GTC Championship Point leaders Cooper MacNeil and Jeroen Bleekemolen finished second in the GTC class in American Le Mans Series Oak Tree Grand Prix today at Virginia International Raceway (VIR).

MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) started from the front row in the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche. On lap eight, the first of the race’s three cautions came out to remove debris from the race track. This forced the field to bunch back up. When the race went green on lap 10, MacNeil had to navigate some traffic and the result shuffled him back to fifth place. Knowing that he is competing for the GTC Drivers’ Championship, MacNeil did not want to take any unnecessary chances before handing the car over to his co-driver Bleekemolen.

On lap 27, MacNeil was in fifth when he brought the No. 22 Alex Job Racing-prepared Porsche to pit lane for four tires, fuel and a driver change. At that point, Bleekemolen got in.

“My stint was not as good as I was hoping it would be,” MacNeil said of his stint. “I kind of got caught up in traffic a lot, with faster cars passing in some pretty risky places. I was trying to drive as fast as I could, while driving somewhat conservatively because we have the Championship in mind. But, when you do that, you get eaten up by the faster cars and that’s kind of what happened.”

Bleekemolen took over and immediately started making up ground. He went from P5 to P3 in just six laps. In fact, he moved to second place and was less than a second behind the leader with about an hour to go in the race. It looked like Bleekemolen had a realistic shot at giving the team it’s third win of the season. But, Bleekemolen could not quite catch and pass the No. 66 Porsche and subsequently finished second.

“We had a really good car – very consistent,” Bleekemolen said of his stint. “The pit stops were great and we moved up because of it. The guys did an awesome job of moving me up. It was not a perfect race because we did not win. But, it was nearly perfect. With a longer stint, we would have had a small chance to catch up to Damien [Faulkner] and fight him. But, they were strong all weekend. But, for the Championship, it is a great result. We’ll take it.”

“Cooper and Jeroen drove a great race today,” team owner Alex Job said. “They were both very consistent and that’s what helps win Championships. And, the crew gave them a really competitive car and made some great pit stops. While we finished second, which is a very good result, we have to keep the big picture in mind. We are competing for both the Drivers’ and the Team Championship – both of which we have the opportunity to win at Petit in a couple of weeks. Overall, it was a pretty good day.”

“We came into this weekend with a four point lead and we’re leaving with a 13 points,” MacNeil said of the Championship hunt. “That’s what we came here to do. We’re going into Petit with a good lead, which is good for a Championship repeat.”

MacNeil and Bleekemolen lead the Drivers’ Championship with 131 points, followed by Henrique Cisneros (118), and Nelson Canache and Spencer Pumpelly (115). Alex Job Racing has 131 points in the Team Championship. The team trails Flying Lizards Motorsports (133) by just two points with one race remaining.

The team will travel to Road Atlanta for the American Le Mans Series season finale Oct. 16-19. Petit Le Mans will also be the final race for the American Le Mans Series after 14 seasons.