IMSA confirms 2015 TUDOR, Continental Tire series schedules - MotorSportsTalk

Lost in the shuffle a bit on Sunday in the wake of the Tony Stewart news and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, then finish at Watkins Glen, was the release of the NASCAR-owned IMSA championships releasing their 2015 schedules.

Here’s the nuts and bolts: for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, Indianapolis and Kansas have been dropped, with Lime Rock added in the last weekend in July for the PC and GTD classes. PC also replaces GTD at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July.

This is all part of an aim to reduce the overall racing schedule from 11 races down to 10, as the extra racing time has added substantially to team budgets.

“When we set out to create the inaugural TUDOR Championship schedule we wanted to have a calendar that featured the most iconic endurance races, historic road courses and major market street circuits in North America all on the same schedule,” said IMSA President and COO Scott Atherton. “We have confirmed all of those elements once again on the 2015 schedule, while also adding another noteworthy venue in Lime Rock Park. This is a schedule that we are confident will be embraced by the industry and sports car fans worldwide.”

The Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge schedule mirrors the TUDOR one nearly to a T. Every CTSC weekend will occur alongside the TUDOR Championship, with no standalone weekends as there were this year at Lime Rock and Kansas. CTSC will not race at the Long Beach and Detroit events, but otherwise will be on each TUDOR Championship weekend.

2015 TUDOR UNITED SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Date	Event	Classes
*Jan. 24-25	Daytona International Speedway	ALL
*March 21	Sebring International Raceway	ALL
April 18	Long Beach Street Circuit	P/GTLM
May 3	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	P/GTLM and PC/GTD
May 30	Detroit Belle Isle	P/GTD
*June 28	Watkins Glen International	ALL
July 12	Canadian Tire Motorsport Park	P/PC/GTLM
July 25	Lime Rock Park	PC/GTD
Aug. 9	Road America	ALL
Aug. 23	Virginia International Raceway	PC/GTLM/GTD
Sept. 19	Circuit of The Americas	ALL
*Oct. 3	Road Atlanta	ALL

*Denotes Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup rounds.

2015 CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTSCAR CHALLENGE SCHEDULE

Date	Event	Classes
Jan. 23	Daytona International Speedway	ALL
March 20	Sebring International Raceway	ALL
May 2	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	ALL
June 27	Watkins Glen International	ALL
July 11	Canadian Tire Motorsport Park	ALL
July 24-25	Lime Rock Park	GS/ST SPLIT
Aug. 8	Road America	ALL
Aug. 22	Virginia International Raceway	ALL
Sept. 18	Circuit of The Americas	ALL
Oct. 2	Road Atlanta	ALL

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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17^th after qualifying 14^th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)