MacNeil Shares GTD Points Lead in Quest of Third Straight Title

Cooper MacNeil is no stranger to winning championships.

The Hinsdale, Ill., native – who turned 22 on Sunday – captured the GTC class title in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón for Alex Job Racing in both 2012 and 2013.

Entering the upcoming Lone Star Le Mans at Austin’s Circuit of The Americas, MacNeil is part of a five-way tie for the lead in the TUDOR Championship’s GT Daytona (GTD) class. He and Leh Keen – co-driver of the No. 22 Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America – share the lead with AIM Autosport’s Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler, and Turner Motorsport’s Dane Cameron.MacNeil won three races and the 2012 GTC title with Keen, and won two races with Jeroen Bleekemolen en route to capturing last year’s championship.What are your thoughts on the five-way tie for the GTD championship?“I think it’s going to be a dogfight from here on out. It’s going to take a win at Petit (Le Mans powered by Mazda) to win the championship, and a strong finish at Circuit of The Americas, as well. We’re going to have to make sure that all of our ducks are in a row for the next two races. I’m looking forward to COTA, but I’m especially looking forward to Petit, because there’s nobody better at endurance races than Alex Job and his team. I think we’ll have a strong finish there. “With the five-way tie, it’s going to be whoever doesn’t make any mistakes. We’ve been pretty consistent all season with seven top-five finishes. Our consistency is there, and hopefully we’ll finish strong.”You’ve won ALMS championships the last two seasons. How different is it racing for the title in the TUDOR Championship?“It’s different, because my two championships in the ALMS were in GTC, where it’s Porsche vs. Porsche vs. Porsche. This is completely different with all the different makes. Nonetheless, it’s a difficult championship to win. There’s a five-way driver tie for the points lead with two races left, it couldn’t be any tighter.”You finished fifth in the GTE Pro class this year at Le Mans. How was it running the 24 hours with only two drivers (he teamed with Jeroen Bleekemolen in the ProSpeed Competition Porsche)?“It was tough. We made the decision at the last minute to run two drivers, but we knew that we were up for it. Nonetheless, it was tough. I spent 10 and a half hours in the car (turning more laps than any other Silver-rated driver), and Jeroen spent the rest. It was a good test for the both of us, along with the car and the team, and to be honest, I felt physically better at the end of the race than I had anticipated, which I was happy about. It was a good training tool, you could say.”Would you run Le Mans again with two drivers?“I’m glad that we did it, and I’m glad that we were successful, but … not again. I’m glad that I did it, and I’m glad that I can say that I did it, but never again.”What are your thoughts on Austin, both the city and Circuit of The Americas?“Austin is great. I love the town; it’s super fun, and I’ve got a lot of friends there. I like the atmosphere, it’s a good time. The track is a lot of fun as well. Personally, I feel it’s got two or three too many corners, but other than that, the track is fantastic and the facilities are great. It’s a modern Formula One track, so it’s super safe, really wide, lots of runoff. It’s a good track to race on. I’ve won there before, and I think we can do it again. I’m looking forward to next weekend.”