Luhr, Graf secure fourth straight win in ALMS

By Jul 21, 2013, 3:27 PM EDT
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Muscle Milk Pickett Racing’s duo of Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf continued their dominance of the American Le Mans Series today, securing their fourth consecutive overall victory with a triumph in the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The team basically went unchallenged throughout the 2-hour, 45-minute race in Ontario, with Luhr, the ALMS’ all-time wins leader, taking the checkered flag in the No. 6 HPD ARX-03c after entering the cockpit with one hour remaining in the event.

“Klaus did a long first stint and I just had to bring it home, so it’s very, very tough to keep your motivation and concentration,” Luhr said after the race on ESPN. “But we managed it. It’s another good day for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing – the boys really deserved it and it’s a good birthday present for Klaus.”

With Luhr and Graf burying their competition in the P1 class, the big late-race battle turned out to be in the GT class, where a pair of classic American muscle car brands, Corvette and Viper, fought it out for top honors.

Tommy Milner (co-driver: Oliver Gavin), in the No. 4 Corvette C6 ZR1, and Dominik Farnbacher (co-driver: Marc Goossens), in the No. 91 Viper GTS-R, battled tooth and nail along the 2.46-mile circuit in the final moments. But in the end, it was Milner that came out on top by less than three-tenths of a second over Farnbacher.

“I knew after that yellow flag [with 54 minutes left] that we would be nose-to-tail for a while,” Milner said of his pursuer. “I got through traffic a bit better than he did, but right at the end, I got the worst of traffic and he was right on me. That last lap, he was quick in [Turn] 8 there and I was either going to spin or take the lead, so I just threw it in there and it stuck, and here we are – P1.”

In the P2 category, Marino Franchitti secured a win for himself, co-driver Scott Tucker, and Level 5 Motorsports in the No. 551 HPD ARX-03b, ahead of their Extreme Speed Motorsports rivals, Scott Sharp and Guy Cosmo, in the No. 01 HPD entry.

Prototype Challenge went to Colin Braun and Jonathan Bennett in the No. 05 CORE Autosport Oreca FLM09, while the No. 22 Alex Job Racing Porsche team of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper MacNeil reigned supreme in GT Challenge.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”