THE LINE - SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

(John Thawley  ~  Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com  ~ 248.227.011)
The GT action was an intense, flag-to-flag battle in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón race during the International Sports Car Weekend at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, last Saturday. Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette Racing Compuware Corvette C6.R, started by Jan Magnussen) prevailed in a race that ran start-to-finish under green, holding off high-pressure challenges by Dirk Muller (No. 56 BMW Team RLL Crowne Plaza BMW Z4 GTE, started by John Edwards) and Jonathan Bomarito (No. 93 Pennzoil SRT Viper GTS-R, started by Kuno Wittmer) over the closing 30 minutes to take the GT class victory. Muller got side-by-side with Garcia several times but couldn’t make the pass, then Bomarito passed Muller for second with five minutes remaining and closed to within .854 seconds of Garcia at the checkered flag. It was the third triumph of the season for the factory No. 3 Corvette, giving the driving duo the lead in the championship with just two races remaining. Tommy Milner and co-driver Oliver Gavin (No. 4 Corvette Racing Compuware Corvette C6.R) entered the race with a two-point lead in the GT standings, but Milner began experiencing transmission trouble as early as Lap 4, and pulled off and retired shortly before the one-hour mark with no points awarded. As a result, Magnussen and Garcia now unofficially lead Muller by 13 points (112-99), with Milner and Gavin at 94. Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf (No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03c) cruised to their seventh consecutive overall victory in the ALMS, completing 83 laps over the two-hour, 45-minute race. Luhr extended his ALMS-leading career victory total to 48. Level 5 Motorsports rebounded from an early challenge by Extreme Speed Motorsports to place 1-2 in the P2 class. Scott Tucker won for the sixth time this season, co-driving with Ryan Briscoe in the No. 551 Siemens/Alpina Watches/Ohiya Casino Resort HPD ARX-03b. Marino Franchitti and Guy Cosmo placed second in the team’s No. 552 entry, 5.279 seconds behind at the finish. Kyle Marcelli and Chris Cumming scored their first Prototype Challenge presented by Continental Tire (PC) victory of the season in the No. 8 BAR1 Motorsports Evident Capital/MBRP Performance Exhaust Merchant Services ORECA FLM09. With the GT class leaders lapping their GTC counterparts right at the end of the race, GTC class leader Sean Edwards (No. 30 NGT Motorsport MOMO Porsche 911 GT3 started by Henrique Cisneros) was bumped wide by Garcia as he went by. That move opened the door for Damian Faulkner to take the lead and win for the first time in the No. 66 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup he shared with Ben Keating. Edwards held on for second in GTC. The next ALMS event will be the Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway on Oct. 5, the last race before the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Oct. 20. Check out John Thawley's terrific images from Austin here.

(Infiniti/Red Bull Racing)
Sebastian Vettel (No. 1 Infiniti Red Bull Racing-Renault RB9) dominated the Singapore Grand Prix, his third win in a row at the Marina Bay street circuit. It was Vettel's seventh win of the 2013 season and the 33rd win of his illustrious Formula 1 career. Fernando Alonso (No. 3 Scuderia Ferrari F138) finished second and Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) was third. Vettel now leads Alonso in the Drivers’ Championship battle by 60 points (247 to 187) with six races to go in the season. Infiniti Red Bull Racing now has 377 Constructors’ Championship points, followed by Ferrari (274) and Mercedes (267). Next stop for F1 is the Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam.

(Photo by Brian Czobat, © 2013 LAT Photo USA/Courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot Husky Toyota Camry) and Joe Gibbs Racing are smokin' hot at exactly the right time. Kenseth notched his second straight victory in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship by winning the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Speedway Sunday, finishing .533 seconds ahead of his JGR teammate, Kyle Busch. Greg Biffle (No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing 3M Ford Fusion) finished third. Kenseth, the 2003 Sprint Cup champion, was making his 500th start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He led a race-high 106 laps in winning for the seventh time this season, for the first time in New Hampshire and for the 31st time in his career. Kenseth leads Kyle Busch by 14 points in the Chase. Watch NASCAR videos here.

(Photo by Brian Czobat, © 2013 LAT Photo USA/Courtesy of Toyota Racing)
Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing M&Ms Toyota Camry) emphasized the strength of Joe Gibbs Racing at the moment by finishing a close second to Matt Kenseth in New Hampshire. The mercurial and supremely talented Busch has displayed a new calmness and discipline, allowing him to focus on his racing. He is very much in the thick of the race for the Sprint Cup championship.

(Photo by Russell LaBounty,© 2013 Autostock/Courtesy of Ford Racing)
Nineteen-year-old Ryan Blaney (No. 22 Penske Racing Discount Tire Ford Mustang) won his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race in fifteen starts in the Kentucky 300 at Kentucky Speedway Saturday night. Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing AdvoCare Chevrolet Camaro) finished second, followed by Matt Crafton (No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Rheem/Menard's Chevrolet Camaro). Watch the video here.

(Image courtesy of Audi Motorsport)
Audi remains unbeaten in the current WEC season as Loïc Duval/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish (No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro) celebrated their third WEC victory this year on the demanding "Circuit of the Americas" in Austin, Texas. The trio finished with a 23.617-second advantage in front of the No. 8 Toyota TS030 HYBRID driven by Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin. This marked the fifth victory for Audi in five WEC rounds this year and the sixth LMP win in succession, if the triumph at the Sebring 12 Hours in March is included in the tally. It also marked the 100th overall victory in LMP for Audi. Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluye (No. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro) came back to finish third after a number of problems. The sixth of eight rounds in the FIA World Championship (WEC) will take place at Fuji, Japan, on October 20. Overview of Audi’s 100 LMP overall victories: Audi R8 (2000-2006) - 63 victories; Audi R10 TDI (2006-2008) - 22 victories; Audi R15 TDI (2009-2011) - 3 victories; Audi R18 TDI/ultra/e-tron quattro (since 2011) - 12 victories.

(Aston Martin The Americas)
Aston Martin Racing won both GTE classes at the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) Six Hours of Circuit of the Americas. The GTE Pro race-winning No. 99 Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Bruno Senna and Fred Makowiecki started from the front and finished 15 seconds clear of the second place car. Stuart Hall and Jamie Campbell-Walter (No. 96 Aston Martin GTE) won the GTE Am class with Nicki Thiim, Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen (No. 95 Aston Martin GTE) finishing 1.7 seconds behind.

(Aston Martin The Americas)

(Global RallyCross Championship)
Scott Speed (OMSE 2 Ford Fiesta) won his second race of the Global RallyCross season at Charlotte Motor Speedway last weekend. Brian Deegan (Rockstar Energy OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST) claimed his second runner-up of the season. And after five consecutive wins, a third place by Toomas Heikkinen (Bluebeam OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST) was enough to claim the 2013 Global Rallycross Championship. “This is such a great moment for us,” said Heikkinen, who was the first to driver to win back-to-back X Games gold medals this year. “It is a very good feeling to have done so well and be on the podium once again. The race here was definitely the toughest so I was happy to be able to finish third. Winning the GRC Championship was really a dream for me so it’s quite good to have won it one race before the last race of the season,” said Heikkinen, who made history by clinching the championship before the final race. Unlike 2012, this year’s Charlotte race took place on the Dirt Track facility and was primarily comprised of dirt. The track included multiple obstacles including an exit out of the oval and onto to the tarmac, which then lead the cars to a long jump that lead back into the dirt. The sweep at Charlotte’s Dirt Track was the fourth for Ford and the OlsbergsMSE team this season. A Ford won five of a possible six heats and accounted for the two fastest cars after the seeding session. Ford had five cars in the nine-car final and has now claimed 20 out of a possible 24 podium finishes through eight races, including seven victories.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
SafeRacer polesitter Sedat Yelkin (No. 75 Everclear Swift 014a Toyota), of Canfield, Ohio, drove flag-to-flag to capture his first-career Formula Atlantic national title at the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs® at Road America. Keith Grant, of Germantown, Tenn., finished second, while Michael Mallinen, of Liberty Lake, Wash., finished third.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Andy Wolverton (No. 86 Raw Racing/Hoosier/Angry Sheep moto Chevrolet Corvette C5), of Papillion, Neb., won his second-career Touring 2 National Championship at the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs® at Road America. Kurt Rezzetano, of Phoenixville, Pa., finished second. Matthew Pullano, of Endwell, N.Y., finished third. Wolverton set the Hawk Hot Lap (2:24.128, 99.911 mph) en route to the win by 5.950-seconds.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Pole-sitter Andrew Aquilante (No. 36 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette), of Chester Springs, Pa., dominated the Touring 1 National title race at the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs® at Road America for his second victory of the weekend. Jerry Onks, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Michael Pettiford, of Louisville, Colo., completed the podium.  Aquilante weathered the race’s three-lap caution to win by 34.182-seconds, at an average speed of 83.542 mph. Aquilante also turned the Hawk Hot Lap with a 2:15.216 (106.496 mph).

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Mark Mercer (No. 34 Ferenco/Hoosier Tires Lola 90/91 Ford), of Aurora, Colo., earned his third Sports Car Club of America National Championship, winning Sports 2000 at the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America. Bart Wolf (No. 8 Goodyear/Lake Street Carbir CS2.8 Ford), of Elkhart Lake, Wis., and David Doran, of Cincinnati, Ohio, completed the podium. With planned changes in the Sports Racing category of SCCA, it marked the 34th, and final, Sports 2000 race as a class, with Mercer becoming its second-most decorated driver, tying Bob Lobenberg with his third title. Mercer started from the SafeRacer Pole Position and held the lead from start to finish in the 40-minute limited, 10-lap race around the 4.048-mile circuit. His win did not come easy, though, as Wolf was charging at the finish, challenging for the position through Canada Corner and into Turn 13 on the final lap.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Darryl Wills (No. 23 Hillenburg Motorsports/Hoosier Tire Star Formula Mazda) of Houston, Texas, earned his third Formula Mazda victory in four years Saturday in the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs® at Road America. He was followed by Brian Lift of Crestwood, Ill., and Robert Noell of Cary, N.C. Wills moved from third to first with a series of moves on the third of 10 laps. Wills’ winning move came when he passed SafeRacer polesitter Doug Peterson, who had led the opening two laps, on the outside of the Carousel, which earned Wills the Go-Pro Hero Move of the Race. His margin of victory over Lift was 14.363 seconds.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Tim Kautz (No. 88 Braeburn/Two Dogg/Hoosier/Euroquipe DF3D Honda), of Geneva, Ill., narrowly beat Reid Hazelton (No. 01 Hoosier/LMI Averill Stuff/Farley Engine Van Diemen RF92 Ford), of Burlington, Wis., by 0.100-second Saturday to capture the Formula F title at the 50th SCCA National Championship Runoffs® at Road America. Jeff Bartz, of Plymouth, Wis., finished third. Kautz, the Saferacer polesitter, and Hazelton treated SCCA race fans to the closest race finish of the weekend so far and they did it in grand fashion. Both drivers swapped the top spot several times throughout the 13-lap race. Leading on the final lap, Kautz drove hard into Turn 1 and slid wide, allowing Hazelton to take the lead. Now leading, Hazelton did everything he could to keep Kautz behind him, but Kautz broke late in Turn 5 and retook the lead. But the two weren’t done. Hazelton passed Kautz in Canada Corner and held the lead coming out of the final corner up the hill. At the stripe, Kautz passed Hazelton for the final time – securing back-to-back Formula F National Championships and his third career FF title. Kautz’s pass at the line earned him the GoPro Hero Move of the Race.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
SafeRacer polesitter Peter Portante (No. 24 Hoosier Tire/Innercity Lines Van Diemen RF01 Ford) of Plainville, Conn., emerged from an early battle with David Grant to win the Formula Continental® race Sunday at Road America, part of the 50th SCCA® National Championship Runoffs ®. It was the maiden Runoffs race for the 17-year-old Portante, who averaged 102.997 mph after leading nine of 13 laps. Christopher Miller, of Edina, Minn., finished second, ahead of Robert Allaer, of Lithia, Fla. Portante spent the first half of the race challenging Grant, as they swapped the lead several times around the 4.048-mile, 14-turn track. They pulled away from Miller by several car lengths after five laps, and on Lap Six, Portante made the final lead change. He quickly established a six-car length lead, and never looked back. Editor-in-Chief's Note: Thank you to the SCCA for providing the race reports and photos from the Runoffs. We really appreciate it. - PMD.

(IMSA)

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) announced on Thursday, September 12, that TUDOR has been named entitlement partner for the next five years of what now will be known as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The IMSA announcement preceded TUDOR’s official U.S. launch during New York Fashion Week. The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship extends ties of the prestigious Swiss watchmaking market to premier U.S. sports car racing dating back to 1959, when NASCAR Founder and IMSA Co-Founder Bill France Sr. and Rolex formed their initial relationship. Rolex will continue to serve as Title Sponsor of the annual Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. Rolex will also continue as Official Timepiece at Sebring International Raceway. In 1926, Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf registered “The Tudor” brand and established Montres Tudor SA in 1946. From 2009 to 2011, TUDOR had a partnership with Porsche Motorsports as Timing Partner, and two years later, it began its collaboration with Ducati as global Timing Partner. Its affiliation with the FIA World Endurance Championship — which includes a race in Austin, Texas, alongside the American Le Mans Series race later this month — commenced this year. The inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will debut next January with the 52nd Rolex 24 At Daytona. The complete USCC 2014 schedule:

Jan. 25-26: Daytona International Speedway

March 15: Sebring International Raceway

April 12: Long Beach (with INDYCAR)

May 4: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

May 31: Detroit Belle Isle (with INDYCAR)

June 29: Watkins Glen International 

July 13: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 

July 25: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Aug. 10: Road America

Aug. 24: Virginia International Raceway 

Sept. 20: Circuit of The Americas 

Oct. 4: Road Atlanta

*With three circuits (Long Beach, Detroit Belle Isle and Virginia International Raceway) on the 2014 schedule not having all four TUDOR United SportsCar Championship classes competing, each class (Prototype, Prototype Challenge, GT Le Mans and GT Daytona) will race 11 times next season. In addition, preseason test sessions have been set for Nov. 16-17 at Sebring International Raceway and Nov. 19-20 at Daytona International Speedway. The test sessions will be open to all four classes of cars that will compete in the new championship: Prototype, Prototype Challenge, GT Le Mans and GT Daytona.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: According to the press release: "Following a four-hour steering committee meeting at Circuit of The Americas between officials from the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the Automobile Club l’Ouest (ACO), both organizations today confirmed a collaborative decision that cars eligible for the Prototype class in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the LM P2 category internationally will remain so through the conclusion of the 2016 season." This means that the former GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series’ DP class, as well as the P2 cars from the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón (ALMS) will be eligible for two more seasons beginning in January. (It also includes the DeltaWing DWC13.) This is a cost-efficient move, especially for the American teams who choose to stick with running the GRAND-AM DP cars. “This is outstanding news for prototype teams all over the world,” said IMSA Chairman Jim France. “This addresses long-term on-track competitive stability, along with the economic realities of today’s business climate that face everyone wanting to compete at sports car racing’s highest level." In other words, Jim France gets his way and his beloved DP cars survive to be (somewhat) relevant for a couple more seasons. And all the parties involved get to hand-wring for another two years while trying to come up with a rules package that's relevant and somewhat cost-efficient for prototype racing. This passes for progress when it comes to major league road racing in this country in this day and age. I guess we're all supposed to go along to get along and get used to it. We'll see. - PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: My friend Jeff Zwart passed along his new video for Forza Motorsport - "FilmSpeed." As Jeff commented: "Our latest, enjoy something done totally in camera… no special effects." Watch the visual awesomeness here. - PMD