It has all come down to this. The grand finale of the 2024 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge championship, for the Grand Sport (GT4) and TCR (touring car) classes, set to take place on the twisting, climbing, diving, legendary layout of Road Atlanta, just outside of Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. A grand total of 32 cars are ready to go. 20 in the Grand Sport class and a dozen TCR's will compete in today's season closer. On pole position, the #46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. Paul Holton, put the car on pole in qualifying and is sharing as always with Matt Plumb. On the outside of the front row is newcomer to Michelin Pilot Challenge, and current Ford Mustang Challenge driver, (as well as a former racer in Mazda MX5 Cup), Sam Paley. Paley co-driving with Jenson Altzman in the #13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4.
Completing the Grand Sport class top five order in qualifying, it is Rory van der Steur sharing with VHC, Valentin Hasse-Clot, aboard the #19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. They will start next to the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 to be driven by Robby Foley and Francis Selldorff. Rounding out the top five in GS, is another BMW M4 GT4. This is the #39 CarBahn Motorsports car with Sean McAlister at the wheel of it, sharing alongside Jeff Westphal.
In the TCR class Bryson Morris is on the pole, leading a lockout for Hyundai of the first two rows in the grid. Morris sharing the #77 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR with Taylor Hagler. His teammates Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker qualified second, with two more Hyundai's on the second row of the TCR grid, and in third, the other BHA Hyundai in the hands of Mason Filippi and Mark Wilkins, while satellite Hyundai operation, VGRT, with their #99 car, qualified in fourth place, to be driven by Morgan Burkhard and Tyler Gonzalez. Rounding out the top five in the TCR class, it is the #93 Montreal Motorsports Group Honda Civic FL5 TCR driven by Dai Yoshihara, "The Drift King", and Karl Wittmer.
What started in January at Daytona, will finish today. It is happening at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, right here, right now. It is championship day in Michelin Pilot Challenge racing. This is going to be completely bonkers! Fans have been staking out their spot at the track for the Petit Le Mans tomorrow. But first, we have the Fox Factory 120 for Michelin Pilot with Kevin Lee, Calvin Fish, and Brian Till in the broadcast booth on NBC Sports and Peacock. In the Grand Sport class, the championship is wild, the GT4 cars have seen uncertainty. Eight winners in nine races. The only car to win more than one race in GS this year is the #28 RS1 Porsche Cayman of Stevan McAleer and Trent Hindman.
Since Sebring, Matt Plumb and Paul Holton have controlled the title fight. During the summer months, we saw a drought for the #46 Team TGM Aston squad. They had two races where they finished outside of the top ten. Here are the points coming into the finale in Grand Sport. Matt Plumb leads by 110 points over Stevan McAleer and Trent Hindman.
1. #46 Matt Plumb Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,450 points
2. #28 McAleer/Hindman RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport 2,340 points -110
3. #46 Paul Holton Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,150 points -300
4. #95 Megennis/Machavern Turner Motorsporta BMW M4 GT4 (G82) 2,150 points -300
5. #57 Bryce Ward Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 2,120 points -330
At the last race at Indianapolis, Team TGM got out of their funk. A top six finish will seal the deal for TGM. They are the favorites but do not discount the #28 Porsche. In the TCR class, the Unitronic JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3 LMS TCR, they dominated the first half of the season with four wins. Four other teams since then have won. Here's the TCR points table coming into today's race which is about to get underway.
1. #17 Taylor/Miller Unitronic/JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2,750 points
2. #33 Wickens/Gottsacker Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanina Hyundai Elantra N TCR
2,600 points -150
3. #98 Filippi/Wilkins Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR
2,540 points -210
4. #93 Wittmer/Yoshihara Montreal Motorsports Group Honda Civic FL5 TCR 2,410 points -340
5. #76 Dupont/Brown Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR
2,410 points -340
So, it appears that the Karl Wittmer and Dai Yoshihara driven MMG Honda and the #76 BHA Hyundai to be driven by Denis Dupont and Preston Brown are tied for fourth in the standings going into this last race of the year. So, this tells part of the story. After the dominance for the Audi, the championship closed up. Originally, coming into this race, the scenario was that after the title fight closed up, the #17 Audi needed a finish of 12th or better and Wickens and Gottsacker needed to win the race to have any hope of taking the title.
However, JDC-Miller's plans were turned on their head, yesterday, in qualifying, when Chris Miller had trouble on his qualifying run. Late this morning, though, the #73 Racer's Edge Motorsports Honda Civic FK7 TCR of Tazio Otis and Daniel Wu had to withdraw from the race. Therefore, the grid total with the two classes added together is 31 and the TCR field has 11 cars rather than an even dozen. #17 rolls off the grid and the championship will be theirs. We have Georgia Henneberry as one of the pit reporters on NBC Sports this afternoon. She has a story on the #33 Hyundai. The Wickens and Gottsacker automobile.
Hyundai have clinched the TCR manufacturers' title. All they need to do is win the race. #33 finished second at the previous race at Indianapolis and are starting in that spot today as we have Ryan Myrehn also patrolling the pit lane for us this afternoon as part of the NBC Sports and Peacock broadcast team. Stevan McAleer and Trent Hindman, again, in the GS class, they are in a go for broke mode as well, the only two-time Grand Sport class winners in Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2024. Their best path to the title is heading to victory lane.
They have qualified sixth, but they know they've got pace. They can use the pace completely as the cars are off and rolling before we start the race this morning. The next objective is to tell you all about the track we are racing on, Road Atlanta, a legendary circuit that has been open since 1970 and hosted tons of great racing especially for sports cars. Can Am, Trans Am, IMSA, and other championships such as motorcycle road racing, have all raced here. We are in Braselton, Georgia, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. 12 corners and just over two and a half miles.
There's lots of elevation change. It is old school because there is also little to no runoff room save for the grass and the red Georgia clay. There's lots of grip in the pavement and the cornering speeds are up. There is a fast start to the lap here at Road Atlanta into turn one. Down a gear, send it through the turn. Control the mid corner speed. Plunge downhill into turns three, four, and five. This part of the circuit is a real hornet's nest. Turn seven is the slowest turn on the track but gain speed launching off of it and turns 10A and 10B are also crucial to gain speed onto the frontstretch.
What you see on television or watching this race on Peacock on your mobile device like an iPad today, does not do the elevation change of this place justice. Onboard cameras in the #46 TGM Aston Martin and the #50 Toyota Supra GT4 Evo with Zach Veach and Gabby Chaves driving. This is the first time either of them has driven a GT4 car, as we have seen both in GT3 and in IndyCar over the years. Chaves also has myriads of experience, in prototypes. They are sharing the wheel of the #50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota Supra this afternoon. They finished on the podium in GT3 at Indianapolis last weekn in the 8-hour SRO America and Intercontinental GT Challenge race that ran last weekend at "The Brickyard".
We are going to see a lot of spoilers in this race, Hattori Motorsports being one of them if they get inbetween the #28 Porsche and the #46 Aston Martin. Paul Holton on the pole and 22-year-old racer, Sam Paley, making his debut in a GT4 car and in Michelin Pilot Challenge in the #13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 alongside Jenson Altzman. Paley has experience in a couple of the IMSA one make championships such as Mazda MX5 Cup and Ford Mustang Challenge where he has been doing a lot of racing this year in 2024.
Paley ran third in Mustang Challenge and is on the pole in his Michelin Pilot debut. OK. The intensity ramps up, right now! It is the finale of Michelin Pilot Challenge at Road Atlanta, for 2024. Green flag! We're off and racing! Holton controls the start to the inside with Paley jumping to second and Rory van der Steur in third spot. We've got a battle for fourth spot in the GS class, and we'll get to that, as we watch the start for the TCR cars. It is an all Hyundai first two rows. Remember to stay in column formation until you cross the start/finish line and the TCR drivers remember the rule and there should be no penalties.
Bryson Morris qualified very well, and he was fifth fastest overall with a TCR car compared to the GS cars and the TCR's were faster than the GS production sports cars. Fuel mileage and tire management will both play important factors in the race today. The GS cars will have a two-stop race and the TCR teams will do it on a single stop. Sam Paley makes his bid for the lead on Paul Holton and takes it. He probably had the word from Joe Varde in the pre-race briefing to take it easy. But, he's not heeding that advice and is throwing caution to the wind, having a Captain Cook to the inside of Sam Paley already! He has to give it up!
Is that safe? Not on your life! Sam Paley says this GT4 Mustang is very similar to the Mustang Challenge car, and it is easier to drive. Bryan Herta Autosport's gaggle of Elantra's leads the TCR field. Now, they are not in it for the drivers' title this year, unfortunately. But they will be able to clinch a fifth straight TCR manufacturers' cup for Hyundai this afternoon. They sealed the manufacturers' cup at Indianapolis in September. It is all about bragging rights as Bryson Morris is to the top of the shop and eking a gap out on his teammates. The ambient and track temperatures will warm up throughout the day. Tire degradation will be an issue as Zach Veach is now reeling in Sean McAlister for fifth spot in the Grand Sport class.
Toyota Supra vs. BMW M4 GT4. Ironically, the engines in the Supra and the BMW M4 are similar. Hattori Motorsports had a rough go of it in the Free Practice sessions with both Zach Veach and Gabby Chaves getting used to the car. Zach Veach knew he was confident about pace. The two of them are shorter and jeeded to adjust the steering wheel and the pedals. Steve Dinan, renowned BMW performance tuner turned team manager for CarBahn Motorsports said that the #39 car handles well but Road Atlanta is the track that they are least prepared for. I should rephrase that. They are plenty prepared for the race itself. However, Dinan explained that the BMW M4 GT4, they feel they just don't have the straight-line speed of some of their GT4 competition.
CarBahn Motorsports rebounded from their huge barrel roll for Jeff Westphal at Mid-Ohio way back in June. They won last time out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and they want to win here at Road Atlanta as well. Zach Veach is now right close by the two BMW's. He has both McAlister and Foley in his crosshairs. We have indeed seen a fierce battle in BMW land between Turner Motorsports and CarBahn Motorsports the entire 2024 season. Next in line behind this battle is the #91 Porsche Cayman. This is the KellyMoss with Riley car that, if you cast your mind back to the very start of the season at Daytona in the Daytona Endurance Challenge, they won that race, in January.
Oh no! We've got a problem with the leader! Sam Paley in the #13 Ford Mustang is off the pace! Oh, my heavens! Just as we were singing the praises of the newcomer, he is in a king size spot of bother at the top of the hill! Paley is trundling around slowly likely with mechanical problems. Dear, oh dear! Everything is copacetic with the alignment of the car and there is no damage to the bodywork. However, I wonder if the engine coughed or if the gearbox went kerflooey. All the tires look fine. The camber is fine. He is trying to bump start the car. He has the ability to pull it to a corner station and does so.
He wanted to continue and to keep being scored in the race he must do a U turn and get back on track, otherwise, it is without doubt game over. Side by side action deeper in the Grand Sport field as we see the second Turner Motorsports BMW, car #95, side by side with the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. Dillon Machavern racing with Bryce Ward. Machavern sharing the #95 with Robert Megennis and Bryce Ward sharing the Mercedes with Daniel Morad, the rapid Canadian sports car racer. This is a battle for third in the championship standings. Machavern now up to tenth place. Also in the picture frame as they dive downhill is Moisey Uretsky at the wheel of the #44 Baby Bull Racing Porsche Cayman he is sharing with Michael Cooper.
An update from Ryan Myrehn in the pit lane about the #13 Ford Mustang. It sounds like a half shaft went bang and the team is scrambling to their parts bin to find a replacement in the transporter. They want to get the car back to pit lane to enact repairs even though they called Sam Paley on the radio and had him drive the Mustang over to a safe haven so no more damage would be done to the driveline. A half shaft is not a quick fix, and they would fly Plummet Airways down the order and go laps down. He is trying to get it in gear, so it won't roll down the hill. However, the embankment he is on is so steep that if he rolls backwards down that hill, the engine, the Coyote V8, will crank over and restart, and all Paley will be doing is chugging on the engine, coasting downhill backwards.
He will literally be plummeting, if he isn't careful. Game over for Sam Paley and Jenson Altzman. OK. Stevan McAleer is now playing catch up to Paul Holton in the #46 Aston Martin. Holton and McAleer in the #28 RS1 Porsche Cayman remain 1-2 as we have not even scratched the surface of this race yet and it is merely seven minutes old out of the two-hour scheduled duration. TGM and car #46 said they are completely prepared especially after testing here at Road Atlanta in similar conditions to today, last week. Oh, good grief! We've got trouble for the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes and also, the #59 KOHR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 has nosed it into the fence!
Bob Michaelian has clattered nose first into the wall! Michaelian sharing the Mustang alongside Luca Mars of course. I think these two cars came together in the same crash. This is not two separate accidents we are looking at. Oy vey! The left rear wheel on Bryce Ward's Mercedes is toeing out which means the wheel and the suspension are completely broken. So, I would say unequivocally that it is game over for the Winward boys this afternoon. Up over the curb he goes, into the turn. You can't put two cars where there's room for only one, and... ker-runch!
Poor old Bob Michaelian had lost a handful of spots and was running eighth when Morad came along and just plowed into him. Poor old Luca Mars goes from hero to zero in this instance. He wrapped up the GSX title in VP Racing Fuels Sports Car Challenge with another victory in an identical KOHR GT4 spec Ford Mustang but he and Bob Michaelian's race today has gone completely pear shaped. Bob Michaelian drove the VP Sports Car Challenge GT4 Mustang this morning and finished second in class. Full Course Yellow. We are under Full Course Yellow.
Did Bryce Ward come down and Michaelian slam into him? Or was this just a classic racing incident where there was nothing either driver could do except get tangled up in a heap? I wonder if Bryce Ward maybe didn't open his hands up enough and not have the room to get by the Mustang. #57 in the pit lane for fuel and also for making repairs to the rear suspension which is going to take a long time to fix. Taking the car to the garage might be the team's only choice. What a gorgeous, picture perfect day in Braselton, Georgia, this afternoon. Sunshine and blue skies with not a cloud in them as we see fans sitting in a grandstand but in their armchairs!
We saw this yesterday. Someone had the genius albeit inconvenient idea of bringing actual armchairs to enjoy this weekend of sports car racing. I think there is a hotel lobby or hotel room that is missing furniture. If you stole it, you have to pay for it! Who in their right mind would steal hotel room furniture just to bring it to the track to watch the race? Someone had to have those armchairs sitting in storage someplace and had a plan to use them. This motor race is just the appetizer. We have a full main course and dessert tomorrow with Petit Le Mans, all ten hours, wall to wall coverage right here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.
The whole race will be televised on Peacock. Kevin Lee and Calvin Fish in the booth, Georgia Henneberry and Ryan Myrehn reporting from the pit lane. Unitronic JDC-Miller Motorsports won the opening four races in Michelin Pilot Challenge in TCR. They have done really well, the team owned by John Church and Chris Miller, with crew chief Cole Scrogham who now has nine titles in IMSA sports car racing as a crew chief. There are three dads driving with their kids in today's race of Lalo and Eddie Gou, Baker Racing with Dean and Sam Baker from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and also in TCR, Pegram Racing with Larry Pegram and his daughter Riley Pegram. Larry of course, a former motorcycle road racer.
Dean Baker's father, Dick Baker, is a legendary vintage car racer and in the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame. Larry Pegram is a superbike and flat track motorcycle racer. Jackson Lee, too, is Kevin Lee's son, and he is starting the race, teamed up with Sebastian Carazo. Carazo, the Puerto Rican driver, he swept both races at Road Atlanta in 2023 in the VP Sports Car Challenge in the GSX division for GT4 cars. The team will rebrand to just an acronym, CSM, for 2025, which will make it easier for us to pronounce their team's name. OK. Green flag! The top two in the points are 1-2 on the track!
Paul Holton leading Stevan McAleer, as we speak! Rory van der Steur dropping wheels off corner exit at turn 12! They will have to go for it. There are teams out here that want to win the race even though they're not in the championship fight. Jackson Lee has picked up a place and now the TCR cars are slicing and dicing through the GS traffic. Bryson Morris leading in class. Now, McAleer passes Holton and goes to the front! Paul Holton doesn't want to do anything silly and throw anything away. He is inching up, side by side with McAleer!
He picked up the place. Holton has a good, solid gear ratio in second gear. But then, Stevan McAleer nails it under braking after pushing the bye bye button. They need to protect but TGM can't get too lackadaisical. Paul Holton celebrates his 28th birthday here today. He is a young bloke who has a long career ahead of him. Matt Plumb drove with Owen Trinkler to a third-place finish in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway all those moons ago back in January. Holton has been on the team since round two at Sebring in March. Rory van der Steur is glued to the leaders, in third spot and we are going to see Rory van der Steur and van der Steur Racing move up into the WeatherTech Championship in 2025.
He and Valentin Hasse-Clot have a full season entry but are confirmed for Michelin Endurance Cup and also to race in Michelin Pilot Challenge as well. Holton will not go quietly off into the night. McAleer appears to be controlling his own destiny and allowing other cars to creep up behind Paul Holton and give the TGM boys fits. Porsche seems to have the legs on the Aston Martin. Should McAleer win, he can only take the title if the #46 TGM Aston Martin finishes outside of the top six places. Michael McCarthy picks up a place, but goes off into the dirt, into the red Georgia clay, to do it!
Michael McCarthy loses a place to Sean McAlister in the BMW and now he has Jackson Lee in the #67 Porsche Cayman, the Czabok Simpson car, soon to be known simply as CSM, right on his six. McCarty and Riley Dickinson won at Daytona on fuel mileage, and they found pace last time out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Zach Veach picked up a place to get to fourth and is now challenging Rory van der Steur for third! Zach Veach on debut in Michelin Pilot Challenge is on the podium for the time being. Paul Holton will not want to see an interloper behind him. We've seen Jack Hawksworth drive the Hattori Motorsports Toyota but after a massive wreck, this is a different Toyota Supra for that team with Eneos sponsorship.
The GT4 cars are not as susceptible to aerodynamic wash from their competitors compared to a GT3 car that will be a part of the Petit Le Mans for the WeatherTech Championship tomorrow. Still, the nose and the splitter can be affected. Joe Varde on the radio to Paul Holton has to tell him to be poised. Holton has a head of steam on McAleer. McAleer has the preferred line. Through turn seven, in this part of the course, things can go wrong when you least expect them to. Holton levels with McAleer. Who has the horsepower? Aston Martin V8 or Porsche flat six? They side draft. Zach Veach is looking to poke his nose in here. Remember, sometimes, three into one does not work and it is like a Jenga tower. When you add one last block, the tower comes spiraling down to earth scattering the blocks everywhere.
Veach going for it! He is making it three wide in the draft down the hill into turn ten! I don't believe it! Veach to the lead of the motor race! From third to first with a power move through turn ten! Oh, mama! Did you see that?! That was wild! Holton washes McAleer out and slams the door in his face and now he is right in the hornet's nest because he is about to get swallowed up on either side by the van der Steur Aston Martin and one of the Turner Motorsports BMWs down the hill! McAleer barely holds on! He slams the door right in Foley's face! This is spectacular, awesome racing we are seeing with only 25 minutes elapsed. Foley defending against Rory van der Steur looking to the high side and now Michael McCarthy also wants a bite of the cherry!
McCarthy pokes his nose ahead of van der Steur and Jackson Lee is also in this conversation. Jackson Lee drove with the van der Steur team in VP Challenge earlier in the year. The tire degradation on the Porsche Cayman on the Michelin Pilot tires is worse than any other car in the Grand Sport class field. Just amazing as we watch from the onboard camera with Paul Holton in the Aston Martin, Veach absolutely screams past McAleer and Holton, both. Veach was excited to drive with Gabby Chaves. They have always been competitors. They've raced on the same team before and raced for championships in Indy Lights open wheel competition, now known as Indy Next. They were also teammates in an Acura NSX GT3 for Racer's Edge Motorsports last weekend at the Indianapolis 8 Hours in SRO competition for their GT World Challenge America and Intercontinental GT Challenge championships.
Plus, they were rivals in IndyCar. Veach has to read this situation. What is McAleer going to do in his bid to pass by Holton? Will he squeeze Holton to the right side of the road? He chooses his lane and then, McAleer is looking for a side draft off the Aston Martin, and with barely enough room, Veach pokes his nose out, forces the issue, and finds a third lane! He remains in front over Paul Holton, by half a second, the championship leader, with McAleer and Holton. Veach and Chaves are both IndyCar veterans. This deal came together very late. Zach Veach was in Sweden, having been invited by his pal and IndyCar racer Felix Rosenqvist's wedding.
The deal came in at 2:00 A.M. Central European Time, on the phone. Zach Veach's daily driver is a Toyota Supra. Veach did drive for Vasser Sullivan and the Lexus brand in the WeatherTech Championship before, hence his Toyota connection. Meanwhile, the top three have spread out and Robby Foley is now 1.8 seconds behind. Meanwhile, Bryson Morris who took the pole in the TCR class by half a second, maintains a big lead and is 3.3 seconds ahead of his Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai stablemate Mason Filippi in second spot. It remains a BHA Hyundai 1-2-3. Morris, Filippi, and Robert Wickens, with Honda and Audi next in the serial. Dai Yoshihara in the Honda Civic. Chris Miller in the Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
Bryson Morris has done a lot this season. He has driven a Chevrolet Corvette GT3 car in SRO World Challenge in GT World Challenge America, a rear-wheel-drive GT3 sports car, and he has driven these front wheel drive TCR Hyundai's over here in IMSA in Pilot Challenge. He has driven just about everything and driven them very well. Another van der Steur Aston Martin is right ahead. This the #82 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 teamed up with Ruckus Racing. Brady Behrman paired up with Scott Blind. Both of them have been racing individual Aston Martin GT4 cars in the GSX class in the sprint championship we have talked about, VP Racing Fuels Sports Car Challenge, and now, they are co-driving in Michelin Pilot Challenge.
There is a special logo on the front of the car, Barry Behrman's Q Master Billiards, an ode to his father, Barry Behrman's Cue Master Billiards. That is the family business for the Behrman's out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is the largest billiards room in the whole world. His father founded the U.S. Open of Billiards way back in 1976. Billiards, snooker fans, now you have a car to cheer for. Back up front, Zach Veach now continues leading Stevan McAleer. But, as we speak, Paul Holton is regaining another head of steam and he wants by the RS1 Porsche Cayman driver! This is a change for second place on the road. The Grand Sport title is still in play.
The draft is impressive down the backstretch. McAleer is doing everything he can, but it is going to be a tough road to get by the Toyota. Paul Holton being a gentleman and not fighting McAleer. As long as Holton can see him, he's fine. He can't drastically fall down the order. Even with the #28 Porsche going to victory lane this afternoon, the #46 TGM Aston Martin boys still need a top six finish in order to seal the championship. Holton is trying to distract McAleer. But the savvy veteran Scotsman is not falling for the mind games from the young driver in the least. Just over half an hour into the race with two hours scheduled. How is Zach Veach's tire management? That's the big question.
We need to pay some attention though, to the fourth-place man, Robby Foley, in the blue and yellow #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 because the BMW is the best car as far as tire management on long runs. They could be in the catbird seat at this moment. In the next 15-20 minutes we will find out about the tire situation. In TCR, the #77 Hyundai leads and Taylor Hagler tells us that her co-driver Bryson Morris is using traffic to his advantage. She knows to keep up the gap. Her most important objective is keeping the nerves down. She is feeling te pressure of being the driver to finish the race which Taylor Hagler does not usually do.
She is also discussing strategy with the engineers, and she had a a new track record in qualifying. She has a chance to win for the first time since VIR in 2022! She had two championships with her former co-driver Michael Lewis. The top three in GS have absolutely checked out. Robby Foley will hand the #96 BMW M4 GT4 to Francis Selldorff, last year's VP Sports Car Challenge champion in GSX. Zach Veach, Trent Hindman, and Matt Plumb are the three drivers in reserve for the top three GS teams who are leading. As far as Zach Veach, he slides the tail of the Supra which will heat up the rear Michelin Pilot tires.
Tire degradation and managing it will be the key to victory. Oh boy! Foley on defense. McCarthy in the Porsche tries making the pass into turn ten and can't quite pull it off. Rory van der Steur has the door opened for him as well with McCarthy's bobble. But McCarthy holds fifth and now, Sean McAllister is trying to make a move on Rory van der Steur as well. The asphalt gray with lime green trim BMW is right on the decklid. Again, van der Steur Racing will be in the WeatherTech Championship next year. They came from being a small team and now are about to hit the bigtime.
McAleer is still right behind Zach Veach. This is a three-car breakaway at the top of the shop with almost four seconds back to Robby Foley. In the TCR class now, we see passes and battles aplenty! The champion, Chris Miller, is losing some pace and has Preston Brown all over him as both of them are chasing William Tally in the #5 KMW TMR Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. The only Alfa Romeo in the field. Paul Holton, the championship leader. no issue if McAleer and the RS1 Porsche are in front. I think Holton might just want to sit back and ride it out for a while.
Don't get into any dilemmas with fighting through traffic. TGM are in championship control. Don't risk anything. The TCR cars are so quick in the corners, when you catch the GS cars, things get very dodgy. Robert Wickes runs ahead of Dai Yoshihara. Wickens trying to move past the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo of Frank DePew. We have reached minimum drive time being met for the race before teams can start making driver changes for the run to the finish and we will be at the halfway mark in about 20 minutes.
Frank DePew would hand off the #71 British Racing Green Aston Martin with the red trim and red dive planes on the nose, to co-driver, Scotsman, Robin Liddell. You will go a lap down with the length of time for topping up the fuel tank, at 48 seconds to top up the fuel tank for 2/3rds of a fuel load to get home. 32 seconds of fuel would need to go into the tank. We are right inside the minimum drive time and so the Grand Sport cars are hitting pit lane, but we have a car that is off the road! This is the #808 Goldcrest Motorsports Porsche Cayman being shared by record executive Jim Jonsin and Tom Long. Jim Jonsin making his return to driving in Michelin Pilot Challenge, the Grammy Award winning producer for hip hop artists such as Pittbull, Eminem, Beyonce, and Little Wayne.
Typically, coming to the pit entry we don't see cars off to driver's right. Usually when they go off the road like that they are on driver's left. The #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 is the first GS car to answer the bell and make their scheduled pit stop for tires, fuel, and a driver change. It looks like Jonsin dropped a wheel and went off the road. Francis Selldorff will take over. The sister #95 is also in the lane and back out with Dillon Machavern handing over to Robert Megennis. Meanwhile, the #28 RS1 Porsche Cayman and the #46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage will both get to pit lane in the nick of time.
I think the Race Director has given them an assist. We are under Full Course Yellow. 43 minutes of racing now on the board. Fuel and tire for the #28 Porsche with Stevan McAleer getting out and Trent Hindman getting in. A quick driver change. Paul Holton will finish his driving stint trying to focus on racing and deliver a championship title to Matt Plumb. Plumb now aboard the #46. Some other cars have not pitted yet that need fuel and if they don't make it, they will be in loads of trouble. Hopefully we will see the pit stop sequence continues the right way. Jim Jonsin now gets back to terra firma on the racing surface wth damage to the right rear corner of the #808 Porsche Cayman.
In this replay, we can see exactly what happened. He ran wide through 10A and got behind in his steering, spinning all the way around and he will have suspension damage on the right rear corner. Tom Long is his co-driver and driver coach. Long is a veteran sports car driver who has done a lot of car development over the years as well. There are split strategies. The championship leaders in Grand Sport have pitted. But the race leading #50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo, has not pitted yet. What is the plan for Zach Veach and Gabby Chaves? We're about to find out.
OK. The #50 Toyota has just pitted but he came in separately and they wouldn't have had the opportunity. Gabby Chaves was answering the call of nature when the yellow came out. They have packed the car full of fuel. The #19 van der Steur Aston Martin made contact with the #50 Toyota Supra of Zach Veach in the rear. Now, the TCR cars are in the pit lane for routine service. The three or four BHA Hyundai's are in and so is the MMG Honda and more. Taylor Hagler takes over the #77 Hyundai Elantra N TCR from Bryson Morris.
Fresh tires and fuel for Robert Wickens who will finish the race after Harry Gottsacker's stint. The tire changer was very close to the wall. Oh! A really tight squeeze between two of the three BHA Hyundai's! Wickens nearly gets squeezed by his teammate, Mason Filippi! That was traffic overlap, pure and simple. Harry Gottsacker has the track position, and we are about to see a final wave by it appears. If there is overlap to a car in the fast lane, you must give up the position in pit lane. By IMSA allowing the extra lap before Full Couse Yellow, the #46 Aston and #28 Porsche could continue at full speed.
The TCR cars were squeaky tight on doing it on one stop. Massive fuel save and a second stop will be necessary. Baker Racing did not stop, and they knew they can get home. Sam Baker currently driving, but Dean Baker will need to do a stint. Zach Veach was praying for the outside lane to open up in that battle with the Aston Martin and the Porsche! That was absolutely incredible! This is a one-off drive for Veach who has nothing to lose. This is Veach's first race in GT4 compared to driving a GT3 car. Veach's daily driver is a production Toyota Supra road car. Unfortunately, the timing of the yellow has possibly taken a chance away for winning, from Hattori Motorsports.
Without additional downforce in a GT4 car, to Zach Veach, the car feels like it is right on top of the track, very similar to if you are standing up, but on your tiptoes instead of firmly on your feet. That's a great comment, being comfortable with the uncomfortable is what a driver should be able to do. Veach did a great job and Gabby Chaves will be up on the wheel. Robin Liddell has the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin in 16th place right now but he is on the lead lap. We are closing in steadily on the halfway mark and soon there will be just an hour of racing remaining in Michelin Pilot Challenge for 2024. Do not count Robin Liddell out.
Aaron Telitz is now in the #88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 he is sharing with Todd Coleman. The Canadian father and son duo of Sam and Dean Baker, leading the TCR division. Dean Baker at the wheel of it, the #52 Baker Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR. Green flag! 1-2 in the title fight in GS, are 1-2 on the raceway right now with just over an hour remaining. Matt Plumb with Trent Hindman in second. Riley Dickinson is now at the wheel of the #91 KellyMoss with Riley Porsche Cayman and is in third spot. Two Porsche's in close proximity. Reverse strategy with the BMW's. Francis Selldorff finishing the race in the #96 Turner Motorsports car.
This will be compelling racing for the next hour or so, so make sure you have a snack or a beverage to get to the end because in this last hur you will not want to hit the pause button to run to the fridge. I guarantee it. Trent Hindman has a wad of traffic ahead, Hindman needs to get ahead of Plumb and control the pace. Now, we have a massive battle for the lead in TCR! Sam Baker has Tyler Gonzalez right alongside of him! Gonzalez in the #99 VGRT Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Into turn seven, Gonzalez passes for the lead. Gonzalez just got in after his co-driver Morgan Burkhard drove a good first stint in the race.
Baker is still in the fight and not intimidated by this snarling pack of Hyundai's coming up behind him with Gonzalez followed by Mark Wilkins, Harry Gottsacker, and Taylor Hagler. Canadian Tire Motorsports Park is the home track for Baker Racing and they were very impressive on their home turf earlier in the summertime. Gonzalez swings past Baker for the lead and now, Baker loses places as Harry Gottsacker almost spins! Tyler Gonazlez to the top of the shop and poor old Baker there, he was the meat in a factory Hyundai sandwich! OK. This is Sam Baker, the son, not Dean Baker, the father. Dean Baker will finish out the race.
Down the backstretch, Francis Selldorff is feeling the heat! Gabby Chaves and Trent Hindman are all over him like a cheap suit! Chaves dives to the inside late on the brakes into turn 10A! He washes out wide and can't cut the corner! Selldorff cuts back around and now Valentin Hasse-Clot on the outside in the Aston Martin, the #19 van der Steur car, answers the bell, too, and pops his nose through! The problem there is that Hasse-Clot thinks he has a head of steam, but he doesn't. He ends up getting swamped by everybody else! Robin Liddell is right on Hasse-Clot's case now. Liddell clonks the back of Hasse-Clot's automobile!
Oh dear! For Sam Baker it is a case of three wheels on me wagon as he is shredding a left front Michelin Pilot tire off the #52 Audi down the hill to turn ten! Blimey! Debris on the road and we have yet another Full Course Yellow. That is the yellow they were looking for, but they have to be sick about being the cause of the yellow flag! Mama Mia! That was just too weird! I think that whole shemozzle with the #33 BHA Hyundai of Gottsacker making contact with the left side is what caused that tire to be cut down in the first place.
Full Course Yellow, indeed. Tani Miller holding the double yellow flags. Is it possible the TCR cars can get home with one more yellow flag in this race? That is the big question on everyone's minds. Chaves was late on the brakes at an acute angle through turn ten and that is why the front end of the Toyota Supra washed away on him. Again, Valentin Hasse-Clot thinks, "okie dokie. I have a head of steam, and I will just plow my way through and score an easy pass." Chaves did the double draft like his teammate Zach Veach did earlier. He thought he'd tucked up Hasse-Clot like a kipper and the same thing with poor old Selldorff. But then, he found himself out in no man's land.
Chaves was jolly lucky to just barely keep it together. That could have been a pig's breakfast if he wasn't careful. Once that tire starts coming apart it is like a sawblade and that is what happened to the #52 Audi. You can hear the rapid pitter patter of the tire spinning around on the rim. Whack, whack, whack, whack, whack. You really have to slow down. A driver will try slowing down to 70-80 miles an hour from well over 100. Well, sunbeam, that's not slow enough to avoid doing king size damage to your motorcar with the tire that is now flat as a pancake.
Stevan McAleer went from sixth to second and the team was disappointed by their qualifying effort after missing the setup. He was attempting to back Paul Holton into the rest of the GS pack. McAleer believes the current yellow we are under could decide the outcome of the race now that we are into the second half. The track has no passing zone from turns three to five and it is easy here at Road Atlanta to manipulate speed without getting in trouble. We are going to hear from the #46 Team TGM Aston Martin crew right now. Then, we'll get into the points standings.
Hang on. Scratch that and reverse it. Here are the points, then, we'll hear about the travails of car #46.
1. #46 Matt Plumb Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,800 points
2. #28 McAleer/Hindman RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS 2,660 points -140
3. #46 Paul Holton Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,500 points -300
On TGM's end of the pit lane, Paul Holton says he felt McAleer was there. The Aston has an advantage in some places and the Porsche has an advantage in other spots and Holton says the stint battle was fun. They are good on tires, but the end of the straightaway speed differential is where the Aston Martin can't keep up into the braking zone. Matt Plumb is dealing with the speed disadvantage. They are not sure what the fuel situation will be save for being helped by the yellows and they will pit again in eight minutes. Paul Holton and Matt Plumb have driven together a lot and it is special to have Holton and Plumb in the car, going for a title.
This is a quick yellow. If there are consecutive yellow flags, one on top of the other, IMSA of course, uses the short yellow flag procedure where the pits remain closed while the field trundles 'round behind the safety car. Right now, we are coming to the green flag and the restart. If the #28 Porsche team employs their strategy, what will the #46 Aston Martin team do in terms of a response? Try finding an alternate strategy. This is Matt Plumb's title to win or lose. He is sitting in the catbird seat right now. However, Trent Hindman, his nearest competitor, along with Stevan McAleer, will be glued to his six on this restart.
Do the opposite? If #28 dives to the lane, well, we'll see. Everyone is now up on the pipe and ready to rumble again. Let's go! It's time for a restart at Road Atlanta with 54 minutes to go in the 2024 Michelin Pilot Challenge season. Some cars do duck for the lane while the championship contenders are now nose to tail. Plumb and Hindman just 3/10ths of a second apart. One other problem Hindman is facing is that pesky #91 Porsche Cayman with Riley Dickinson at the wheel of it. The Kellymoss with Riley Porsche Cayman is a fly buzzing around annoyingly in Trent Hindman's ear right now. Dickinson is an itch that Hindman knows he needs to scratch.
Dickinson is doing the shimmy, shimmy shake trying to get around Hindman and this is allowing Matt Plumb to get away and extend his lead down the hill. A few GS cars are topping up on fuel. Robin Liddell in the #71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin, and Valentin Hasse-Clot in the #19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin are both in, topping up the fuel tanks. They will stay on the lead lap and get clean air because they are not doing full fuel loads. The pickle they will both be in is trying to navigate through a sea of TCR traffic. But that ought to be relatively easy to do.
Now we see a battle for fourth into turn ten. Greg Liefooghe in the BMW making a move on Michael Cooper in the Porsche. Stephen Cameron Racing BMW vs. Baby Bull Racing Porsche. M4 GT4 vs. Cayman. Liefooghe sticks the move, and Cooper decides discretion is possibly the better part of valor. But the better part of valor now opens the door on the inside to Aaron Telitz in the #88 lime green Aston Martin for Archangel Motorsports, sharing with Todd Coleman. If you get passed and fight too hard, you'll lose your momentum before the third car in the queue gets a head of steam.
Telitz has moved up from 12th to fifth. If I am the team manager at RS1, I'd have gambled. I would roll the dice. I agree with Calvin Fish on NBC Sports. If I am on the radio to the driver, I roll the dice and click the microphone and tell him, "Hey, mate, we're going to box and do an alternate strategy to try and get the championship. If #46 doesn't pit, we do." By coming in early, the catch 22, the thorn in the side, is having to slice and dice through the TCR traffic. The TCR cars not moving out of the way, well, it's a bugaboo. There's lots of carbon fiber shards and debris to the outside of the road from where we saw the #52 Audi TCR car come to grief a wee while ago.
Those carbon fiber slices are just like razor blades. Tyler Gonzalez in the #99 VGRT Hyundai Elantra N TCR, he leads in the class over the factory Hyundai #98 of Mark Wilkins for Bryan Herta Autosport by 8/10ths of a second. Then it is Harry Gottsacker in the second of the BHA cars, the #33 Hyundai, third, and they are followed by Karl Wittmer at the wheel of the #93 Montreal Motorsports Group Honda Civic. Dai Yoshihara, the drift king, he did his first circuit racing winning in a TCR spec Honda at Indianapolis last year in SRO competition.
He has a chance for a podium here at Road Atlanta. Both of the Turner Motorsports BMWs are in the lane for their final stops, and they too are utilizing the alternate strategy we just talked about. They are topping off with fuel. Now, they come out of the pit lane together and unfortunately, I think they were on the losing end of this strategy because they now have three more GS cars, their rivals, ahead of them. They are going to be stymied by the #39 CarBahn BMW, the #71 Rebel Rock Aston Martin, and the #19 van der Steur Aston Martin. So, this gamble by Turner Motorsports looks to have backfired. No one elsse dives for the pit lane.
Wait, wait. Hold the phone. The #28 RS1 Porsche is in, and so this throws the #46's strategy up in the air and there are two more GS cars in the pit lane as well, look. That's the #43 Stephen Cameron Racing Mustang with Liefooghe at the controls, and behind him I think it is again, the #88 Aston Martin, Aaron Telitz in the Archangel car. Oh boy. Tires, fuel, and a driver change. #28 going for it with nothing to lose and they are topping off the fuel tank. Watch the blend between the pit exit and the track, going uphill. Telitz and Liefooghe are serviced and sent as well.
Jeff Westphal passes Hindman in the #39 CarBahn BMW and now, Hindman has his hands full with VHC! Valentin Hasse-Clot wants a bite of the cherry in the van der Steur Aston Martin and is going to do everything to get it. Believe me. Hindman defending as the Frenchman, Hasse-Clot is turning on the heat. Hindman in tenth spot must uncork blinding laps and hope that his speed will be an advantage so that if Matt Plumb gets stymied in traffic, he can gain. RS1 needs to win and the #46 to finish seventh in order to take the title.
The other scenario is they must finish seventh or better if the #46 finds trouble. Now, #46 is in the pit lane as we speak of all this, all these permutations. #46 had to come. They are covering off what the #28 Porsche did. A quick stop and now it i a straight up fight to the end. Jeff Westphal sends it into turn one. Plumb is ahead of the BMW man who is not a factor in the title fight. But he is the buffer back to Hindman or I should say, between Plumb and Hindman, going for the title with less than 48 minutes of racing left on the board and in the 2024 MPC season. Multiple strategies in play.
The top five cars in the running order right now all need to pit ASAP. Michael Cooper, Gabby Chaves, Spencer Pumpelly, Sebastian Carazo, and Hugh Plumb. Sixth on back all are on the same strategy from now until the checkered flag falls, so that is Scott Blind, Matt Plumb, Jeff Westphal, Trent Hindman, and VHC. The trouble for the #28 is they are Marco Solo because they don't have a teammate to rely on. The fight is now mano e mano between the #46 and the #28. Matt Plumb runs two stops ahead of Trent Hindman. As long as they beat the #28, the result place doesn't matter. They still get the cup.
The top six in GS all must pit. That's the deal. OK. The leader has just pitted. Michael Cooper serviced and sent in the #44 Baby Bull Racing Porsche Cayman. Five GS cars still must pit. Michael Cooper losing spots and he'll dig to get them back. It will take a few laps for all this to come out in the wash. A large portion of the TCR traffic together will be an issue. Gabby Chaves brings the #50 Toyota Supra to the pit lane for tires and fuel with 42 minutes to go. He won't have to save fuel. They have the time to put fuel in and do a two-tire change but there was a hangup on the left front! Oh my!
A slight fumble will drop Chaves down the order. They are now hoping for a yellow at Hattori Motorsports so they can get back into contention before the race is over. GT4 cars do not have a single lug nut like the GTP, LMP2, and GT3 cars. They have five lug nuts on each wheel. The erstwhile leader is the #38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman being driven by Spencer Pumpelly and Tom Collingwood, the Canadian. Sebastian Carazo is second in the #67 CSM Porsche Cayman and Matt Plumb's brother Hugh is in third in the sister #64 Team TGM Aston Martin he shares with Ted Giovanis.
It should be noted that the #67 CSM Porsche Cayman, Sebastian Carazo is of course sharing that car with Jackson Lee, up and coming racing driver and son of Kevin Lee who is the lead commentator on NBC Sports for the IMSA races this weekend here at Road Atlanta. BGB Motorsports team boss John Tecce looking on. Pumpelly and Collingwood gave BGB Motorsports a massive win earlier in the season at VIR back in August. They too, are based in Florida. In spite of the bad weather, in Florida, many teams have come and are fine. Just make sure your family is safe.
Spencer Pumpelly in the lane now. He is one of the drivers doing double duty and will be in the Petit Le Mans tomorrow with Magnus Racing and their Aston Martin in the GT Daytona class. What will BGB Motorsports do with the tires? Timed fuel stop and they are going for a two-tire change on the left side. Carazo leading the motor race right now and they are a few minutes away from pitting. The tires are done before the fueling is and that is how the strategy ought to work. CSM #67 leads the motor race with Sebastian Carazo. Carazo won here at Road Atlanta in VP Challenge last year.
CSM, one of the team bosses there is South African Stephen Simpson who we have seen driving in Michelin Pilot and in the WeatherTech Championship in seasons gone by. He partnered with Mattias Czabok, the other team boss and are running this program in Michelin Pilot Challenge out of their shops in Indianapolis, Indiana. Stephen Simpson was a great racing driver and he is a big asset now as a team boss. Now, the sister TGM Aston Martin #64 of Hugh Plumb is right behind. The #64 has orange mirrors and the #46 has blue mirrors.
Carazo driving defensively. Carazo has led races but not in Michelin Pilot Challenge. Well, well, well. We have Jackson Lee for an interview with Ryan Myrehn. He says it is a different deal and is having a good race. They are putting the puzzle together, have the speed, and see how things go after the pit stop. The plan could be to split the stint length, and he is hanging on, on older tires. Tire falloff is a big deal with 35 minutes to go. Victor Gonzalez tells us things are nerve racking. They know they need to save fuel and run in clean air.
The situation is going to be very tight as they are ahead by 1.2 seconds. They should have won other races this year and now, they really want to pull it off, with the support of Bryan Herta's team and Hyundai. They are going to push like mad. If the ambient temperatures or the engine temperatures go up, richen the fuel mixture going into the motor. Have the driver fiddle with the fuel maps in the closing minutes to find optimum performance. The only problem is, if you are trying to save fuel, this is the opposite, and your fuel mileage gets worse.
#67 pits from the lead going for sticker Michelin tires on the left side. They nailed their pit stop! Wow! Sebastian Carazo ran all the way up the field after getting caught down the order earlier. Plumb is the only person needing to pit, Hugh Plumb in the #64. It is going to be squeaky tight on fuel in TCR. They could really use another yellow. Will all this slow him up a bit? Matt Plumb is picking up the mantle of what Paul Holton did earlier. If they hold on and win the title, it will be a massive moment for the team and the team boss, Ted Giovanis.
They moved drivers around and changed manufacturers over the years. Hugh and Matt Plumb's dad Michael Plumb was a champion Olympic equestrian rider. Hindman working the traffic. Turn three is a blind approach. Don't eat up the curb on the inside. Climbing the hill eating the curb on the outside of turn five. A banked turn six and then on the brakes into seven and squeeze the power back on down the backstretch. Matt Plumb could break the tie with Billy Johnson on the all-time win list in Michelin Pilot Challenge, going for win number 25. Two Aston Martin's battling for seventh. It is Telitz vs. Liddell.
Telitz gets a big run down the hill and screams past Liddell! Liddell had to give it up and couldn't fight. The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a "support" series, the number two IMSA series behind the IMSA WeatherTech Championship. But, still, there are some of the best racers in the world competing in Michelin Pilot Challenge currently. This is not small potatoes, and it is fun to watch. These drivers can race any kind of GT car. Aaron Telitz has run Indy Lights/Indy Next and is also going to race with the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team in the Petit Le Mans tomorrow.
There is a slight difference between the two Aston Martin's. The #71 British Racing Green Rebel Rock car with the red trim on the nose, is the Evo, the evolution version, with a different front-end design, different bodywork. There are some suspension tweaks on that car as well. It maintains the drivability and the character of the first-generation Aston Martin Vantage and a bigger air inlet as well as different shock dampers to widen the performance window. TCR cars may be slower than GT4 cars, but they are hard for amateur drivers to race because to turn the car they must rotate on corner entry. The #77 Hyundai is topping up the fuel tank. This is of course the car driven by Taylor Hagler and Bryson Morris.
Oh dear! There's been some contact between the two Porsche's through TCR traffic as Riley Dickinson nerfs Trent Hindman out of the way! That could damage suspension or a toe link, or bodywork. I don't think it was intentional. I agree with Brian Till's observation that he just got into the corner deeper than he wanted, tried to correct it, and clattered into the #28 car. If you are in the corner on the ABS, you are in no man's land. Hindman has fallen to sixth place. 25 minutes to go. TGM tested at Road Atlanta last week. Sometimes testing at a track for a race works and other times it doesn't.
CarBahn Motorsports are coming off a win last time out at Indianapolis. Sean McAlister says that during his first stint he was fuel saving like crazy and he couldn't pass anyone. They wanted to take advantage of the pit stops. Westphal and their team want to win the race. They are not worried about the championship contenders at all. A front tire change for South African Mikey Taylor at the wheel of the TCR championship winning #17 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi. Tires and top off the fuel tank. No worries. No risk. Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai through their Genesis brand, they are planning to have a GTP program in a handful of years.
If BHA gets the nod, they will also continue in TCR. It would be fascinating to see who gets the nod to run the Hyundai GTP program when it comes online with an LMDh prototype. BHA is one team and Chip Ganassi Racing is another because they are ending their relationship with GM and with Cadillac after the Petit Le Mans tomorrow and also after the FIA World Endurance Championship wraps up. Chip Ganassi Racing are looking for the next chapter in the sports car arena. Wow! A tight squeeze there between the Porsche, the Toyota, and the BMW. This is a battle for 13th, 14th, and 15th, inside the final 20 minutes of the race and the season.
This is the home stretch. The Plumb brothers remain out front but now Jeff Westphal is putting the pressure on Riley Dickinson! Some trouble ther for the #50 Toyota Supra. He hesitated there, momentarily. Gabby Chaves at the wheel of it and he got spun after making contact with the BGB Porsche! Spencer Pumpelly hung tough on the outside and clattered into Chaves who spun! Hugh Plumb must pit at some point. Matt Plumb could still win the title. Riley Dickinson could bookend the championship and win here in the race at Road Atlanta.
There is a gaggle of cars just ahead of Hugh Plumb, I think. No action for the contact between the #50 and #38 in 14th and 15th from Race Control. Meanwhile, back at the sharp end, can Dickinson make his way by Matt Plumb and scamper away? The #46 has the title unless they wreck. Matt Plumb and the Aston Martin have run well all weekend. That said, late in the going, it appears Riley Dickinson and the Kellymoss with Riley Porsche has more speed. Matt Plumb is in a good spot, and he just needs to stay in front of the #28 car of Trent Hindman. The #91 team has nothing to lose. Riley Dickinson is the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion and moved up to Michelin Pilot Challenge this year.
Now, he has designs on making a move on Matt Plumb down into turn ten! Hugh Plumb mist pit so now Riley Dickinson leads this motor race with time of the essence. This will help the #28 Porsche team. The #28 still has many cars to pass. It isn't over yet. So, here are the points.
1. #46 Matt Plumb Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,750 points
2. #28 McAleer/Hindman RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS 2,590 points -160
3. #46 Paul Holton Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,450 points -300
TGM seems like they are in complete control, but not really. We saw the trouble earlier in the race for Sam Paley of course. Hindman has his hands full hanging onto sixth and might move up to fifth spot. Aaron Telitz has uncorked fastest lap of the motor race. Telitz is the endurance driver for Vasser Sullivan Lexus and wants a full-time situation in the WeatherTech Championship. Hindman has gapped Telitz as Plumb still leads. He might be close to being on fumes. Tyler Gonzalez is only 7/10ths of a second ahead of Mark Wilkins. Gonzalez is the 2023 SRO Toyota GR Cup series champion. VGRT crunching the numbers with 11 minutes to go in the season.
Gonzalez also ran well in Mazda MX-5 Cup as well. If Wilkins can pass Gonzalez he will move to second in the championship with a 70-point swing over Harry Gottsacker. Denis Dupont is third in the #76 BHA Hyundai sharing with Preston Brown and the two of them, they won earlier in the year in TCR in the four-hour MPC race at Mid-Ohio back in June. Finally, the #64 Aston Martin dives for the pit lane with just ten minutes to go in the race and the season. Matt Plumb can afford to stay in second spot. Sixth or better clinches the title for Team TGM and for Paul Holton and Matt Plumb.
Matt Plumb won a Grand Sport championship in Michelin Pilot Challenge way back in 2013. His brother won it in 2018. Later in your career with younger drivers coming up, it is harder to win titles. We have another points update as the race comes to a close.
1. #46 Matt Plumb Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,770 points
2. #28 McAleer/Hindman RS1 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS 2,600 points -170
3. #46 Paul Holton Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 2,470 points -300
Focus on the long game, not just the here and now. Hugh Plumb and Owen Trinkler won the 2018 Michelin Pilot Challenge championship. If TGM have elected to race at the Rolex 24, the four drivers from their two MPC cars have been the four-driver team in a GT3 Aston Martin at the Rolex 24. So, hypothetically, let's say, if they wanted to enter a GT3 Aston in the 2025 Rolex 24, the team would consist of Matt Plumb, Paul Holton, Ted Giovanis, and Hugh Plumb.
Maybe they started thinking big picture too early in the year and got caught in the middle of the pack while the #28 car had a lot of wins. It was a tight squeeze before Indianapolis and then they got back on the front foot. Matt Plumb was dropping like a stone in the race at Road America back in August. The TCR cars are getting close on fuel. Wilkins and Filippi could win two races in a row in the next six minutes. Denis Dupon has made two pit stops although Gonzalez and Wilkins, let's see. They are all on a similar strategy. Dupont came in three minutes later on his last stop.
Like we talked about a wee while ago, if you are in clean air, you are saving gas, but the engine will compensate and richen up the motor if it gets hot and that compromises your fuel mileage. Mikey Taylor is good to go on fuel in the #17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller Motorsports, Liqui Moly Audi and he has the #77 BHA Hyundai Elantra N TCR of Taylor Hagler right behind him. Denis Dupon trying Mark Wilkins into turn one. Inside five minutes to go before the 2024 season ends. We have wall to wall coverage planned tomorrow for the Petit Le Mans. It is going to be epic with a record field of cars, 53 cars anticipated.
It is going to be absolute madness tomorrow. More than two and a half hours of racing in the dark. There are very few lights on these up and down portions, the hills and elevation changes, at Road Atlanta. Oh dear! With just over three minutes remaining, the #38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman has a cut down tire! Trouble in paradise for Spencer Pumpelly! Pumpelly will limp the car home and take the car off into the grass. We will likely stay green here for Matt Plumb and Paul Holton to bring it home.
White flag this time by it looks like, or next time by. Pumpelly has pulled behind the wall and will watch the last lap and Scott Blind, too, gets out of the way, racing in three championships, in Porsche Carrera Cup, VP Sports Car Challenge, and Michelin Pilot Challenge. The #91 team has done incredibly well all year and are ready for next year. One to go in 2024. They won at Daytona and can win it here at Road Atlanta. No risk for Matt Plumb. The fight continues in TCR, but no! Victor Gonzalez Racing Team are out of fuel! This is devastating for Tyler Gonzalez and Morgan Burkhard! Mark Wilkins in the #98 BHA car sails right by!
This is heartbreaking! The car coughed! Can Wilkins make the final lap? Gottsacker in fourth place. Karl Wittmer goes by Denis Dupont second. Slow it down. Get into limp home mode. No worries though for Riley Dickinson headed up the hill to turn ten for the last time. No traffic to worry about. Riley Dickinson, a young Porsche superstar and he and Kellymoss with Riley will bookend the season with wins! Riley Dickinson and Michael McCarthy win at Road Atlanta and Team TGM finish second and win the championship in Grand Sport for Matt Plumb and Paul Holton! Wow!
Now, the TCR battle! Who will make it to the finish? Who has the full fuel tank? Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi will win the season finale! They double up after winning Indianapolis! Unitronic/JDC-Miller Motorsports, Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor with the Audi win the championship! A firat title for their drivers and another for JDC-Miller Motorsports!
Overall/Grand Sport: #91 Dickinson/McCarthy Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 Cayman GT4
RS CS
TCR: #98 Wilkins/Filippi Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR
Champions
Grand Sport: #46 Plumb/Holton Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4
TCR: #17 Miller/Taylor Unitronic/JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3
LMS TCR
Congratulations to Matt Plumb and Paul Holton, and to Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor! Such quality drivers and teams in Michelin Pilot Challenge! So, the 2024 Michelin Pilot Challenge season is now in the bag! We'll see you for more action, next year, in 2025. So long for now, everyone. Take care. By the way, stay tuned. Tomorrow is the day. Wall to wall coverage of the Petit Le Mans, the 26th annual running of an endurance sports car racing classic. Don't miss it!
