Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier fight back to fourth at Barber
- RACERS
- Sep 9
- 4 min read
The Heart of Racing's Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier continued their streak of positive results with sixth- and fourth-place finishes at the triple-header round of GT4 America at Barber Motorsports Park, where the all-female duo overcame technical setbacks in qualifying that left them at the back of the grid, but bounced back with determined performances to secure valuable points.
The Heart of Racing's Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier continued their streak of positive results with sixth- and fourth-place finishes at the triple-header round of Pirelli GT4 America at Barber Motorsports Park. It was a weekend defined by recovery drives, as the all-female duo overcame technical setbacks in qualifying that left them starting at the back of the grid, but bounced back with determined performances to secure valuable points.
Greenemeier and Grisham, driving the #26 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4, are now in their second season together as a Silver class pairing. After a strong 2024 campaign, their 2025 season has already included a solid start at Sonoma, a podium at the Lone Star Enduro at COTA, and two seventh-place finishes at Sebring despite a difficult weekend. At VIR, they added a pair of top-ten finishes in class, before recording a fourth place at Road America in a rain-shortened fifth round—where one race was postponed to Barber.
The first race of the weekend was therefore the rescheduled Road America contest, cancelled earlier in the season due to lightning and storms. Hannah Greenemeier took the start from P12 overall and eighth in Silver class. From the outside line she held her position at lights out and quickly set her sights on Craven’s Random Vandals BMW.
On lap 3 she made an attempt down the inside of Turn 5 but had to back out at the last second, remaining seventh in class and stuck behind the Pro-Am BMW while Craven battled Million’s Auto Technic Racing machine.
On lap 16, just as the pit window approached, chaos unfolded when Am class leader Clay was tagged in a three-way battle and crashed into the barriers. Many cars immediately pitted anticipating a caution, while Greenemeier stayed out and climbed to fourth in class before stopping one lap later under yellow. After the driver change, Grisham rejoined and—after cars cycled through the pass-around—regained seventh in class and overall, back on the lead lap.
Racing resumed on lap 22 with 22 minutes to go. Grisham ran consistent lap times right behind the leading Silver pack, staying within a second of the top five while avoiding unnecessary risks. She gained a place when Arthur’s JMF Aston Martin picked up bodywork issues and dropped down, moving into sixth. Although she lost touch with Siljehaug in the closing laps, she brought the car home safely in sixth in Silver, securing a strong result in the opening contest.
On Saturday morning, qualifying set the grid for the two Barber races. Grisham was scheduled to take Q1 but the #26 Aston Martin suffered a technical issue and was unable to set a lap time. That meant the duo would start from the back in both races.
Following the disqualification of Hartog’s ACI Motorsports Porsche, Grisham lined up P22 overall and P8 in Silver for Race 2. At the green flag, Webb’s JMF Aston Martin spun in the middle of the pack, but the field narrowly avoided contact. Grisham had an excellent launch and climbed to P18 on the opening lap. Unfortunately, power steering failure struck immediately, forcing her to pit at the end of lap one. The team attempted to resolve the issue, but the car was ultimately retired from the race.
The final race of the weekend on Sunday provided a final chance for redemption. With the issues fixed, Greenemeier started again from the back of the grid. She made a lightning getaway, moving up to 17th overall and seventh in class by the end of the first lap.
As Postins’ Bimmerworld BMW went around, Greenemeier gained further ground and settled into P15 overall, continuing to run competitive lap times in the 1:30s. By lap 10 she had closed in on Schmied’s RAFA Racing Toyota and made the pass to climb to 14th overall while holding seventh in Silver.
Greenemeier maintained her pace before handing over to Grisham at the pit window. After stops, Grisham retained position, but a Full Course Yellow was deployed when Hartog’s Porsche slowed. On the restart, the field bunched up and chaos followed with contacts and spins throughout the pack.
Grisham kept her cool and threaded her way through, passing Sparta’s BMW for 12th overall.
With Mars and Elghanayan hitting trouble and Boehm also dropping down the order, she climbed into fourth in Silver class.
In the closing stages, Grisham shadowed fellow Shift Up Now athlete Laura Hayes, who was leading in Am. She stayed close through the final laps, and despite a slight mistake into Turn 1 at the start of the final lap—where she ran deep but rejoined safely—she crossed the finish line fourth in Silver class, wrapping up an impressive comeback after a weekend that had begun with major setbacks.
The season finale is scheduled for October 16–19 at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track that carries special memories for the Heart of Racing’s all-female duo, who claimed their first class win at the Brickyard two years ago.
