Porsche Penske 1-2 Sweep at Indy Sets Up Epic Battle for GTP Title

Jensen Powers TDS Racing to LMP2 Win and Date with the Bricks;

Mantella, Boyd, AWA Complete Iconic LMP3 Double with Indy Win

September 17, 2023

By Jeff Olson and Mark Robinson

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Results

INDIANAPOLIS – It was somewhat expected that Porsche Penske Motorsport would dominate Sunday’s TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after topping the charts in Friday practice and Saturday’s qualifying session.

What emerged, though, was somewhat unexpected – an unusually close battle among at least three teams for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) title next month.

Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet propelled the team’s No. 6 Porsche 963 to victory in the 2-hour, 40-minute race, with Tandy finishing ahead of Felipe Nasr in the team’s No. 7 sister car with co-driver Matt Campbell. 

The result created a championship battle in which just five points separate the top three cars in the GTP class heading into the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans on Oct. 14 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

One of those three cars was Sunday’s winner.

“I said before the weekend that we really needed to win here to have a decent shot going into Atlanta,” Tandy said. “It’s given us a chance at the end of the day. The teamwork that’s gone into giving the people that work in this team a chance to win in Atlanta is amazing.”

The GTP points shake out like this: Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims will go into Petit with the lead in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R after finishing fourth Sunday. 

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 and its co-drivers, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque, are three points behind after finishing fifth, while Sunday’s victory pulled Jaminet and Tandy to within five points of Derani and Sims.

“It’s mega,” Jaminet said. “That was the target this morning. We had a great qualifying. We had a great weekend. I have no words. It’s really a mega day for Porsche Penske Motorsport as well.

“It’s been great with Roger (Penske) here. It feels like a home race. I’m really happy to bring this one home. This puts us right back in the championship, so It’s going to be a fight back in Atlanta.”

As for the Penske sweep, it didn’t happen as easily as sweeps usually do. 

Tandy and Nasr overcame a ruling by race control for not following instructions in a timely manner while the prototype classes were splitting from the GT cars under caution an hour into the race.

The ruling allowed Derani to retain first place after he passed Tandy and Nasr when race control called to commence the class split. Nasr eventually regained the lead from Derani, only to be passed later by Tandy.

“The 31 already started accelerating and did pass us before we made the class split,” Tandy explained. “I maintain my position that we’d done the procedure correctly. They obviously thought they had done the procedure correctly. It was ruled by race control that they were to be up front.”

After the restart, Derani held the lead for 33 minutes before his brakes locked heading into Turn 1 and Nasr – and then Tandy – got past.

The finish wasn't as important as the points, said Derani.

"We fought hard to bring home a solid finish for the championship," he said. "We moved up the grid from P8 to P4 and back in the championship lead. Obviously, (it's) not the race result we were looking for when we arrived here. We always want to win, but if you can’t win, you always try to get your best finish."

Nasr and Tandy then battled intensely until Tandy wrested control of the lead on an exchange of pit stops. The victory was the second of the season for Tandy and Jaminet, while Nasr and Campbell, who won the Motul Pole Award on Saturday, recorded their third podium finish of the season and remain in the championship battle in fifth place, 73 points behind.

Connor De Phillippi finished third in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 he shares with Nick Yelloly. They are currently fourth in the GTP championship standings, just 38 points behind the leaders and also very much in the mix heading to the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Nearly overlooked in the renewed championship possibilities was the historic nature of a Penske team winning at a track owned by team owner Roger Penske.

“This is Indianapolis,” Tandy said. “It’s a world-renowned, historic venue. The IMSA series is a world-renowned, historic race series. To come here to a venue like this, especially for Porsche Penske Motorsport and all the ties the Penske Corporation has with this place, is massive. It means a huge amount. The fact that it’s a team 1-2 makes it even sweeter.”

Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will begin Oct. 14 at 11:40 a.m. ET. Peacock will provide flag-to-flag streaming coverage in the U.S., and USA Network will join the live coverage at 6:30 p.m.

Jensen Powers TDS Racing to LMP2 Win and Date with the Bricks

Steven Thomas took a moment before answering a question Sunday to praise his co-driver, Mikkel Jensen.

“Mikkel is being very humble,” Thomas said. “He was the fastest car on track by two seconds. He drove from 50 seconds down all the way to the lead and we won by (19.909) seconds. I think he’s the best prototype driver on the planet.”

Jensen anchored their winning run on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, a victory that gave the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 the championship lead going into the season finale next month.

Thomas, Jensen and TDS now have a 20-point lead over the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA co-driven by Ben Keating and Paul-Loup Chatin, who finished fourth Sunday. 

Ben Hanley and George Kurtz, who finished third in the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA, remain in the championship hunt, 100 points off the pace.

Jensen outlasted Louis Deletraz in a back-and-forth duel over the final 48 minutes of Sunday's race. Deletraz’s No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA regained the lead with 42 minutes left before Jensen took control again with 26 minutes remaining.

“At every race, we’ve been the fastest but we didn’t stay out of trouble,” Jensen said. “That’s been the difference. … We just have to keep working, developing the car and win it in Atlanta.”

The victory was the second of the season for TDS, which won in May at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

“It’s very exciting to win one here at the Brickyard,” Thomas said before the team completed the postrace winning tradition of kissing the bricks at the start-finish line. “We’re really looking forward to going out there and kissing the bricks. I don’t think Mikkel knows what I’m talking about.”

Thomas was right. Jensen, a 28-year-old from Aarhus, Denmark, didn’t know about the tradition until earlier in the weekend.

“I learned on Friday that you have to kiss the bricks,” he said. “I’m not into the American history, so I didn’t know. It’s very cool.”

Mantella, Boyd, AWA Complete Iconic LMP3 Double with Indy Win

Daytona. Indianapolis. Racetracks with great histories and legacies. Anthony Mantella and Wayne Boyd have now written history of their own at the legendary circuits.

The co-drivers of the No. 17 AWA Duqueine D08 won the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) portion of the Battle on the Bricks, following their LMP3 triumph in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January. Talk about your tremendous bookend wins.

“It’s a dream come true,” Mantella said after starting the race before turning the No. 17 over to Boyd on the first pit stop. “I’ve been following auto racing all of my life and you dream of doing something like this. It is surreal.

“When I think back to Daytona, it is one of the greatest moments of my life – especially to be driving with such professionals. And Indy is on that bucket list. To kiss the bricks after a win is every kid’s dream. Everybody that did it – (team owner) Andrew Wojteczko, Wayne and myself – we all did it with tears in our eyes because it means that much.”

The tears almost were for another reason after Boyd spun early into his stint, losing valuable time. But he completed a Danny Sullivan-like 360-degree and kept going unscathed. It was then that the AWA team made the call for Boyd to run longer than the rest of the LMP3 field on that stint before making a final pit stop.

The Brit did just that, pitting from first place with just less than 45 minutes remaining and re-entering the track still in the LMP3 lead by a narrow 1.5 seconds. He pulled away from there, crossing the finish line 12.755 seconds ahead of Josh Burdon in the No. 74 Riley Ligier JS P320 that he shared with Gar Robinson.

“I just took too much curb and it didn’t agree,” Boyd said of the spin. “But when we got going again, the pace in the car was unbelievable. Then all credit to the team. The car was unbelievable and the strategy got us the win.”

AWA’s victory ended the four-race winning streak of the No. 74 Riley Ligier. Still, by finishing second, Robinson and the No. 74 hold a comfortable 244-point lead over Mantella, Boyd and the No. 17 Duqueine with only the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans on Oct. 14 remaining on the schedule.

Yet regardless of whether they can win the LMP3 title, Boyd knows he and Mantella have accomplished something exclusive with 2023 wins at a pair of illustrious tracks.

“It’s awesome,” Boyd said. “To get the opportunity to even race in IMSA is fantastic, but as Anthony says, it’s a dream to win in such events with the prestige that they have of Daytona and then to win at Indy. It’s very special.”

WeatherTech Mercedes Battles to Third GTD PRO Win of Season at the Brickyard

September 17, 2023

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Results

INDIANAPOLIS – Mercedes-AMG enjoyed a highly successful weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella drove the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class victory Sunday in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on the IMS road course, the penultimate round of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. That followed up a win Saturday for Winward Racing and the GT4 variation of the Mercedes-AMG in a four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at the same venue.

Winward’s joy was compounded Sunday as its No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was victorious in the GTD class in the hands of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis. The GTD race was also notable for a third-place finish by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 that clinched not only the team’s second consecutive triumph in the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup, but also the 2023 season championship.

Gounon assumed the GTD PRO lead just 10 minutes into the 2-hour, 40-minute contest when Motul Pole Award winner Klaus Bachler served a drive-through penalty for a start procedure violation. He and Juncadella were never seriously challenged after that, ultimately winning by 4.394 seconds over Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

“It always tastes good to win a race, this is the third one after a tough summer,” said Juncadella. “There were a lot of things out of control at the last couple events that didn’t play into our favor results-wise. Performance-wise we were not far off, but obviously at this event, we were stronger. I think the Mercedes-AMG GT3 is very good around this place.

“This track suits our cars and it suits our driving, and today was a smooth race,” he added. “We avoided mistakes and brought it home.”

Gounon was taken by surprise when Bachler pulled out of his lane before the start line when the cars were released at the beginning of the race, a clear violation of IMSA rules.

“I was on the radio about that right away,” Gounon said. “I knew there was going to be a penalty, so I immediately backed out of it and that opened the door for us. I think it would have been a difficult fight for us, but we were up for it.”

Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat finished third in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, extending their GTD PRO championship lead to 188 points over the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R GTD and drivers Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. Juncadella and Gounon leapfrogged Bachler and his co-driver Patrick Pilet into third in the GTD standings, 227 points behind the No. 14 Lexus.

As a result, the No. 14 team and drivers only will need to leave the grid at the start of next month’s Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to secure their first WeatherTech Championship team and driver titles.

Brickyard Win for Winward, Season Crown for PMR

The GTD class featured a more closely contested race that resulted in Ward guiding the No. 57 Winward Mercedes-AMG GT3 to a 1.268-second win over Loris Spinelli and Misha Goikhberg in the No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 after a battle that sometimes turned contentious.

Snow and Sellers led the majority of the race before determining with the championship in mind that discretion was the better part of valor. They dropped back to third place, letting Ward and Spinelli fight amongst themselves for the race win.

Spinelli’s driving was especially aggressive, to the displeasure of Ellis.   

“Initially, I had a battle with Bryan, which was all clean and fair,” Ellis remarked. “That was good, and nice to watch, I guess. Then Loris came along and tried to pass me on the grass, which is quite risky. Luckily our car wasn’t too badly damaged, and in the end, I just gave back what he dished out.”

Ward was delighted to deliver Winward Racing its first WeatherTech Championship race win in 13 months. His father Bryce, the team owner, shared the winning GS-class Mercedes-AMG with Daniel Morad in Saturday’s four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race.

“That was our first double win,” Ward observed. “For the last couple years, this team has been kind of feast or famine. This year we’ve been struggling due to different things – sometimes performance, sometimes, mistakes, and sometimes just bad luck.

“So it's really nice to see it all come together for both cars, and it shows the potential of the team and what the group of guys we have is capable of.”

Sellers and Snow wrapped up the GTD class crown one race early, in addition to clinching their second consecutive WeatherTech Sprint Cup sub-championship. The duo won five races so far this year.

“We led quite a bit of the race, but didn’t have quite enough for the No. 57 or the No. 78,” Sellers said. “As soon as those guys (Spinelli and Ellis) started mixing it up, our goal was just to beat the No. 27 (the Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and drivers Roman De Angelis and Marco Sorensen), watch the points situation, and let the race win go – which is difficult to do. But in the end, we were able to achieve our goal.”

The final round of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Motul Petit Le Mans, October 11-14 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Norman Doubles up at Indy, Marcelli and Formal Double up on Super Trofeo Titles

Championships Are Decided in the Pro, ProAm and LB Cup Classes at the Indianapolis Finale

September 17, 2023

By Mark Robinson

IMSA Wire Service

Race 2 Results

INDIANAPOLIS – While Ryan Norman was busy winning the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, teammates Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal were diligently taking care of wrapping up their second consecutive Pro class championship.

Norman was the overall and Pro winner in Sunday’s race to complete a weekend victory sweep. Marcelli and Formal, meanwhile, finished second for the second straight day, but it was more than enough to secure the 2023 Pro crown.

Piloting the No. 84 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2, Norman passed Marcelli in the No. 1 WTRAndretti Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán for the lead on the first green-flag lap and never surrendered it. Formal finished the 50-minute race in the No. 1 and closed within 0.709 seconds at the checkered flag.

“That was probably one of the most intense races I’ve ever had,” said Norman, who saw a sizable lead evaporate following a full-course caution and felt pressure from Formal in the closing minutes. “I knew I had a short window to try and get that gap back again, but for me to do that, I had to use a lot of my tires. At the end there, I had like no tires left and was in traffic. Danny did a fantastic job pressuring me. … This is a big weight off my shoulders getting these wins this weekend.”

With just the final doubleheader round at Vallelunga, Italy, in November remaining, Marcelli and Formal hold an insurmountable 40-point lead over Norman.

“Just an incredible feeling to become back-to-back champions in such a cool series like Lamborghini Super Trofeo,” Formal said. “The Pro class was so competitive. Congratulations to the team. Ryan was a smoke show this weekend. … We’re leaving here championship winners again, going to the World Finals, going to Rounds 11 and 12 (of Super Trofeo North America) with no pressure.”

Two other Super Trofeo class championships were decided as well on Sunday. Keawn Tandon and Luke Berkeley won the race in ProAm to sew up that class title for Tandon and the No. 42 NTE Sport, Lamborghini Broward Huracán. Mark Wilgus finished second in LB Cup, good enough to clinch that title in the No. 50 Forte Racing Powered by US RaceTronics, Lamborghini Beverly Hills Huracán.

Berkeley was the finishing driver in the No. 42 Huracán and inherited the lead following the cycle of mandatory pit stops. He won the ProAm race by 0.761 seconds ahead of Nate Stacy and Nick Persing in the No. 8 WTRAndretti, Lamborghini Nashville Huracán.

“Keawn did an awesome job in the start to just chill behind the car that was first in class and save me some tires so I could fight to the end,” said Berkeley, who missed the first two races of the season before pairing with Tandon. “We went over some stuff with the team to help with some traction issues we had in yesterday’s race, and today the car was awesome. I’m super proud of Kewan; this is big for him and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Tandon was elated to clinch the championship in his first Super Trofeo season.

“It means the world,” Tandon said. “My first time ever in the car (this year). I just really appreciate NTE giving me the opportunity, my family, my friends. I just keep chipping away at it, going for the top and hopefully start battling for the Pro wins.”

Wilgus crossed the finish line first in LB Cup but a 10-second penalty assessed for an improper race start dropped him to second in the results behind Forte Racing teammate Ofir Levy, driver of the No. 13 Lamborghini Rancho Mirage Huracán. Wilgus holds a 43-point lead over Levy after 10 races.

“It was good times, a bit of a grind,” said Levy, an LB Cup race winner for the second time this season. “I kept getting a message that I was less than 10 (seconds) behind Mark and he had a penalty, but I just said, ‘Forget it, man, I’m going to push it to the end.’ It was fantastic. I ended up speeding up toward the end. Good times, I love it.”

Unable to overcome the 10-second penalty, Wilgus was pleased with the consolation prize of the season championship.

“To win an IMSA championship in kind of my first year really racing, that’s unreal,” he said. “I can’t believe it. I feel really fortunate. I’m super excited to go to Italy and race hard.”

In the Am class, Anthony McIntosh and Glenn McGee won for the fifth time this season and second this weekend to all but clinch the class championship in the No. 69 Precision Performance Motorsports, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán. They are 30 points ahead of PPM teammate David Staab (No. 48 Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán) with a maximum of 32 points available at Vallelunga.

McGee passed teammate Wesley Slimp (No. 9 PPM, Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán) working through Turns 2-3 for the class lead with just under five minutes remaining, following ProAm driver Alexandre Premat (No. 70 Forte Racing, Lamborghini San Diego Huracán) past the No. 9.

“Premat got (Slimp) a little upset going into (Turn) 1,” McGee explained. “I just softened the brake and rolled up to his bumper, and he gave me really good space. I took it to the grass on the outside and it worked.”

The final North American Super Trofeo rounds are set for Nov. 16-17 at Vallelunga, with the World Finals gathering teams from North America, Europe and Asia taking place Nov. 18-19. A recap of the Super Trofeo weekend airs at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 30 on CNBC.

Morad Refuses to Back Down, Takes Indy Michelin Pilot Challenge Win in Winward Mercedes

September 16, 2023

By John Oreovicz and Jeff Olson

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Race Results

INDIANAPOLIS – Daniel Morad and Bryce Ward scored an incredible and improbable Grand Sport (GS) class and overall victory Saturday night in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 240, the four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race on the famous venue’s 2.439-mile road course.

Ward qualified the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 seventh in the 27-car GS field, but he was bumped into a spin in the opening laps that dropped the No. 57 to the tail of the field. He methodically worked his way up to 13th place before a rapid driver change and pit stop by the Winward crew elevated Morad up to seventh.

From there, the 33-year-old Canadian stole the show. Morad advanced through the field and first took the lead about a third of the way into the twilight endurance race. He comfortably held the top spot into the final hour, only to see a series of full-course cautions erode his advantage, bringing the No. 47 NOLASPORT Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport shared by Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer into contention.

Skeer led into a restart with 41 minutes remaining, but Morad regained the point at Turn 7 at the end of the IMS road course’s back straight. Skeer fought back, and with half an hour to go, the Porsche and the Mercedes completed nearly two full laps battling side-by-side for the lead. Their scrap allowed Scott Andrews and the No. 27 Lone Star Racing Mercedes he shared with Anton Dias Perera into the frame.

On multiple occasions, Morad attempted to outbrake Skeer into Turn 1, but was forced to take an escape road when Skeer refused to cede the position. Morad finally seized the lead for good with just under four minutes on the clock, and his path to victory was made easier when Skeer had to make a pit stop for a splash of fuel on the next-to-last lap, dropping to 16th place in class.

Morad crossed the famous yard of bricks finish line 0.566 seconds ahead of Andrews, with Paul Sparta and Kenton Koch claiming third place in the No. 92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4, 7.334 seconds in arrears.

“By far, that was the most intense race of my life,” said Morad, who earned his third victory on the IMS road course dating to 2007 but first at the track in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. “I think I have finished on the podium at Indianapolis every time I’ve raced here. I just can’t thank Winward enough, and Mercedes gave us a great package.”

This victory was certainly a challenge, and not just because of Ward’s early contact with the No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 that dropped the Winward car to the tail of the field.

“Everything was kind of stacked against us, and we just couldn’t catch a break with anything,” Morad related. “The racing was aggressive. (Skeer) was moving in the brake zones every single time and it was making it so difficult. We’d have contact, and I’d have to go through the runoff. There were little things I didn’t appreciate.

“But that gave me more motivation,” he added. “One thing I know is that I drive better when I’m angry, and he gave me motivation.”

Ward, who is the owner of Winward Racing in addition to serving as a co-driver, paid tribute to Morad’s performance.

“This is a team sport, but Daniel just drove it to the front,” Ward said.

Andrews admitted that when he saw Morad and Skeer racing so intensely, he thought the victory may fall into his hands.

“We had a lapped car between ourselves and the two leaders, and that made it difficult,” he said. “I’m normally pretty quiet on the radio, but I was pretty loud then. We just couldn’t quite capitalize, but it’s an absolute testament to the team because we never give up. A 1-2 for Mercedes-Benz in fantastic.”

In the battle for the GS class championship, incoming points leaders Christian Szymczak and Kenny Murillo had a rough run in the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes, finishing 13th after starting fifth.

That dropped them to third in the standings, 10 points behind the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R with drivers Robin Lidell and Frank DePew, who finished fourth Saturday, and 70 points behind new championship leaders Robby Foley and Vin Barletta in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW (who finished fifth in the race). Mercedes pushed its GS manufacturer lead to 40 points over BMW.

Late-Race Pass from Taylor in No. 17 Audi at Indy Creates Hotly Contested Championship Battle Heading to Season Finale

A wild pass in the dark during the final minutes left one team happy and another angry as the Touring Car (TCR) class championship intensified in Saturday’s penultimate round of the 2023 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Mikey Taylor passed Robert Wickens heading into Turn 7 with two minutes left, giving Taylor and polesitter Chris Miller their second-consecutive victory, and third of the season, in their No. 17 Unitronic/JDC Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR. 

“I knew if I had a big enough run, I’d be at least side-by-side,” Taylor said of his approach on the pass. “But he actually braked earlier than I expected, and I got a nice run around the outside. I don’t think he was necessarily expecting me to go there. It’s not a normal place to pass.” 

The contact surrounding the pass didn’t go over well with Wickens, who, with co-driver Harry Gottsacker, managed to help maintain the TCR championship lead for the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR.

“I don’t want to be the poor loser, but I’ve never raced the 17 yet this year where there hasn’t been contact,” Wickens said. “I can race everyone else without any contact. It’s just the way he is. If that’s how he wants to play, that’s how we’re going to play.”

Wickens and Gottsacker will unofficially take a 20-point lead over Taylor and Miller into the season-ending race next month at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

“We have to perform, every race, to catch back the deficit we had at the beginning of the season,” Taylor said. “We’re taking it to Atlanta now. I think the ball is in our court. If we win, it doesn’t matter what they do.”

On a restart with 11 minutes left, Taylor passed Wickens, who quickly regained the lead when Taylor tangled with the No. 79 NV Autosport Ford Mustang GT4 driven by Drew Neubauer in Turn 14.

Minutes later, Taylor pulled his Audi alongside Wickens’ Hyundai, and the final tussle for the victory commenced. When asked if there was contact in the dark, Taylor replied, “Oh, for sure.”

“It was just good racing,” he continued. “That’s how we’ve all raced all season. I have a lot of respect for them. … If I finished second at Indianapolis, I wouldn’t be happy either.”

The two shook hands during the post-race celebration, but Wickens expressed his frustration with the late move and the previous pass on the restart.

“He hit me to get by, and then he hit a GS (Neubauer),” Wickens said. “I get back in front of him, and then their car is so fast that they just catch back up. I’m blocking for my life, and eventually all he’s going to do is just hit me out of the way. That’s what he does.”

Taylor’s winning margin at the line was 1.138 seconds. The No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR co-driven by Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi finished third.

The Fox Factory 120, the season finale for the Michelin Pilot Challenge, will be held Oct. 13 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Peacock will provide live streaming coverage in the U.S.