TAVARES, Fla. (Aug. 18, 2015) - Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen are ready for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway to run Aug. 21-23.
MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Keen (Charleston, S.C.) have had success at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course located north of Alton. The duo won the ALMS GTC race in 2012 and are looking to repeat that win this weekend. The TUDOR Championship has just three events remaining. MacNeil and Keen are fourth in the GTD championship standings with 189 points, just 10 out of the top spot.
"VIR is a long track, but it's a lot of fun to drive with the combination of fast and slow corners as well as the elevation changes," MacNeil said. "The back straight is pretty long which allows our WeatherTech Porsche to stretch its legs. I ran two SCCA races there earlier this year and had two podium finishes. I'm looking to keep that streak going! We need to have a great finish to stay up in the points. I'm looking forward to this weekend."
Keen likes VIR and knows the team needs a strong showing.
"VIR is a great place," Keen said. "One of the top tracks and facilities in North America. Cooper and I actually won at VIR back in the ALMS days. There was just a BOP [balance of performance] change that will help the Porsche out a bit more, so hope to see some nice results this weekend. It's a really busy time now as we are on the home stretch to the finish line of the season. We really need to stand on the throttle in the AJR WeatherTech Porsche and get some results for this championship run."
Alex Job, team owner, wants a good finish to set the team up for the Petit Le Mans finale.
"We have just three races to go and the championship is very tight at the top," Job said. "Each team in the points battle has had some tough luck in the last few races, so I still think it is anyone's championship to win. We need top finishes in the last three races to sit at the front table at the banquet."
The TUDOR United SportsCar Series will travel to Virginia International Raceway for the Oak Tree Grand Prix to run Aug. 21-23. The VIR race will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 starting at 1:00 p.m. ET Sunday. Qualifying on Saturday can be viewed at IMSA.com starting at 4:40 p.m.