Indianapolis Thursday Notebook

Key Points:

• The TireRack Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway returns to a standard two-hour and 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race format, with 44 cars entered but Intersport Racing notably absent.
• Meyer Shank Racing's No. 93 Acura ARX-06 will feature a special tribute livery celebrating Acura's decade of WeatherTech Championship success, with Honda driver Kaku Ohta attending the season finale at Petit Le Mans to say goodbye to the team.
• Significant driver changes include Laurin Heinrich replacing Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsport, while Nico Mueller joins JDC-Miller Motorsports for the remainder of the season; Porsche Motorsport indicates no major updates to the 963 for next year.
• The GTP championship battle remains open with Jack Aitken leading, followed by Laurin Heinrich and the Meyer Shank Racing duo of Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande, who plan to take calculated risks in pursuit of the title.
• Off-track news includes RLL Team McLaren receiving a fine and penalty for early garage setup, the passing of longtime engineer Walter Preston and IMSA Pit Notes creator Lee Driggers, and the return of the IMSA Street Festival in downtown Indianapolis to kick off the event weekend.