Dane Cameron lead Acura Team Penske to a 1-2 finish in the Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Sunday afternoon, leading teammate Helio Castroneves to the checkered flag by a margin of nearly 10 seconds.
The 1-2 finish is the 90th sports car victory for the legendary team, and it came in the team’s 200th start.
Castroneves’ co-driver Ricky Taylor started the race from the pole position and led early on, but eventually lost the lead to Cameron on lap 42.
When Taylor handed the No. 7 Acura ARX-05 over to Castoneves, the gap between the two Penske entries grew to nearly 20 seconds, as the three-time Indy 500 winner went off-course on his out lap.
Though Castoneves was able to slowly bridge the gap between the Penske entries, Cameron continued to hold on a healthy lead, and easily scored the victory.
In @Team_Penske's 200th sportscar start, they get a 1-2 finish in the #MontereyGP at @weathertechrcwy! pic.twitter.com/giQegKGIXZ
— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) September 15, 2019
The win was the third of the season for Cameron and co-driver Juan Pablo Montoya, and they were able to extend their championship lead to 12 points over Whelen Engineering Racing’s duo of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani, who finished the race in the third position.
LMP2: PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports scores fifth consecutive victory
Matt McMurry and Dalton Kellett easily took the top honors in LMP2, taking the No .52 Oreca 07 Gibson to victory lane for the fifth consecutive race, winning by one lap over the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry of Cameron Cassels and Kyle Masson.
“It’s been the perfect weekend,” McMurry told NBC Sports. “The car has been great all year.
“I just got to say thanks to the team and all of the co-drivers I’ve worked with this season. Everyone has done a fantastic job.”
GTLM: Hand, Mueller reach score first victory in over a year
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s duo of Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller scored their first class victory since Lime Rock in 2018, with the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE of Jesse Krohn and John Edwards finishing second after starting the race from the pole position.
Mueller took the lead early on in the race when Krohn lost drive coming out of Turn 1 on Lap 1. He continued to remain in the lead until the first round of pit stops approximately an hour into the race, ceding the lead to Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette C7.R.
With the Corvettes on a different pit strategy than the rest of the GTLM field, the No. 3 had to come in for its final stop with roughly 40 minutes remaining in the race.
Thus, the No. 66 Ford - now with Hand behind the wheel - took the lead back when Garcia made his stop. Hand continued to pace the field through the checkered flag.
Garcia and co-driver Jan Magnussen rounded out the GTLM podium.
GTD: Lewis, Sellers claim first victory of season
After winning the GTD pole Saturday afternoon, Corey Lewis led early on in Sunday’s race before making handing over driving duties to co-driver Bryan Sellers on lap 40.
Sellers easily led through the checkered flag, defeating Toni Vilander in the No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3 shared with Cooper MacNeil by over a half a minute.
“Today was a great day,” Sellers told NBC Sports. “When you look at how our race unfolded, it was a perfect team day.
“Corey put in a great stint. The car was fantastic.”
Andy Lally and John Potter rounded out the GTD podium. finishing third in the No. 44 Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship now heads to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the final race of the 2019 season, the Motul Petit Le Mans. Live race coverage begins Saturday, October 12 at 12 p.m. ET on NBC.