The final race of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship has arrived - quite literally, IMSA's premier championship will be run under the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship banner next year.
Each of the four classes are set to decide their 2015 champions in this, the fourth and final round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.
Weekend Schedule - (all times Eastern)
Thursday, October 1
- Practice 1: 11:10 am - 12:10 pm
- Practice 2: 3:25 - 4:25 pm
- Practice 3: 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Friday, October 2
- Practice 4: 10:05 - 11:05 am
- Qualifying: 3:20 - 4:50 pm
Saturday, October 3
- Race: 11:10 am - 9:10 pm
Notebook
- Each of the four classes of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will have their champions decided during this weekend's finale race at Road Atlanta, the Petit Le Mans.
- This weekend marks the final ever race under the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship banner, as next year the series will run under the name IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the new title sponsorship from WeatherTech.
- The DeltaWing will make use of a new rear wing for the weekend with new components attached to the rear deck of the car. Without this additon, the car tested at Road Atlanta earlier in September, turning laps within the pole time from the season-ending race in 2014 at the track.
- Billy Johnson, Silver-rated Ford/Multimatic development driver, will share the wheel of the Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GT3 for the weekend as a late edition to the now four-driver lineup for the car which also includes full-time drivers Markus Palttala and Mike Marsal as well as BMW factory driver Andy Priaulx.
- Todd Slusher (suspended by IMSA for one race after a crash during practice last round at COTA) and Tomy Drissi (one-year suspension in Trans-Am due to actions in a race last month) orginally completed a "bad-boy" lineup for BAR1 Motorsports' No. 16 for this weekend, but Slusher has been yanked from the role after not being able to serve the suspension at COTA due to extenuating circumstances. In his place will be Don Yount.
- Fred Makowiecki will join Joerg Bergmeister and Earl Bamber in Porsche North America's No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR while the third driver for the sister No. 911 car will be Richard Lietz alongside Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy.
- The No. 38 ORECA FLM09 of Performance Tech Motorsports has withdrawn from the event after Conor Daly suffered a heavy crash in Thursday's Practice 1. The American driver was not seriously injured but the damage to the car was too severe to be repaired so the team carry onward with the weekend to compete for the Prototype Challenge teams' championship.
- Miss America 2016, Betty Cantrell, will serve as Grand Marshal for Saturday's finale race. The former Miss Georgia is the first from the state to win the national title since 1953.
- The start of the weekend saw perfect weather, but it's not expected to stay that way; rain is in the forecast for the rest of the finale weekend, and it is certain to impact the final few on-track sessions of the 2015 season.
Follow @VAVELSportsCar on Twitter for comprehensive coverage of the Petit Le Mans finale with news, session recaps and live tweeting.
Aaron Durant is the editor of the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @DoubleA291.