CORE autosport Circuit of The Americas Post-Race Report

CORE autosport brought its best game to Circuit of the Americas for a Prototype Challenge showdown at the Lone Star Le Mans. The team emerged with a second-place finish, clinching the PC Driver’s Championship in the inaugural season of the TUDOR United SportsCar Series.
 
Starting second on the grid, Jon Bennett maintained a solid run and a spot in the top five throughout his stint, despite a harried start. Bennett did a good job anticipating the green flag, but unfortunately race officials did not approve of the formation of the Prototype front row and waved off the start. The race was finally underway after a second start attempt, but it was not as kind to Bennett, who experienced contact with another PC competitor in the opening laps.
 
Bennett was running fifth in class when the only full-course caution of the two-hour and 45-minute race came for debris at Turn 19. The pits remained closed during the full-course caution, forcing the team to pit as soon as the green flag re-emerged. Bennett handed the car off to Braun in fourth place.
 
Braun was making progress through the field when a GTD car made contact with the No. 54 ORECA FLM09. The hit briefly slowed Braun who fell to third. He quickly recovered from the incident and moved into the PC class lead.
 
Shortly thereafter, while defending his lead in Turn 1, Braun made contact with the No. 25 8STAR car driven by Sean Rayhall. Race officials deemed Braun to be at fault for the incident and issued the No. 54 a drive-through penalty. After serving the penalty, Braun returned to track in in fourth place.
 
The remaining race brought a fierce shootout between the PC top three with No. 25 in first, No. 54 in second and No. 08 in third. All three teams completed full service pits stops at the same time and re-emerged in the same order.
 
Braun remained quick all the way to the end, capturing a runner-up finish. The podium spot gave Bennett and Braun the points needed to clinch the PC Driver’s Championship a round early. It is the first Driver’s Championship for both.
 
The Lone Star Le Mans will re-air on FOX Sunday, Sept. 20, around NFL coverage. Check you local listings for air times.
 
CORE autosport must now focus on capturing its fourth-straight PC Team Championship at the TUDOR United SportsCar season finale: Petit Le Mans. The 10-hour race goes green at 11:15 am ET and will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 2.