IMSA PL: Whelden, Versteeg claim Monterey wins

The storylines were plentiful Sunday for Rounds 11 and 12 of Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires.

Michael Whelden broke a 28-race win streak by JDC Motorsports dating back to August 2014. Austin Versteeg rebounded from a 13th-place Round 11 finish to claim his seventh win of the season. And Clark Toppe took the Lites 1 Championship points lead for the first time since being tied for first after Round 3 in early July.

Round 11

Whelden had home-field advantage on his side as he claimed his first career Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires victory Sunday in Round 11 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Whelden, from Sausalito, California, drag-raced his way to victory over Clark Toppe by a mere .077 of a second in the No. 29 Extreme Speed Motorsports Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine and racing on Cooper Tires.

The win by Whelden ended JDC Motorsports' win streak at 28 races, dating to August 2014. Andrew Novich, with Comprent Motor Sports, was the last non-JDC driver to win a Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires race. He won Round 10 of the 2014 season Aug. 10, 2014, at Road America.

"Huge thanks to Extreme Speed Motorsports for giving me a car that was consistent throughout the race," Whelden said. "Huge thank you to Mazda and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Everyone's put on a great event here this weekend. I am happy to be here at my home track, and I am happy to end the JDC streak."

Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, finished second in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports machine to take the championship points lead from teammate Austin Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah. He trailed by eight points going into Round 11 but a 13th-place finish by Versteeg gives Toppe the seven-point advantage, 184-177.

Kyle Masson, from Windermere, Florida, finished third in the No. 18 Performance Tech Motorsports entry for his second podium finish of the weekend.

James Dayson, from Vancouver, British Columbia, tied his career-best finish by crossing the line in fourth place in the No. 12 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry. Andrew Evans, from Sammamish, Washington, rounded out the top five in his debut weekend with a fifth-place finish in the No. 43 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

At the drop of the green flag, pole-sitting Versteeg led the field through the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit with Whelden and Masson close behind. Over the next 13 minutes, Versteeg slowly extended his lead over the field to as much as 4.43 seconds.

With 32 minutes remaining, Versteeg stopped on track in Turn 5, giving the lead to Whelden. Half a lap later, a full-course yellow came out for two cars off course in Turn 9.

The field bunched under yellow, with Whelden leading followed by Toppe and Masson. Prior to Whelden leading laps, JDC Motorsports had led all but seven laps this season. Pato O'Ward led one in Round 1 and six in Round 2 in March at Sebring International Raceway.

At the green, racing resumed with Whelden retaining the lead. He and Toppe pulled away from the rest of the field. Toppe spent the next 20 minutes looking for his opening.

Whelden extended his gap to 1.328 seconds with 15 minutes to go. With eight minutes to go the gap was back under a second. The lead was only a car length with five minutes remaining.

Toppe followed Whelden's every move looking for his opening. It came with four minutes left. Whelden went wide through Turn 11, and Toppe nosed in front down the front stretch. But Whelden was not to be deterred. He took the inside line into Turn 2, braked late and inched his way back to first.

"We had a battle for the last 15 minutes," Whelden said. "He had me. He owned me going down to Turn 2, but then I fired it back in. I was like, 'I'm not giving it away,' and he drove a smart race, too."

With two minutes to go, Whelden's lead was back to over half of a second. But on the final turn of the last lap, he dropped a wheel on the outside, Toppe took the inside, and it was a drag race to the finish. Whelden took the victory, only 77-thousandths of a second ahead of Toppe.

ROUND 12

Versteeg found the top step of the podium for the seventh time this season with a 4.037-second victory in the No. 7 JDC Motorsports entry over teammate Clark Toppe.

The 1-2 finish was the duo's sixth of the season and first since Round 7 in July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

"The car has been excellent from the get-go, and I don't think we've changed a thing all weekend," Versteeg said. "I definitely needed this to get back in the championship."

Versteeg came into the weekend leading by a mere two points. Going into the third and final race of the weekend, he trailed Toppe by seven points. He now enters the final two races of the season – Sept. 28-30 at Road Atlanta – trailing by only five points, 202-197.

Whelden followed his first series career win with a third-place finish in Round 12 at his home track in the No. 29 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry. The third-place finish completed the trifecta for the local driver. He finished on each step of the podium this weekend, second in Round 10, first in Round 11 and third in Round 12.

Max Hanratty, from Milwaukee, finished in fourth place for his best finish of the weekend in the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry. Evans finished with his second top-five finish in the No. 43 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

Unlike Round 11, Versteeg sailed through Round 12 with no issues to lead from flag to flag to claim the victory and inch closer to regaining the championship points lead.

But as he slowly pulled away to as much as a 7.780-second lead, drama brewed behind him.

Toppe started the race fourth in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports machine. Within two laps, he made the pass on Masson to take over third position. Less than two minutes later, he passed Whelden and set his sights on Versteeg.

But there was no match for Versteeg as Toppe was forced to continue to battle to keep his position. Over the course of the next five minutes, second through fifth position all ran within two seconds of each other.

Then disaster struck for Masson as he went off course in Turn 8, bringing out the full-course yellow. The green came out with 21 minutes remaining, but a spin by Tim George in the No. 24 Eurosport Racing entry in Turn 11 caused a pileup involving a majority of the field. The four leaders were unscathed and continued.

Versteeg picked up where he left off and cruised to the checkered flag.