Behind The Scenes Of IMSA's Petit Le Mans With Gradient Racing

Photo: Jalopnik / Elizabeth Blackstock

This past weekend saw the 2023 IMSA season wrap up at Road Atlanta. The 10-hour Petit Le Mans endurance event is a grueling race that can test the mettle of even the most composed teams — and this year, I had the opportunity to shadow Gradient Racing. This Texas-based team competes in the GTD class behind the wheel of an Acura NSX GT3, and while they weren’t competing for a Championship, the team composed of Katherine Legge, Sheena Monk, and Marc Miller still aimed to finish as well as possible to end the season on a high.

I was with the team throughout the weekend, whether that meant sitting in the hauler between sessions or standing in the pits during the race. Viewers at home don’t often get a full sense of just what it’s like to be one of these teams competing for glory; this is your chance to get a feel for what it’s like to race at PLM.

Full disclosure: Gradient Racing invited me to shadow the team at the 2023 Petit Le Mans.