Preview: IMSA Comes to Indy; Sticks a Brick In Championship Battles

What happens Sunday in Indy could have a big impact on several class championships heading into the upcoming final race at Atlanta

Whole or 2%: that will be the question for Sunday for the drivers and teams in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as the series navigates its way to the yard of bricks, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the penultimate race of the 2023 season.

The unpredictability will certainly be present heading into tomorrow, and with emotions high, approaching the final race at Road Atlanta, the physicality between drivers should be on display.

For many of these drivers, this will be their first time racing at the highest level at Indy, while also being their first time racing sportscars at this hallowed race venue, resulting in what could be an interesting early start to this two-hour and 40-minute sprint race.

The big key to all of this, however, is for drivers to keep their cool and stay calm because, although there will be aspects of tradition and history at stake, the battles for a championship are still at play, creating what may be the most intriguing race on the calendar.

Indy Blackjack

This race is truly the wild card of the season, and it couldn’t have been put in a better spot.

With not much knowledge on how the race will run, outside of a day or two of testing for some, mostly everyone should be on an even playing field heading into what could be a chaotic race at Indianapolis.

It will feel like a game of blackjack. Taking chances, making moves, and being risky The timing and strategy that teams and even drivers implement in this race will be unique, more so than any other track.

Expect the early part of the race to see a lot of movement amongst the grid, whether that be some cars exiting the race early due to problems or just position changes. The aggressiveness of this race should be there.

Adding the chance to the history of being able to kiss the bricks and drink a bottle of milk in victory lane at Indy just fuels an extra fire towards the race that other races down the stretch don’t.

A team such as Cadillac Racing’s #01 GTP entry with Sebastian Bourdais and Renger van der Zande seems to be an appealing favorite.

With Bourdais’s IndyCar experience and van der Zande’s IMSA successes, this could be a race that suits them.

It would also be a big win for the #01 Cadillac, a team that has run into a roller coaster of a season with ups and downs along the way.

Brick-By-Brick

Beyond just the unpredictability of this race, in which some should have better knowledge with the Michelin Pilot Challenge completing their race, the battles for championship leverage will certainly be a sight to watch on track.

Currently, 3 of the 5 classes sit in less than 100-point battles heading into Sunday, and with a race that could lead with some growing pains early on, we could see some of these leading teams jump out of their points lead or fall down the board a bit.

The class to truly keep an eye out for the weekend would have to be the GTPs. Although every other class is a two-man race per team heading into the penultimate race, the GTP class has seven teams in the hunt that can make a run towards the season title in Atlanta.

Final Thoughts

"Expect the unexpected" may be used in many instances, but this race truly does bring out that saying.

With very little experience in sports car racing at IMS for drivers and teams, there should be a lot of movement and changes for the team’s strategies this weekend.

Having points on the line and a chance at kissing the bricks will be such a motivator that it can greatly impact where a team’s mindset is, something that may favor some of the vets, but it may also bring the best out of the youngsters during their stints.

No matter what the history and prestige of racing at Indy should bring, what could be the best race on the 2023 calendar in IMSA.