Meyer Shank Racing wins Petit Le Mans in last race with Acura as No. 31 takes GTP title

After his heavy impact with the Turn 1 wall, Filipe Albuquerque said he “will be fine.”

In a statement shortly after midnight Sunday from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, the team said Albuquerque “has been seen and released” after further evaluation at a local hospital.

Albuquerque also posted a social media update that he was “fine” with a sore right hand and back.

Here’s a final rundown of the Petit Le Mans season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Click here for the full postrace stats package and points. Here are the class winners:

Grand Touring Prototype: No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06, co-driven by Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and Helio Castroneves.

It’s the team’s 18th career victory in IMSA and third this season.

LMP2: The No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07 co-driven by George Kurtz, Ben Hanley and Nolan Siegel. It’s the team’s second victory.

LMP3: The No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 co-driven by Garett Grist, Dakota Dickerson and Bijoy Garg. It’s the team’s first IMSA victory in the final race of the LMP3 category.

GTD Pro: The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 co-driven by Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Maro Engel. It’s the eighth IMSA victory and fourth this season for the team.

GTD: No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 co-driven by Loris Spinelli, Patrick Liddy and Misha Goikhberg. It’s the team’s first IMSA victory.

Other notes:

—The No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports won the LMP2 championship with a third-place finish after starting from the pole position.

—The race distance was 1,008.380 miles with six hours, 24 minutes, 58 seconds under green and three hours, 36 minutes and 43 seconds under yellow.

—Renger van der Zande turned the fastest lap of the race in the No. 01 Cadillac (1 minute, 10.917 seconds).

In a muted finish to the Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the No. 31 Cadillac won the inaugural GTP championship while the No. 60 Acura won its final race.

Colin Braun, who snatched the lead from Renger van der Zande on a restart in the final hour, won the season finale under the 13th and final caution period.

The yellow flag flew for more than 43 minutes during the last hour of the race, including a 30-minute caution for barrier repairs after a hard impact for the No. 10 Acura.

Pipo Derani finished sixth in the No. 31, clinching the premier hybrid prototype category title for Whelen Engineering Action Express Racing.

It’s the final race in the category for the No. 60 ARX-06 as Meyer Shank Racing will take a hiatus from sports cars next year to focus on IndyCar.

After winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona for the second consecutive year, MSR was dealt a massive penalty for manipulating tire pressure data, and Honda moved its support to a second car at Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport.

Despite a 200-point penalty, MSR still managed to finish third in the championship with three victories this season.

“We’ve done a hell of a job,” team co-owner Mike Shank told NBC Sports’ Matt Yocum. “Last in the championship to P3. Without our issue at Daytona, we’d win going away. I’m super proud. No one deserves it more than this team.”

The No. 31 Cadillac is in solid position to clinch the inaugural Grand Touring Prototype championship after a crash by its chief rival.

Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Acura slammed into the wall beyond Turn 1 after attempting an outside pass Pipo Derani in the No. 31.

Squeezed to the curb, Albuquerque went straight through the crash in a head-on collision with the wall. The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport driver seemed to be shook up by the impact and was assisted by workers to the safety vehicle after climbing from his car.

NBC Sports announcer Leigh Diffey later said that Albuquerque was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.

IMSA officials reviewed the incident for possible penalties and decided to take no action.

Under yellow with 55 minutes remaining, Derani is in second place, and the No. 31 can clinch the title by finishing ahead of the No. 25 BMW, which runs fourth.

Renger van der Zande is leading in the No. 01 Cadillac.

The crash ensured a fourth consecutive runner-up championship finish for the WTR No. 10, which had started from the pole position Saturday.

With two hours remaining in the Petit Le Mans, Sebastien Bourdais leads in the No. 01 Cadillac ahead of a fierce championship fight.

Bourdais is nearly 6 ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac of Jack Aitken, who is just under a second ahead of the No. 10 Acura being driven by Filipe Albuquerque.

The inaugural Grand Touring Prototype championship will go to either the No. 31 or No. 10 — whichever finishes ahead.

With three hours remaining in the Petit Le Mans, the No. 01 Cadillac remains in first while the GTP championship remains a see-saw battle.

Sebastien Bourdais has replaced Scott Dixon behind the wheel of Chip Ganassi Racing’s entry and leads by more than 4 seconds over the No. 31 Action Express Whelen Engineering Cadillac currently driven by Jack Aitken.

Pole-sitter Louis Deletraz is running third in the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport.

The premier hybrid prototype championship will be awarded to the highest finisher of the No. 31 and No. 10 (barring a collapse by both cars in the waning hours).

An hour past halfway in the Petit Le Mans, the No. 01 Cadillac remains in first ahead of a furious GTP championship fight at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was leading as the yellow flag flew just past the six-hour mark. The Chip Ganassi Racing star was ahead of the No. 31 Action Express Whelen Engineering Cadillac, which was first among the championship contenders.

Wayne Taylor Racing With Andretti Autosport’s No. 10 Acura ARX-06 was in third after starting on pole position in the championship lead.

There still are four hours remaining on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile road course.

Featuring a tight championship battle in its new premier hybrid prototype category, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drew record-breaking attendance for its season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

During an interview on the Peacock broadcast, IMSA president John Doonan said this year’s crowd was up 22 percent over last year’s Petit Le Mans (which had set the previous attendance mark at the track).

Doonan revealed Thursday during a State of the Sport address that IMSA fields will be up nearly 25 percent next season. In his Peacock interview, he said there are at least 10 cars on a reserve list with capacity fields expected for every race next year.

The front of the Petit Le Mans suddenly is populated with champions from other series.

Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon is leading with just under five hours remaining after taking over the No. 01 Cadillac from Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Renger van der Zande.

Josef Newgarden, Dixon’s IndyCar rival, is running fifth in his Grand Touring Prototype debut for Penske Porsche Motorsport, just ahead of Jenson Button. The 2009 Formula One champion is behind the No. 5 Porsche of JDC-Miller MotorSports.

Two GTD Pro contenders with special storylines had their endings spoiled near halfway of the Petit Le Mans.

In the final race for the Corvette Racing C8.R, Tommy Milner apparently experienced an engine failure in the No. 3 with just under five hours remaining.

The No. 3 Corvette, which is co-driven by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor (who is moving to GTP next year), had been leading at halfway.

“It’s been an amazing journey starting back in 2012 at 20 years old coming in with this team,” Taylor told NBC Sports’ Georgia Henneberry in an emotional interview. “It was overwhelming back then and intimidated by the situation, so I’ve grown over the years with these guys. Antonio’s been my teammate since 2012, for almost half my life. We’ve won Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring.

“This was the only one missing. It’s sad to leave on this note but everyone here is my family now moving forward, it’s a small world and who knows what happens down the road. ... It’s hard, but we’ll be family for the rest of our lives.”

About an hour earlier, the No. 14 Lexus of Vasser Sullivan suffered a terminal problem after clinching the title at the green flag.

Shortly after fueling up on a pit stop, Ben Barnicoat lost control after hitting the curb in Turn 3.

The championship battle remains tight in the Petit Le Mans, but a non-contender leads the race.

Renger van der Zande had a comfortable lead in the No. 01 Cadillac for Chip Ganassi Racing at the midpoint of the 10-hour race.

Running second was Nick Yelloly in the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, which currently is tops among the championship-eligible cars in the Grand Touring Prototype category. The top finisher will win the title.

The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06, which started on the pole position, was in fifth overall and nearly 10 seconds behind the No. 25 (which has rebounded after two penalties for a pit collision with the No. 31 Cadillac).

The positions of other GTP title contenders: No. 7 Porsche fourth; No. 31 Cadillac seventh; No. 60 Acura ninth.

The No. 6 Porsche, which entered with a chance to win the title, is 69 laps down in 49th of 52 cars.

Leaders in other categories:

—LMP2: No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports

—LMP3: No. 74 Riley Motorsports

—GTD Pro: No. 3 Corvette

—GTD: No. 57 Winward Racing

A new championship contender might be emerging at Road Atlanta.

The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 entered the season finale with only a slim hope of clinching the championship, but its chances quickly improved during the first three hours.

With Matt Campbell behind the wheel, the No. 7 was leading the race and the live points standings with just over seven hours remaining.

The pole-sitting No. 10 Acura picked up a few positions by the three-hour mark to retake the provisional top spot in the standings, but the No. 7 is in the hunt after incidents involving other title contenders.

Its No. 6 Porsche teammate effectively was eliminated in a crash just past the 1-hour mark, and the No. 25 BMW and No. 31 Cadillac fell off the lead lap in a pit lane collision.

The No. 60 Acura, which also was a long shot to defend its 2022 title, was involved in an on-track shunt, too.

Campbell took over the No. 7 driving from Felipe Nasr. Up next is two-time IndyCar champion and reigning Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, who is making his GTP debut.

The Grand Touring Prototype championship race was impacted by some major twists in the second hour.

During a pit stop sequence under yellow with just over eight hours remaining, the No. 31 Action Express Whelen Engineering Cadillac was rear-ended by the No. 25 BMW.

The incident appeared to start when Alexander Sims slammed the brakes of the No. 31 after bypassing the red light at pit lane exit, leading to contact from behind by the No. 25.

Sims pitted again to repair significant damage to the left rear of the No. 31, which is trying to win its second title in three years.

Both the No. 31 and No. 25 were penalized in the incident and subsequently lost a lap in the pits while serving a 60-second hold. The No. 25, which already had gone off course earlier while battling for third, then had to serve another drive-through penalty for incident responsiblity.

In the championship race, the pole-sitting No. 10 Acura ARX-06 of Wayne Taylor Racing With Andretti Autosport is running fifth and in control ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac and No. 25 BMW.

The fourth title-eligible entry entering the race already has been eliminated. At the one-hour, 13-minute mark, the No. 6 Porsche 963 was caught in a Turn 10 collision with a GTD and LMP2 car.

Though the team has tried to fix the damage, the No. 6 already has fallen more than 30 laps down.

Other developments during an eventful first two hours at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta:

—The No. 60 of Meyer Shank Racing had to replace its right-rear bodywork after a collision with the No. 1 BMW (which had clinched the GTD championship before the race) with just over eight hours remaining.

—LMP2 pole-sitter Ben Keating spun off course but was able to recover without damage.

There still were 10 hours remaining when the celebration started for Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 team.

After qualifying on the GTD Pro pole position, Jack Hawksworth clinched the title in the category by taking the green flag. It’s the first title for the sports car team co-owned by James “Sulli” Sullivan and 1996 IndyCar champion Jimmy Vasser.

Hawksworth and co-drivers Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood won in GTD Pro last year at Petit Le Mans, and Sullivan said the team’s first endurance victory set the tone for this year’s title run.

“We’ve got all the right people, and it’s just execution,” Vasser told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “It’s just been one of those magical years.”

The No. 14 Lexus has nine podiums in 10 races, including victories at Long Beach and Watkins Glen International.

“It feels pretty sweet,” Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson told Welch. “One of my favorite expressions in sporting is the sweet is never as sweet without the sour. And we’ve had the taste of the sour because we’ve been battling for this championship since 2017.

“What we’ve done this year is a true testament to all the men and women of Vasser Sullivan, TRD USA and Lexus U.S. So our heart is filled with a lot of pride. It completes us.”

Vasser Sullivan also fields the No. 12 Lexus that is ranked third in the GTD points standings with Aaron Telitz and Frankie Montecalvo (who will be joined by Parker Thompson at Petit Le Mans).

The action started before the start of the Petit Le Mans.

The No. 8 LMP2 ORECA of Tower Motorsports crashed in Turn 3 of its first lap at Michelin Road Atlanta. Driver Ari Balogh was trying to catch up to the field after spinning on the pace lap and making left-side contact while warming his tires.

The car, which had won the past three Petit Le Mans in LMP2, suffered significant damage in the crash that will require a lengthy repair.

That will curtail time behind the wheel for Balogh’s teammates from the NTT IndyCar Series: Scott McLaughlin (a four-time winner for Team Penske) and Kyffin Simpson (an incoming rookie for Chip Ganassi Racing).

At the front of the Grand Touring Prototype field, Sebastien Bourdais snatched the lead from pole-sitter Louis Deletraz in the first turn before the full-course caution flag flew 90 seconds later.

The race restarted after a 12-minute delay.

Balogh was the second driver who found trouble on the pace laps. Rasmus Lindh damaged the right rear of his No. 85 in LMP3 after a Turn 3 crash.

Some storylines and things to watch in today’s 10-hour season finale to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship:

—Familiar title contenders: For Wayne Taylor Racing With Andretti Autosport, the hope is that a third time is the charm in the Petit Le Mans. The No. 10 Acura came up just short of the championship the past two seasons at Road Atlanta (and also finished second in 2020 when the finale was held at Sebring).

The WTR entry was leading the points entering last year’s race but finished ninth after late contact with a GT car.

“I can’t believe it’s coming down to the last race again, like it seems every year,” said Ricky Taylor, who made a memorable last-lap lunge in 2021 and will be teamed with Filipe Albuquerque and Louis Deletraz. “It couldn’t be more dramatic in terms of the championship.

“And when you get to the last couple of hours in a situation like this, everyone raises their game just a little bit. Seems to put the championship contenders head to head every time for whatever reason. I wish it was easy, but it’s not going to be. It’s going to be dramatic again.”

After winning the ’21 championship, Pipo Derani will win a second if the No. 31 Cadillac again is the top finisher among the title contenders.

“It’s going to be interesting for everyone, but obviously it’s going to be a dogfight at the end,” said Derani, who will be teamed with Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken. “Being so close, it only means that you have to be ahead. There’s no playing games. There’s no math. It’s very simple. It’s going to be an eye-catcher because not only do we have a fight for the championship, but we have four cars fighting for the championship.”

—Prototype newcomers: After long absences from the premier category for both German automakers, Porsche and BMW both will have a shot at winning the GTP championship.

“It’s going to be chaotic, a dogfight,” said Mathieu Jaminet of the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 (that also will feature Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor). “All four cars might not be there, but there’ll be at least two or three in the last hour. For sure, there’ll be stress on drivers and all the teams. I’m sure it’s going to be a mess, and I just hope we’re on the good side of things.”

—Final rides: After capturing the past two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories and the 2022 DPi championship, Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 will go on hiatus for next season. The team is moving Tom Blomqvist (who will co-drive today with Colin Braun and Helio Castroneves) to the NTT IndyCar Series next season.

MSR’s sports car future has been in doubt since the team received a hefty penalty for manipulating tire pressure data at Daytona. That damaged its relationship with Honda, which elected to drop MSR in favor of adding a second Acura next year for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport.

Petit Le Mans also will mark the final race for Corvette Racing as a factory-backed program for General Motors, which will move into the customer racing business with the GT3 replacing its C8.R next year. Corvette driver Jordan Taylor will return to Wayne Taylor Racing in 2024.

—Cameo appearances: Two-time IndyCar champion and reigning Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will be making his GTP prototype debut with the No. 7 Penske Porsche Motorsport.

“This is an amazing racetrack,” Newgarden told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch during qualifying Friday. “I can’t believe I’ve never driven anything high-powered here. I would love to somehow convince the IndyCar series to come here. It’s fascinating to drive these GTP cars here. It’s exactly what you want. It’s risk/reward and requires a lot of commitment, and you overstep that commitment, it’s going to bite you. As a racer, you always look for that in a track. It’s incredibly fun. What a great opportunity. It’s a dream to run Petit Le Mans. I’ll try to grab the opportunity with both hands.”

Other IndyCar drivers in the race: Scott Dixon (Cadillac Racing), Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing), Scott McLaughlin and Kyffin Simpson (Tower Motorsports in LMP2) and Kyle Kirkwood (Vasser Sullivan in GTD Pro).