2015 Sebring 12 Hours Updates - MotorSportsTalk

7:30 p.m. ET: As the race nears its final three-hour stint, domination has been the story of the day in all classes.

It’s been Action Express Racing (P), PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (PC), Porsche North America (GTLM) and either Riley Motorsports or Alex Job Racing (GTD) pretty much controlling the race as it’s developed.

Will they all hold on to win? Stay tuned.

5:00 p.m. ET: The race is past halfway, six hours down and six to go. IndyCar star Scott Dixon led at the halfway point, but the bigger story thus far is Action Express Racing hitting a major milestone of 10,000 consecutive miles completed since the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship began at the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The No. 5 car has completed every lap of competition to date since that race.

Meanwhile in GTLM and GTD, the top seven cars are on the lead lap in both classes.

2:00 p.m. ET: The race is past the three-hour mark. Both of the LMP2-spec cars expecting to contend have fallen out of contention.

First off, Ozz Negri crashed in the second hour when he lost control of his No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda over the curbs at Turn 14. Negri was attempting to pass Bryan Sellers in the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR but ran wide and then collected the barriers.

Secondly, Krohn Racing went behind the wall to make repairs, and got a new nose and new muffler on its No. 57 car. It’s cost the car five laps, but Pla, Krohn and Nic Jonsson press on.

Sebastien Bourdais has controlled the race in this phase in P and overall, with former Champ Car teammate Bruno Junqueira on top in PC, Nick Tandy leading GTLM and Ben Keating GTD past the three-hour mark.

12:00 p.m. ET: Past one hour into the 63rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the race has resumed under green after an extended yellow to remove the stopped No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE.

Olivier Pla led for the entirety of his first stint in the No. 57 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd before pitting and handing off to Tracy Krohn. Ryan Dalziel assumed the lead on the pit sequence.

Other leaders at the one-hour mark included Conor Daly (PC), Joerg Bergmeister (GTLM) and Mario Farnbacher (GTD).

There wasn’t too much to report, other than this critter nugget:

Teams reporting a raccoon running down pit road #Sebring12 #critter

— TUDOR Championship (@UnitedSportsCar) March 21, 2015

Follow @TonyDiZinno

It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗪𝗔𝗦. 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗖.@EagleRaceway went above and beyond in their return to the main stage with the High Limit Sprint Car Series tonight!

pic.twitter.com/H3XKQEOpg6

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 7, 2023

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

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