IMSA

By IMSA Wire Service BRASELTON, Ga. – Felipe Nasr rocketed to the top of a record-setting qualifying session Friday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, collecting his first Motul Pole Award in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition and earning the prime starting spot for the 22nd annual Motul Petit Le Mans. Piloting the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac, Nasr shattered by nearly two seconds the lap record set a year ago by co-driver Pipo Derani, to take the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) and overall pole positions. Nasr sped around theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer BRASELTON, Georgia — Qualifying for Saturday’s Petit Le Mans featured some welcome returns to the top of the time sheets with a few surprises thrown into the mix. Felipe Nasr gave co-driver Pipo Derani an early birthday present by qualifying the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi on  pole position. Nasr set a new lap record for DPi cars with a lap of 1 minute, 8.457 seconds around the 2.54 mile circuit. Ricky Taylor qualified second in the No. 7 Acura Team Penske DPi, justRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer All that’s left is 10 hours. Saturday’s Motul Petit Le Mans will conclude the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the newly-renamed Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta circuit near Braselton. The 2.54 mile road course will see many endings besides the championship, so let’s dive straight into that before we get into the classes. The Ford GT and Corvette C7.R will be making their final starts as factory programs in the GTLM class. Ford has decided to shutter the GT project while Chevrolet is moving onto theRead More

By IMSA Wire Service The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) announced today that President Scott Atherton will retire at the end of this year, ending a professional motorsports career that spanned more than 34 years. Atherton, who has held the title of IMSA president since November of 2013, will remain on the IMSA Board of Directors after his retirement. Atherton started his professional motorsports career as a sponsor marketing executive in the CART (IndyCar) Series in 1985. He later served as president and general manager of Laguna Seca Raceway (nowRead More

By IMSA Wire Service This was a statement win for No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 co-drivers Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya. In Sunday’s Monterey SportsCar Championship Powered by McLaren at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Cameron and Montoya cruised to their third victory of the season as Cameron took the checkered flag 9.784 seconds ahead of teammate Helio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura DPi after two hours and 40 minutes of racing around the 2.238-mile circuit. In the process, the No. 6 duo extended its lead in theRead More

By IMSA Wire Service Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand took out more than a year’s worth of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship frustration with a dominant GT Le Mans (GTLM) class victory Sunday in the Monterey SportsCar Championship Powered by McLaren. With Hand at the wheel, the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT crossed the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca finish line 20.039 seconds ahead of the No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE to collect its first win since the Lime Rock Park race in July 2018. “I’mRead More

By IMSA Wire Service Ricky Taylor is the new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship track record holder at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He broke the record – set last year by his brother, Jordan Taylor – on Saturday in qualifying for Sunday’s Monterey SportsCar Championship Powered by McLaren. But Ricky, who drives the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 Daytona Prototype international (DPi), was quick to report that his father – IMSA legend Wayne Taylor – actually had a faster lap at the picturesque 2.238-mile road course. “Jordan had the poleRead More

By IMSA Wire Service IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype international (DPi) points leader Juan Pablo Montoya posted the fastest time in Friday’s practice sessions, but if the time charts are any indication, the competition this weekend is going to be close. Montoya lapped the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca circuit at one minute, 16.003 (106.006 mph) to lead the way in the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 that he shares with co-driver Dane Cameron. His lap was just 0.078 seconds quicker than the best time posted by FelipeRead More

By IMSA Wire Service Ten down, two to go. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship springs back into action this weekend for the penultimate round of the season, Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute Monterey SportsCar Championship Powered by McLaren. The race will be televised live on the NBC Network beginning at 3 p.m. ET. “Picturesque” is a commonly used adjective used to describe the 2.238-mile road course here on the Monterey Peninsula, and it’s accurate. The racetrack features some of the biggest elevation changes anywhere, and the scenery around the racetrack is breathtaking.Read More