The IMSA Prototype Challenge concluded the 2020 season Friday morning at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. K2R Motorsports Naveen Rao and Matthew Bell were on the pole while their teammates Steven Thomas and Thomas Merrill started second.
Ten minutes into the race, the No. 75 of Cameron Cassels and the No. 33 of Lance Willsey got together and spun, with Willsey getting stuck in the gravel pit to bring out the first caution. The track crews were able to pull Willsey out, and he got his car going again. The caution lasted seven minutes before the race resumed with over two hours and forty-three minutes left.
Cassels would be involved in another accident this time, spinning out the No. 60 car of Tonis Kasemets in between turns seven and eight to bring out the second caution. During the caution, teams went to pit road. The race resumed with two hours and twenty-five minutes left. Rao had built himself a five-second lead over Keith Grant. He led the opening 39 laps before making a pit stop with Joe Robillard in the No. 10 car, now the new leader.
Robillard led four laps before heading to pit road. Steven Thomas took over the lead. Robillard had a loose wheel and returned to pit road. Thomas led 14 laps before making heading to pit road for a driver change Matthew Bell in the No. 64 car became the new leader.
The third caution of the day would come out with an hour and twenty-three minutes left. The No. 86 car of Paul LaHaye spun due to the No. 60 of Tristan Viidas clipping him. Viidaas tried to avoid him but spun on his own, taking out a sign while leaving debris out on the track. Both cars were able to continue the race.
The race restarted with an hour and sixteen minutes left. Bell went to pit road, having led 18 laps before the No. 11 of Thomas Merrill took over the lead. The lead would change again for the final time twenty minutes later. This time the roles were reversed, with Merrill heading to pit road and Bell taking over the lead with 47 minutes left in the race.
With less than fifteen minutes left, the No. 3 of Eric Palmer spun his car around, got going again but then stalled to bring out the caution. Once the track crews got him off the track, the race resumed with five minutes left. Bell would lead the last 34 laps to not only win the race by 2.776 seconds but also win the IMSA Prototype championship. Thomas Merrill finished in second, Scott Andrews in third, Wyatt Schwab in fourth, and Stephen Simpson round out the top five.
That concludes the 2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge season. Thank you for tuning in to BGMSportsTrax all season along and congratulations to K2R Motorsports for winning the championship. We’ll do it again next year.
