This weekend (May 1-3), IMSA returns to action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in California. Three of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s four classes will serve as the headliners. It’s also a throwback weekend, so several teams will be running old-school schemes.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship StubHub Monterey Sportscar Championship
There are a total of 34 teams entered for Sunday’s (May 3) 160-minute sprint race. This is down two entries from last year’s 36-car field.
In the GTP class, there are 11 teams entered, unchanged from Long Beach.
At Action Express Racing, Earl Bamber is back in the No. 31 Cadillac in place of Frederik Vesti. Bamber missed Long Beach due to his responsibilities with Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
With the Porsches getting defeated in Long Beach, the point standings are a little closer now. Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr have a 35-point lead over Laurin Heinrich. Vesti and Jack Aitken are three points further back.
In GTD Pro, there are nine teams entered, down from 13 at Sebring last month. Teams that are not entered include Triarsi Competizione’s No. 033, Winward Racing’s No. 48, Risi Competizione and Manthey Racing. These teams are focusing on the Michelin Endurance Cup races instead.
As far as throwbacks, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports will be turning the clock back to 2000 by running yellow and white Corvettes this weekend. Paul Miller Racing’s BMW M4 GT3 Evo will run a scheme based on the BMW 3.0 CSL from 1975.
In GTD, there are 14 teams entered, down from 17 at Long Beach. Pfaff Motorsports” No. 46 Lamborghini, Vasser Sullivan’s No. 89 Lexus and AO Racing’s No. 177 Porsche were GTD Pro cars that were renumbered and switched to GTD in order to race at Long Beach. They have now switched back to GTD Pro.
This number may end up dropping to 13. Bakersfield Now is reporting that a race car transporter caught fire on Interstate 5 south of Bakersfield, Calif. Wednesday morning. DXDT Racing confirmed later in the day to SportsCar365.com that a “mechanical incident” caused a fire on their transporter en route to Laguna Seca.
No injuries were reported in the fire. However, it is currently unclear how seriously the transporter and the equipment within were damaged.
There are a couple of driver changes of note. Last week, Conquest Racing announced that Manny Franco will not be available for this weekend. In his place, Lorenzo Patrese will make his IMSA sprint race debut.
Scott Andrews will drive alongside Rory van der Steur at Van der Steur Racing. Regular driver Valentin Hasse-Clot will be racing for Racing Spirit of Leman in the European Le Mans Series’ LMGT3 class at Paul Ricard this weekend.
At The Heart of Racing, Tom Gamble is back with the team, replacing Spencer Pumpelly. Gamble missed Long Beach to compete in the WEC season opener in the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship StubHub Monterey Sportscar Entry List
Coverage of the StubHub Monterey Sportscar Championship will air live on NBCSN and Peacock Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120
Saturday’s two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has 45 teams entered. This is up five entries from last year’s race, but down five from Sebring.
The Grand Sport class has 31 teams entered, up seven from last year’s race, but down two from Sebring. Teams that are not entered are VPX Motorsport, TWOth Autosport (under the banner of Shopify Racing), Rebel Rock Racing (which just debuted in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS last weekend at Circuit of the Americas) and BGB Motorsports.
This weekend will mark the return of Andretti Performance to IMSA. They will run a Porsche Cayman GT4 RS CS for Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves. The duo previously shared a Porsche 911 GT3 R in WeatherTech back in 2024.
Van der Steur Racing is running two cars this week. One is the No. 66 full-time car for Trenton Estep and Allen Patten. The other is their part-time No. 10 for Ben and Christine Sloss.
At Panam Motorsport, Guilherme Salas will replace Thiago Camilo in the No. 54 Supra alongside Caio Chaves. It will be Salas’ series debut.
There are 14 teams entered in the TCR class, down from 16 at Sebring. RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate and HART are not entered.
Outside of that, Kenny Riedmann is back in the Baker Racing No. 56, replacing Bruno Junqueira.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 Entry List
The WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 is scheduled to go green at 3:45 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Coverage will begin at 3:40 p.m. ET on Peacock.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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.