They can’t all be winners and losers at IMSA’s Long Beach GP

It’s been zero days without an incident between a Corvette driven by Tommy Milner and a BMW. And while some fans may be disappointed that Saturday’s story didn’t end with the now infamous Milner bird from the Rolex 24, the rest of the field managed a few sweet victories worth noting and losses that were truly more just disappointments. All of it happening in a very quick 100 minutes of racing.

So, without further adieu, the winners and losers of IMSA at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach:

Loser: The #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing… and well both Acura GTPs

What you might have missed, just seconds after the waving of the checkered flag and as teams were putting in a cool-down lap before pitting, the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian lost one of its wheels. How it managed to run the majority of the race — over 25 laps since the last (second) full course yellow — without losing the wheel is somewhat dumbfounding. (MSR did manage to tweet that the #60 did have a “tough pit stop” for that round, which might explain the end result).

The #60 was also one of the two cars to say out on the initial pitstops of the first full-course yellow. They did end up pitting two laps later (still under caution), and despite no other real issues, managed to finish 9, behind the #23 Aston Martin THOR Valkyrie car. It wasn’t a great day for Acura as a whole. Further salt in the wound is the fact that this was the “Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.” 

Winner: Vasser Sullivan Racing 

Every Vasser Sullivan Racing driver (Jack Hawksworth, Parker Thompson, Aaron Telitz and Frankie Montecalvo) on the podium with AO Racing’s GTD-winning crew.

Photo by: LAT Images

Redemption might be sweeter than revenge? The weekend started with the Parker Thompson sailing a fast #12 Lexus to pole at Long Beach for the second time in a row for the GTD class. But another near-deja vu moment in Saturday’s race saw the Vasser Sullivan Racing cars followed by Winward Racing’s #57 Mercedes-AMG. If you’ve forgotten where this happened before, Jack Hawksworth and his team certainly didn’t — it was the similar start to a disappointing evening for Vasser Sullivan at Sebring last month, as a move in the last lap of the race ended with the #12 relinquishing his lead for the second spot in the class finish. This weekend, the #12 finished second again, but two spots ahead of Winward. Not only that, but the second Vasser Sullivan Racing entry for the weekend, the #89, was right behind to give the team a 2-3 finish for GTD. Cheers!

Loser: Conquest Racing 

The #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari, on track Friday during the Long Beach GP weekend

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui

The true winner of this story might be the wall around Turn 1, unfortunately. It was an incredibly short run for the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari as driver Manny Franco found himself in the runoff at Turn 1, having made contact with the wall. While he tried to push on, whatever happened in the crash did enough damage that the team tried fixing it, but retired the car at least 20 laps down, having only completed 15 laps. 

Winner: Robert Wickens’ return to a top-tier series with DXDT Racing

The #36 DXDT Racing Corvette driven by Robert Wickens and Tommy Milner, sporting its busted rear end

Photo by: LAT Images

It’s been a long and painful road for Robert Wickens since the 2018 Indycar at Pocono crash that changed his life, leaving him partially paralyzed from the waist-down. And while that story has been told several hundred times this weekend, for good reason, the biggest story of the Long Beach race surrounded the 36-year-old driver, how he pushed himself and inspired the people around him to help him continue racing. Wickens has most recently experienced success in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge series, but finally made the step back up to the elite, top-tier portion of IMSA this weekend — with his first outing in the GTD class. All of it made possible with a hand control device developed by Bosch. And it wasn’t a race weekend without its own setbacks, which you can read a little more about in the next section. But Wickens is back at the top, and DXDT Racing was another crucial part to this comeback story.

Loser: But also the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette

Yes, the DXDT Racing Corvette is on here twice, purposely. The team is not an outright loser this weekend. But it’s not an outright winner either. The #36 had an understandably rough weekend. From issues in practice, to contact with a Ferrari that messed up the suspension to the BMW dance that resulted in a mechanical black flag waved that essentially resulted in a last-place running finish (at least ahead of Conquest Racing), was hard to watch. 

Winner: Wayne Taylor Racing

#45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan of Danny Formal and Trent Hindman at the Long Beach GP

Photo by: LAT Images

The Cadillac squad on the GTP side of things didn’t have a remarkable weekend in any way. Nor did Wayne Taylor Racing’s #45 GTD Lamborghini. But, none of WTR’s cars suffered any major position-altering damage, including the Lamborghini, which managed to just miss running over the #85 JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche’s wing after its incident. A close call for sure, but again, Wayne Taylor Racing cars across both classes came out unscathed. Everyone in the WTR garages must be relieved. 

Loser: BMW with three for three IMSA poles, and no wins

The #24 BMW M Team RLL of Phillipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor on track during the Long Beach GP

Photo by: LAT Images

Anyone who watches endurance racing understands that a pole position doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of a long race. But adding 35 points to your championship points total is nothing to bat your lashes at either. It’s not expected that the pole-sitter will also stand atop the endurance podium. It’s certainly not been expected for BMW this season. Well, the #24 BMW M Team RLL did at least earn a podium spot this week — it just wasn’t the “top” spot.