Hartog on Cusp on Clinching Title at Road Atlanta

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Loek Hartog heads into this weekend’s penultimate Porsche Carrera Cup North America weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on the cusp of clinching the Pro class title.

The Dutchman, driver of the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car, holds a commanding 76-point lead over Alex Sedgwick, with a maximum of 112 points to play for between the Road Atlanta and season-ending races at Circuit of The Americas later this month.

Hartog can clinch the title two, or even potentially three races early, depending on where his title rivals finish in this week’s pair of 40-minute races, after scooping up a total of seven overall victories, including the last four in a row.

While PT Autosport-backed JDX Racing driver Sedgwick is Hartog’s closest contender, Topp Racing Performance’s Ryan Yardley sits third in the standings, 95 points behind the Kellymoss star.

Both Sedgwick and Yardley, meanwhile, hold one win apiece so far this season.

A total of 28 cars are entered for Rounds 13 and 14, which will see track action kick off on Wednesday with a pair of practice sessions, followed by qualifying and Race 1 on Thursday (5:05 p.m. EDT) and Race 2 on Friday (10:55 a.m. EDT).

Both races will be streamed live on Peacock, IMSA.tv. and PorscheCarreraCup.us.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***The Pro-Am category has continued to be the most hotly contested. Two Indy race wins jumped Alan Metni from third place to the points lead in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche. The 2022 class champion holds a three-point gap over Moisey Uretsky in the No. 44 Baby Bull Racing machine. Marco Cirone, who entered Indianapolis in the lead, fell to third but remains only five points behind Metni.

***Matt Halcome has seen the Masters class field close behind him coming to the final two race weekends. However, the driver of the No. 55 ACI Motorsports Porsche remains 41 points ahead of Chris Bellomo in the No. 68 Porsche prepared by Kellymoss. Kellymoss retains the Entrants standings with 251 points, 35 markers ahead of JDX Racing.

***While most drivers and teams in the series have a connection to Road Atlanta, two drivers are Georgians. Masters class championship leader Halcome lives in Dallas, Ga. The pilot of the No. 55 “Mystery Machine” Porsche won his first Carrera Cup title (PA991 class) at the 2021 season-finale. Richard Edge lives in Atlanta. The driver of the No. 18 Porsche sits in third place of the Masters class entering the weekend.

***Road Atlanta is a ‘Legacy Track’ on the Carrera Cup schedule. The track joins Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway as tracks that hosted the premier one-make race series in its 2021 debut season. With the intense travel schedule last year, Road Atlanta was not included in the 2023 season. However, the series returns for 2024 given the popularity of the track and the importance of the Motul Petit Le Mans race weekend.

***The track was the home of the Carrera Cup North America finale its first two seasons, 2021 and 2022. Both years, the champions were crowned in dramatic fashion. Seb Priaulx won two of the three races run on the 2.54-mile track earning himself the first Al Holbert Cup awarded to the overall champion of the series in 2021. Parker Thompson captured the first of two races held in 2022 to win the overall title.

***Since 2023, the championship finale has been held at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin. The 2024 champions will be crowned there again this year, Oct. 18-20, in support of the United States Grand Prix Formula 1  weekend.

***PT Autosport recently announced the eight finalists who will compete in its third annual Aspiring Driver Shootout in November at New Jersey Motorsport Park, with the winner earning a racing partnership and the chance to join the team’s junior racing program. The Aspiring Driver Shootout winner will receive up to a $250,000 driver partnership (with $50,000 guaranteed). Second place earns $10,000 toward a racing school or coaching program while third place gets $5,000. Click Here for more information.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John