Four races remain on the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship schedule, and David Ostella will use Road America as a checkpoint for the final stretch of the season.
The famous 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, will provide Ostella the opportunity to once again stand on the podium and prove his development as a driver in his rookie season with Performance Tech Motorsports in the Prototype Challenge class.
Ostella has honed his racecraft through hardship this season. Rough racing and driver error kept him from finishing at Sebring International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and held him to a ninth-place finish at Kansas Speedway. But in the last two races, Ostella finished fourth June 29 at Watkins Glen International as part of the Tequila Patròn North American Endurance Racing Cup and fourth again July 25 at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard Grand Prix.
Finishing so close to the podium has inspired and annoyed Ostella.
"The goal is to get back on podium," Ostella said. "There has been a big learning curve this year with it being my first year ever in endurance racing. I think my driving style suits this type of racing, but I've learned a lot this year, too, with qualifying and how to stay better focused. It's just time to get back on podium."
Ostella has not seen Road America since 2010, when he raced in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. He will lean on teammate and Sheboygan, Wisconsin, native James French for help with data and learning the track.
"James will be a huge help there since it's his home track," Ostella said. "He'll help when we go over data. I'll be watching a lot of video of the PC car there before we go. I'll focus on my workouts this week, too, because it's such a long track I know it will be physically demanding.
"The goal here is to be consistent; you can't make too many mistakes without drastically slowing yourself down. It will be a good track to test my skills. I'll get a chance to see where my skill sets are at."
Ostella will take to the track at 4:40 p.m. (CT) Friday, Aug. 8 for the first practice session. Qualifying will take place at 5:05 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, with live streaming on IMSA.com. The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, a two-hour and 45-minute race, begins at 1:15 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10. Live timing will be available at imsa.com, and the race will be broadcast at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday, Aug. 10 on FOX Sports 1.
