Castroneves, Taylor Win Road America in Wild Wet Finish

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Acura Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor have claimed victory Sunday at Road America, in a wild red-flagged turned rain-soaked finish.

Castroneves took his No. 7 Acura ARX-05 across the line while under full-course caution conditions for the win following a multi-car accident at The Kink that brought out the yellow on the final lap.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner passed the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Renger van der Zande for the lead with less than five minutes to go, moments after the race’s restart following a red flag period for heavy rain and lightning.

The No. 77 Mazda RT24-P of Oliver Jarvis had been leading the two-hour and 40-minute scheduled contest, although pitted on the restart due to still being on slick Michelin tires.

Van der Zande briefly assumed the lead before being passed by Castroneves after the two cars made slight contact at Canada Corner.

It marked the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win of the season for Acura Team Penske.

The No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi of Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr completed the podium in third after an impressive comeback drive from Derani, who crashed the Whelen-sponsored car during the sudden downpour with 52 minutes to go.

The red flag came out ten minutes later.

Derani pitted for a new nose while under yellow flag conditions and restarted in sixth.

The No. 5 JDC-Miller Cadillac came home fourth, with the pair of Multimatic-run Mazda DPis completing the top-five in unrepresentative results after strong runs in the dry.  

Jarvis passed Castroneves for the lead with 58 minutes to go, just moments before the mayhem ensued.

It came after Harry Tincknell in the sister No. 55 Mazda DPi challenged the Brazilian for the lead in dry conditions.

LMP2 class honors went to the No. 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 Gibson of Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman after an accident for the pole-sitting PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry while under the safety car.

Simon Trummer reportedly made contact with the No. 6 Team Penske Acura DPi of Juan Pablo Montoya during the chaos in the rain, which ultimately ended in retirement for Trummer and co-driver Patrick Kelly.

It marked DragonSpeed’s first win since the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona after losing top class honors at Sebring due to Hedman not meeting the minimum drive time by less than two seconds.

Photo: Richard Prince/GM

Corvette Takes 1-2 Finish After BMW Spin

Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor scored their second class victory in the last three races following a crazy conclusion to the GT Le Mans battle, in a 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing.

Corvette has now won three races in a row with its new-for-2020 mid-engined Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.

Garcia crossed the line ahead of the No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner after an accident for the class-leading No. 24 BMW M8 GTE of John Edwards on the second-to-last lap.

Edwards and the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Nick Tandy were involved in the incident in the Kink, which ultimately forced the race to end under caution.

It came after Tandy inherited the class due to sticking on slicks through the yellow-turned-red period, although the Englishman pitted for full service once action resumed.

The pole-sitting No. 912 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor and Earl Bamber dominated the race prior to the downpour which saw the Kiwi lose control on the front-straight and slide into the Turn 1 barriers.

The No. 24 BMW of Edwards and Jesse Krohn was still classified as third place finishers in class.

Photo: Michael Stahlschmidt

Lexus Wins Again Despite Late MSR Acura Charge

Townsend Bell overcame a late-race charge by Mario Farnbacher to score AIM Vasser Sullivan’s third consecutive victory in GT Daytona.

Bell and co-driver Frankie Montecalvo scored their first wins for the team in a dominant run in the dry for the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3.

Mario Farnbacher nearly denied a Lexus three-peat after getting around Bell for the class lead with a daring move on the outside of Canada Corner with three minutes to go but spun his No. 86 Acura NSX GT3 Evo in the Kink the following lap.

Farnbacher and Matt McMurry settled for second, with the No. 14 Lexus pairing of Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz completing the podium.

RESULTS: IMSA SportsCar Weekend

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John