Barber weekend, Sunday notes for PWC, MRTI - MotorSportsTalk

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – There are three races today beyond the Verizon IndyCar Series and the first of those is in the books this morning, the Pirelli World Challenge GT/GTA/GT Cup second race this year.

Here’s that report, below, before two Mazda Road to Indy races for the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires:

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Michael Cooper has parlayed his early season pace and results into his first win in the GT class, driving the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R in PWC.

The past GTS (2015) and TC (2012) class champion used excellent defense against Saturday winner Alvaro Parente in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3, after getting by the Portuguese driver on the start.

Once ahead, Cooper scythed through traffic and used slower GT Cup class cars to his advantage to beat Parente home.

“After making a slight mistake at the start yesterday, I was determined to get it right today,” said Cooper. “I knew that the race was going to be won or lost at the start, so I dared greatly to move on the outside and I was able to take the lead heading into Turn 2.

“I knew from being behind Alvaro yesterday how hard it would be to put a move on and get passed. I just tried to be aware that he might be setting me up for big dive-bomb maneuver, but he is a pro and it never came.

“It is still a little surreal that I just got my first win for Cadillac. I think it will set in later. It is absolutely awesome to come through the ranks of World Challenge and get a win at the top level.”

Two more sports car veterans were third and fourth, with Johnny O’Connell in the No. 3 Cadillac ahead of Patrick Long in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Martin Fuentes inherited the GTA win, his seventh in as many races, after Frankie Montecalvo slowed with mechanical issues in the final 10 minutes.

Meanwhile Alec Udell took the GTC win for his second win in as many days.

The 50-minute race ran caution free and was a better showcase for the series after tough races in St. Petersburg and Long Beach, and with a couple yellows also interrupting the flow of the first Barber race on Saturday.

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Here’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, a two-time Barber winner, presenting country music star/singer/songwriter Sara Evans with a commemorative milk bottle. Evans is the race’s grand marshal today.

.@RyanHunterReay had the pleasure presenting @saraevansmusic with a commemorative #Indy500 milk bottle today. #HIGPA pic.twitter.com/uvPErjMtsB

— Andretti Autosport (@FollowAndretti) April 24, 2016

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The Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race was a similar story as it has been in the three previous races: two Team Pelfrey teammates 1-2 with Pato O’Ward leading home Aaron Telitz for the third time in four races this year. Garett Grist finished third for Juncos Racing, same as he did on Saturday.

The one other key moment this race involved the other Pelfrey Pro Mazda driver, Weiron Tan, who survived a barrel roll of an accident following apparent contact with Jake Parsons of Juncos. Parsons endured something of a nightmare weekend and was at least able to complete one lap, while Tan was done on the spot.

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Both KVSH Racing and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have announced plans for a press conference on Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. ET, to announce a driver and sponsor combination for the third KVSH car (Sebastien Bourdais for KVSH, and Matthew Brabham for PIRTEK Team Murray the other two) for this year’s 100th Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

If you read this post yesterday, you’ll have an idea on who that driver is expected to be.

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Prior to the IndyCar race, Santiago Urrutia won his first Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race to make it five winners in as many races. The Pro Mazda champion follows Felix Serralles, Felix Rosenqvist, Kyle Kaiser and Ed Jones to win this year. That quick report is broken out into a separate post from the AP, here.

Follow @TonyDiZinno

For the fifth time in 10 rounds of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season, the three riders at the top of the championship standings shared a podium and while those points tell one story, the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Detroit tell a slightly different tale.

SuperMotocross Power Rankings Detroit — *Cooper Webb is peaking at the right time. – Feld Motor Sports*

Chase Sexton has been all but perfect during the past 45 days with podium finishes in each of his heats and Triple Crown features. His only stumble during this period was a 10th-place finish in the Indianapolis Main. Last week, Sexton was perfect with wins in both his heat and the feature, although he needed a little help from an Aaron Plessinger mistake to take the top spot on the podium at the end of the night.

Cooper Webb finished fifth at Houston and was beginning to worry ever so slightly about his position in the points. Prior to the race in Tampa, he told NBC Sports that it was time to win and like Babe Ruth pointing to the outfield fence, Webb went out and captured it. Following that race, Webb has swept the podium and earned the red plate two weeks ago in Indianapolis. At Detroit, he added two more points on Eli Tomac as the season begins to wind down.

Tomac struggled with a stiff neck at Indianapolis and after a modest third-place showing in Detroit, he revealed he was still suffering a little. Webb and Sexton have been able to close the gap on Tomac in the past 45 days, but one of the main reasons he is so close in the points was a pair of wins that started the year. Seattle is going to be important for the defending champion because Tomac cannot afford to lose any more momentum with seven rounds remaining.

MORE: Chase Sexton inherits the win in Detroit

It appeared Jason Anderson was turning things around. He earned his fifth heat win at Detroit, which was also his sixth consecutive race (including features) in which he scored a top-five. A fall in the Detroit Main dropped him a lap off the pace and sent him home with a season-worst finish of ninth, causing a ripple effect in the SuperMotocross Power Rankings.

Justin Barcia was a huge part of the show last week in Detroit. He swapped positions with both Webb and Tomac in the middle stage of the race, which allowed Sexton to close the gap. Barcia finished fourth in that race to earn his third consecutive top-five. He’s been outside the top 10 only once in the first 10 rounds.

Adam Cianciarulo had a great start to the Main. He led a couple of laps before losing a lap and slipping back to eighth in the final rundown. That run was strong enough to elevate him three positions in the SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Detroit.

450 Rankings

This Week	Driver	Percentage Points	Last Week	Diff.
1.	Chase Sexton [2 Main, 6 Heat wins]	87.00	1	0
2.	Cooper Webb [2 Main, 1 Heat win]	86.71	2	0
3.	Eli Tomac [5 Main, 6 Heat wins]	84.57	3	0
4.	Jason Anderson [5 Heat wins]	80.71	4	0
5.	Ken Roczen [1 Main, 1 Heat win]	80.50	5	0
6.	Justin Barcia [1 Heat win]	79.07	7	1
7.	Aaron Plessinger	77.14	6	-1
8.	Adam Cianciarulo	69.75	11	3
9.	Christian Craig	68.86	10	1
10.	Justin Cooper	63.90	9	-1
11.	Justin Hill	58.57	15	4
12.	Dean Wilson	51.50	12	0
13.	Colt Nichols	51.25	13	0
14.	Shane McElrath	46.86	17	3
15.	Josh Hill	46.79	16	1
16.	Benny Bloss	45.31	18	2
17.	Jared Lesher	39.00		NA
18.	Joey Savatgy	38.63	14	-4
19.	Cade Clason	37.50	21	2
20.	Grant Harlan	35.54	23	3

Supercross 450 Points

The NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings look at the past 90 days in the 250 class in order to have a balanced comparison between the East and West divisions and Hunter Lawrence has been all but perfect this year. At Detroit, he earned his fifth win of the season and kept alive a streak of podium finishes in six rounds. He tied his brother Jett Lawrence with 10 250 wins one week before the West riders take to the track for back-to-back races at Seattle, Washington and Glendale, Arizona.

The Lawrence brothers are dominating the points in each of their respective divisions, which means the remainder of the field is battling to be best in class.

In the East, that rider is Nate Thrasher, who beat Hunter in a head-to-head matchup in their heat only to finish second in the main when the majority of points were awarded. Thrasher seems to have accepted his position in the championship standings, but that doesn’t mean he won’t keep trying for wins.

Haiden Deegan showed a lot of aggression in his heat last week. He threw a couple of block passes at his teammate Jordon Smith and set up a series of events that kept Smith from making the big show while Deegan settled into second in the preliminary. Deegan was unconcerned about how he raced his teammate and would not let a little controversy keep him from celebrating his second career podium in Detroit.

Supercross 250 Points

Jeremy Martin just keeps clicking off solid results. He won his heat last week by making a pass on Deegan and Smith while they were in the heat of their battle. Martin finished fourth in the Main, which means he continues to have only one finish worse than sixth in any of the features or mains.

Smith fell one position in the points standings, but the damage was even worse in SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Detroit. Crash damage in his heat contributed to a last-place finish in that race, for which he earned minimal points. He was not able to advance from the Last Chance Qualifier after stalling his bike in heavy traffic.

250 Rankings

This Week	Rider	Power Avg.	Last Week	Diff.
1.	Hunter Lawrence – E [5 Main, 5 Heat wins]	90.43	1	0
2.	Jett Lawrence – W [3 Main, 3 Heat wins]	90.30	2	0
3.	Nate Thrasher – E [1 Main, 3 Heat wins]	84.00	5	2
4.	Cameron McAdoo – W [1 Heat win]	79.80	9	5
5.	Haiden Deegan – E [1 Heat win]	78.21	7	2
6.	Jeremy Martin – E [2 Heat wins]	78.00	8	2
7.	Jordon Smith – E [3 Heat Wins]	76.77	4	-3
8.	Levi Kitchen – W [1 Main]	75.30	3	-5
9.	Mitchell Oldenburg – W	75.20	11	2
10.	RJ Hampshire – W [4 Heat wins]	74.50	17	7
11.	Max Anstie – E	74.43	6	-5
12.	Tom Vialle – E	72.07	12	0
13.	Max Vohland – W	71.56	10	-3
14.	Stilez Robertson – W [1 Heat win]	69.22	14	0
15.	Chris Blose – E	67.43	18	3
16.	Chance Hymas – E	67.10	15	-1
17.	Enzo Lopes – W	66.00	20	3
18.	Michael Mosiman – E	65.80	16	-2
19.	Pierce Brown – W	65.78	13	-6
20.	Phil Nicoletti – W	59.25	21	1

* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner and 90 points for each Heat and Triple Crown win, (Triple Crown wins are included with heat wins below the rider’s name). The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days for the 450 class and last 90 days for 250s (because of the split nature of their season).

POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 8 AT DAYTONA: Chase Sexton unseats Eli Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 7 AT ARLINGTON: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 6 AT OAKLAND: Perfect night keeps Tomac first
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 5 AT TAMPA: Sexton, Cooper Webb close in
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 4 AT HOUSTON: Tomac rebounds from A2 crash, retakes lead
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 3 AT ANAHEIM 2: Consistency makes Ken Roczen king
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 2 AT SAN DIEGO: Roczen moves up, Sexton falls
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1 AT ANAHEIM 1: Tomac, Jett Lawrence gain an early advantage

Read more about SuperMotocross