2015 United SportsCar Championship
The 2015 IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship (TUSC) was the second season of the International Motor Sports Association's Tudor United SportsCar Championship and last to be held under that name. It was also the 45th overall season of the IMSA GT championship tracing its lineage to the 1971 IMSA season. It began January 24 with the 24 Hours of Daytona. and ended on October 3 at Petit Le Mans. Classes. The class structure remained largely unchanged from 2014. 2015 will see the introduction of two awards for the top-finishing Pro-Am drivers in Prototype  (P) and GT Le Mans (GTLM). The Jim Trueman Award will be given to the top finishing Pro-Am pairing in Prototype, while the Bob Akin Award will be for the top GTLM pairing. The top Pro-Am pairings from these classes at the end of the year will be given automatic entries to the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the Trueman award winner eligible for the LMP2 class, while the Akin Award winner would be for the LM GTE Am class. To be eligible for these awards, the drivers must at a minimum contest the North American  Endurance Cup events. Schedule. Race schedule. The 2015 schedule was released on August 10, 2014 and features twelve rounds. One major change to the rules for 2015 was a slight reduction of race time to fit television constraints. Two and three hour races, which were 15 minutes shorter than their times, will have their race times reduced five more minutes, so that they would be 1:40 and 2:40, respectively, instead of 1:45 and 2:45, as was the case in the previous years. The races set for 6, 10, 12, and 24 hours will remain at the respective lengths. Entries. Prototype  Challenge. All entries use an Oreca FLM09 chassis powered by a Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8. Results. Bold indicates overall winner. Championship standings. Points Systems. Championship points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event. Points are awarded based on finishing positions as shown in the chart below. Drivers Points. Points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event. Drivers must complete a minimum driving time (outlined to teams prior to each event) in order to score points. A driver does not score points if the minimum drive time is not met. In addition , for each car credited with a race start, each driver nominated in that car also receives one additional “starting point.” Team Points. Team points are calculated in exactly the same way as driver points, using the point distribution chart and “starting points.” Each car entered is considered its own “team” regardless if it is a single entry or part of a two-car team. Manufacturer Points. There are also a number of manufacturer championships which utilize the same season-long point distribution chart, minus the “starting points” used for the driver and team championships. (The “starting point” is not used  in manufacturer championship points.) The manufacturer championships recognized by IMSA are as follows: Each manufacturer receives finishing points for its highest finishing car in each class. The positions of subsequent finishing cars from the same manufacturer are not taken into consideration, and all other manufacturers move up in the order. The points system from the 2014 season is the same as in 2015. North American Endurance Cup. The points system for the North American Endurance Cup is different from the normal points system. Points are awarded on a 5-4-3-2 basis for drivers, teams and manufacturers. The first  finishing position at each interval earns five points, four points for second position, three points for third, with two points awarded for fourth and each subsequent finishing position. At Daytona (24 hour race), points are awarded at six hours, 12 hours, 18 hours and at the finish. At the Sebring (12 hour race), points are awarded at four hours, eight hours and at the finish. At Watkins Glen (6 hour race), points are awarded at three hours and at the finish. At Road Atlanta (10-hour race), points are awarded at four hours, eight hours and at the finish. Like  the season-long team championship, North American Endurance Cup team points are awarded for each car and drivers get points in any car that they drive, in which they are entered for points. The manufacturer points go to the highest placed car from that manufacturer (the others from that manufacturer not being counted), just like the season-long manufacturer championship. For example: in any particular segment manufacturer A finishes 1st and 2nd and manufacturer B finishes 3rd. Manufacturer A only receives first-place points for that segment. Manufacturer B receives the second-place points. Tires' Championship. "No North American Endurance  Cup in the tires' championship"