This week, IMSA has their third race weekend for the Michelin Endurance Cup, the championship-within-a-championship centered around the longest races of the year. Watkins Glen International hosts the joint-shortest of the five races on their 3.4-mile road course.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen
This year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen has a fully subscribed entry list of 55 cars. It was originally 56, but one team has withdrawn.
The GTP class has 13 teams entered, up two from Detroit. Back on the grid for the first time since Sebring are Proton Competition with their Porsche 963 and Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse with their Lamborghini SC63.
10 of the 13 teams are going with two-driver lineups. The exceptions are Proton Competition, Action Express Racing and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s No. 93. In the No. 93, Kakunoshin Ohta returns to the team after racing for Era Motorsport in the LMP2 class at Sebring.
The LMP2 class is back in action for the first time since Sebring. 12 teams are entered, unchanged from the last time out.
That said, there are driver changes. At Era Motorsport, Paul-Loup Chatin will be in the car in place of Ohta. Chatin, who is full-time with Signatech Alpine in the WEC, raced for the team back at Daytona.
At Pratt Miller Motorsports, Manuel Espirito Santo is in the car this weekend in place of James Roe. Espirito Santo has been a regular in the European Le Mans Serie since 2023. He has one career win in the LMP3 class there. For this year, he’s running full-time for CLX Motorsport in the LMP2 class, where he finished third at Paul Ricard.
At AF Corse, Matthieu Vaxiviere will be in the car alongside Luis and Matias Perez Companc, replacing Ferrari factory racer Nicklas Nielsen. Vaxiviere was with the team at Daytona back in January.
In GTD Pro, there are 10 teams entered. down one entry from Detroit. The one car that isn’t entered is Vasser Sullivan’s No. 15 Lexus. That team entered Detroit in GTD Pro as a one-off. For this weekend, they’ll be back in the GTD class as the No. 12.
Speaking of Vasser Sullivan, Ben Barnicoat will be back in the No. 14 Lexus this week. He’s been out since a mountain bike crash prior to Sebring.
The only other driver change in the class comes from Pfaff Motorsports. They announced last week that they’ll have Sandy Mitchell in their Lamborghini this weekend alongside Andrea Caldarelli. This is due to regular driver Marco Mapelli racing in this weekend’s ADAC Ravenol 24H Nurburgring for ABT-Sportsline.
The GTD class has 21 cars listed on the entry list, but only 20 will compete. This is still up five teams from last time out at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The one team that has withdrawn is the Iron Dames team with their Porsche. The reasoning for the move is tied to Michelle Gatting suffering a broken foot during pit stop practice at the Le Mans Test Day. Gatting was ultimately replaced by Sarah Bovy for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, who was already in the car for this weekend.
The five teams that are back on the grid this weekend are Van der Steur Racing with their Aston Martin, Cetilar Racing, Lone Star Racing, AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari, and Magnus Racing.
Yes, that’s right, Magnus Racing is back with their Aston Martin. As you might remember, the team was put on pause after the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January due to a new opportunity in the hospitality industry for team owner/driver John Potter.
Now, the Magnus squad is back. Andy Lally is not. The current president of Trans-Am announced his retirement from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship back in December.
He’s been replaced by Marco Sorensen, best known for his time with The Heart of Racing. He’ll partner up with Potter and Spencer Pumpelly.
At Triarsi Competizione, James Calado is back with the team for the first time since Daytona, along with Andrew Waite. Waite is a New Zealand-based GT racer who has compete in the Australian GT Championship in the past. Watkins Glen will mark his IMSA debut.
Tom Gamble is back with The Heart of Racing after missing Laguna Seca. That weekend conflicted with the WEC race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Ben Tuck will join up with Conquest Racing this weekend for his first go-around, replacing Cedric Sbirrazzuoli.
There are a couple of TBD seats on the entry list. Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW in GTD Pro has a TBD seat alongside regular drivers Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen. They are the only team in the class with a potential three-driver lineup.
In GTD, both Lone Star Racing and Forte Racing have TBD slots. For LSR, the empty slot was Eric Filgueiras‘ spot at Daytona and Sebring. For Forte, it is the seat taken by Parker Kligerman at both Daytona and Sebring. Kligerman will be busy with TV duties at Pocono Raceway.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen Entry List
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge LP Building Solutions 120
Saturday’s two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Watkins Glen International has 39 teams entered, up one from Mid-Ohio.
The Grand Sport class has 22 entries, down one from Mid-Ohio. Teams that are not entered include Kingpin Racing, BGB Motorsports and AR Motorsports, which won the pole with Thomas Merrill.
There are a couple of returning teams as well. CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing is bringing their second car for Bill Cain and Aaron Povoledo back. Canam Motorsport is also back with their Supra.
Driver change-wise, Czabok Simpson Motorsports is making a change. Nikita Lastochkin has moved from the No. 67 to the No. 16 to partner up with Zach Veach, replacing Harrison Goodman. Goodman had previously raced with Veach at Hattori Motorsports, which effectively shuttered after team owner Shigeaki Hattori was killed in a car accident in North Carolina earlier this year.
The entry list has a TBD alongside of Jenson Altzman at McCumbee McAleer Racing. That TBD will be team co-owner Chad McCumbee, who was just announced Wednesday evening as the driver for this weekend, replacing Sam Paley. McCumbee has been racing late models recently. Just last weekend, Frontstretch caught up with him after he finished third in the zMAX CARS Tour Mini’s Mission 125 at Dominion Raceway.
The TCR class has 17 entries, up two from Mid-Ohio. Gou Racing, which missed Mid-Ohio, is back with their Cupra Leon VZ TCR, while Baker Racing has expanded to two cars.
The biggest change in the class is a big shake up at Bryan Herta Autosport. As previously mentioned, the ADAC Ravenol 24H Nurburgring is this weekend.
Hyundai has entered two Elantra N TCRs in the race. One of those entries will be shared by former TCR champions Michael Lewis and Robert Wickens. The other two drivers of that car will be Mason Filippi and Bryson Morris, regulars in Pilot Challenge.
Needless to say, the move has championship implications as Filippi (with teammate Harry Gottsacker) was 10 points out of the lead in second after winning last time out at Mid-Ohio. Morris (with Mark Wilkins) was third. Gottsacker and Wilkins will be running solo for the TCR championship for the remainder of the season.
BHA has brought in some past favorites to replace Filippi and Morris this weekend. Filippi will be replaced by Parker Chase. Chase last drove for the team in 2022 alongside Gottsacker. The New Braunfels, Tex. duo finished fourth in points that year with a victory at Mid-Ohio.
Morris will be replaced by Taylor Hagler, a two-time champion with the team when she was sharing with Lewis. She actually drove full-time alongside Morris last year.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge LP Building Solutions 120 Entry List
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.