Balogh, Grist Claim Win in Airbnb Endurance Challenge at VIR

As Ari Balogh slid off course in Turn 3 following contact from Farhan Siddiqi in the No. 87 FastMD with Remstar Duqueine D08 Nissan on the first lap of Sunday’s two-hour IMSA Airbnb Endurance Challenge race at Virginia International Raceway, he likely didn’t expect to find himself standing in victory lane two hours later.

But that’s exactly where he wound up alongside his No. 30 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 Toyota co-driver Garett Grist thanks to heady strategy from Toney Driver Development Owner Nathan Toney and a well-timed full-course caution period.

The first-lap incident put Balogh at the rear of the field, but the first of the race’s three full-course cautions for debris just four minutes into the race enabled him to catch back up to the rest of the field.

Shortly after achieving minimum drive-time, Balogh made the first of the team’s two required pit stops to turn the car over to Grist for the remainder of the race. The turning point came for Grist and the No. 30 team with 46 minutes left.

Grist entered pit lane for his second required two-minute, 15-second pit stop before the final full-course caution came out to retrieve Wyatt Brichacek’s No. 95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325 and Patrick Liddy’s No. 86 Forte Racing Ligier from the tire barriers at VIR’s famed “Oak Tree” turn.

He ultimately rejoined the field one lap down to the first- and second-place runners, Oscar Tunjo in the No. 1 Gebhardt Motorsport Duqueine D09 Toyota and Danny Soufi in the No. 11 PINAXIS-ZONE 4 Racing Duqueine, but both Tunjo and Soufi still needed to make their final pit stops after the full-course caution period ended.

With lap times in the 1-minute, 44-second range, Grist managed to unlap himself and build more than a 30-second lead at the end of the pit stop cycle.

Grist took the lead with 16 minutes to go and pulled away over the remaining distance – despite substantial damage to the right rear of the car from the opening-lap incident – to win by 40.611 seconds over Soufi.

Balogh and Grist became the third different winners in three Airbnb Endurance Challenge races this season, but for much of the race, it appeared Tunjo and co-driver Valentino Catalano would be celebrating their second victory after taking the season opener at Sebring in March.

Catalano led throughout his stint after starting the race from the pole position and Tunjo reclaimed the lead once he took over.

But the timing of his final pit stop put Tunjo well behind and a brief off-course excursion with 16 minutes to go promoted Soufi to second place, where he finished alongside co-driver Jake Williamson.

Catalano and Tunjo came home third but unofficially remain atop the Airbnb Endurance Challenge point standings with 950 points, 20 more than No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier JS P325 co-drivers Brian Thienes and Patrick Kujala – who finished fourth in Sunday’s race – and 40 more than Grist and Balogh.

RESULTS: Race