ALMS, Virginia International Raceway – Short Report
Muscle Milk Win As Three Titles Are Decided

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing returned to its winning ways on Saturday, when Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr completed a three-lap victory in the four-hour race at Virginia International Raceway in the #6 HPD ARX-03a.

The day also belonged to Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, who clinched the GT title with a class victory; Alex Job Racing’s Cooper MacNeil, who clinched the GT Challenge championship thanks to a class win with Leh Keen; and CORE Autosport’s Alex Popow, who wrapped up the Prototype Challenge title with a third-place class finish in the #06 ORECA FLM09 as CORE teammates Colin Braun and Jon Bennett won in the #05 entry.

The P1 and P2 championships will go down to the season’s final race, the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Level 5 Motorsports’ Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker won in P2 in a back-and-forth affair with Conquest Racing’s David Heinemeier-Hansson and Martin Plowman.

After two races with electrical and mechanical issues, the Muscle Milk HPD ran faultlessly for the entire weekend. Graf took pole position and set an all-time VIR lap record for the 17-turn, 3.27-mile layout. Luhr recorded the fastest lap of the race and also went quicker than the previous record.

Tucker and Bouchut won together in P2 for the fifth time this season in a class battle that had more ups and downs than VIR’s layout. But in the end, the #055 HPD ARX-03b came from the back of the grid to a class victory.

CORE Autosport’s sixth PC victory was the latest highlight in what has been a dominating season. Bennett and Braun won by a lap over PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ Rudy Junco and Marino Franchitti. It wasn’t without drama, though. Bennett, starting from the class pole, lost positions in the Turn 1 chaos but held steady in third place for most of his stint. It was at times a rough-and-tumble affair for both Bennett and Braun, who won for the third time this season.

In GT, Gavin and Milner led twice for more than three hours and took the lead for good at the one-hour, 15-minute mark in the #4 Corvette C6 ZR1. Gavin made his 100th ALMS start a memorable one by clinching his fourth class championship. Milner won his first at his home track to go along with a class victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2011.

The victory also sewed up the team championship for Corvette Racing and manufacturer title for Chevrolet.

MacNeil and Keen looked destined for a runner-up finish in GTC but took the lead on the next-to-last lap when JDX Racing’s Michael Valiante stopped for a late splash of fuel. Keen and the #22 AJR Porsche 911 GT3 Cup held off NGT Motorsport’s Jeroen Bleekemolen by 0.423 seconds.

The victory also gave Alex Job Racing its first ALMS team championship since 2004.

Full race review coming soon on DSC.