Kingsley Edges Dickinson for Race 3 Win

Jeff Kingsley took Race 3 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge tripleheader weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta by 5.577 seconds over his championship rival Riley Dickinson.

Kingsley started from the pole on Saturday, jumped to the lead and gradually pulled away from Dickinson in the No. 53 Moorespeed Porsche. Sebastian Carazo, Kingsley’s teammate in the No. 27 Kelly-Moss entry, finished third for the second time this weekend.

Kingsley takes a 25-point lead in the Platinum Cup class for current-generation 911 GT3 Cup cars over Dickinson to St. Pete’s 1.8-mile temporary street course.

It gave Kingsley two victories for the weekend and nine for the season. The driver of the No. 16 Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car has finished first or second in all 12 races this season.

The Canadian has been extraordinarily busy of late. He swept the tripleheader at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course the last weekend of September, had a weekend off and then made his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut Oct. 9-10 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval before taking on the three GT3 Cup Challenge USA races this weekend at Michelin Raceway.

He’ll follow the GT3 Cup Challenge USA to the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Fla., next weekend to make up the doubleheader event postponed from March. By the time that’s completed, Kingsley will have driven in nine races over a five-week span.

In the Platinum Masters class for drivers 45 and older, Charlie Luck completed a weekend sweep of victories in the No. 45 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Luck took the class lead when points leader Alan Metni spun halfway through the race.

Metni, in the No. 99 Kelly-Moss/AM Motorsports car, recovered to erase an eight-second deficit to Luck, making a pass for the class lead with just eight minutes remaining.

Metni’s hopes for victory ended, however, when he pulled off course with a mechanical issue as the white flag waved to signal the final lap.

Metni, who had won eight of the first nine Masters races before going winless this weekend, saw his points lead over Luck trimmed to 25 with four races left on the schedule.

The Gold Cup class, for 911 GT3 Cup cars built between 2014 and 2016, saw its own drama between frontrunners Curt Swearingin and Efrin Castro.

Starting behind Castro based on their fastest lap times in Friday’s second race, Swearingin spent most of Saturday working to get his No. 17 ACI Motorsports Porsche within striking distance of Castro in the No. 65 TPC Racing entry.

Swearingin’s opportunity came when Castro swung wide exiting the final turn of the 2.54-mile road course with 10 minutes left.

As Castro’s car bounced along the front straight with two wheels in the grass, Swearingin sped past. Castro’s car sustained enough damage that he wasn’t able to finish, with Swearingin winning the Gold Cup class by 19 seconds over teammate Richard Edge in the No. 18 ACI Porsche.

RESULTS: Race 3