Road America Friday Notebook

Photo: Jordan Lenssen/Porsche

***The entry list is down from 46 to 45 cars following the withdrawal of the No. 94 Andretti Autosport Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which was due to be driven by Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves. Andretti was involved in an accident at Lime Rock Park with the No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R of Alan Metni, which ended the Aston’s race.

***Both the No. 35 TDS Racing Oreca and No. 78 Forte Racing by US RaceTronics Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 did not make appearances in Friday’s second practice session after both sustaining heavy accidents in the morning. Steven Thomas, meanwhile, sustained similar damage to his No. 11 TDS Oreca in Practice 2, which has put the French squad in full rebuild mode for its two-car LMP2 effort.

***Forte is currently switching chassis, per IMSA Radio, with the hope of returning to the track tomorrow for qualifying prior to Sunday’s 10:10 a.m. CDT start.

***Chip Ganassi Racing has reverted to its backup chassis this weekend following Renger van der Zande’s massive accident in the closing stages of last month’s round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Chassis No. 02, which last saw track time in the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona International Speedway in December, most recently took part in the two-day test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway prior to heading to Road America.

***Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR Andretti is debuting a brand-new Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 following an extensive build performed by the Jon Mirachi-led squad last month. The Ashton Harrison and Mario Farnbacher-driven GTD class contender is chassis No. 25, which was built up from the crashed Long Beach chassis.

***JDC-Miller Motorsports’ No. 85 Duqueine D08 Nissan, which is being driven this weekend by Gerry Kraut and Scott Andrews, will return for Motul Petit Le Mans according to team co-owner John Church, who indicated they will continue a LMP3 program next year in VP Racing SportsCar Challenge competition.

***Church told Sportscar365 that he’s had a few inquiries to run a LMP2 car although is taking a wait-and-see approach. The Minnesota-based team has ruled out campaigning a second Porsche 963 but is “still working through” on the potential purchase of a second chassis.

***Despite being listed for this weekend’s GT America powered by AWS event on the streets of Nashville, George Kurtz has prioritized his LMP2 effort with CrowdStrike Racing by APR at Road America. Kurtz and co-driver Ben Hanley hold a three-point lead in the LMP2 standings over TDS Racing’s Thomas and Mikkel Jensen ahead of Sunday’s race.

***The Heart of Racing is the only WeatherTech Championship team that’s also fielding an entry in GT America this weekend, with Gray Newell due to take part in the pair of 40-minute single-driver races on the NTT IndyCar Series support bill.

***Riley is scheduled to receive its Oreca 07 Gibson at the end of this month according to team boss Bill Riley, who said they have a total of seven test days booked at Daytona International Speedway for the program that will feature Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga.

***PJ Hyett took part in the first of two Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America races at Road America prior to traveling to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to test AO Racing’s Porsche as part of the two-day IMSA-sanctioned test.

***Hyett was among the first drivers to sample the resurfaced four-mile circuit during a private test in early June that saw AO’s Oreca LMP2 car also turn laps, also in the hands of Harry Tincknell. The Chicago area-based team is still evaluating its options for 2024 as GTD teams await for clarity on the class driver rating requirements.

***United Autosports team co-owner and managing director Richard Dean is again on-site this weekend. He told Sportscar365 that the Anglo-American team is close to finalizing all elements of its two-car LMP2 effort, which should be rubber-stamped by the end of the month.

***The No. 01 Cadillac is running with a Forza Motorsports decal on the side. The race car is featured on the new Forza game to be released in October and is available in the latest build on iRacing.

***IMSA President John Doonan said it was “extremely difficult” to not reach a deal with Lime Rock Park for next year, which will mark the first time the WeatherTech Championship has not been on the calendar since 2014, not counting the COVID-affected years. “We’ll engage in opportunities to find a way to go back there in ’25 and beyond but we just couldn’t make all of the pieces work for ’24,” he said.”

***Doonan said they looked at the option of creating a standalone Pilot Challenge headline event at Lime Rock, similar to what’s been done for Mid-Ohio next year, but had “a lot of pieces” at play including television production and coverage.

***It has yet to be decided if next year’s Michelin Endurance Cup round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will end in darkness according to Doonan, who indicated they’ll first evaluate how next month’s four-hour Pilot Challenge race into twilight will go.

***Doonan revealed they talked about having a longer-distance race at Indy but ultimately decided on a six-hour contest. “Working with Doug [Boles, IMS Track President] and Roger [Penske] and Mark Miles [Penske Entertainment Corp CEO] and the team, we felt like the six-hour slot was the right amount based on run time for the teams.”

***Doonan added: “You don’t want to just tack on all this extra running time [to the season]. Going back to Detroit with a 100-minute race, taking some of the classes off of CTMP or Long Beach or Laguna, it helps to have teams not getting squeezed for more budget by keeping it at a six-hour.”

***In addition to the WeatherTech Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Ferrari Challenge North America and Mustang Challenge schedules released on Friday, the IMSA-owned HSR series also released its 2024 calendar, highlighted by a new four-race LMP3 endurance series.

***Additionally, HSR will be part of the Michelin GT Challenge weekend at Virginia International Raceway for the first time, marking the series’ return to the track for the first time since 2016. The 2024 schedule once again begin and end at Sebring International Raceway and, along with VIR, includes Daytona International Speedway, Watkins Glen International and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

***While calendars for Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America and Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup were not released on Friday, Doonan confirmed they both will continue under IMSA sanctioning next year, having noted a recent contract extension with the Porsche single-make series.

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