red flag added to the difficulties, resulting in a 16th place race two start for Hollingshead. With the track still drying, race stewards opted for a single file start – but the formation didn’t bother Hollingshead, who gained three positions on the opening laps, moving into P11 before a caution flag flew with 32 minutes remaining for a car off course.
But on the restart, Hollingshead dropped a wheel into the wet grass and slide off course – but did a masterful job to keep the car pointed in the right direction. He rejoined the field, albeit back in 19th position and once again, charged through the field, taking 14th position before a late race spin put him at the back of the field, taking the checkers in 29th position – disappointed, but with a good deal of education filed away.
“There’s definitely a lot that was learned this weekend,” said Hollingshead. “Sunday’s race was a bummer because we had so much pace, especially compared to Saturday. I felt like this was the race where everything came together, and I had a car that could win. The worst part is, it’s all on me, I made a couple of small mistakes and small mistakes are magnified in a field this competitive. But there were plenty of positive takeaways. I haven’t raced here before so getting up to speed quickly was good, that helps my confidence going forward.”
PT Autosport team principal Jason Myers liked what he saw from the young driver, in very difficult conditions.
“Zach had a great first weekend out in GR Cup at Sonoma,” said Myers. “The black and white results might not show it, but he did some impressive driving. It’s a tough track to learn quickly and Zach did a great job with that, in ever changing conditions. Looking forward to seeing what the remainder of 2025 holds in store for our latest shootout winner.”
PT Autosport would like to thank all our Partners for their continued support:
Momentum Brewery, founded in NY in 2023, is at the forefront of premium craft brewing for non-alcoholic beer, with their groundbreaking German-engineered “Genius Yeast” process naturally limiting alcohol content to below 0.5% ABV while preserving the authentic craft beer experience. The brewery will debut Race Brew, a new 0.0% ABV beer, in July.
Instagram: @momentumbrew
New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) is a 500-acre multi-purpose event and entertainment destination located in Millville, NJ. The park includes two world-class road courses, Thunderbolt and Lightning Raceway, two motorsports country club membership programs for cars and motorcycles, and one of the top outdoor karting complexes in the U.S. – Tempest Raceway. NJMP continues to develop commercial and private real estate opportunities including its Exotic Car Garage private garage condominiums and the NJMP Speedplex featuring performance/automotive services and more.
Instagram: @njmotorsportspark
X: @NJMP
Facebook: @newjerseymotorsportspark
STEM Racing USA & Canada was developed to introduce students to STEM subjects in the most engaging way possible – through the creation of a miniature F1 car – STEM RACING (Formerly F1 in Schools) is an educational project like no other. Designed for teachers, informed by engineers, and endorsed by F1, this program sets students on the fast track to STEM success; and provides a lot of fun on the way there.
Instagram: @stemracingusa
Facebook: STEM Racing USA & Canada
About PT Autosport — Discover Unique Talent. Develop Champions.
PT Autosport is dedicated to providing merit-based motorsport industry opportunities for diverse individuals with high integrity, grit, and coach-ability, achieved through a development program for young aspiring drivers, engineers, mechanics, and other professionals. The first step of this process is applying for the annual Aspiring Driver Shootout, in which aspiring drivers aged 18-23 can compete for a team racing partnership with the team.
A rigorous evaluation process of applicants determines the final competitors for the driver shootout. The winner earns financial support of up to $250,000 ($50,000 guaranteed) to pursue their racing career. The review process also provides the team the chance to identify unique talent for other roles in motorsport, including race engineers, mechanics, and professionals.
PT Autosport is building a community that fosters the development of young talent to find a place where they can make an impact in the motorsport community as a career.
Instagram: @pt_autosport
TikTok: @ptautosport
Twitter: @PtAutosport
Facebook: PT Autosport
