Pole positions typically don’t mean much in endurance racing. And while IMSA’s Detroit Grand Prix race is considered a sprint by the series’ and by definition short in length, it doesn’t guarantee that whoever leads the front of the field at the start, will lead it to the checkered flag. Today, though, the action in Detroit would serve up a fresh storyline.

It was an unexpectedly competitive field in Detroit Saturday as teams battled hard to gain those crucial podium and lead spots for both the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) classes. What felt to be even more unexpected, is that Friday’s pole winners, the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura (Nick Yelloly, Renger van der Zande) and #64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports (Sebastian Priaulx, Mike Rockenfeller), would be leading at the beginning and end of the race. And both put in a decent fight to get there.

#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Renger Van Der Zande, Nick Yelloly

Photo by: Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

Detroit’s narrow and bumpy course is not a welcoming place for passing, as was obvious within the first five minutes of Saturday’s race. The GTP and GTD Pro fields bumped and rubbed their way through the first narrow corners of the track, whether it was another manufacturer, or against their own teammates like the Paul Miller Racing BMWs. 

Only, the #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports car would be the one to suffer any real consequences harboring damage to the left rear from contact and losing a taillight. The result? The first full-course yellow, just three minutes in.

Meanwhile, the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari found itself sidelined a couple of times and pitted for repairs, while the #4 Corvette was also in for taillight repairs.

Porsche teams battled all race

The #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963 GTP with Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy

Photo by: Lumen Digital Agency

What’s missing from the top of both the GTP and GTD Pro headlines is Porsche. First, does pink induce anger, because the #77 AO Racing Porsche — Roxy for Detroit — found itself in a couple of tiffs through Saturday’s competition starting with the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus. The Lexus bumped the #77 into the corner for a little spin, and earned itself a drive through penalty. Later in the race, just after the field returned to green for the second full-course caution, the #77 with Laurin Heinrich at the helm executed a beautiful pass around the #14. 

The #77’s fight didn’t end there, taking on the #4 Corvette for a spicy battle ending in the #4 hitting the #77, sending it for a spin. Heinrich, in the #77, responded with a hit to the #4 for its own spin before pulling away. Race control issued a warning to both cars, as well as drive-through penalties served post-race adding an additional 17 seconds to their finish times. 

And it was a far from perfect weekend for Porsche Penske Motorsport. The new BOP issued for the Detroit race to help alleviate what turned into a caution-free Monterey race, along with the winning streaks we’ve seen with teams like Porsche. But the BOP didn’t appear to slow the Penske team down as ‘Mr. 24’ Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr managed to take the #7 car that started P6 Saturday to the front and hold tight for the majority of the mid race. 

#64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3: Mike Rockenfeller, Sebastian Priaulx

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

That lead saw its demise when Ricky Taylor in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac nudged his way around the #7 for the lead with just 15 minutes to go. Ricky, a previous winner in Detroit, was poised to take the win home for WTR when the #93 Acura and van der Zande took advantage of the Cadillac competitor’s weakness, finding the opportune window to earn the lead — aiming to keep it and the looming Porsche GTP cars behind for the overall and GTP class win. 

The #64 Ford survived its own battle against another major Detroit contender — the #3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette — slightly alleviated by the mixed GTP traffic, which helped it to earn its first-ever win in the series, the first win for Ford in the IMSA at (home in) Detroit, and the second win for Ford in the 2025 season. 

Overall carnage was minimal as the race was never red-flagged, and only minor pieces were found scattered on the track for the two cautions over the 100-minute race. The list of penalties for cars going into the runoffs or simply bumping, a lot, might paint a different picture. But for a race where there wasn’t a lot of action expected, everyone — fans, teams, and drivers alike — came out on the other side pleasantly surprised.

Now, for something completely different: bring on Le Mans.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville has always been a special place for Michael Waltrip.

From his victory in 2004 to watching his brother race as a kid, Waltrip’s memories in Nashville extend decades.

“I was here in 1975. Fifty years ago, believe it or not, when he won,” Waltrip said. “There’s a great picture of him on the car and his wife there and the crew, and there’s this little 12-year-old boy looking up at him.”

This weekend, NASCAR is back in Music City. Instead of with cars, Waltrip is at the bars.

The racing legend is teaming up with Austin Peay State University for a special Governor’s Golden Ale beer.

“I grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky, just up the road and they’re a part of the Ohio Valley Conference, and I watched them play a lot of the basketball games when I was a kid,” Waltrip recalled.

Waltrip has always been ahead of the pack and the partnership gives Austin Peay the chance to do the same.

“For us to be, around here anyway, the first ones to have something like this, that’s what we’re known for,” said Austin Peay President Dr. Michael Licari. “We want to be out there innovating, we want to be out there in front of everybody, and we want to make sure people understand the Govs are here.”

The beer is already sold at a handful of venues in Clarksville and Nashville.

Acura Snaps Porsche Win Streak in Detroit IMSA Thriller

Tense GTP Battle Goes to Acura Ahead of Cadillac; Ford Beats Corvette in GTD PRO

May 31, 2025

By Tony DiZinno

IMSA Wire Service

Unofficial Results

DETROIT – A 100-minute Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic went through a litany of late-race twists and turns where any of three different manufacturers could have won the fifth race of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

First Porsche appeared in control, then Cadillac charged to the front. But at the finish, the pendulum wound up swinging back to the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 for the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and overall victory.

With just over three minutes remaining, Renger van der Zande made a bold move to the inside of Ricky Taylor’s No. 10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R at the left-hand Turn 1, one of the narrowest corners on the 1.645-mile, nine-turn street circuit encircling the Renaissance Center.

It was the second bold pass for the lead in under 15 minutes, with Taylor having moved to the inside of previous leader Felipe Nasr, in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, at another tight corner, the right-handed Turn 4.

Nasr lost momentum through losing the position on that move, which allowed a decisive van der Zande and the other Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet through for position.

Taylor had the lead ahead of van der Zande, Jaminet and Nasr. But as the GTP leaders cycled through Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class traffic, van der Zande appeared to carve through slightly better. Once he made the move, he extended the lead to 0.947 of a second by the end of the 84-lap race ahead of Taylor, with Jaminet third.

Van der Zande shared the winning car with Nick Yelloly, and in the process became the first GTP polesitters to win from pole since Meyer Shank Racing did so at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2023.

GTD PRO was only slightly less eventful for the class win, with the second Motul Pole Award-winning entry of the day also following through to win the race. Seb Priaulx and Mike Rockenfeller shared the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 en route to the win by 1.623 seconds over the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims.

There was quite a bit of action behind them as the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 finished third. Late-race contact between the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R put them back behind the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3, which started last, incurred two in-race penalties and still finished fourth.

IMSA Wire Service PR

LEBANON, Tenn. — Chase Briscoe collected his second consecutive pole and third of the season Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway.

Briscoe won the pole with a lap of 164.395 mph — a track record. His pole came a week after he was the fastest qualifier for the Coca-Cola 600. His other pole this season came in the Daytona 500. No other Cup driver has claimed as many poles this season.

“I definitely felt like I left a little bit on the table, but I felt like it was a smooth, clean lap and I felt like for sure it was going to be a top-five lap, but it was a surprise that it was as fast as it was,” said Briscoe, whose previous best start at Nashville was 16th in 2021. “It is nice to start on the pole two weeks in a row.”

Briscoe will be joined on the front row by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who qualified with a lap of 164.119 mph.

Denny Hamlin’s fiancee is due to deliver the couple’s third child Sunday.

Points leader William Byron qualified third with a lap of 163.374 mph. Tyler Reddick (163.368 mph) will start fourth, giving Toyota three of the top four starting spots. Coca-Cola 600 winner Ross Chastain (163.357) will start a season-best fifth.

Brad Keselowski (162.985) will start a season-best sixth.

Kyle Larson (160.790) will start 28th, his worst qualifying spot since Phoenix in March 2019.

While A.J. Allmendinger hoped to carry the momentum from a fourth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 into Nashville, things are off to a difficult start for the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. 

While sitting on pit road in preparation for practice, NASCAR officials demanded the car be brought back to the garage. A crew member working underneath the car caught the eye of officials who saw something they did not like. Officials suspected that the team had made unapproved adjustments to the car after pre-qualifying inspection.

AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

To make matters worse, the car failed on its first trip through the inspection after being brought back to the garage, confirming NASCAR’s suspicions. The team was scrambling to make the changes NASCAR wanted as practice rapidly approached.

They finally passed on the second attempt, but officials held the car for the first ten minutes of of the 25-minute Group B practice as a result. NASCAR could chose to issue additional penalties next week.

“It’s just a part of NASCAR life,” Allmendinger told on NASCAR on Prime. “NASCAR saw something they didn’t like when we were sitting there, we had to go back, (and) my guys did a good job. We got back through there…only lost 10 or 12 minutes of practice, and the way these practices work, you almost run out of tire anyway so it’s not like you gotta be out there for 25 minutes.”

The veteran driver entered this race 18th in the championship standings, just 13 points below the cut-line. Kaulig is winless through the first 13 races of the 2025 season with their best showing coming just last weekend with Allmendinger’s top five finish in the 600.

Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 and 2022 Nashville winner, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series’ practice and qualifying session at Nashville Superspeedway.

Media Availability Quotes:

Chase, consistency has been a key word for your season so far. It seemed like you really stepped it up and at Charlotte and Kansas. Are there any changes in the team or what have you all found here in the last few weeks?

“I think, yeah, Kansas (Speedway) and honestly North Wilkesboro (Speedway), too, I thought was a solid week for us. And then, yeah, I thought we had a really good car last week at Charlotte, as well. I think it’s a product of a lot of hard work and just a collective effort of trying to make some improvement. That’s always the goal, just keep chipping away. I think the team’s in a really good spot. We had a really good week on pit road. Really, they kept me in the game last week. They gained me two or three spots on every pit stop, and I’d give away five or six. So it was a frustrating night on my end, but I thought the car performed really well. All the pieces of the puzzle were really in place. I just need to continuously work on my craft and make sure that I’m doing my part.”

Three concrete tracks on the schedule – here at Nashville, Dover and Bristol, and you’ve won at all three. What about the concrete surface fits your driving still?

“Yeah, I don’t really know that it’s — I mean, I guess it could have been concrete, but I didn’t really think about it like that. I think we’ve fortunately had some good runs at those three tracks. I don’t necessarily have one reason, I think it’s probably a lot of reasons, truthfully. So I hope that this weekend’s another good effort for us.

For me, it’s never about — hey, you won here however many years ago, you should be good. It’s what do I have going on right now? What is our team doing well right now? What do we need to improve on to be good here this weekend? Just because so much changes. I’m more of a ‘what’s going on lately’ type of person, and I just think the performance is really centered around that more than those historical practices and things that happened years ago.”

Chase, how do you view your playoff situation? We’re into the second-half of the regular season. We’ve only had eight winners. You’re the highest, way above the cut line, of the drivers who haven’t won yet because of your consistency. Just how do you view being so far above the cut line in your picture of the playoff right now?

“I mean, yeah, certainly better to be in that position than on the other side of the fence, no doubt. But I’d be lying if I said that was my top focus. It’s just not. I think that if you’re worried about barely getting into the playoffs, I think you have some work to do. It really is kind of the best way I can think about that. And just to talk about my thought process, I want to be better than that. I want to be in the group of people of how many playoff points do you have, not just barely getting in. Our expectations and goals are above that, and we hope that we can achieve all of our goals.

But again, nice to be on that side of the fence, no question. But there’s also a lot of racing left between now and the cutoff. You know, if you win, then your problems are likely solved. And if you don’t and you have a bunch of winners, you can find yourself in a tough spot. We’ve been in that spot before, too. So yeah, we want to not find ourselves in a tough position, you know, come the end of Week 26.”

The top-32 are set after tomorrow night for this in-season challenge. With the eye on the big picture of the playoffs, how interesting is it week-to-week, trying to win each week, or how much do you keep an eye on that in-season challenge of trying to win that prize? A million dollars is not bad…

“Yeah, for sure. I think, you know, similar to the last question — all of the points stuff, it all takes care of itself when you just do your job. So that’s kind of my approach to all those things. It just does not do you any good to worry about those things. Our expectations and our goals are to try and be amongst those teams that have opportunities to win regularly. You know, if you’re doing that, you’re going to get your turn. And if you’re not, then you won’t. It’s really that simple. I think that if your goals and your expectations are in a high enough place and where they should be, the stuff that goes on on the side will sort itself out, and that’s kind of how I’ll view that, as well.”

Without a stage win or a race win season, do you get a little anxious for those kinds of things while you’re trying to manage and be consistent?

“No, I don’t. I wouldn’t say I’m anxious about it. I just want to go and achieve it. You know, those are our goals and those are the things that we want to go out there and achieve.

But no, I guess to answer your question, I don’t feel any anxiety from that. I just want to make it happen.”

You’ve had a really good record at Michigan International Speedway in the past. I think you started your career there with three second-place results. How important is it to do well at that track since it’s home to the manufacturers?

“Yeah, for sure. It’s always good to go to Michigan (International Speedway) and have a good run. It’s certainly changed a lot, you know, over the years, just with how the cars have changed. But the racetrack itself is like the most consistent place I’ve ever seen for, for a racetrack that has those hard winters. It just doesn’t seem to get old, which is kind of crazy.

I enjoy going out there. If you’ve never been to Michigan in the summer, it’s actually really nice. I highly recommend it. I always enjoy going up there in the summer months. Certainly a great place to have a good run for GM and everybody involved there. They do a lot for us.”

Elton Sawyer said on SiriusXM this past week about the possibility of increasing horsepower. In your opinion, do you feel like that is something that’ll help the product with the short-track racing? And if so, how much does it require to see a difference?

“Yeah, that’s a good question. I’m not super in-tune with what those numbers are or like what’s being talked about as far, as how far they want to go with it. So I don’t know that I’m super educated on kind of what’s possible, what’s even true or not true. I think it’d be worth a shot, you know, if the engine manufacturers are willing to do it. And that’s probably going to be a question for them, truthfully, because they’re going to dictate how much power we can give the current packages that we have and still have the longevity and the reliability we expect to have because I think we have to run them three times. So, you know, I think without having a total overhaul, you’ve got to play within those walls, right? And I think the engine manufacturers are going to have to get on the same page and agree to a number, which is always difficult. You know, throughout my career, it’s like — Chevrolet might want one thing, Toyota might want something else, and Ford might want something different. And everybody kind of plays to their strengths as to what they think they have their leg up on, right? And that’s just a game. So you’re going to have to get all of them to agree, which in my view, is going to be a difficult thing to do. But hopefully they can, and everybody’s willing to give it a shot somewhere just to see if it makes a difference. It might not do anything, but it might really help. And until you try, I don’t know that you really have an answer.”

Chase, at various times in your life, you’ve snow skied and snowboarded in the higher elevations of the Western Mountains, so you’re aware of the physical activity and all at a higher elevation. With the Mexico track being more than 7,000 feet, what are you doing to prepare for that elevation you’ll be racing in?

“Yeah, I had thoughts of trying to get somewhere, you know, with the higher elevation before the weekend or before going down there, but I’m not so sure if my schedule is going to allow that to happen. So I’m going in earlier than I would typically go in, you know, for a race weekend for Mexico City. There’s lot of reasons for that, one of them being to your question, and just to hopefully alleviate any kind of sickness or not feeling good. I visited Mexico City a month or so back, and we did some media events for the race, and fortunately, I felt fine. I felt good. We were only there for a day or two, but I felt okay that whole period of time. Granted, I wasn’t pushing my heart rate, running or anything like that, so that might be different. But yeah, hopefully, it’s like that again. I felt normal. So yeah, kind of wait and see when we get on track and see how you feel. But going to go in a little early, and hopefully that alleviates all that stuff.”

How’s your father doing? Does he get to attend many races, and you still kind of rely on him sometimes for advice or counsel when things aren’t going too well?

“Oh, yeah, he’s doing good. He comes to the races every now and again, not a ton. He enjoys his time away from the racetrack, and I think he’s earned that right. He ran around this deal for a long time, so he seems to be enjoying that, which I think is great. I love to have him when he does come.

And yeah, for sure. I mean, I think he keeps up and pays attention, and he keeps his eye on us. I hope we don’t have to have many of those conversations, right? You just want to keep trucking, keep plugging away and keep working hard. He’s done it long enough to know that this deal is going to have ups and downs, and that’s just part of racing. But yes, if that is needed, he’s always there for that.”

GM PR