Wednesday, September 28, 2016 – Fresno, CA – The PC Championship battle continues to heat up as we enter the final race of the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship – Petit Le Mans presented by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort at Road Atlanta. After a P2 finish at Circuit of the Americas, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports enters the season ending race second in the points championship, only ten points behind Starworks Motorsports.

Full season drivers Tom Kimber-Smith and Robert Alon will be joined for the final round of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup (TPNAEC) by co-driver Jose Gutierrez. The trio has driven together at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen and enters the TPNAEC Championship in first place.

“I’m really excited to get back to Road Atlanta for the final race of the season. I have driven there before in the prototype lites car and it quickly became one of my favorite tracks, so I’m really looking forward to the first practice when I get my first laps in the PC car there,” said Alon.

“We’re coming into the last race ten points behind the Starworks guys, but I think as long as we can continue to keep our heads down and drive a clean race, we have the potential to come out on top. We also will have Jose (Gutierrez) back with us for the weekend, and the three of us drive really well together and have had success early on in the season, so I’m really looking forward to getting the weekend started and for the race on Saturday.”

Kimber-Smith who won the 2015 Petit Le Mans in class with teammates Mike Gausch and Andrew Palmer after the race was red flagged due to torrential rains is hoping for another visit to the top step of the podium for the final round of the 2016 season.

“I’m eager to get back to Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans this weekend. Car set up-wise, we haven’t really changed anything on the car for the last several races, so we’re going to go into the weekend with the same philosophy of not touching the car, and seeing where we end up in free practice one,” explained Kimber-Smith.

“Atlanta is a lot smaller track and a lot tighter, and with as many cars as we will have on track, overtaking will be a lot harder and strategy will definitely come into play, especially during a ten hour race. But I think we’re in a good spot entering the weekend. Being ten points behind Starworks, we know what we need to do to win and at this point, we have everything to gain, so we’re going to be pushing as hard as we can for a victory on Saturday.”

Gutierrez rejoins the driver line up for the 1000-mile endurance classic and hopes to be able to help bring PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports their first TPNAEC win of the season.

“I’m really happy to be back with the PR1 guys for the final race of the season. Road Atlanta is an incredible track, and I’m excited to be able to share the car with Tom and Robert once more in 2016,” stated Gutierrez.

“We came so close to victory at Daytona and Sebring, so I’m really hoping that this is going to be our race and that you’ll see us on the top step of the podium on Saturday night.”

On track action begins Thursday at 11:15 AM EST with practice one and continues through Saturday. Petit Le Mans will be streamed Live from 11:00 AM - 9:30 PM EST on FOX Sports GO with FS1 authentication. Live television coverage begins from 11:00 AM - Noon EST on Fox Sports 1, resuming from 2:30 – 6:00 PM on Fox Sports 2. There will be a three-hour highlight program on Fox Sports 1 on Monday, Oct. 3, at 7:00 PM EST.