Championships on the Line at VIR

With the 2013 season winding down, the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón (ALMS) returns to Virginia International Raceway for Saturday’s Oak Tree Grand Prix.

This will be the second visit for the ALMS to the historic 17-turn, 3.27-mile road course near Danville, Va., when the green flag flies on Saturday Oct. 5 at 2:15 p.m. ET. With only the Petit Le Mans presented by Mazda at Road Atlanta on Oct. 19 remaining., the race is expected to play a major role in determining the final class of champions for the ALMS.

Corvette Racing can claim the coveted GT manufacturer title by winning the race, in addition to claiming the team championship if either car finishes at least sixth.

In the battle for the GT drivers’ crown, Compuware Corvette Racing co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia can eliminate BMW driver Dirk Muller if they win and the latter finishes outside of the top four. In addition, Corvette Racing drivers Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner would need to take second to stay in contention if their teammates win.

Level 5 Motorsports will be looking to clinch the P2 team championship with a victory, while team driver Marino Franchitti can eliminate everyone except new co-driver Guy Cosmo if they finish the race, and Scott Tucker and Scott Sharp fail to complete the minimum 70-percent distance needed to score points.

While drivers Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr have already clinched the P1 drivers’ championship along with the engine manufacturer’s title for Honda, HPD can add the P1 chassis manufacturer title and Muscle Milk Pickett Racing the P1 team championship by winning the race.

A victory could also clinch the Prototype Challenge presented by Continental Tire (PC) crown for Mike Guasch if Colin Braun does not compete in the class (he is entered to drive the CORE autosport Porsche GT3 in GT). Jon Bennett and Tristan Nunez would also have to finish no higher than third.

The closest battle is in GTC, where Alex Job Racing drivers Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper MacNeil lead Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Spencer Pumpelly and Nelson Canache Jr. by four points (115-111), with NGT Motorsport’s Henrique Cisneros 10 points behind.