Ibiza Farm Motorsports’ Michael Cooper was able to get past KohR Motorsports’ Mike Skeen on the final lap after a late restart. He was then able to hold on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 with Moisey Uretsky. It is the duo’s second straight win at IMS.
Cooper and Uretsky’s margin of victory was 2.377 seconds over Skeen and Evan Slater. CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal were third, followed by Winward Racing’s Daan Arrow and Bryce Ward. AutoTechnic Racing’s Austin Krainz and Stevan McAleer overcame a penalty to finish fifth.
The Heart of Racing’s Hannah Greenemeier led from the overall pole and pulled away from the pack. Only McCumbee-McAleer Racing’s Finn Wiebelhaus was able to keep pace with her.
Starting up for The Heart of Racing has not been a problem for Greenemeier and teammate Hannah Grisham as this race marks the team’s fourth pole of the year. Keeping themselves up there towards the end of the races has been more of a problem. Of the three previous poles, their best finish has been sixth at Watkins Glen. Indianapolis ultimately equaled that.
11 minutes into the race, Panam Motorsport’s Caio Chaves spun at the end of Hulman Boulevard and nosed into the tires after contact from Winward Racing’s Bryce Ward. Chaves could not continue without assistance, resulting in the race’s first full course caution.
On the restart, Stallion Motorsports’ Celso Neto suffered a right front suspension collapse under braking for turn 1, forcing him to pull off. This brought the caution right back out.
The third yellow flew when TeamTGM’s Paul Holton spun in turn 4 after contact from Medusa Motorsports’ Hunter Yeany. He was then hit by Koch-Copeland Motorsports’ Ford Koch and YRB Racing’s Allen Patten, littering the track with debris in the process.
Patten’s Aston Martin came out of the crash with significant right front damage that forced them to go behind the wall. Despite losing a mirror and having damage, Koch continued without issue. Holton lost a couple of laps getting repairs. Yeany got a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
In the whole mess, KohR Motorsports’ Evan Slater was able to get around Wiebelhaus for second. Zach Veach was able to move up to third in his Czabok Simpson Motorsports Aston Martin.
Greenemeier led until the minimum drive-time of 40 minutes was met. At that point, she pitted to hand over to Grisham. Slater took over the lead.
The fourth yellow came out when Random Vandals Racing’s Samantha Tan spun into the gravel in turn 4 and got stuck. This brought the remaining teams into the pits for their first stops.
The Koch-Copeland Supra ran into trouble here. While the car was fine for the most part, the damage from the contact with Holton meant that the crew couldn’t close the drivers side door, costing Jaxon Bell a bunch of time.
Czabok Simpson Motorsports’ Ayrton Houk stayed out and took the overall lead. Shortly afterwards, the advantage was lost to Lucas Weisenberg.
Pit strategy more or less determined the rest of the race. Cooper was the first driver to pit under green for his final stop. Once Weisenberg stopped, that gave the advantage to Andretti Performance’s Gabby Chaves.
Chaves attempted to try to stretch his fuel all the way to the finish, but he didn’t have anywhere enough. With seven minutes to go, Chaves ran out and ground to a stop in turn 10 to bring out a yellow.
Skeen inherited the lead, but also had to conserve fuel. Chaves’ Porsche was quickly removed, setting up a one-lap shootout. Also, it began to rain, just to make things more interesting.
On the restart, teams struggled as the track was starting to get slippery. However, Cooper was able to take advantage of fresher tires to get up behind Skeen.
On the run to turn 7, Cooper got a big run on Skeen and dove to the inside. He was able to clear Skeen for the lead, but not before Skeen turned into Cooper’s right side. From there, Cooper held on for the lead.
On the final restart, Turner Motorsport’s Luca Mars had a mechanical issue and pulled off. That cost him the Grand Sport points lead.
KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Rocco Pasquarella started from the TCR pole in his Honda. It did not take long for him to open up a gap over the rest of the class.
In the run up to the caution, Stallion Motorsports’ Celso Neto was able to run down and take the lead away from Pasquarella. On the restart, disaster struck. Under braking for turn 1, the right front suspension collapsed on the car, forcing Neto to pull off and out of the race.
Neto’s issues gave Pasquarella the lead back. His main competition, much like in qualifying, came from Montreal Motorsports Group’s Louis-Phillippe Montour.
Unlike in qualifying, Montour was able to overcome Pasquarella’s advantage and snatch the class lead. A couple of laps later, everyone pitted during the fourth yellow. Here, Bryan Herta Autosport’s Mark Wilkins won the race off of pit road to take the lead, but pitted again on the restart.
That gave the lead to Karl Wittmer in the MMG Honda. Victor Gonzalez Racing’s Tyler Gonzalez charged up to second in his Cupra VZ TCR and began to pressure Wittmer for the class lead. It only took a couple of laps for the No. 99 Cupra to move into the
Behind the leaders, Gonzalez’s teammate Caleb Bacon was up to third as Tim Lewis Jr. fell back to fifth in the KMW Honda.
Gonzalez was able to hold on over the final 45 minutes to take the victory with Steven Clemons. It is the duo’s second straight victory and VGR’s second straight Indianapolis victory.
Clemons and Gonzalez’s margin of victory was .995 seconds over Bryan Herta Autosport’s Preston Brown and Denis Dupont. Montour and Wittmer were third, then Gou Racing’s Eddie and Eduardo Gou. Point leaders Mason Filippi and Bryson Morris were fifth.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 Unofficial Results
There is only one more race remaining on the Pilot Challenge schedule. That is the FOX Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Coverage of that race is scheduled to start at 11:35 a.m. ET Oct. 2 on the IMSA Official YouTube channel and Peacock.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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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