LEEDS, ALABAMA (April 3, 2019) – A pair of podiums highlighted the opening rounds of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge season. The Ohio-based squad saw a third place finish for Charlie Luck in Race 1 and a third for Fred Poordad in Race 1.
It was a trying start to the weekend for Max Root after he secured an unanticipated fourth place starting position for Race 1. Despite struggling towards the start, the California native was able to put his head down and cross the line in fourth place, where he would also start Race 2. Come time for Sunday's race, Root was feeling confident with some set up changes, although unavoidable contact with a compeitior hindered his chances at showcasing it.
"I'm really proud of the Wright Motorsports team," said Root. "Although we didn’t have to opening round we were looking for, it was a great way to start the season and score some points with fourth in the opening round. We made a lot of changes before the second race and were in a good position to make our way up the field. Unfortunately we had a mixup with another driver that cost us our race, but we showed we were here to contend with and I’m looking forward to Mid-Ohio."
It was much of a bittersweet one for Luck, who has kicked off his third consecutive season with the Batavia Ohio-based team. The weekend started out on a high after Luck qualified second in the Platinum Masters category and finished out Race 1 with a third place podium result. Race 2 was poised to be that much better, as the Wright Motorsports driver qualified on pole position. Unfortunately that went far south after unavoidable contact with another competitor took Luck out of contention.
Poordad entered the weekend in hot pursuit, gunning to best his fifth place finish from 2018. He did just that after qualifying fourth and managing to stick it through to the checkered flag. Come time for Race 2, that just wasn't enough for the Texan as he battled it out from his fourth place starting slot and pulled through with a third place podium.