IMSA Category

By IMSA Wire Service After two endurance races totaling 36 hours of competition, followed by a 100-minute sprint race, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads into its “regular season” with the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. The race on Sunday, May 5, is the first of six two-hour and 40-minute races on the 12-race WeatherTech Championship calendar. The race features a 36-car entry list across four WeatherTech Championship classes, DPi with 11 entries, GTLM with eight, GTD with 15 and LMP2 with two. The GTD and LMP2 classes returnRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California– Tristan Nunez took no prisoners at the start of Saturday’s BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach and it showed. The No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi went from fifth to third at the start of the 100-minute race but ultimately finished fourth with co-driver Oliver Jarvis in the third race of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Florida native muscled his way past Juan Pablo Montoya’s No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi and got into third placeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California– Juncos Racing has had a tough time getting settled in its first season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship but Saturday’s BUBBA Burger Grand Prix at Long Beach gave the team their first taste on the positive side of things. The No. 50 Cadillac DPi started 10th in the 11 car class but used a one pit stop strategy to vault them into the lead during a full course yellow period. After the No. 55 Mazda DPi came to a stop on trackRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California– Dirk Mueller had it all, except for maybe a pint or two of fuel. The BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach was coming to a close and the German driver was second in the GT Le Mans class in the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The No. 66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT came out of Turn 8 on the final lap trying to catch eventual GTLM class winner Earl Bamber’s No. 912 Porsche but with noRead More

 By IMSA Wire Service LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Action Express racing strategists did it again. With a premium on track position in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, the No. 5 Mustang Sampling crew opted to bring Filipe Albuquerque into the pits five minutes ahead of the other Daytona Prototype international (DPi) leaders. The decision paid dividends, as Albuquerque vaulted to the lead once the final round of stops was completed with between 35 and 40 minutes remaining in the 100-minuteRead More

By IMSA Wire Service LONG BEACH, Calif. – Porsche’s stellar start to the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season continued Saturday afternoon at the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix. The No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor took the checkered flag at the end of a chaotic 100-minute sprint race one day after the team’s sister car, the No. 911 Porsche of Nick Tandy, scored the GT Le Mans (GTLM) pole at the iconic Long Beach street course. Bamber made the winning pass with 45Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California– Acura picked up the title sponsorship for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series race on the streets of Long Beach but in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Acura has a large presence with Acura Team Penske and the pressure is on to win Saturday’s BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach. The Southern California Toyota dealer association sponsored the classic street circuit race but with the new sponsorship, the pressure is on at Team Penske to put their Acura ARX-05 DPi machines inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California– The BUBBA Burger Grand Prix at Long Beach had a two hour practice session early on Friday morning for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship where the 19-car field basically acted as street sweepers for the first official on track action of the weekend on the 11-turn, 1.968 mile street circuit. Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani led the first practice session in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi. That was a good showing for the car that won this year’s Mobil 1Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California– Helio Castroneves brought Acura Team Penske their first pole position of 2019 ahead of Saturday’s BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach. The 2001 Long Beach Indy car winner set a fastest lap of 1 minute, 11.332 seconds, averaging 99.321 mph around the 1.968 mile street circuit in the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi. Felipe Nasr qualified second in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi with a lap of 1 minute, 11.550 seconds. Castroneves qualified fourth lastRead More