WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil, Leh Keen and Craig Stanton brought the No. 22 WeatherTech Racing Porsche to the checker at the season ending TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in eighth place in GTD.
Keen (Charleston, S.C.) had the wheel at the start and was quick to improve on his eight place qualifying effort by driving the WeatherTech Porsche to fifth by the time he turned the car over to MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) on lap 37. The University of Colorado at Boulder student ran a strong stint handing over to Stanton (Hollywood, Calif.) on lap 106. As the afternoon pit stops cycled through and a series of some 13 caution periods slowed the racing the WeatherTech Racing team fell back a lap to the competition. Hopeful to make it back up with pit strategy in the later stages the opportunity never presented itself and the championship hopefuls, just four points back coming into Petit, finished the season in third in the GTD drivers point standings.
“We had an up and down year,” Keen said. “We rolled with the balance of performance issues all season and we came into the final weekend with a chance to win it. Alex and the team put together a great car and come to the track with a chance to win every race. We finished third in the drivers’ championship which isn’t a championship, but not too bad. We had some issues today, we fell back a lap. Then we had an issue in the pits when we had to recycle the electronics. That cost us some time. I want to thank WeatherTech for their support. It was great to drive with Cooper for a full season.”
“We ran pretty good for a majority of the race,” MacNeil said. “We fell back a lap and we just didn’t have the right set of circumstances to make it back up. We had a consistent year, with our top five finishes and only one podium. To come into the final race just four points out of the championship lead with just one podium finish of second at Road America is pretty good. We are the first Porsche in the championship which is something to be proud of tonight. Alex Job and the team worked really hard all year to maximize the Porsche.”
“The 22 team is amazing,” Stanton said. “It was a great effort all year long for the guys. I was glad to drive with them in the final race. We had good pace. I put in two stints that I am proud of and we in a good position for half of the race. We fell back a lap late in the day and we just couldn’t recover. It was a good day for sports car racing with a great crowd today and some deserving champions.”
Team owner Alex Job had a positive year with the WeatherTech Team.
“We were working our way through the 13 caution periods and we were in a pretty good position running in the top five,” Job said. “We went down a lap late in the afternoon and we didn’t have the right circumstances to get it back. We had a trying year with what happened at Sebring and the ongoing development of the Porsche all season. Our consistency paid off. We are the top finishing Porsche in the championship.”