It was the final event of the 2023 season as Black Sheep Racing (BSR) brought a trio of drivers to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Through rain, cold, wind, and some sun, Laura Ely earned the team’s best results with a pair of second-place podium results while Kenton King finished fifth on two occasions as the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama series concluded. Josh Conley put Black Sheep Racing inside the top-ten two more times, as the team earned six top-ten results at the world’s most iconic racecourse.
Competing as part of the growing Indianapolis 8-Hour event weekend, BSR drivers saw an unconventional set of on-track times that saw them on the track Wednesday, with the final race of the season taking place Friday. With temperatures in the upper 80s one week ago, rain and wind moved into the area as teams and competitors were forced to endure challenging conditions on Wednesday’s test day before the rain departed, but the cooler temperatures remained in place.
“It was challenging for sure,” explained Business Development Manager Chris Stiffler. “However, our teams stuck together and got the job done. I could not be prouder of our success this season and last season, where we have been one of the dominant programs.”
Laura Ely kicked off the official race weekend with a second-place effort in qualifying for the Am class before turning that starting position into a pair of second-place results in both race one and two, the final two wheel-to-wheel races of the season. Kenton King, competing in the Pro/Am class, qualified second on Thursday before earning a pair of fifth-place results, while Josh Conley turned his seventh-place qualifying place into an eighth-place result in race one before improving to seventh in race two.
Stiffler added, “Two podiums, four top-five finishes and six top-ten results is a great way to end the season. Though we missed out on the wins, our 2023 season has yielded momentum that will help us build our bolstering program onward into 2024.”
Photo Credit: RTD Media