No. 11 Corvette second in Pro-Am heading to Indy Eight Hours; Chouest Povoledo in two classes
For the second year in a row, DXDT Racing will fight for a championship with its Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GT World Challenge, America’s final race of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This weekend 10/17 - 19th
The Indianapolis Eight Hours doubles as the series finale and also the last round of SRO’s Intercontinental GT Challenge.
DXDT Racing’s No. 11 Corvette of Matt Bell and Blake McDonald enters the race second in GT World Challenge America Pro-Am Drivers Championship and are well within range of winning the title.
Bell and McDonald will drive at Indianapolis with Alec Udell, who drove this year for DXDT in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD class and was part of the team’s GT World Challenge Pro-class effort last year alongside Tommy Milner.
Bell and McDonald arrive at Indianapolis off a victory in the previous round at Baber Motorsports Park – their fourth Pro-Am win of the season. They are 19 points behind the leading BMW with 50 points going to the winner, 36 to the runner-up and 30 to third place.
Chouest Povoledo Racing also will contest the eight-hour event with three drivers in its No. 50 Z06 GT3.R full-season drivers Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo with Corvette Racing factory driver Nicky Catsburg filling out the lineup. This season has been the first for the Chouest Povoledo squad with Corvette.
The team’s best finish is a fourth-place showing at Virginia International Raceway, but Chouest is a two-time winner in GT America this year with the team’s second Corvette.
The Indianapolis Eight Hours is scheduled for 12:20 p.m. ET on Saturday from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
The full race and Friday’s qualifying and Pole Shootout will stream live on the GT World YouTube channel.
MATT BELL, NO. 11 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“The goal before the season was to get to this point, absolutely. Blake and I had worked together before, and I was well aware of his potential to perform how he has. Blake has matched if not exceeded those expectations. He’s put in some really strong performance this year, and I’ve been impressed with how he’s approached it all.
We expected to be in the fight, and we’re in it. It’s nice for that part of the story to have gone well. Now we need to finish it out.”
“Track position is always important here. It’s basically eight one-hour races the way the ruleset works. If we can win all eight of them, then we’ll win the race in the end! Blake has been a big strength for us against the other Bronze drivers.
I think every time he’s gotten out of the car, I jumped in at least second, if not in the lead.
Then it’ll be up to Alec and me to keep it there against some tough competition. We’ve done it plenty of times this season, and we aim to do it again.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 50 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“I’ve tested already this year with the Chouest Povoledo Racing team. The test and their Corvette felt good.
The Pirelli tire was a new tire for me compared to IMSA so let’s see. I’m looking forward to it, and I think it’s going to be good fun. I’m looking forward to working with those guys, get to know them a little better and see how I can help them out. It should be a good time.”
AARON POVOLEDO, NO. 50 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:
“We’re incredibly excited to welcome Nicky to our team for this weekend at Indianapolis.
A huge thanks to our friends at Corvette Racing at GM for making all this happens.”
CORVETTE RACING AT INDIANAPOLIS: By the Numbers
• 1: One manufacturer, one brand and one race program for 26-plus years Chevrolet, Corvette and Corvette Racing
• 2: Events this year at Indianapolis for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R IMSA’s Battle on The Bricks in September and this weekend’s Indianapolis Eight Hours for GT World Challenge America/IGTC
• 3: Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs entered for this week’s events, two in GT World Challenge America and one in GT America
• 14: Wins this year for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R across six different series. Four have come via Matt Bell and Blake McDonald for DXDT Racing in GT World Challenge America’s Pro-Am class: COTA, Sebring, Road America and Barber; and two for Ross Chouest in GT America: Road America and Barber
• 22: Hours of racing left in the Corvette Z06 GT3.R season covering WEC, ELMS, and GT World Challenge America and Asia
• 32: Tracks at which Corvette Racing has won races Baltimore, Charlotte Motor Speedway, COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park/Mosport, Chang International Circuit (Thailand), Daytona, Detroit, Fuji, Houston, Imola, Laguna Seca, Le Mans, Lime Rock, Long Beach, Lusail International Circuit (Qatar), Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia), Miami, Mid-Ohio, Monza, Portimăo, Portland, Road America, Road Atlanta, Sebring, Sonoma, St. Petersburg, Texas, Trois Rivieres, Utah, VIR, Washington DC and Watkins Glen
• 39: Number of drivers to win races in Corvette Racing entries since 1999.
The latest to join the list was Ross Chouest in GT America at Road America
• 72: Years since Corvette was introduced to the world on Jan. 17, 1953 in New York City. A total of 300 cars were produced that year
• 74: Number of drivers in Corvette Racing entries since 1999.
The latest to join the list was Adam Ali for Steller Motorsport in International GT Open at Barcelona
• 152: Victories worldwide for Corvette Racing 118 in IMSA, nine at Le Mans, five in the FIA WEC, 13 in GT World Challenge America, three in GT World Challenge Asia, two in GT America and one in the European Le Mans Series
• 353: Event starts by Corvette Racing since 1999
• 457,466.48: Total number of racing miles completed by Corvette Racing since its inception.
To put that in perspective,
Corvette Racing is more than halfway to the distance traveled by Apollo 13 the longest manned spaceflight in history: 622,268 miles.
That means Corvette Racing has raced to the moon and more than halfway back!
