It's an enjoyable grind for me. Red Bull Jr with RH in the beginning, pit end of lap 2, get Heavy Wets and fuel, then pit again end of lap 5, get RH tires and no fuel, and off I go. Very easy and no stress, which is important for grinding. But I still enjoy looking at the scenery around me on the long straights! I've watched the real 24 race several times and it's my favorite track.
Regarding time penalties, I do get them in this race from time to time, and I know where I went 'over the line'. But I do it sometimes to avoid hitting another car and messing up my Clean Race Bonus. But because the race is quite easy to win, getting a time penalty or two is completely negligible in the grand scheme of things.
And I know it's listed as an 8-lap race, but I've never had to go past 7 laps. And like someone else mentioned earlier, I want to see if I can do it in 6 laps with a bit of creativity.