Three weeks before last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Johnsonville 180, Andy Lally, Katherine Legge and Justin Marks were at Road America competing against each other in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Continental Tire Road Race Showcase.
All three competed in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, as they have regularly throughout the 2018 WeatherTech Championship season. Lally was at the wheel of the No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS, Legge drove the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 and Marks also drove an MSR entry – the No. 93 Acura NSX – in the two-hour, 40-minute race which they each shared with a co-driver.
Last weekend at Road America, all three were flying solo, wheeling Chevrolet Camaro stock cars around the beloved 4.048-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. And while each have varying levels of stock-car racing experience, all three performed admirably in the race, which was won by full-time NASCAR racer Justin Allgaier.
Of the three WeatherTech Championship GTD regulars, Marks was the highest finisher, coming home sixth after starting fourth in the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. However, while battling another frequent sports car competitor, James Davison, for second place with three laps remaining, contact in Turn 8 forced both cars to spin. Marks – who won an Xfinity race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2016 – eventually recovered to finish sixth.
After the race, Marks tweeted from @JustinMarksDG: “Feel bad for my @CGRnascar guys. We had a super fast car today and the driver wasn’t up to par. We had a chance to win and I had to go for it. One more shot at @CLTMotorSpdwy – P6.”
Lally – who like Marks and Legge also competed in the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio two weeks prior – was in the No. 90 Henry Rifles Chevrolet for DGM Racing at Mid-Ohio. Like Marks, Lally is no stranger to NASCAR competition, having won NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors in 2011.
He battled issues of his own during the race, but managed to come home 10th in Saturday’s race.
“Tough day but a top ten for the team,” Lally tweeted (@AndyLally). “We broke a bolt and bracket in the rear end under braking into Canada Corner which let the pinion angle change and the truck arm move all over (sadly I can’t even explain this right) I could hardly keep it straight for the last 6 laps.”
He offered more insight and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity in a pair of subsequent tweets.
“Massive thank you to @HenryRifles for their wonderful support this weekend and for helping out this small, hard working team. P10 with plenty of struggles that we fought through. Thank you for the opportunity.”
“One more big thank you to @dgm_racing_, @Josh6Williams and the rest of our 90 crew. They worked so hard to bring a good car to the race. Can’t wait to get back to Charlotte. Also sorry to @JClements51 for the wheelhop and contact in Canada. Great racer doing a lot with a little.”
Whereas Marks and Lally both have considerable stock car racing experience, Legge was competing in just her second race – the first being two weeks earlier at Mid-Ohio. The British driver learned some valuable lessons about stock car racing in her second event – including some while battling for position with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott – en route to a 14th-place result in the No. 15 JD Motorsports Chevy.
“I had so much fun racing a stock car again for @jdmotorsports01 in @nascar,” she tweeted from @katherinelegge. “Huge thanks to everyone who came on board with me, super stoked to have @quicksilverproducts and @bertilroosracingschool support.”
She and Lally earned high marks for their performance from another NASCAR Hall of Famer after the race.
Tweeted Mark Martin (@markmartin): “Impressive runs today @AndyLally, @KatherineLegge, @RossChastain, @JClements51.”
In addition to Legge, Lally and Marks, another WeatherTech Championship racer – 2017 Prototype Challenge co-champion James French – also competed last weekend at Road America. French, who hails from nearby Sheboygan, Wisconsin, drove the No. 55 J.P. Motorsports Toyota, finishing 38th after retiring due to a brake issue with eight laps completed.
Next up for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the penultimate round of the season, the America’s Tire 250 as part of the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 7-9.
The two-hour, 40-minute race will be televised live on Sunday, Sept. 9 beginning at 5 p.m. ET on FS1. Live IMSA Radio coverage also will be available on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio (Sirius 119/XM 202/App 972). Tickets are available now at WeatherTechRaceway.com.
Photo Credit: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images