They didn’t cross the finish line in first place, but still ended up atop the podium: The No. 79 BMW LMDh of Champion Motorsports gets its first win of the season by way of a post-race penalty to the No. 24 BMW of Stow Motorsports.
The Stow Motorsports car took the checkered flag in first place, but was handed a 20-second post-race penalty by Race Control for an incident on their cool-down lap following the conclusion of the race, when the No. 24 BMW was deemed to have impeded a LMP2 class car that was still actively competing in the race.
A lot of angry and furious faces from the Stow Motorsports paddock were in disbelief when VSCA declared the No. 79 car the official winner.
Taking second place was the No. 3 BMW of Mayer Simspeed Performance while DS Racing eSports Team and their No. 88 car continue to trend towards the top of the championship standings, scoring their second consecutive top-five finish and rounding out the podium. The team also led the most laps in the race (14).
Following their post-race penalty, the No. 24 BMW of Stow Motorsports with drivers Logan Spath and Caleb Benci ended up fourth, after leading the second-most laps of the race (13).
Completing the top-five finishers was the No. 99 BMW of JO Motorsports with American drivers duo Jonathan Oshalim and Eric Sibla, who earned their second consecutive top-five finish in the VSCA SportsCar Championship, following a disappointing disqualification at Daytona in January.
MoneyHouse Racing and their No. 45 BMW LMDh entry took P6 while the No. 7 machine of Grizzly Motorsports reached the checkered flag two laps down to take P7 in the end.
The Sports Car Challenge of Long Beach turned into another nightmare of a race for the No. 12 Delta Racing BMW LMDh.
Things got off to a bad start when technical issues forced starting driver Bruno Melo to start from the pits, putting the No. 12 team way behind the competition and in a spot where they had to work their way through the entire GTD and LMP2 field.
Then on lap 12, things turned worse for car no. 12. Coming through turn five, Melo was startled to find the No. 38 Dallara LMP2 of Michael Poole merging back into the racing line with traffic fast approaching.
Melo slammed the brakes but it was too late and his BMW V8 Hybrid hit the walls hard. In the process the Delta Racing machine was lapped by the then-race leader No. 21 BMW of Team Olympus and driver Sophia Ridpath.
On lap 25 the No. 12 car came to the pits for more technical issues and consequently lost several more laps, to end up eighth in the end, four laps down.
The No. 8 BMW of Grizzly Motorsports finished P9, eight laps down after involvement in a crash on lap 14. The No. 51 BMW of World of SimRacing Team likewise was involved in a crash and ended up tenth, 15 laps down.
Despite lost race win, Stow Motorsports in firm control in LMDh points
In the LMDh VSCA SportsCar Championship standings the No. 24 BMW team of Stow Motorsports continues to lead the way with three top-fives in three races, despite losing the race win at Long Beach.
The No. 3 Mayer Simspeed Performance BMW sits in second place, 31 points back, moving the No. 51 car of World Of SimRacing Team to third, 81 points back.
Rounding out the top-five in points are Long Beach winners No. 79 Champion Motorsports, 156 points back and the No. 7 Grizzly Motorsports BMW, 245 points back.
Sprint Cup standings after Round 1
Long Beach was the first VSCA Sprint Cup race of the season. By way of their win and scoring a race-high 480 points, the No. 79 BMW of Champion Motorsports sits atop the standings with six Sprint Cup races to go.
The No. 88 of DS Racing eSports Team is second, 50 points back. The No. 3 BMW of Mayer Simspeed Performance is another six points back, to claim third place.
Next championship round at Laguna Seca on May 6
With the first three races of the season in the books, Laguna Seca is next on the schedule. The track will host its second annual VSCA race on May 6 and will mark the first 2-hour-40-minute race of the season.