In what delivered to be an action-packed, chaotic race in IMSA’s return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, "The Captain" Roger Penske was able to see his tandem of the #6 and #7 GTP cars grab 1-2 on the Indy road course, a track that has produced a lot of success for Penske.
Coming into the race on Sunday, teams knew what was at stake when it came to not only the potential of history by winning at Indianapolis but also the chance to propel in the championship standings, which proved to be the case.
From the opening lap, which resulted in Sebastian Bourdais in the Chip Ganassi Racing #01 Cadillac spinning out in turn #1, a domino effect via the #7 Porsche Penske braking late, to the final handful of minutes in the race, teams did not lay off one another, which created a shuffled field, especially amongst the other four non-GTP classes.
While there weren’t big surprises in the LMP, with #17 of AWA grabbing the win in LMP3, finishing podium in both hybrid track races, earlier winning at Daytona, and #11 of TDS Racing claiming top of the class in LMP2s, the GTD-classes provided some excitement.
The big story of the day was Paul Miller Racing falling out of first place in the race, with the #57 Mercedes-AMG Winward Racing machine grabbing the GTD win after a late race pass by Phillip Ellis, who had to go wide to cut into the inside lane to make the pass with 20 minutes to go in the race.
Another Mercedes-AMG that was down in the championship standings, the #79 for WeatherTech Racing with Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon behind the wheel, was able to smoothly find its way to victory lane in the GTD Pro class, taking advantage of pit stops and penalties in the case of the #9 Pfaff Porsche early in the race to seal victory in what was an eventful afternoon.
Wild-Wild West
While many people can focus on some of the battles that happened this weekend amongst the other classes, the talk of the town continues to be the GTP class.
This weekend continued to prove how unpredictable and wild this season has been on the field.
From the opening start of the race -- which took out race favorite Sebastian Bourdais in the #01 Cadillac with the #25 BMW of RLL clipping the back side of the car -- to what was stated in the broadcast by Calvin Fish as "Rule 46.5.2," where Pipo Derani passed both Penske Porsches in the #31 Cadillac during caution due to them not responding to the movement up the grid, the craziness that happened during this race in GTPs shows that you never know what will happen in this class.
Coming into the race weekend, there were seven teams in contention for a chance at the season championship, with #10 Wayne Taylor Acura at the top of the board with still no wins.
While technically there are still seven teams within 200 points of the championship, four of the seven are within 100 points, truly the only four that will have a legitimate shot at a title.
Also, to put into perspective how equal of a season it has been, all four manufacturers have at least one of their teams still in contention, a sight to see heading into the season finale at Atlanta.
Overall, this weekend’s race continued to show off the risks and rewards that go along with a battle for a championship closing in, especially with a pass that Nick Tandy made with less than an hour to go, threading in between two GTD cars with absolutely no room to be had—one of the best moves of the season.
The move greatly helped the #6 Porsche Penske grab the class win by evading traffic, but it shows that teams are becoming less impatient and making moves when need be to try and take any spot possible towards a championship.
Final Thoughts
Now that the season turns its page towards the final chapter, the level of excitement and intrigue towards Road Atlanta begins as teams prepare for what should be one of the most exciting races of the season, especially with all the talent scheduled to be on display.
No mistake about it, though; Indy, as the penultimate race, is the perfect spot for it on the IMSA calendar.
With more unknowns than answers heading into Sunday for teams, the level of mystery and wonder as to how this race would play out was there, and it created what was the perfect pre-finale race.
This race offered so much more than just a chance to battle for a championship; it delivered the chance to race for immortality, and it was a great test for drivers and teams at a crucial point in the season.
With that being said, next season will offer up a new challenge with the race moving to a six-hour endurance event, joining the Michelin Endurance Cup lineup.
The move to six hours will greatly change the strategy and knowledge of how this race is, as teams will need to adapt in 2024 to the new changes in Indianapolis.
Nevertheless, Indy provided us with great racing and a lot of contact-enforced moves, such as in the LMP2 class, where we saw countless drivers spin out or get turned during the race due to traffic.
If there is anything to take away, it would be that 2024 Indy should be one of the more anticipated races on the schedule, but for now the focus will shift towards Atlanta (Oct. 11-14) as champions will be crowned in the 10-hour Petit Le Mans race.
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