The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship had its penultimate round at Circuit of The Americas this past weekend. Here's how the championship standings look like before the season-ending Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Prototype
VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP continues in the Prototype points lead after a third-place finish at COTA.
The No. 90 VisitFlorida.com entry is followed by the two Action Express Racing entries, each being six points behind leaders.
The title bid for the VisitFlorida.com team entering the finale weekend at Road America is this: they can secure the title with a podium finish in the Petit Le Mans - no matter where their rivals finish.
The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing of Joey Hand and Scott Pruett that dominated in this past weekend's penultimate round of the year is fourth in the standings, 11 points behind the leaders. Even if the No. 01 won the Petit Le Mans, they would need VisitFlorida.com Racing missing the top six and neither Action Express car finishing higher than third.
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry is fifth, 16 points behind the leaders, and the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing entry is sixth, 29 points behind. Although those entries still have a theoretical title chance, it would require the frontrunners to not start the race.
Things remain the same at the top in the Drivers' championsip: VisitFlorida.com drivers Michael Valiante and Richard Westbrook lead the championship by six points to the No. 31 Action Express drivers Dane Cameron and Eric Curran, and No. 5 Action Express drivers Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi.
Prototype Challenge
Lone Star Le Mans-winning No. 54 CORE autosport entry leads the Prototype Challenge by 12 points to the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry and 14 points to the No. 11 RSR Racing entry. A top-seven finish at the Petit Le Mans would secure the title for CORE autosport, regardless of rivals' positions.
No. 8 Starworks Motorsport and No. 85 JDC/Miller Motorsports entries also have a theoretical chance for the title, but it would require the championship leaders to not take the green flag at the finale.
In drivers' championship, CORE autosport drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun lead ahead of PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports' Mike Guasch and Tom Kimber-Smith, and RSR Racing's Chris Cumming and Bruno Junqueira.
GT Le Mans
The No. 911 Porsche North America entry remains in the lead of the GT Le Mans class points following the penultimate round at Circuit of The Americas. The No. 25 BMW Team RLL entry caught the leaders by five points with the Lone Star Le Mans win and is now trailing by three points. A victory at the Petit Le Mans would secure the title for either team, but in other scenarios, the Porsche might afford to lose to the BMW.
The No. 3 Corvette Racing entry is in third place, 10 points behind the leaders. If it won at Road Atlanta, it would need the No. 911 Porsche finishing no higher than sixth and the No. 25 BMW no higher than fourth to win the title.
Three points behind the No. 3 Corvette is the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari. Its theoretical title chance calls for the No. 911 Porsche not starting at the season finale. That is the case also for the fifth-placed No. 24 BMW and sixth-placed No. 912 Porsche entries entering the final round of the year next weekend at Road Atlanta.
The No. 911 Porsche driver Patrick Pilet leads the drivers' championship alone as his usual crewmate Nick Tandy missed two rounds and is ninth. Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner of the No. 25 BMW are in second place and the No. 3 Corvette drivers Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen are in third.
GT Daytona
The No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin continues in the lead of the GT Daytona class after the Lone Star Le Mans, despite being win-less through all but one round thus far/
The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing entry caught them by seven points at COTA and is now only one point behind, also with no wins. Four points behind the leaders is the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa entry. If the Scuderia Corsa entry wins at the Petit Le Mans, the TRG-AMR entry needs a second place for the title.
The Lone Star Le Mans winner in the GTD category, the No. 33 Riley Motorsports entry, is in fourth place, already 11 points behind the leaders. Even if it won at the Petit Le Mans, they would need the No. 007 finishing no higher than seventh, the No. 48 no higher than sixth, and the No. 63 no higher than fourth to win the title.
Three points behind the fourth-placed No. 33 is the No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing entry. Four more entries have a slim theoretical chance for the title, though it would require the leaders not starting the Petit Le Mans.
The No. 007 TRG-AMR driver Christina Nielsen leads the drivers' championship alone. Paul Miller drivers Christopher Haase and Dion von Moltke are in second place and Scuderia Corsa drivers Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler are in third.
The 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season will conclude with the Petit Le Mans on October 1-3 at Road Atlanta.
Follow @VAVELSportsCar on Twitter for continued coverage of the series leading up to and during the Petit Le Mans in two weeks.
Kalle Tyynelä is a writer for the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @FINdyCar.