Brickyard Bait-and-Switch Botting’s Brickyard Break Indy Win Slips Through Fury’s Hands Penalty Turns Gold to Fourth No Laps Led, One Big Trophy Late Twist Hands Botting Glory Fury Crosses, Botting Collects Winter and Davies Strike First Ric Seals Sprint Silverware Flight Level Falls 45 Short Paul Botting Motorsport Scores Maiden LMP2 Win After Brickyard Drama No. 113 Dallara Takes LMP2 Victory as Fury Loses Indy Win Late Paul Botting Motorsport Claims LMP2 Breakthrough at Indianapolis No. 113 Dallara Wins LMP2 After Late Fury Simsport Penalty Paul Botting Motorsport arrived at Indianapolis as a newcomer and left with a first VSCA win after Fury Simsport’s on-road triumph unraveled after the flag.
Paul Botting Motorsport claimed its first VSCA SportsCar Championship victory in dramatic fashion Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with the No. 113 Dallara P217 of Ben Winter and Matthew T Davies promoted to the LMP2 class win after a post-race penalty for the No. 30 Fury Simsport entry.
Daan de Ruijter, celebrating a what seemed to be sure-fire maiden victory for Fury Simsport, approached the finish line and checkered flag, weaving, flashing headlights on his No. 30 Dallara P217 and slowing before the finish line, when unreal scenes unfolded.
A faster-class GTP prototype behind did not manage to react in time to Ruijter's celebration and crashed hard into the LMP2 machine, setting off a fiery crash at the checkered flag. Despite leading class-high 50 laps, a 35-second post-race penalty for careless driving from Race Control dropped Fury Simsport to fourth place in the official results and handed victory to Paul Botting Motorsport, which had started ninth and led no laps on track, by officially 2.648 seconds over the No. 757 Flight Level Racing Dallara.
Duarte Mota Starts From Pole Before Early Disorder
The LMP2 field rolled away under dry, partly cloudy skies at 1:45 p.m. local time, with the air at 26°C and a steady southeast breeze moving across the 2.44-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis road course. Duarte Mota, making his VSCA debut in the No. 87 Ric Team Racing Dallara, had put the car on pole with a 1:20.030 and led the class to green.
The opening phase lasted barely more than a lap before the first of three full-course yellows. Race Directors had the field under caution just over one minute into the race, beginning a stop-start afternoon that ultimately produced 48 minutes of yellow-flag running.
The first neutralization shuffled the order quickly. Jonathan Fojtik’s No. 757 Flight Level Racing entry moved to the front on the opening lap sequence before Dan Piazza put the No. 59 Old Dogs Racing Dallara into the lead under caution. Mota’s pole-winning No. 87 briefly tumbled down the class order before recovering back toward the sharp end before the restart around the 10-minute mark.
Old Dogs Racing Leads Early But Penalties Mount
Old Dogs Racing looked like a serious contender through the first half of the race. The Italian team had started second and, after the early reshuffle, held the class lead with Piazza before the first major pit cycle.
The second full-course yellow came just before the one-hour mark and stretched the field into a long caution period before the restart shortly after the 1-hour mark. During that time, the No. 87 Ric Team Racing car received a warning for an FCY weaving violation with Roberto Artur aboard.
Old Dogs’ race began to unravel after the restart. Around the 90-minute mark, the No. 59 and the No. 757 made contact exiting Turn 7, sending Flight Level’s championship-chasing car from second to eighth in class. Race Stewards later assessed a 35-second post-race penalty to Piazza and the No. 59 for incident responsibility.
Fojtik said afterward that the contact was “rough” and felt he had made a clean pass while leaving space. “The penalty ended up falling our way, but it gave us damage,” he said. “Luckily I was about to hand the car over to Matt, so he put his head down and put us in a fighting position.”
Fury Simsport Takes Control After Mid-Race Restart
The third and final full-course yellow came shortly after the 90-minute mark, with the race returning to green with roughly 55 minutes remaining. That restart proved crucial for Fury Simsport, as TC Watkins moved the No. 30 into the class lead shortly afterward.
Watkins, only 17 and making his VSCA debut, handled the middle portion of the race with composure while the field worked through traffic, pit cycles and penalties. De Ruijter later said Watkins “did a stellar job” and that his mid-race pace gave Fury a clear gap to the next car.
“During free practice we already felt we had a shot,” de Ruijter said. “I think we capitalized on strategy and, luckily, other cars colliding in front.”
The No. 30 remained a central figure after the final stops, with de Ruijter cycling back into the lead just after the two-hour mark. Behind him, the No. 113 Paul Botting Motorsport car had started to emerge from a messy afternoon that included pit-lane adversity and a penalty for speeding in the pits. Davies gained three positions shortly after the final restart, moving from eighth to fifth, then kept climbing through the final pit sequence.
Botting Motorsport Stays Close Enough to Profit
Paul Botting Motorsport’s win was built less on outright domination than on staying alive in a race that kept creating openings. Winter completed 33 laps, Davies 65, and the pair brought the No. 113 home running after starting ninth.
Connor Botting, who was spotting for Winter and Davies, said he trusted the pair to extract a result because of their long history together. “Having raced with them a lot over the last nine years, I knew Matt had the pace to be at the front,” he said, pointing to Davies’ prior pace against much of the same competition at Le Mans in June.
The team also acknowledged that timing played its part. “Ben kept it clean, and Matt had some incredible pace,” Botting said. “Yes, you could argue we got lucky having another neutralization following our stop-and-hold for speeding in the pits, but you need to be able to make overtakes on track, and he did just that.”
Botting also paid credit to Flight Level Racing’s No. 757 crew after a hard fight. “There’s a reason why they’re second in the LMP2 standings,” he said.
Fury Loses Win After Checkered-Flag Collision
The biggest moment of the race came after the No. 30 had seemingly done enough. De Ruijter reached the line first and appeared set to deliver Fury Simsport’s first VSCA victory, only for celebration on the front stretch to turn into a major collision with faster class traffic behind.
Race Stewards reviewed the incident involving the No. 30 Fury Simsport Dallara and the No. 16 Infinity Fox Racing Acura and assessed a 35-second post-race penalty to de Ruijter and the No. 30 for careless driving. That decision dropped Fury from first to fourth and elevated Paul Botting Motorsport to the official win.
De Ruijter did not hide his disappointment afterward. “I was truly excited about the victory and truthfully misjudged the distance and speed of the Acura behind,” he said. “It’s a tough pill to swallow, but I’m confident we’ll come back stronger at Petit.”
Watkins described the result as a race that had been nearly complete before the late outcome changed everything. “We drove a pretty solid race, but have a lot more to show,” he said. “I feel we had the puzzle completed, then ripped up. Win or lose, I’m still happy with our performance.”
Flight Level Racing Falls Just Short of Sprint Cup
Flight Level Racing finished second with the No. 757 of Matthew Oravecz and Jonathan Fojtik, backing up second places at CTMP and Road America and closing the Sprint Cup season with another strong points haul. It was not quite enough.
The No. 757 entered Indianapolis 80 points behind the No. 87 in the LMP2 Sprint Cup and left 45 points short. Oravecz said the result at Indianapolis was satisfying, even if the title slipped away. “It hurts knowing that we lost out on the Sprint Cup, but I’m happy with our result at Indy,” he said. “Even if we had won the race, we would have just fallen short.”
Fojtik framed the near miss as part frustration, part proof of progress for a first-year team. “It sucks,” he said. “In the end, it’s just fuel for us for next season. We still have a chance at the overall, and coming second and third in the drivers, as well as second in the Sprint Cup as a first-year team, is great for us.”
Ric Team Racing Seals Sprint Cup Title
Third place was enough for the No. 87 Ric Team Racing Dallara of Roberto Artur and Duarte Mota to lock up the 2026 LMP2 Sprint Cup championship by 45 points over the No. 757.
It was not the dominant finale the Portuguese squad may have wanted after Mota’s pole. The team had started the Sprint Cup with wins at Laguna Seca and VIR but did not win again in Sprint Cup competition, leaving Indianapolis as a tense title defense rather than a procession.
José Barbosa said the team came into the finale knowing exactly what it needed to do. “It wasn’t about taking unnecessary risks or trying to win the race at all costs; the priority was bringing the car home and securing the championship,” he said. “That probably made it more stressful because every incident or small mistake could have changed everything.”
Artur admitted there was some frustration in missing out on the race win but said the bigger objective had been achieved. “We had the pace and determination to win the race, but unfortunately we made a few mistakes toward the end,” he said. “However, third place was enough to secure the LMP2 Sprint Cup title, and that means a lot to the entire team.”
Top Ten Filled by Survival Runs and Missed Chances
The No. 767 Flight Level Racing Dallara of Paolo Calvo and Grant Erlinder finished fifth, giving the Daytona Beach-based team two cars in the top five. Calvo said their race was “definitely up and down” and noted a late fuel calculation issue that left the car one lap short of the intended plan.
Vision 1 Motorsports took sixth with the No. 11 Dallara of Matthew Routon and Cory Cercone, one lap down, after a race that included a warning for contact in Turn 1 and a later drive-through for too many incident points. The team was unavailable for comment after the race.
Grow Racing Team’s No. 14 Dallara finished seventh with Alirio Jorge and Tiago Maduro Dias, a result that dropped the team to third in the final Sprint Cup standings. Dias said Indianapolis “never clicked” for the team, adding that a top five or even a podium after penalties had looked possible before the final caution hurt their drive-time situation and forced an extra stop.
Old Dogs Racing was classified eighth after two 35-second post-race penalties, one for the contact with the No. 757 and another for a later incident involving the No. 11 while slower traffic was being approached into Turn 4. Doriano Ricchiuti said the team also lost out by not changing drivers when it should have, forcing an earlier stop, and added that he “couldn’t avoid the contact” in the later incident.
RedLab Competizione finished ninth with Daniel Perez Santiago and debutant Ivan Gomez, completing 94 laps. Gomez said he felt comfortable in the car but still needed more experience with the braking demands of the prototype, especially with how easily the tires can lock. Gamma Sim Racing completed the top ten with Sebastian Trujillo and Aidan Johnson in the No. 235 Dallara, 92 laps completed.
Post-Race Reactions
Connor Botting, #113 Paul Botting Motorsport Dallara: “It’s hard to believe, really. We have gone from zero entries to four in the last two rounds, and we had shown so much promise with both GTP entries that went unfulfilled. To have a win in LMP2 to go alongside the solid second place achieved in GT-PRO is fantastic. It shows we belong here, and this is only the beginning.”
“I want to shout out the whole team across all four entries, who came together at such short notice. I am especially happy for Matt and Ben. I have known the pair for over a decade, and to see some of the best driving from them was a pleasure to watch. I am so proud of them.”
“Finally, a shoutout to my late father. Seeing his name on the timing towers fills me with immense pride. We have been running at the front of our respective classes in ESCC and GTEC, and to do it in VSCA really validates that this mission we are on is going places. It is only the beginning. Watch this space for Petit Le Mans and 2027.”
Tiago Maduro Dias, #14 Grow Racing Team Dallara: “Third in the Sprint Cup is bittersweet. We feel we could have had more with a bit of luck and a bit more maturity, but we will take it. The overall title is gone now, but the Endurance Cup is still wide open, we are one point behind with a nine-point differential still in dispute, and we have a SportsCar podium to defend. That is the focus going into Road Atlanta.”
“Big congratulations to our fellow Portuguese at Ric Team Racing. They had great pace when they had it and were smart enough to make the most of it when they did not. Deserving Sprint Cup champions.”
Alirio Jorge, #14 Grow Racing Team Dallara: “Tiago spoke for both of us, and I agree with everything he said. Right now we will try to have decent pace in Atlanta and stay out of trouble throughout the race to score points for the Endurance Cup. That fight is still on. The SportsCar Championship win is out of reach, but we hope to secure the podium at least.”
Ivan Gomez, #552 RedLab Competizione Dallara: “I felt comfortable with the car and focused on the track. You have to be careful with the brakes because in these cars it is easy to lock the tires, so I need to gain more experience with that.”
Daniel Perez Santiago, #552 RedLab Competizione Dallara: “Ivan did a great job even though he was slightly off the pace. Our strategy still had us in a position to fight for the win. We were on the lead lap, only a few seconds behind the leaders, waiting for the final full-course yellow to execute our strategy, put ourselves right behind second place and fight for first.”
“Unfortunately, Ivan was hit multiple times by GT3 traffic, and that completely changed our race. Situations like this have happened to us several times this season, often involving less-experienced drivers making mistakes in multiclass traffic. That has created a lot of frustration within the team.”
Roberto Artur, #87 Ric Team Racing Dallara: “I want to thank all our supporters and our fans for the Sprint Cup championship. Without them, that would not be possible. Also, thanks to our team, all the members and our chief Ric Fazeres for creating this opportunity for all of us. It has been quite a ride, and we are very happy and thankful.”
Road Atlanta Test Begins Final Championship Push
The VSCA SportsCar Championship now turns toward Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., with the VSCA Road Atlanta Test scheduled for September 12, 2026. One week later on September 19 the fifth annual Petit Le Mans will invite teams and drivers for the grand ten-hour season finale, which is set to be broadcast live from 14:00 GMT, start to finish, on GreenFlag TV.
Ric Team Racing leaves Indianapolis with the LMP2 Sprint Cup secured and a 110-point lead over the No. 757 Flight Level Racing entry in the overall SportsCar Championship. Grow Racing Team remains third, 340 points off the lead, while its focus also shifts to a still-open Endurance Cup fight.
For Paul Botting Motorsport, Road Atlanta will be the first chance to prove that Saturday’s breakthrough was more than a one-off. For Fury Simsport, the next outing carries a sharper edge after a win that was on the timing screen, then gone.
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