Tag: TireRack Battle on the Bricks

Battle on the Bricks Final Thoughts

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A perfect day for racing brought a good-sized crowd to IMS yesterday for the third Battle on the Bricks. They were treated to a very good race. American manufacturers finished 1-2 in GTP as two Cadillac powered cars fought for the win in the last hour, and a Ford Mustang won the GTD Pro class.

Fans Show Up

On Friday I had concerns about weekend attendance. The speedway was quite empty, and energy was lacking. The IMSA Weather Tech Series had just a single practice session around midday, which could have accounted for the lull.

On Saturday, the place had more fans than I expected. The Michelin Plot Challenge race featured down to the wire wins in both classes, with leads and podium positions changing in the final five minutes.

I was still not prepared for Sunday morning. It was a non 500 event, and I thought if I arrived at 10 am I could breeze straight to my partaking spot in Lot 2. That was not the case. I sat on CrawfordsvilleRoadfor40minutes before I reached Auburn Street, then it was another 20 minutes before I parked in a nearly filled lot.

I am not complaining. It reminded me of the morning of the Indianapolis 500. I was happy to see the turnout. I went tom the upper deck of B stand to w3atch the start. Last year I sat in this spot with three friends. We had an entire section to ourselves, and we could have easily moved to another section if we chose to do so. Yesterday, I had to search for a single open seat.

At the halfway point of the race I trekked to the mounds in turns 1 and 2 of the road course, and I found another large gathering, not quite as large a group as for the Indy Grand Prix in May, but a respectable number of fans.

The Race

Sports car racing is an acquired taste, and the more I watch it, the more I like it. With four classes of cars competing at once, the skill involved for the faster cars to get around the slower classes is impressive.

The road course at IMS is a natural fit for today’s sports cars. The cars are fast, the track flows well, and it offers many passing opportunities.

At the beginning of the weekend, I was glad that the race would return to a two hour, forty minute event in 2026. I thought the six hour format was too long, based on the 2024 race. After yesterday, I am not so sure. Yesterday’s race was very good.

Some highlights and personal notes:

There was a great battle early in the GTD Pro class between the AO Racing Porsche and one of the Ford Mustangs. The two swapped the lead several times each lap, but the Porsche led at the line.

Later, The leading GTP Cadillac of Whelen Engineering had a stiff challenge first one of the Meyer Shank Acuras, and the from another Cadillac from Wayne Taylor Racing.

I love the sound of the Aston Martin. The high pitched whine as it accelerated out of the final turn and onto the main straight sent this old race fan’s heart a fluttering.

Romain Grosjean was having a great day in the Lamborghini, a team that has struggled this season. Grosjean was running fourth late in the race when contact with the number 7 Penske Porsche, knocked him back to a 10th place finish. It was nice to see the Italian team running so well.

I had not really thought about, but the number 31 Whelen car had not won in a while. I hadn’t realized it had been nearly two years since that car reached the top step of the podium. The team used to be a regular visitor to victory circle.

I was happy for two of my favorite drivers, Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber.

Overall, it was another successful weekend at IMS, and an event which took a big leap forward. I hope this race continues to grow.

Note- I will be heading down to winter headquarters for a couple of weeks, but I plan to keep with IndyCar news as it happens. I plan to be back for the road course test on October 13.


Thanks for following along this past weekend.

Whelen Cadillac Wins Overall at Indy for First IMSA Victory Since 2023

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From IMS. My thoughts on the weekend will be up tomorrow.

  INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025) – With 85 minutes remaining in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sunday, Jack Aitken was in street clothes in the pits at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ninety minutes later, he was in a sweat-and-champagne soaked driver’s suit, celebrating a convincing overall and GTP class victory in the six-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race with Cadillac Whelen teammates Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti.

SEE: Race Results

The Whelen team earned its first victory since capturing the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 2023, and this was the first victory of the season for Cadillac, which fields three cars in the class.
Pole sitter Aitken took Bamber’s spot in the cockpit of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R during the team’s final pit stop with 82 minutes left in the race. Originally, the team planned to have Bamber stay in the car until the checkered flag but instead opted for Aitken to finish what he started on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
“We’ve got a great team from A to Z, and that includes my teammates,” Aitken said. “Any one of us could have finished it off. We just thought with the length of the race and it was going, it was better to get a fresh one (driver) in. It was intense. I’m glad we did.”
Winners in the other three classes were the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 (drivers Mikkel Jensen, Hunter McElrea, Steven Thomas) in LMP2, the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 (Sebastian Priaulx, Mike Rockenfeller) in GT Daytona Pro and the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 (Brendan Iribe, Ollie Millroy, Frederik Schandorff) in GT Daytona.
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac led the race and the GTP class after each of the six hours of this Michelin Endurance Cup event. But victory was anything but easy, as two full-course caution periods in the last 75 minutes of the race forced Aitken to stand on the gas on restarts and navigate lapped traffic as the clock wound down.The first of the last two full-course yellows came with one hour, 15 minutes to go when the hood flew off the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari that ended up winning the GTD class.
Aitken held off the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 driven by Sheldon van der Linde on the restart with an hour to go and expanded his lead to 1.606 seconds with 30 minutes to go.
With 18 minutes remaining, Tom Blomqvist had pushed the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 to second place behind Aitken. The MSR prototype was the quickest in qualifying Saturday with Blomqvist behind the wheel but was moved to the rear of the 12-car GTP class on the starting grid due to failing to comply with bodywork rules in post-qualifying inspection.
Ricky Taylor then passed Blomqvist with 13 minutes remaining in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R for second place but probably needed a late caution to finish with his remaining fuel.Taylor got that full-course caution with nine minutes left.
The No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 car driven by NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran Toby Sowery spun and backed hard into the wall after apparent contact from Indianapolis 500 veteran Ben Hanley.
Debris from the incident was cleaned just in time for a two-lap trophy dash to the checkered flag.
Aitken pulled away from Taylor on the restart and was never threatened, finishing .988 of a second ahead in a 1-2 result for Cadillac. NTT INDYCAR SERIES veterans Blomqvist and Colin Braun settled for third, 1.952 seconds behind the winners.
In LMP2, the TDS Racing team earned a class victory for the third consecutive year at this event. The team finished .714 of a second ahead of the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 shared by Jeremy Clarke, Tom Dillmann and Bijoy Garg. Jensen drove the car to the checkered in the final stint, while McElrea added this win to a victory in August 2023 on the IMS road course in INDY NXT by Firestone.
“Very tense out there,” Jensen said. “We did the perfect race. No mistakes. Then you get a yellow at the end. Nerve-wracking finish, but you’ve got do a good restart and keep the car clean. It’s not easy to stay clear.”
Priaulx guided the Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang to victory by .594 of a second over the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa and Davide Rigon in the factory-backed GTD PRO class
.In GTD, Inception Racing earned its first IMSA class victory despite losing its hood late in the race. Schandorff drove the Ferrari to victory over the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche shared by Adam Adelson, Tom Sargent and Elliott Skeer by 2.276 seconds.
The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks returns to IMS on Sept. 18-20, 2026.
Visit IMS.com for ticket renewal or application information. 

TireRack.com Extends Battle on the Bricks Sponsorship 

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 INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025) – TireRack.com, an independent tire tester and nationwide customer-direct tire, wheel and car accessory retailer, has extended its entitlement sponsorship of the Battle on the Bricks IMSA sports car event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
TireRack.com continues as the “Official Partner of the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks” and “Official Partner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
”“We’re excited to continue as official partners of both Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks,” TireRack.com CEO Scott Clark said. “This partnership welcomed IMSA sports car racing back to IMS and serves as a reminder that tire performance plays a critical role for every driver. Whether it’s on the track or on the street, tires matter.”
The sponsorship, which began in 2023, featured the return of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to IMS. Following endurance races in 2024 and 2025, the series returns to the Racing Capital of the World from Sept. 18-20, 2026, with a full weekend of sports car racing on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS road course. The 2026 feature event will be two hours, 40 minutes in duration. In addition to Sunday’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will headline the action Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.
With 18 different manufacturers competing in IMSA, the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks weekend continues to be a three-day festival showcasing the pinnacle of sports car racing.
“The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks is an action-packed weekend of sports car racing at IMS,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said.
“Sports car fans, like myself, enjoy working on their own cars, and TireRack.com provides 24/7 access to shop for the highest-quality tires, wheels and car accessories. Having visited the TireRack.com headquarters and purchased tires from TireRack.com, I can attest to their focus on tire testing and the distribution of performance data that helps consumers make an informed tire choice. We are honored to have them as an integral part of the IMS experience.”
Tire Rack is headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, and since 1979 it has grown from a single-point retail store in Indianapolis to a huge tire and related accessories retailer with more than 10,000 authorized U.S. installers and 12 distribution centers across the country, allowing it to maintain a huge inventory.
Tire Rack offers an easy online purchasing experience, extremely competitive pricing and convenient installation through its installer network or brings installation directly to shoppers through its Tire Rack Mobile Tire Installation program. And it does year-round independent tire testing and shares its test results and advice on its website, an always-free consumer resource.
See all Tire Rack test videos and browse Tire Rack test reports on TireRack.com, and visit and subscribe to Tire Rack’s YouTube Channel.
Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. Flag-to-flag coverage of the 2025 TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks is available on Peacock, with live NBC Sports’ coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET. 

UPDATED: Cadillac Inherits Pole at Indy After Acura MSR Penalized

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Note: Updated from earlier version due to IMSA post-qualifying technical ruling on the No. 60 GTP car.

Breaking from IMS:

  INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025) – Cadillac will start 1-2-3 in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the quickest GTP car in qualifying was sent to the rear of the field.
Jack Aitken will start from the pole in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R after his best lap of 1 minute, 14.610 seconds was second quickest. But he elevated to the top spot after the Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 of Tom Blomqvist, turning a top lap of 1:14.569, was found in post-qualifying technical inspection to fail to comply within LMDh bodywork tolerances.

SEE: Starting Grid

That car, shared between former INDYCAR SERIES drivers Blomqvist and Colin Braun, will move to the rear of the 12-car GTP field. The six-hour race starts at 11:40 a.m. ET Sunday on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. It’s the first pole of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship season for Cadillac.
“I’m pretty pleased,” Aitken said. “I think all the Cadillacs showed pretty well. We had an OK practice, but it wasn’t entirely smooth. The nature of having so many cars on track here means getting clean laps, which was quite difficult.
“I think we’re in a good place. I’m pleased that we’ve come out today with a strong car and clean qualifying session, and I think a strong car for tomorrow.”
Wayne Taylor Racing, headquartered in nearby Brownsburg, put both of its prototypes in the top three of the starting grid. Louis Deletraz qualified third, now starting second, at 1:14.715 in the No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R, while Ricky Taylor was fourth at 1:14.804 and will start third in the team’s No. 10 Cadillac.
The reigning winners, the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL entry of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, will start seventh in the 12-car GTP field at 1:15.133 with Dries Vanthoor behind the wheel.

Blomqvist Wins Pole as Meyer Shank Racing Continues Quick Pace at Indy

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From IMS:

  INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025) — They may find it hard to believe, but it’s pretty safe to say Tom Blomqvist and Meyer Shank Racing have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course figured out when it comes to practice and qualifying.
Next comes the most important part – a six-hour endurance race Sunday.
Former NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Blomqvist won the overall and GTP class pole Saturday for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship race in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 prototype, turning a top lap of 1 minute, 14.569 seconds.

SEE: Qualifying Results

The pole continued a stretch of domination for Blomqvist and co-driver Colin Braun, another NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran. They led the opening practice Friday and the pre-qualifying practice this morning on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course
.“We actually have thought this was a bit of a bad track for us,” Blomqvist said. “In the past, we’ve never really figured it out. So, the guys put a lot of energy into it to come up with something that makes more sense, and let’s give it a go. That’s what we came here with, something very different than what we’ve run in the past, and it’s worked from the get-go.
“So, that gives you a lot of confidence.”
Meyer Shank Racing also earned its fourth consecutive pole this season. The team also has two wins, on the Streets of Detroit and at Watkins Glen in June.Now MSR will try to win this prestigious Michelin Endurance Cup event that starts at 11:40 a.m. ET Sunday and ends at 5:40 p.m.
“It’s a six-hour race, and the strategy is super-important,” Blomqvist said. “A lot can happen in an IMSA race. You need to make sure you make the right calls at the right time and be on the right side of the strategy. It’s very easy for something to be unlucky or to make a bad call, and that puts you out of the race.”
Jack Aitken qualified second at 1:14.610 in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.
Wayne Taylor Racing, headquartered in nearby Brownsburg, put both of its prototypes on the second row. Louis Deletraz qualified third at 1:14.715 in the No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R, while Ricky Taylor was fourth at 1:14.804 in the team’s No. 10 Cadillac.
The reigning winners, the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL entry of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, qualified eighth in the 12-car GTP field at 1:15.133 with Dries Vanthoor behind the wheel.
Nick Boulle led a sweep of the first two qualifying spots in the LMP2 class by United Autosports USA. He was quickest at 1:17.846 in the team’s No. 2 ORECA LMP2 07, followed by Daniel Goldburg at 1:18.222 in the team’s No. 22 prototype.
Dan Harper took the top qualifying spot in the GTD PRO class for Paul Miller Racing, stopping the clocks at 1:23.259 in the team’s No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Casper Stevenson won the pole in the GTD class with a best lap of 1:23.088 in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. That time was quicker than the pole for the factory-supported GTD PRO class.
McLaren Goes 1-2 in Michelin Pilot Challenge Race
Michael Cooper took the lead with less than one minute remaining and drove the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4 to overall and Grand Sport class victory in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120, a two-hour race for the Michelin Pilot Challenge series.It was the second win of the season for Cooper and co-driver Moisey Uretsky. This also was the first 1-2 finish for McLaren in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition.

SEE: Race Results

“I just took any opportunity I was given, whether it was inside, outside, wherever,” Cooper said. “I was willing to try anything to get that win. We got a win at Daytona to open the season and haven’t had a podium since, so I thought it was worth risking for.
“I think everyone was really struggling with braking and grip overall. So, maybe I just managed that a little better early in the stint and had a bit more in the end.”
Jesse Lazare scrambled into second in the last minute to finish second in the No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 that he shared with Alexandra Hainer. Robert Noaker and Cameron McLeod finished third in the No. 60 KOHR MOTORSPORTS Ford Mustang GT4.
Cooper and Lazare passed Noaker for first and second, respectively, with less than a minute to go, and Lazare also got past for second. Cooper completed a stirring drive from 17th to third from just past halfway until a caution bunched the field with 17 minutes to go.
American Cooper passed Canadian Lazare for second in Turn 1 with four minutes to go and then set his sights on Noaker. On the decisive pass, Noaker led down the back straightaway and through Turn 10, but Cooper then edged past in the next right-hand corner.
Spanish manufacturer Cupra earned its first Michelin Pilot Challenge victory in the Touring Car class, as co-drivers Eric Powell and Tyler Gonzalez won by 6.988 seconds in the No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team Cupra Leon VZ TCR. This is Cupra’s first season in IMSA competition, and it became the first manufacturer to earn its maiden IMSA win since Alfa Romeo in 2021.
The No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS3 shared by Celso Neto and Ryan Eversley finished second, while Karl Wittmer and LP Montour drove the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 to third.
Ericsson’s Brother Wins Again in Lamborghini Series
Hampus Ericsson now has one up on his older brother, 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson, as he earned his second victory at IMS in two days by sweeping Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America events this weekend with co-driver Danny Formal.
The duo triumphed in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan by 11.067 seconds over teammates Trent Hindman and Jackson Lee, son of FOX Sports INDYCAR announcer Kevin Lee, in the No. 69 Huracan. Those WTR cars finished in the same order in Friday’s 50-minute race.
Aaron Jeansonne won the second 40-minute Porsche Carrera Cup North America race of the weekend. He drove the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to victory by .981 of a second over the No. 78 Topp Racing Porsche of Ryan Yardley, who earned his second runner-up result of the weekend.Race 1 winner Zachary Vanier placed third in the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche.
Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. 

Friday Wrap Up

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IMSA rolled into IMS for the third TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks with a Friday of nonstop action. Two races and lots of practice and qualifying sessions filled the very warm day. Cooler and more comfortable temperatures are on the way for the rest of the weekend.

One addition to the Pagoda Plaza is a pickleball court. I’m not sure how many new fans this will attract, but for those who play, I guess it is something to do dsuring breaks in the action.

Yesterday was my first time parking in Lot 2 in quite a while, and I noticed an improvement that was long overdue. The Speedway has sacrificed some parking to create a wide roped in pedestrian walkway. It is a great safety feature in a lot where the post race scene was dodge ball with cars.

It was hard to gauge the crowd size, but it seemed a bit lower than the Friday of 2024. I hope the energy picks up several notches today. It was fun seeing these cars on track again. I had not seen an IMSA event in person since Long Beach.

There seems to be a pattern developing with the GTP cars at IMS. In 2023, the Penske Porsches dominated the weekend. Last year the BMWs of RLL ruled all three days. Today the Meyer Shank Acuras were 1-2 on the speed chart. Could this be their weekend?

Here are a few pictures I took during practice. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Saturday at IMS- IMSA Qualifying; 3 Races

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From IMS:

 INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Sept. 19, 2025) – Information about TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks track activity Saturday, Sept. 20 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
SCHEDULE (All times local):
7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.: Public Gates Open
8-8:15 a.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge Qualifying-TCR
8:20-8:35 a.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge Qualifying-GS
8:55-10:25 a.m.: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Practice #2
10:45 a.m.-11:25 a.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup North America Race #2
12:40-2:40 p.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 Race (Two hours)
3:15-3:30 p.m.: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Qualifying-GTD
3:40-3:55 p.m.: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Qualifying-GTD PRO
4:05-4:20 p.m.: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Qualifying-LMP2
4:30-4:45 p.m.: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Qualifying-GTP
5:10-6 p.m.: Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Race #2
TICKETS: $50 for General Admission seating for the grandstands and infield viewing mounds. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult. Reserved seats in the Hulman Terrace Club, which include private club access and gate admission, are $175.
PUBLIC GATES OPEN (7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.): 1, 2, 4, 6S, 7S
PARKING: Free auto parking (including ADA) is available in Lot 6A and the Hulman Lot off Georgetown Road. Availability is limited. Paid parking is available in Lot 2 and Main Gate for $20 and Gate 1 (Parcel B) for $50. Paid ADA parking is available in Lot 2 and Lot 3P for $20 and Gate 1 for $50. Motorcycle parking is free in Gate 1 (Parcel B).
CASHLESS OPERATIONS: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a cashless facility. Please be prepared to complete your ticket, credentials, parking, concession and merchandise purchases with ease during your event via debit or credit card.Tap-to-pay phone payments will be accepted, as will credit and debit transactions
.MUSEUM: The IMS Museum is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission tickets are $25, seniors (55 and over) are $23, and military (former and active) are $18. Tickets can be purchased online at https://imsmuseum.org/tickets/. Gate admission must be purchased as well as Museum admission.

Meyer Shank Racing Dashes to 1-2 in Opening IMSA Practice at Indy

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From IMS:

  INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Sept. 19, 2025) – The 2025 surge continued Friday for Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian, this time in sports cars at Indianapolis.
Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian placed its two Acura ARX-06 prototypes atop the overall and GTP class time sheets Friday in the opening practice for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
SEE: Practice Results
Former NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Tom Blomqvist posted the quickest time of the 90-minute session on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course, 1 minute, 16.209 seconds in the No. 60 entry. He will share that prototype machine with fellow INDYCAR SERIES veteran Colin Braun in the six-hour race that starts at 11:40 a.m. ET Sunday.
“The length of the race and traffic management will be key for us,” Braun said.
“We had a chance to do some testing at IMS, and this group continues to jell.”
Nick Yelloly was second at 1:16.477 in the team’s No. 93 entry shared with Renger van der Zande and Kaku Ohta.
“From the run we’ve been on recently, there’s no reason we can’t fight at the front again,” Yelloly said.
MSR has earned two victories this season, with the No. 93 triumphing on the Streets of Detroit and the No. 60 winning the Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen, both in June. Van der Zande and Yelloly are tied for fourth in the GTP point standings, with Blomqvist and Braun sixth.
That success mirrors the team’s improvement this season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, where drivers Felix Rosenqvist (sixth) and Marcus Armstrong (eighth) both finished in the top 10 of the final standings.
Jack Aitken ended up third in the GTP practice at 1:16.532 in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.
The reigning winners of the six-hour endurance race, the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL entry of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, ended up seventh at 1:16.773 with Dries Vanthoor behind the wheel.
There should be tight competition for the pole in GTP qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, as slightly more than eight-tenths of a second was all that separated the 12 GTP cars in the field.
Mikkel Jensen led LMP2 practice with a best lap of 1:17.407 in the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca LMP2 07. One of his teammates is former INDYCAR SERIES driver and INDY NXT by Firestone race winner Hunter McElrea. The No. 11 team has won the LMP2 class in this event the last two years.Qualifying for the LMP2 class starts at 4:05 p.m. ET Saturday.
In the GT Daytona Pro class, Davide Rigon was quickest at 1:24.419 in the No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3. The GTD PRO class qualifies at 3:40 p.m. ET Saturday.
Valentin Hasse-Clot was quickest in the GT Daytona class with his lap of 1:24.403 in the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Interestingly, Hasse-Clot’s time was quicker than the best lap in the factory-supported GT Daytona Pro class. GTD qualifying starts at 3:15 p.m. ET Saturday.
The Michelin Pilot Challenge series will conduct a two-hour race at 12:40 p.m. ET Saturday with its two classes, both on track Friday for two practice sessions
.Michael Cooper was quickest overall in the Grand Sport class with his best lap of 1:29.552 in the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4.
Tyler Gonzalez led the Touring Car class at 1:31.471 in the No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team Cupra Leon VZ.
Michelin Pilot Challenge qualifying starts at 8 a.m. ET Saturday.
Racing began Friday in the single-make series competing this weekend at the Racing Capital of the World.
Pole sitter Danny Formal and co-driver Hampus Ericsson, the younger brother of 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson, won the first of two 50-minute Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America races in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan. WTR finished 1-2 in the race, as the team of Trent Hindman and Jackson Lee, son of FOX Sports INDYCAR announcer Kevin Lee, placed second in the No. 69 Huracan.
The second race is at 5:10 p.m. ET Saturday.
Zachary Vanier drove his No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to victory by .486 of a second over the No. 78 Topp Racing Porsche of Ryan Yardley in the first of two 40-minute Porsche Carrera Cup North America races. The second race is at 10:45 a.m. ET Saturday
.Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. 

Today at IMS

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From IMS. Information about the first day of TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks Weekend

 INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025) – Information about TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks track activity Friday, Sept. 19 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
SCHEDULE (All times local):
8 a.m.: Public Gates Open
8:20-9:20 a.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge Practice #1
9:35-10:05 a.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup North America Qualifying
10:20-10:35 a.m.: Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Qualifying #1
10:40-10:55 a.m.: Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Qualifying #2
11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Practice #11:45-2:45 p.m.: Michelin Pilot Challenge Practice #2
3-3:40 p.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup North America Race #1
4-4:50 p.m.: Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Race #1
5 p.m.: Public Gates Close
TICKETS: $20 for General Admission seating for the grandstands and infield viewing mounds. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult. Reserved seats in the Hulman Terrace Club, which include private club access, are $100.
PUBLIC GATES OPEN (8 a.m.-5 p.m.): 1, 2, 4, 6S, 7S
PARKING: Free parking (including ADA) is available in the Hulman Lot off Georgetown Road. Availability is limited. Paid parking is available in Lot 2 and Main Gate for $10 and Gate 1 (Parcel B) for $25. Paid ADA parking is available in Lot 2 and Lot 3P for $10 and Gate 1 for $25. Motorcycle parking is free in Gate 1 (Parcel B).CASHLESS OPERATIONS: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a cashless facility. Please be prepared to complete your ticket, credentials, parking, concession and merchandise purchases with ease during your event via debit or credit card. Tap-to-pay phone payments will be accepted, as will credit and debit transactions.
MUSEUM: The IMS Museum is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission tickets are $25, seniors (55 and over) are $23, and military (former and active) are $18. Tickets can be purchased online at https://imsmuseum.org/tickets/. Gate admission must be purchased as well as Museum admission.