| Altzman, Cicero, McCumbee McAleer Racing and Morris All Break Through for First Time in Series August 2, 2025By John Oreovicz and Jeff OlsonIMSA Wire Service |
| Race Results ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – It’s often said that timing is everything, and a well-timed pit stop was the key to McCumbee McAleer Racing with Aerosport’s first victory in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competition Saturday at Road America. Nate Cicero and Jenson Altzman won the Grand Sport (GS) class of the Road America 120 at the circuit known as “America’s National Park of Speed” after two jumbled hours of competition that put a premium on strategy. It was a day of firsts, not only for MMR’s No. 13 Ford Mustang GT4, but also for both drivers; Altzman was making his 27th start in Michelin Pilot Challenge, while Cicero won on his third attempt. The race was punctuated by five full-course cautions, the most crucial being the fourth, which flew 57 minutes into the race. Cicero entered the pits to hand the car over to Altzman just seconds before pit lane was closed. After a tense few minutes not knowing whether Cicero had made it in on time (and would therefore have been assessed a penalty), McCumbee McAleer realized they were in the clear and had Altzman make a second stop with the rest of the GS competitors to top off his fuel. It was a smart call, because the final 50 minutes ran mostly green. Altzman crossed the line 0.467 of a second ahead of Steve Wetterau and Cameron Shields in the No. 4 CarBahn BMW M4 GT4 EVO. Making the day even better for McCumbee McAleer Racing co-owner Stevan McAleer, he finished third along with Austin Krainz in the No. 27 Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO. BMWs finished second through fifth. Cicero, 20, has claimed the last two Motul Pole Awards in GS. His association with McAleer dates nearly 10 years to when he was racing karts. “This is amazing!” Cicero exclaimed. “I think the BMW was the car to have today, but our Mustang was on fire, and we had enough for them. We executed a perfect race today. Jenson did an absolute perfect job during that stint and every call was perfect. “This whole MMR crew is an amazing family,” he added. “To come from the karting team with the McAleers in 2016 to win in GS in IMSA…I don’t have the words.” Altzman was equally delighted to break through for his first Pilot Challenge victory. “We’ve had so much promise with this program from the start,” he said. “We’ve had so much progress but fell short a couple times. You have to be so perfect to win any level. But Michelin Pilot Challenge in particular, with how good IMSA does with fuel timing and race distance, it makes it really tricky to call the right, perfect strategy. Today we did that – everything lined up.” A mechanical issue doomed GS championship leaders Jan Heylen and Luca Mars in their No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS to a 17th place finish after a tricky weekend. Mars ran the first stint in second place, but he and the rest of the GS field were not able to make their pit stops at the same time as the McCumbee McAleer Mustang. That dropped Heylen to 10th place, and he had moved back up to eighth when he pulled off with a mechanical failure with 19 minutes to go. The RS1 duo’s lead of more than 300 points heading into the month of July unofficially has been trimmed to 90, and Altzman has moved up to second in the standings. Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister, who finished fourth at Road America in the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine racing BMW, are 120 points out of the lead, while McAleer and Krainz rank fourth, 170 back, after their sixth straight top-six finish. Herta’s No. 33 Hyundai Breaks Through; No. 98 Hyundai Breaks Points Tie |
| Three of Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian’s five Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars raced under the spotlight in Saturday’s Touring Car (TCR) race. One of its cars broke through to win after a tough season, while the tie between its other two title-contending entries in the TCR standings was broken. Bryson Morris drove the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR to its first victory of the season and the first of Morris’ Michelin Pilot Challenge career with co-driver Mark Wilkins. This is Wilkins’ 14th Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR win, the winningest in class history, but first at Road America. Morris, 20, prevailed by 3.252 seconds over Jaden Conwright, who co-drove the No. 31 RVA Graphics Motorsports By Speed Syndicate Audi RS3 LMS TCR with Luke Rumburg. It marked the second podium of the day for Conwright, the inaugural IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient, who also finished third in an earlier Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race. The No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR shared by Karl Wittmer and LP Montour finished third. The win came as a relief for Morris, particularly after the No. 33 car was involved in a significant multi-car accident at the previous round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. “It’s been a pretty tough season for us in the 33 car,” said Morris, who has three Motul Pole Awards in 2025 but started third on Saturday. “I’m really happy to finally get a win here. We’ve been really strong. The car was only getting better, so props to everyone at Bryan Herta Autosport. The first one for the 33 car. It can’t feel any better.” Wilkins added, “Bryson’s done a great job, and it’s a long time coming for him. We’ve had some setbacks. It’s been a tumultuous season. So many crazy things have happened. This was another thing, but on the right side of the equation.” The No. 33 car only made it to the lead by Lap 25 of the eventual 42-lap race once the final 50 minutes of the race opened up more green-flag running. “It was really chaotic. … It’s been mentally challenging, and this is an ideal result for Bryson, the team and Hyundai after all the work they put in. Nice to see them get the result,” Wilkins explained. It was the 30th win in Michelin Pilot Challenge for Bryan Herta Autosport, making them the second team behind Turner Motorsport to reach that milestone in the series. It also was the BHA team’s fifth win in 2025, after the championship-leading Nos. 98 and 76 cars won two races apiece in the first four races. Between those two, Harry Gottsacker finished fourth after a hectic race for the No. 98 BHA Hyundai he co-drove with Mason Filippi. That broke a tie for the championship lead with the No. 76 BHA Hyundai co-driven by Preston Brown and Denis Dupont, who finished one spot behind in fifth. The No. 98 car recovered from an early race penalty for incident responsibility with another TCR entry and then had a second penalty rescinded later in the race. With this result, Gottsacker unofficially leads Brown and Dupont by 20 points with Wittmer and Montour still within striking distance, only 90 points in arrears, in third. The series resumes Aug. 23 with the Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at VIRginia International Raceway. Live coverage will begin at 2:15 p.m. ET on Peacock, YouTube and imsa.com/TVlive. |
