2018 Continental Tire Road Race Showcase

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017.[1] It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2018 Continental Tire Road Race Showcase was the ninth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 by IMSA, and was the sixth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[2] The race was held at the ten-turn 4.048 mi (6.515 km) Road America on August 5, 2018.[2]

After the Northeast Grand Prix 2 weeks earlier, Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 198 points, ahead of Filipe Albuquerque with 197 points, and Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande with 188 points.[3] With 208 points, the GTLM Drivers' Championship was led by Joey Hand and Dirk Müller with a one-point advantage over Antonio García and Jan Magnussen.[3] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 218 points ahead of Katherine Legge with 208 points.[3] Cadillac, Ford, and Lamborghini were leading were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Whelen Engineering Racing, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.

During this race weekend, IMSA holds their "State of the Series" annual press conference, in which they confirm and announce their future plans for the series they sanction.

After having Daytona Prototype International and Le Mans Prototype 2 competing in the Prototype class for 2 seasons, IMSA announced the two styles of prototypes would split into two separate classes.[4]

IMSA also announced the WeatherTech Sprint Cup for GTD beginning in 2019. Additionally, any bronze/silver rated driver had to qualify and start races.[5]

On July 26, 2018, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of performance for the event.[6] In P, the Cadillac DPi-V.R gained a 0.9 mm larger air restrictor while the Mazda RT24-P and Nissan Onroak DPi got an increase of turbo boost. Additionally, the Mazda also received a 10 kilogram weight reduction.

A total of 33 cars took part in the event split across three classes. 13 cars were entered in P, 8 in GTLM, and 12 in GTD.[7] In P, João Barbosa returned to the #5 Mustang Sampling Racing after missing the previous two rounds due to injury.[8] Tequila Patrón ESM brought its #2 entry back after it skipped the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park round. Performance Tech Motorsports skipped the event.[9] In GTD, Squadra Corse Garage Italia and Park Place Motorsports made their first appearances since the Watkins Glen round.[10] Wright Motorsports withdrew its #16 entry after Michael Schein had a scheduling conflict.[11] Markus Palttala joined Robby Foley in the Turner Motorsport entry. Alessandro Pier Guidi joined Cooper MacNeil in the #63 Scuderia Corsa entry. David Heinemeier Hansson returned to the #15 3GT Racing entry.

There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.[12]

A 20-minute morning warm-up session was held on the morning of August 5,[21] and several entries did not get a time in due to Jack Hawksworth crashing at turn 8 after brake failure which brought a red flag that ended the session.[22] The #22 Nissan Onroak DPi of Pipo Derani lapped fastest at 1:53.080 ahead of Ricky Taylor in the #7 Acura. The fastest GTLM lap was a 2:04.597, set by Antonio García in the #3 Corvette, and Jörg Bergmeister's #73 Porsche paced GTD. 3GT Racing withdrew its #15 entry from the event after sustaining too much damage in warm up.[23]

Prototype Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Eric Curran Felipe Nasr 228 2 Filipe Albuquerque 221 3 1 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 218 4 1 Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande 216 5 2 Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson 206

GTLM Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 2 Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook 241 2 Antonio García Jan Magnussen 237 3 2 Joey Hand Dirk Müller 232 4 1 Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner 227 5 1 Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor 225

GTD Drivers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 250 2 Katherine Legge 232 3 Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating 220 4 Cooper MacNeil 209 5 Álvaro Parente 197

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing 228 2 No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing 221 3 1 No. 54 CORE Autosport 218 4 1 No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing 216 5 2 No. 99 JDC-Miller Motorsports 206

GTLM Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 1 No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 241 2 No. 3 Corvette Racing 237 3 2 No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 232 4 1 No. 4 Corvette Racing 227 5 1 No. 912 Porsche GT Team 225

GTD Teams' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 48 Paul Miller Racing 250 2 No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin 232 3 No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports 220 4 No. 63 Scuderia Corsa 209 5 1 No. 14 3GT Racing 192

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Cadillac 269 2 Acura 254 3 1 Nissan 239 4 1 Mazda 238

GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 265 2 Chevrolet 251 3 Porsche 246 4 BMW 232 5 Ferrari 58

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings[24] Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Lamborghini 257 2 Acura 233 3 Mercedes-AMG 226 4 Lexus 223 5 Ferrari 222

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.