This weekend, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns to action at Road America in Wisconsin for 160 minutes of racing Sunday. 35 cars are scheduled to take the green flag.
In the Prototype class, the Mazdas are not entered as a result of Team Joest taking over the Mazda program. They are currently testing to try to improve both the RT24-P and the Riley Mk. 30 chassis that is is based off. As a result, only eight prototypes are entered.
Outside of the Mazda absence, the biggest change is Visit Florida Racing switching to a Ligier JS P217-Gibson from their Riley Mk. 30. The hope is that the switch will improve their fortunes.
The other team racing the Ligier JS P217-Gibson, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, has been fast at times with the Ligier. However, they have also had a revolving door of drivers in the car. For Road America, Olivier Pla and José Gutierrez return to the seat, replacing Nick Boulle and David Ostella. The chassis has been repaired after Ostella rolled the car at the end of the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
Prototype Challenge still has only three entries. BAR1 Motorsports’ No. 26 currently has drivers to be announced. Watch for that to be announced Thursday or Friday at the track. The No. 20 will have Buddy Rice return to the seat alongside Don Yount.
GT Le Mans is completely unchanged from Lime Rock. Risi Competizione was originally supposed to return from their break this weekend, but that was pushed back to VIR at the end of the month.
In GT Daytona, there are 16 entries this week, down one from Lime Rock. Alex Job Racing’s No. 23 Audi and The Racers Group’s No. 007 Aston Martin are not entered. However, Lone Star Racing’s No. 80 Mercedes for Dan Knox and Mike Skeen returns for their second start of the season.
One of the biggest stories of the weekend is WeatherTech Racing switching to Porsche for the race. It is unclear if the move, which is clearly Balance of Performance-related, is just for Road America, or if the team will run the Porsche the rest of the season.
Entry List: Continental Tire Road Race Showcase
| Class | Team | Drivers | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 2 - Tequila Patron ESM | Ryan Dalziel Scott Sharp | Nissan DPi |
| GT Le Mans | 3 - Corvette Racing | Antonio Garcia Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| GT Le Mans | 4 - Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| Prototype | 5 - Action Express Racing | Joao Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi | Cadillac DPi-V.R. |
| Prototype | 10 - Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor | Cadillac DPi-V.R. |
| GT Daytona | 14 - 3GT Racing | Sage Karam Scott Pruett | Lexus RCF GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 15 - 3GT Racing | Robert Alon Jack Hawksworth | Lexus RCF GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 16 - Change Racing | Corey Lewis Jeroen Mul | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| Prototype Challenge | 20 - BAR1 Motorsports | Buddy Rice Don Yount | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| Prototype | 22 - Tequila Patron ESM | Pipo Derani Johannes van Overbeek | Nissan DPi |
| GT Le Mans | 24 - BMW Team RLL | John Edwards Martin Tomczyk | BMW M6 GTLM |
| GT Le Mans | 25 - BMW Team RLL | Bill Auberlen Alexander Sims | BMW M6 GTLM |
| Prototype Challenge | 26 - BAR1 Motorsports | TBA | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| GT Daytona | 28 - Alegra Motorsports | Michael de Quesada Daniel Morad | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| Prototype | 31 - Action Express Racing | Dane Cameron Eric Curran | Cadillac DPi-V.R. |
| GT Daytona | 33 - Riley Motorsports | Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| Prototype Challenge | 38 - BAR1 Motorsports | James French Patricio O'Ward | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| GT Daytona | 48 - Paul Miller Racing | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 50 - WeatherTech Racing | Gunnar Jeannette Cooper MacNeil | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| Prototype | 52 - PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | José Gutierrez Olivier Pla | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| GT Daytona | 54 - CORE autosport | Jon Bennett Colin Braun | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| GT Daytona | 57 - Stevenson Motorsports | Lawson Aschenbach Andrew Davis | Audi R8 LMS GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 63 - Scuderia Corsa | Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 66 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand Dirk Müller | Ford GT |
| GT Le Mans | 67 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook | Ford GT |
| GT Daytona | 73 - Park Place Motorsports | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| GT Daytona | 75 - SunEnergy1 Racing | Kenny Habul Tristan Vautier | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 80 - Lone Star Racing | Dan Knox Mike Skeen | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| Prototype | 85 - JDC/Miller MotorSports | Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| GT Daytona | 86 - Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Oswaldo Negri Jr. Jeff Segal | Acura NSX GT3 |
| Prototype | 90 - Visit Florida Racing | Marc Goossens Renger van der Zande | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| GT Daytona | 93 - Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Andy Lally Katherine Legge | Acura NSX GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 96 - Turner Motorsport | Jens Klingmann Jesse Krohn | BMW M6 GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 911 - Porsche GT Team | Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GT Le Mans | 912 - Porsche GT Team | Gianmaria Bruni Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR |
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.