One dominant season continues while an impressive streak comes to an end

Sunny skies greeted the 39 teams for Saturday’s LP 120 at The Glen as the Michelin Pilot Challenge reaches the halfway point of their 2025 season.

GS: Nerves…and a fuel tank…of steel reward Haylen and RS1

Jensen Altzman lead the GS field to green in his McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang. After a short first full course yellow, Paul Holton and his TGM Aston Martin was ready to lead. Holton passed Altzman going into the Inner Loop at the 10 minute mark, going on to control the first half of the race. A second full course yellow intervened during the GS pit stop sequence. Gabby Chaves would lead the field after the full course yellow, albeit out of sequence compared to those around him. TCR traffic intervened shortly after the restart.

As the leaders were lapping a TCR Audi, Matt Plumb tried to take advantage. He looked to the outside of Chaves, but ran out of momentum. This opened the door for Jan Heylen and Jeff Westphal to leapfrog Plumb sending him back to 4th. Chaves, to his credit, held his own and lead until he had to come pit. Now at the wheel of his car, Chad McCumbee started picking off his opposition one at a time. First, he passed Matt Plumb for 4th. Then he gained 3rd when Chaves finally pitted. With 23 minutes to go, McCumbee overtook Westphal to move into 2nd. As the race transitioned into the final 20 minutes, fuel was becoming a question for the GS leaders. Those worries were squashed when a third full course yellow was dispersed with fourteen minutes remaining.

On the restart with nine and half minutes left, Michael Cooper made contact with the lap car of Aaron Povoledo in the 2nd CarBahn BMW in the Inner Loop. Cooper managed to get his McLaren back to the pits while Povoledo managed to back the car behind the barrier out of harm’s way. As McCumbee was regrouping for one last attempt on Heylen, Greg Liefooghe in his Stephen Cameron Racing Mustang came to a stop in the Inner Loop. Race control had no choice but to throw one last full course yellow with four minutes to go and this is how the race ended. The points leaders extended their lead becoming the first repeat winners of the season.

TCR: Finally…A New Winner

For the second race in a row, the MMG Honda Civic started from pole with LP Montour taking the opening leg. The nature of Watkins Glen classic layout was allowing the TCR machines to mix in with the GS class. Montour led the TCR class through the opening hour, getting as high as 4th overall during the pit stop sequence. The Pegram Racing #72 Hyundai, on the other hand, had a day to forget. Riley spun twice bringing out two full course yellows before handing over to her father. Larry would then suffer electrical issues in the closing stages. He would straight-line the Inner Loop before pulling off course. Larry would step out the car ending their day, causing the third full course yellow of the day.

During the second full course yellow, Ryan Eversley inherited the lead. The #7 Precision Racing LA Audi was off sequence with the rest of the TCR leaders. When Eversley pitted with 38 minutes to go, the 93 Honda with Karl Wittmer at the wheel regained the lead and would never relinquish. For MMG, it’s their first win in TCR since VIR last August. Fittingly, as they were the last non-Bryan Herta Autosport team to win TCR before Saturday, MMG snapped the 6-race winning streak for BHA in the class.

Standings-at-a-Glance (Unofficial)

GS

  • Mars/Heylen – 1640
  • Altman – 1300
  • Machavern/Selldorff & McAlister/Westphal – 1250

TCR

  • Gottsacker – 1550
  • Brown/Dupont – 1520
  • Montour/Wittmer – 1320

Next Race

From the Finger Lakes region of New York, the series head north of the border for its only Canadian round. Round 6 of the Michelin Pilot Challenge season heads to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on July 12.

Featured Image – Photo Courtesy: Jake Galstad/IMSA