- In the Super DIRTcar Series season opener Wednesday night at Volusia Speedway Park, Matt Sheppard led flag-to-flag and spent much of the race fighting off Alex Yankowski to win a 30-lap feature as part of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. It is Sheppard's 98th career victory in the Super DIRTcar Series.
Justin Haers finished second, while Yankowski dropped to third in the closing laps. Billy Pauch Jr. was fourth, while Jimmy Phelps was fifth. Stewart Friesen was eighth.
- Day No. 2 of IMSA testing in Sebring was held under sunny skies as 40 cars took to the 3.74-mile road course for three sessions.
Session No. 3 saw Porsche Penske Motorsport's Mathieu Jaminet go fastest at 124.132 in his Porsche. He was .681 seconds faster than Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian's Tom Blomqvist. Nick Tandy was third in the second Penske Porsche, while Action Express Racing's Jack Aitken was fourth. Renger van der Zande was fifth in the second Shank Acura.
Inter Europol Competition's Tom Dillmann was fastest in LMP2 at 122.075 mph, .693 seconds faster than PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports' Benjamin Pedersen. TDS Racing's Hunter McAlrea was third, then Riley Motorsports' Felipe Fraga nand AO Racing's Dane Cameron.
GTD teams continued to
dominate in the GT ranks. Conquest Racing's Jan Heylen, who was fastest in both sessions Tuesday, was quickest at 111.084 mph in his Ferrari. He was .081 seconds faster than Korthoff Competition Motorsports' Maximilian Goetz. Winward Racing's Philip Ellis was third, then Triarsi Competizione's Stevan McAleer and Lone Star Racing's Scott Andrews.
GTD Pro was topped by Paul
Miller Racing's Dan Harper at 109.988 mph, 14th of GT runners. He was .112 seconds faster than teammate Neil Verhagen, while Ford Multimatic Motorsports' Sebastian Priaulx was third. Frederic Vervisch in the second Mustang and AO Racing's Laurin Heinrich were fourth and fifth.
- Session No. 4 saw Scott Dixon go fastest in his Acura with a lap at 123.458 mph. He was a mere
three-thousandths of a second faster than Matt Campbell in the No. 6 Porsche. Action Express Racing's Earl Bamber was third, then Felipe Nasr and JDC-Miller Motorsports' Gianmaria Bruni.
Dillmann was fastest again in LMP2 at 122.328 mph, .717 seconds faster than PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports' Mathias Beche. McElrea was third, then United Autosports' Rasmus Lindh and
Fraga.
Triarsi Competitizone's Mike Skeen topped GTD with a lap at 111.263 mph, .029 seconds faster than Goetz. Ellis was third, then Onofrio Triarsi in the second Triarsi Ferrari. Andrews was fifth.
Jesse Krohn topped GTD Pro at 110.147 mph, .131 seconds faster than
Priaulx. Klaus Bachler was third, then Connor de Phillippi and Dennis Olsen.
- Session No. 5 was the night session, which is particularly tricky at Sebring. Vision might be harder during the test session than it will be during the race weekend next month. It actually shocked Parker Kligerman, who is back with Forte Racing for the test.
Jaminet was fastest once again with a lap at 123.709 mph, .315 seconds faster than Blomqvist. Aitken was third, then BMW M Team RLL's
Dries Vanthoor. Van der Zande was fifth.
McElrea was fastest in LMP2 with a lap at 121.460 mph. He was .017 seconds faster than United Autosports' Paul di Resta. Inter Europol's Bijoy Garg was third, then Fraga and Beche.
In GTD, Goetz was fastest with a lap at
111.395 mph in his Mercedes. He was .711 seconds faster than Vasser Sullivan's Jack Hawksworth. Triarsi was third, then Andrews and Forte Racing's Franck Perera.
Harper topped GTD Pro at 110.021 mph, .009 seconds faster than teammate de Phillippi. Ben Barker was third, then Vervisch.
The Heart of Racing's new Valkyrie has struggled for pace. The team's best lap of the test Wednesday was 2.851 seconds off of Jaminet's best lap. That pace is slower than nine different drivers in the LMP2 class.
