Motorsport News

Accelerating Performance Triumphs At Daytona

Michael Cooper and Moisey Uretsky celebrate their victory in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway, 1/24/2025 (Photo: Phil Allaway)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Accelerating Performance’s Michael Cooper was able to get under Rennsport One’s Jan Heylen exiting turn 6 Friday (Jan. 24) to take the lead. From there, he was able to hold on to win the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway with Moisey Uretsky. It is the team’s first victory in Pilot Challenge and the first win for Cooper and Uretsky as teammates.

“We really worked on getting the car good on old tires [during the ROAR Before the 24],” Cooper told Frontstretch after the race. It was a struggle during the ROAR, but the cooler temperatures that we’ve seen this week…the car just came alive. That’s what helped us win this race.”

Cooper and Uretsky’s margin of victory was .327 seconds over Heylen and Luca Mars. KohR Motorsports’ Billy Johnson and Bob Michaelian were third in their Ford Mustang GT4, then McCumbee-McAleer Racing’s Jenson Altzman and Sam Paley. BGB Motorsports’ Thomas Collingwood, Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly were fifth.

Mars started from the overall pole in his Porsche. He may have set a track record in qualifying, but his lead was very short-lived.

Paley caught Mars sleeping at the start and swept around the outside to take the overall in his Mustang. Meanwhile, Czabok-Simpson Motorsports’ Morgan Burkhard, in his Grand Sport debut, was able to get the lead in his Porsche at the beginning of the second lap.

The first caution flew 15 minutes into the race when KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Dr. William Tally got clipped exiting the infield and spun into the SAFER Barrier. The car then caught fire. Tally was ok, but he was out.

On the restart, TeamTGM’s Paul Holton went too hot into turn 6 and clipped CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing’s Sean McAlister. McAlister spun and debris littered the track, resulting in another caution.

Holton was given a drive-through penalty for causing the incident. The car was also damaged in the crash and required repairs. Since the incident occurred less than 15 minutes from the restart, they wouldn’t have been allowed to make the repairs since only “emergency service” is allowed in that scenario. As a result, Holton had to serve a stop and 60-second hold penalty. By the time the penalties had been served, Holton was two laps down and out of the hunt.

Burkhard led until he made his first stop at the one-hour mark. The CSM team made a good pit stop…

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