IndyCar at the 2025 Petit Le Mans

Today’s theme music: “Saturday (Oooh! Ooooh!)” by Ludacris ft. Sleepy Brown

This past weekend, the racing world’s eyes were split between two of the most prestigious endurance races on the planet. Down under in Australia, the Supercars Championship held a rain-soaked Bathurst 1000 that put its cast of elite touring car drivers to the test, while up here in the States, Road Atlanta hosted the 28th annual Petit Le Mans. This ten-hour slugfest has become a marquee IMSA event second only to Daytona and Sebring in prestige, and as usual, it drew in a few names from the IndyCar world

We start our tour in the GTD class, where James Hinchcliffe left the booth and drove the Pfaff #9 Lamborghini for the first time since Sebring. Unfortunately, the car blended so thoroughly into the pack that Hinchcliffe got more screen time doing interviews on NBC’s broadcast than he did by actually driving. The plaid Lambo ultimately DNF’d late, winding up 10th in class and 45th out of 53 total entries.

Meanwhile, Kyle Kirkwood spent much of the daytime portion keeping the Vasser Sullivan #14 Lexus in the podium running, bouncing between 2nd and 3rd for most of that stretch. However, as the sun set, so did the car’s chances, and it slid down the order on Ben Barnicoat’s watch until finishing 6th in class and 35th overall.

In LMP2, four-time Champ Car champion Sébastien Bourdais and the Tower #8 crew ended a season to forget early when a teammate had a dentist moment and decided a nearby Ferrari would be good for his teeth. Toby Sowery, an IndyCar reserve with Rahal Letterman Lanigan, did only one spot better in class, but dozens better overall, while Indy NXT prospects Juan Correa and James Roe took class spots of P9 and P7, respectively. The big winner here was Dale Coyne alumnus Hunter McElrea, whose TDS #11 crew ended the IMSA year on back-to-back LMP2 wins for the second season in a row. 

In GTP, Scott Dixon’s hopes of defending his Petit Le Mans crown got a significant boost when Tom Blomqvist put the Meyer Shank #60 Acura on overall pole. Blomqvist proceeded to lead the race for its first hour and a half, but after that, the #60 spent the rest of the daytime portion on a slow, painful descent down the order that he, Dixon, and Colin Braun all shared in. Though they’d rebound in the nighttime to ultimately finish 5th, a Porsche finishing ahead meant that Acura were unable to seize the GTP Manufacturers’ Championship. Suffice to say, if the Ganassi-MSR talent exchange continues into next year, MSR will be very keen to make sure Álex Palou is in a car in Atlanta racing for them, not in a courtroom in London dealing with his McLaren lawsuit.

Instead, the scene-stealing hero at the end was Prema reserve driver Romain Grosjean. The Lamborghini SC63 didn’t look like it would be a factor for much of the race, but on his final nighttime stint, the Swiss-Frenchman did everything he could to send the car off on a high note, surging up out of nowhere to ensure that, with ten minutes left, the final fight for the checkered flag came down to himself, Earl Bamber in the Whelen #31 Cadillac, and Roman de Angelis in the #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie. While Grosjean unfortunately didn’t quite nail the fuel strategy, having to splash and dash with just over five minutes to go, he still got the car to 4th in a season where that car was usually lucky just to make it to the end. Whether Grosjean gets the full-time return to IndyCar he wants or has to settle for another IMSA ride, the Phoenix’s stock has risen significantly with these performances, and reminders like this will go a long way in inking that next deal.