IMPC: Maddie Aust, Riley Pegram keep top ten finish streak after VIR round
- RACERS
- 6 hours ago
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Maddie Aust and Riley Pegram continued their streak of top-ten finishes in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at the eighth round of the season at VIRginia International Raceway, in another action-packed race for the female drivers in the category.
Maddie Aust and Riley Pegram continued their streak of top-ten finishes in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at the eighth round of the season at VIRginia International Raceway, in another action-packed race for the female drivers in the category.
In her rookie IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, Bryan Herta Autosport’s Maddie Aust has been a consistent front-runner in the competitive TCR field. Twice finishing in the top five and securing six top-ten results – five of them consecutively – Aust has been a standout performer heading into the VIR round.
Sharing the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR with fellow rookie Suellio Almeida, Aust began the season with an impressive fourth-place finish at the Rolex 24 support race at Daytona, followed by another top-five at Laguna Seca. Consecutive top-ten finishes then came at Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Mosport, and Road America, although bad luck in some of these races prevented the duo from returning to the top five.
Canadian racer Megan Tomlinson, meanwhile, competes alongside her father Ron in the Precision Racing LA entry and has been a reliable presence in the midfield. The family pairing collected strong results early in the season, including seventh-place finishes at both Daytona and Mid-Ohio, and a top-ten at their home race at Mosport. Road America looked set to be their breakthrough, as the Tomlinsons impressively led during one of the restarts, but their promising run ended prematurely when they were caught up in an accident that denied them another strong finish last time out.
For Riley Pegram, driving the #72 Pegram Racing Hyundai Elantra N TCR with her father Larry, the 2025 season has been about steady progress after a part-time campaign last year. While misfortune and late-race incidents had kept them just outside the top ten at Mosport, Riley’s pace and consistency have visibly improved with each appearance. That promise was rewarded at Road America, where she returned to the top ten with her best finish since Laguna Seca.
The weekend at VIRginia International Raceway – a tricky, undulating circuit – started off challenging for Riley and Larry Pegram, who were forced to sit out the first practice session due to mechanical issues. The setback slowed their progress, but they managed to rejoin the field for FP2 later in the day and quickly found speed.
In qualifying, Suellio Almeida got behind the wheel for the Bryan Herta Autosport duo, in a strategy change, and set the first representative lap for the #9 Hyundai, going fifth fastest with two purple sectors. He later improved to fourth with a 1:56.6 before eventually being shuffled back to seventh.
Riley Pegram posted a 2:04.143 on her first lap and improved to 2:00.380 for P14. Megan Tomlinson initially struggled to get a representative lap in but delivered a late improvement with a 1:58.462 that secured her P13 on the grid.
The two-hour Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix got underway on Saturday afternoon; Almeida, having taken over driving duties for qualifying, would start ninth in TCR, with Megan Tomlinson lining up 13th and Riley Pegram 14th.
A clean start across the field saw Almeida move up to eighth, while Pegram and Tomlinson slotted into 14th and 15th respectively. Fifteen minutes in, Almeida battled with the sister #76 Hyundai of Preston Brown before eventually moving up to seventh.
On lap 7, the Baker Racing Audi of Sam Baker went off at Turn 3 after contact with Brown, triggering the first full-course caution. Several cars had predicted the yellow and pitted for fuel. When the TCR pit window opened, Almeida, Tomlinson, and Pegram all stopped for a top-up, but without driver changes.
The #9 BHA Hyundai however lost some time with a slower stop and dropped to 14th, while Tomlinson gained positions with a quick service, moving up to 11th.
Back under green with 90 minutes to go, chaos ensued with multiple contacts in GS. Tomlinson and Pegram, however, were both handed penalties for pit infractions - too many crew members over the wall for Tomlinson; and a drive-through for Pegram. Meanwhile, Almeida climbed back into the top ten, eventually reaching eighth before another caution neutralized the race.
Under yellow, Pegram sat 13th and Tomlinson 14th – the caution helping them recover lost ground from their penalties. At the restart on lap 21, Almeida battled strongly in seventh, while Pegram picked up positions to P11 with consistent lap times in the 1:59s. When pit cycles began, Riley climbed as high as seventh before pitting on lap 28 and handing over to Larry. Almeida also ran as high as second before stopping on lap 30, with Aust taking over the #9 Hyundai.
Megan Tomlinson attempted an alternate strategy by staying out longer, climbing to P7 before handing to her father Ron on lap 34. After the cycle, Aust was 11th, Pegram 12th, and Tomlinson 14th – though the latter soon received another penalty for pit lane speeding.
With 20 minutes to go, Colombo’s Rockwell Audi went into the barriers, bringing out another caution. This elevated Aust to ninth and Larry Pegram to tenth. On the restart, drama struck championship leader Harry Gottsacker in the #98 BHA Hyundai, who went off at Turn 14. Maddie Aust kept it clean, climbing to seventh before eventually being passed by Jon Miller's #18 Hyundai. She nevertheless held eighth place at the flag, fending off Lewis’ KMW Honda Civic.
Larry Pegram completed the race in tenth, marking back-to-back top tens for the Pegram duo. Riley’s first stint had been particularly strong, showing improved pace and consistency despite earlier misfortune.
Megan and Ron Tomlinson were hit by technical issues in the closing stages but nevertheless managed to crossed the line 12th in TCR after losing nine laps, therefore still added points to their tally.
After round eight, Maddie Aust and Suellio Almeida remain eighth in the standings with 1,910 points. Megan and Ron Tomlinson sit tenth with 1,730, while Riley and Larry Pegram are 12th on 1,600.
The next round is scheduled for September 19–20 at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.