The 63rd season of racing begins Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with the return of thrilling IMSA sports car competition at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Four Hours of Mid-Ohio (June 7-9). The three-day event is headlined by a four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge endurance race and features the inaugural races of the new IMSA-sanctioned Mustang Challenge plus racing from three other series.
In total, nine races will take the green flag this weekend as the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin, Mustang Challenge and KUMHO FIA TCR World Tour series will each compete in a pair of races on the legendary 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. The headlining four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge endurance race on Sunday at 12:40 p.m. ET is the second of only two four-hour competitions on the series’ 2024 slate.
One Michelin Pilot Challenge duo to watch this weekend is defending series champions Harry Gottsacker and Robert Wickens of Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian in the Touring Car (TCR) class. After three races in 2024, the teammates have tallied two third-place finishes and sit in fourth place in the TCR standings. Gottsacker arrives at Mid-Ohio as the only returning race winner from the last time the series competed on the North Central Ohio circuit in 2022.
“We’re extremely hungry (to win again),” Gottsacker told IMSA.com. “We're going to be giving it 100 percent full effort. It is weird saying that, right, that it's been a while since we've been on the top step. I feel like we've definitely gotten robbed a couple of times, so the racing gods should be on our side. We’ve just got to be able to put the car in a position to win.”
Wickens, a former NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver, also has fond memories at Mid-Ohio. The 35-year-old Canadian driver finished second at The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio IndyCar race in 2018, his rookie season in the series. A few weeks later, a violent crash at Pocono Raceway left him paralyzed. In 2021, after many months of grueling rehab, Wickens returned to a race car for the first time since the accident at Mid-Ohio driving with hand-controlled throttle, brakes and clutch.
“Mid-Ohio, the fans really make the event,” Wickens said. “They’re so passionate. They love all forms of category. I’m sure it’s going to be a great atmosphere like it always is. They’re a diehard group of motorsport fans, and it’s always a privilege.”
Some local racers will also take the track this weekend in the season-opening event. Riley Pegram from Columbus, Ohio, will become one of the first female drivers to join the KUMHO FIA TCR World Tour. Riley is the daughter of former AMA Superbike rider Larry Pegram.
Woody Heimann from Findlay, Ohio, will compete in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin races this weekend. Living just an hour from Mid-Ohio, Heimann has been coming to Mid-Ohio since he was a kid and started his racing career by riding motorcycles on the course.
“I’ve raced motorcycles, bicycles and now cars at Mid-Ohio,” Heimann said. “My first time there was 1996 as a spectator and my first time there on two wheels was 2001 at a track day. My first race was spring of 2003, on two-wheels. I’m celebrating 21 years of motorsports at Mid-Ohio.”
For more information and tickets for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Four Hours of Mid-Ohio tickets, visit midohio.com. Paddock access is free to get up close to the transporters, cars and drivers. Children 12 and under receive free general admission to any event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Follow the event on social media with #IMSAatMO.
About Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: A comprehensive motorsports facility in Lexington, Ohio, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course sits on 380 acres and features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary race track configurations: 2.4-mile, 15-turn or 2.258-mile, 13-turn layout. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the natural terrain road course is commonly referred to as the “Most Competitive in the U.S.” and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally-sanctioned race events for amateur, club and professional drivers and riders. It is also home to The Mid-Ohio School, featuring over 20 driving and riding courses, for teenagers to professional racers using Honda vehicles. Opened in 1962, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been owned and operated by Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, LLC since 2011, just the raceway’s third private ownership group in its history.
For more information, visit midohio.com, ‘like’ its Facebook page @MidOhioSportsCarCourse or follow updates on X (formerly Twitter) @Mid_Ohio and Instagram @officialmidohio.
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