Ibiza Farm Motorsports’ Michael Cooper ran down KohR Motorsports’ Robert Noaker and passed him using a contrarian move on the outside in turn 7 with less than two laps to go. From there, he was able to hold on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 Saturday (Sept. 20) with Moisey Uretsky for their second win of the year.
The margin of victory was 1.279 seconds over Motorsports In Action’s Alexandra Hainer and Jesse Lazare. Noaker and Cameron McLeod were third in their Grand Sport debut, followed by Rebel Rock Racing’s Frank DePew and Robin Liddell. CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal were fifth.
Mars started from the overall pole in his Porsche. In the opening laps, he was able to hold Cicero at bay.
There was trouble before the race even started as Zach Veach was unable to get his Porsche started. A lack of oil pressure not only forced him to surrender the sixth starting spot, but meant that he wouldn’t race at all.
A full course caution was thrown 17 minutes into the race due to debris on the frontstretch. This closed the field back up.
As the race continued on, drivers started having some issues with braking. Uretsky nearly went headlong into the back of Motorsports In Action’s Alexandra Hainer in turn 1.
A couple of laps later, Mars’ brake pedal reportedly went to the floor while slowing for turn 1. That resulted in him going wide and Cicero taking over the lead.
In the early laps, the driver that was on the move was McAlister. McAlister started 13th in a car that was viewed as being down on straight-line speed. On the first lap, he moved up five places to eighth. The second restart allowed him to drive up to fourth.
Green-flag pit stops were just getting underway when Bryan Herta Autosport’s Lance Bergstein pulled into the runoff at the end of the frontstretch with a mechanical issue. That brought out the second full course caution 53 minutes into the race.
By that point, Ford Koch had pitted the Copeland Motorsports Toyota from third overall to swap over to Jaxon Bell. However, he didn’t beat the red light at the end of the pit lane. When everyone else pitted under the yellow, the No. 23 ended up at the back of the line.
That ultimately gave the lead to Panam Motorsport’s Werner Neugebauer, who actually ran the aforementioned red light. Once he stopped to serve a stop-and-60-second-hold penalty, Team TGM’s Matt Plumb ended up in the lead. Cooper ended up restarting way down in 16th, but slowly made his way forward.
Winward Racing’s Daan Arrow ended up right on Plumb’s tail when Neugebauer pitted for his penalty. Plumb was in the lead just long enough to lead one lap before Arrow was able to take it away.
However, the stewards were not a fan of Arrow’s tactics. With 45 minutes to go, Arrow was given a drive-through penalty for blocking. That gave Plumb the lead back, but only just briefly as Noaker was able to snatch it quickly.
Plumb’s chances at victory ended shortly afterwards when he was spun out in the infield by Noaker’s teammate Billy Johnson. That eventually resulted in a drive-through penalty for Johnson, but not before he was spun out by Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher. Gallagher was also penalized for that move.
The goal for Saturday for Rennsport One was not just to win, but to clinch the title. Their chances for that ended with 24 minutes to go when Jan Heylen was hit by CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Jeff Westphal. That contact cut Heylen’s left rear tire, forcing Heylen to limp back to the pits.
Heylen and Mars ended up a lap down in 30th overall, 19th in GS. That means that the RS1 duo’s point lead is down to 100 points over McAlister and Westphal.
The tire casing ultimately brought out another yellow and closed everyone back up with new contenders in the mix. Lazare was up to second here behind Noaker with Greg Liefooghe in third.
On the restart, Cooper was able to get Liefooghe for third, then worked on Lazare for multiple laps. With five laps to go, he was able to take second.
When he ran down Noaker, the two drivers ran hard for the lead. With two laps to go, Cooper went to the outside of Noaker in turn 7. Normally, this puts you on the dirty side of the track, but if you can get a good run there, good things can happen.
In this case, Cooper was able to get alongside of Noaker, then took advantage of the preferred line for the quick chicane to take the lead. From there, he held on to take the win.
In TCR, Victor Gonzalez Racing Team’s Eric Powell started from pole in his Cupra VZ TCR. Team owner Victor Gonzalez Jr. told Frontstretch prior to the race that he was very happy with the speed of his car. He just doesn’t want anyone to hit it. That’s what prevented a potential victory at VIR.
Powell led in the opening laps until he caught the GS-class Aston Martin of Christine Sloss. Being unable to get around Sloss in turn 12 allowed Precision Racing LA’s Celso Neto to attempt to take the lead.
Powell swept around the outside of turn 13 to get to the inside of Sloss and left Neto on the outside of the Aston Martin. That allowed Powell to keep the lead, while Neto dropped to third behind Louis-Philippe Montour.
A few laps later, the TCR leaders caught AR Motorsports’ David Hampton. While trying to get past, contact was made between Powell and Hampton. Hampton ended up in the grass.
As a result, Powell also lost momentum. That allowed Montour to sweep past and take the class lead.
The first caution saw most of the class leaders come in for a splash of fuel. That gave the class lead to Bryan Herta Autosport’s Mark Wilkins. Shortly after the restart, Powell was given a drive-through penalty for the contact with Hampton that dropped him to the rear of the field.
Wilkins was not immune to the continued crackdown on contact that started at VIR. He had contact with RAFA Racing Team’s Rafael Martinez, spinning out the Supra. That resulted in Wilkins having to serve a drive-through penalty. Teammate Suellio Almeida took the lead as a result.
Almeida immediately had Eduardo Gou in his Cupra right on his tail. Gou made the move for the lead in turn 1, but went wide, allowing Almeida to keep the lead. A couple of laps later, Gou was able to make the move for the lead stick.
When the pits opened for TCR cars during the second yellow, there was right at an hour to go. Everyone pitted here for tires, fuel and a driver change. An excellent stop here allowed Karl Wittmer to get out of the pits first.
Wittmer’s time at the front was short-lived as Ryan Eversley was able to charge into the lead shortly after the restart. Prior to the race, he was very confident in his chances.
Denis Dupont in the No. 76 Hyundai was up to second, but he copped a penalty for blocking. That allowed Tyler Gonzalez in the VGRT Cupra to move up to Eversley’s tail. The team had recovered all the way from Powell’s penalty early in the race.
With 26 minutes to go, Gonzalez made the move to the inside of Eversley exiting the infield and made it stick entering turn 12.
From there, Gonzalez was able to hold on after the final restart to take the victory. It is the first-ever win for the Cupra Leon VZ TCR in IMSA competition.
Gonzalez and Powell’s margin of victory was 6.998 seconds over Eversley and Neto. Montour and Wittmer were third, then BHA’s Mason Filippi and Harry Gottsacker. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Tim Lewis Jr. and Dr. William Tally were fifth.
The result gives Montour and Wittmer the TCR points lead, but by only 10 points over Gottsacker. It is effectively a dead heat.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 Unofficial Results
There is only one race remaining on the Pilot Challenge calendar. That is the FOX Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Championships will be decided there.
The FOX Factory 120 is scheduled to go green at 12:40 p.m. ET on Oct. 10. Coverage will begin at 12:35 p.m. ET on the IMSA Official YouTube channel and on Peacock. Frontstretch will be on-site in Georgia to bring you all 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.