BRASELTON, Ga. — Kellymoss with Riley’s Riley Dickinson took the overall lead Friday (Oct. 11) with a little more than 10 minutes to go when TeamTGM’s Hugh Plumb pitted for fuel. From there, Dickinson held on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge FOX Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with teammate Michael McCarthy. It is the duo’s second win of the year, having started off the season by winning the season opener at Daytona along with Brady Golan.
Dickinson and McCarthy’s margin of victory was seconds over TeamTGM’s Paul Holton and Matt Plumb. That was more than enough to earn Matt Plumb the Grand Sport championship.
The final margin in the standings was 180 points between Matt Plumb and Rennsport One’s Trent Hindman and Stevan McAleer. The Rennsport One Porsche faded late and finished sixth.
CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal were third, followed by van der Steur Racing’s Valentin Hasse-Clot and Rory van der Steur. Archangel Motorsports’ Todd Coleman and Aaron Telitz were fifth.
Holton started from pole in his Aston Martin. Sam Paley, a regular in Mustang Challenge who was making his series debut for McCumbee-McAleer Racing, immediately put the pressure on Holton at the front.
At the chicane towards the end of the first lap, Paley made his move and took the lead away. Holton didn’t fight the move.
Unfortunately, Paley’s time at the front was very short-lived. Not even six minutes into the race, a half-shaft broke his in his Mustang, forcing him to pull off the track and giving the lead back to Holton. Paley was done for the day.
Shortly afterwards, Winward Racing’s Bryce Ward and KohR Motorsports’ Bob Michaelian collided exiting turn 7. Michaelian’s Mustang slid off and went into the tires to bring out the first full course caution. Meanwhile, Ward’s car had rear suspension damage and had to limp back to the pits.
McAleer was able to race up to second prior to the caution and ended up right on Holton’s tail. McAleer, who entered Friday second in points, immediately put the pressure on for the lead.
A lap after the restart, McAleer was able to snatch the lead away from Holton at the chicane, similar to how Paley did. Despite the move, McAleer couldn’t get away at first. Van der Steur, Robby Foley and Zach Veach were right there as well.
Veach, in his Michelin Pilot Challenge debut, started his weekend struggling with a seat that didn’t fit him or teammate Gabby Chaves. After qualifying eighth, Veach quickly moved himself up the order to third.
Veach got to Holton when he was side-by-side with McAleer to get the lead back. Rather than follow either driver, Veach made it three-wide on the left side and passed both of them to take the lead.
Just after the 40-minute minimum drive time was reached, Goldcrest Motorsports’ Jim Jonsin spun and hit the wall exiting the chicane. That led to a parade to the pit lane before the caution came out.
Unfortunately, Veach couldn’t get in the pits before the yellow flew. The NBC Sports broadcast on Peacock noted that Chaves was “answering the call of nature” when the chance to pit came along. As a result, Veach and Chaves ended up on an alternate pit strategy and ended up back in ninth.
Plumb ended up in the overall lead for the restart with 65 minutes remaining with Hindman right on his tail. Dickinson and Michael Cooper were right there as well.
No one could go to the end from their pit stops, even with another caution when Sam Baker cut his left front tire and littered the track with debris. The GS teams began to make their final stops with 52 minutes to go.
Plumb was able to gain significant time during his stop while Hindman dropped behind Westphal and out of the hunt. Dickinson and Westphal worked their way into the battle.
When they caught the TCR leaders, Dickinson began to make moves. He was able to snatch third from Westphal and went to work on Holton.
All this time, Hugh Plumb was attempting a massive fuel-save to get to the finish. Matt Plumb was in the theoretical lead of those who pitted, but Dickinson was right there.
With just over 15 minutes to go, Dickinson was able to put the moves on Matt Plumb for second at the chicane. He was able to make the move stick and put his Porsche in front.
When Hugh Plumb pitted, that became the overall lead. From there, he simply held on to take the win.
In TCR, Bryan Herta Autosport’s Bryson Morris started on pole in his Hyundai with teammate Robert Wickens alongside. Mason Filippi was able to overtake Wickens for second in the early laps.
Points-wise, JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor only had to finish 11th or better to win the TCR championship. However, the Racers Edge Motorsports Honda of Tazio Ottis and Daniel Wu failing to make the start meant that Miller and Taylor clinched the title by starting the race.
After the early caution, Morris began to pull away from the rest of the class. 35 minutes into the race, he had a five-second lead over Filippi.
When the second caution came out, Morris pitted to put Taylor Hagler in the car. Victor Gonzalez Racing Team’s Tyler Gonzalez ended up in the class lead in his Hyundai.
The caution for Baker’s debris put everyone in a tough situation. Most of the leaders decided to gamble and go to the end, while others pitted with 30 minutes to go.
With the Grand Sport teams pitting, Gonzalez found himself ahead of all of the GS leaders once they pitted. Eventually, Matt Plumb, Westphal and Dickinson ran down the TCR leaders and took the advantage away.
Fuel was extremely tight for the leaders, but Gonzalez appeared to have the pace to hold on. It just didn’t work out for the VGRT squad.
Coming to the white flag, Gonzalez’s Hyundai Elantra N TCR coughed. That forced the No. 99 to come into the pits. Bryan Herta Autosport’s Mark Wilkins just so happened to be close enough that he could pounce.
From there, Wilkins held on to win his second straight TCR race with Filippi in 11th overall.
Their margin of victory was 1.151 seconds over teammates Preston Brown and Denis Dupont. Montreal Motorsport Group’s Karl Wittmer and Daijiro Yoshihara were third in their Honda, followed by Wickens and Harry Gottsacker. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Tim Lewis Jr. and Dr. William Tally were fifth in their Alfa Romeo.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge FOX Factory 120 Unofficial Results
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.