PWC: GT title tilt highlights 120-plus-car season finale in Monterey

By Oct 5, 2016, 11:38 AM EDT
Photo: PWC
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Barring some highly abnormal circumstances, the Pirelli World Challenge GT class will have a new driver’s champion this year, in what figures to be a highly entertaining one-race season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend.

Alvaro Parente holds a nine-point edge, 1554-1545, over Patrick Long. The Portuguese ace of the No. 9 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 is in search of his first World Challenge title and Long will look for his second in the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, his first since 2011.

Long’s title five years ago was the last not won by Johnny O’Connell of Cadillac Racing, who makes his likely final bow as defending champion this weekend. “Johnny Red” – and teammate Michael Cooper – retain an outside mathematical chance at the title on 1451 points. But only one of the Cadillac ATS-V.R teammates could win it if either driver wins the race, and neither Parente nor Long finishes and doesn’t score points.

Long also looks to help Porsche repeat as GT Manufacturer’s Champions in 2016 – Porsche comes into the weekend only one point behind McLaren, 131–130.

Here’s a look at the points tables for the weekend. If Long can finish ahead of Parente by two to three positions, he would be good to go to overtake him for the title. The task for Parente is simpler – so long as he finishes ahead of Long, the title is his.

A combined 30 cars are set between GT (16) GTA (10) and GT Cup (4), with Martin Fuentes (GTA) and Alec Udell (GT Cup) having already clinched their titles at Sonoma Raceway a couple weeks ago. Udell’s place at GMG Racing is taken this weekend by Chris Thompson.

Within GT, Austin Cindric looks for a first career win that got away in Sonoma (No. 6 McLaren), Spencer Pumpelly returns to the No. 34 RealTime Racing Acura TLX-GT in that car’s final run, Jonathan Summerton makes another start in DIME’s No. 66 Mercedes and Swiss driver Fabian Hemprecht is entered in the No. 88 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3, replacing Adderly Fong.

Jorge de la Torre makes his comeback to the driver’s seat in GTA, an interesting storyline following his accident at Lime Rock Park in May. He’s in the No. 4 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 in that class.

GTS sees Brett Sandberg with a 111-point lead (1473 to 1362) over Lawson Aschenbach, with the ANSA Motorsports KTM X-BOW GT4 driver looking to defeat Aschenbach, a four-time series champion, in his Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R.

Toby Grahovec (TC), Elivan Goulart (TCA) and P.J. Groenke (TCB) lead the Touring Car classes going into the final rounds of the season.

Sprint-X also returns for its third weekend of the year, but easily with its biggest grid yet. After running with only single-digit entries at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Utah Motorsports Campus, some 23 cars are entered in the new division, and it features a mix of GT, GTS and GT Cup entries.

The full entry list for the weekend is here, and the full schedule is linked here. Races start on Sat., Oct. 8, after testing, practice and qualifying Thursday and Friday.

After New York whirlwind, Josef Newgarden makes special trip to simulator before Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT
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DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

JOSEF’S FAMILY TIES: Newgarden wins Indy 500 with wisdom of father, wife

“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”