BGB Motorsports’ Spencer Pumpelly took the lead during a caution by staying out when the leaders pitted for fuel. From there, he was able to hold off the pack to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix Saturday (Aug. 24) with teammate Thomas Collingwood. It is the team’s first victory in the series since 2013, when the series was known as the Grand-Am Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.
Pumpelly and Collingwood’s margin of victory was .373 seconds over Rennsport One’s Trent Hindman and Stevan McAleer. KohR Motorsports’ Luca Mars and Bob Michaelian were third, then Kellymoss with Riley’s Dakota Dickerson and Michael McCarthy. Stephen Cameron Racing’s Greg Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan were fifth.
McAleer started from pole after topping every on-track session to this point. He got a big jump over Jesse Lazare and seemed to settle in.
Meanwhile, Lazare had McCumbee-McAleer Racing’s Jenson Altzman right behind him. The two fought for position until Lazare dropped wheels and hurt Altzman’s concentration. That resulted in an off-course excursion that cost Altzman third to Michael McCarthy.
McAleer was able to extend his advantage out to three seconds prior to the mid-race pit stops. McAleer pitted relatively early to hand over to Hindman, while drivers like Paul Holton stayed out an extra few laps.
Baby Bull Racing’s Moisey Uretsky stayed out even longer. Too long, to be exact. His car died in the Climbing Esses 56 minutes into the race to bring out a full course caution.
Here, a number of the Grand Sport teams pitted to take a splash of fuel to help them make it to the end of the race. BGB Motorsports’ Spencer Pumpelly took the lead by staying out and chancing his fuel.
The restart saw trouble in NASCAR bend. Skip Barber Racing’s Will Lambros ran into points leader Matt Plumb, spinning him out. Plumb collected the van der Steur Racing Aston Martin of Scott Andrews, then both cars went into the barrier.
While Plumb was able to drive back to the pits, he ended up with a tie rod issue that forced him behind the wall. Andrews tried to continue, but his car stalled to bring out another yellow.
Plumb was eventually able to return to the race, but he lost five laps in the process. Plumb and Holton would eventually finish 16th in Grand Sport. That cut Plumb’s points lead from 200 to 60 points.
After the restart, Hindman was right on Pumpelly’s tail and began to pressure him for the overall. The veteran driver fought off Hindman’s charges for 15 minutes before pulling away just a little.
In the closing laps, Pumpelly still had a small advantage. Hindman was still close, but could do nothing to prevent BGB Motorsports from taking the win.
In TCR, Bryan Herta Autosport’s Bryson Morris started from pole in his Hyundai. Teammate Robert Wickens was supposed to start alongside, but a post-qualifying engine change meant that he had to go to the rear.
TCR points leader Chris Miller started in third and had some issues early. He had some traction issues in his Audi. While that isn’t great, you can overcome that.
12 minutes into the race, Miller went into the Oak Tree Turn a little too fast, slid off-course and hit the tire barriers. While Miller was able to get back underway, he dropped from third to the rear of the class.
Miller’s closest competition in the points was the No. 76 Hyundai of Preston Brown and Denis Dupont. However, they were eliminated from anything resembling a decent run shortly after Miller’s incident when the left front wheel sensor failed, forcing the team to make a long pit stop.
Brown eventually rejoined the race, five laps down. The fix didn’t really work all that well as an off-course excursion was why the team made the long pit stop. Barely a lap after the stop, Brown was off the road again.
Morris ended up with teammate Mark Wilkins behind him. Gradually, the Hyundai teammates drove away from the rest of the field. Wilkins was able to stick with Morris for a while, but he eventually dropped back by seven seconds.
The caution for Uretsky’s issues occurred right as Morris was about to pit in order to give way to Taylor Hagler. That stop, along with all of the TCR stops, occurred during the yellow.
Following the stops, Mason Filippi took over the lead in the No. 98 Hyundai. Victor Gonzalez Racing Team’s Tyler Gonzalez gave chase and hounded Filippi.
With 28 minutes to go, Gonzalez was able to take the class lead from Filippi at the Oak Tree turn. Once out front, Gonzalez was able to pull away from his fellow Hyundai driver.
However, the race wasn’t over. Montreal Motorsport Group’s Karl Wittmer was able to take second from Filippi and run down Gonzalez for the lead.
The last 15 minutes of the race saw Wittmer challenge Gonzalez multiple times for the lead. Each time, Gonzalez would take a defensive line to hold him back.
With under nine minutes to go, Wittmer looked to have Gonzalez cleared at the end of the backstretch. However, he went too fast into turn 14 and went wide, allowing Gonzalez to retake the lead.
With four minutes to go, Wittmer got a run out of turn 17 and surprised Gonzalez with a move to the inside in turn 1. That was enough to get by and take the class lead. From there, Wittmer was able to hold on to take his and Daijiro Yoshihara‘s first TCR win.
The margin of victory was 1.299 seconds over Gonzalez and Morgan Burkhard. Filippi and Wilkins were third, then Wickens and Harry Gottsacker. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Tim Lewis Jr. and Dr. William Tally were fifth.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix Unofficial Results
Michelin Pilot Challenge teams will take a couple of weeks before the season resumes with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 on Sept. 21. Coverage is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET on Peacock. Frontstretch will be on-site in Indianapolis to bring you the action.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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