36 Entries for COTA Season Finale

Photo: Porsche Motorsport North America

A total of 36 cars are set for this weekend’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America season finale at Circuit of The Americas, which will crown champions in the Pro-Am and Masters classes.

The entry list for Rounds 15 and 16, in support of the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix, will see new and returning contenders to all three classes, although the Pro category championship has already been clinched by Loek Hartog, with two races still to spare.

The Dutchman secured an insurmountable 87-point lead over Alex Sedgwick last time out at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta last weekend.

PT Autosport by JDX Racing driver Sedgwick is just five points ahead of Ryan Yardly, of Topp Racing Performance and 29 ahead of Zachary Vanier in the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car.

The fight for the Pro-Am class title has been the most fiercely fought, with Kellymoss’ Alan Metni holding a narrow ten-point lead over teammate and championship rival Efrin Castro.

All three previous Pro-Am titles in the single-make series are held by either Castro or Metni.

Marco Cirone holds a chance of walking away as Pro-Am champion as well, with the Canadian just 1 point behind Castro in third, in his No. 84 ACI Motorsports Porsche.

The Masters class championship, meanwhile, has come down to a two-driver showdown, with ACI’s Matt Halcome entering the final race weekend with a 34-point lead over Kellymoss driver Chris Bellomo.

No other entry in the class is capable of acquiring enough points to win the title.

Kellymoss and JDX Racing, meanwhile, will face off for the Entrants championship with the Wisconsin-based team currently holding a 33-point lead over Colorado’s JDX.

A maximum of 56 points are up for grabs this weekend, when counting a race win, pole position and fastest race lap.

Track action kicks off on Friday with a single practice session, followed by qualifying on Saturday morning and the first of two 35-minute races on Saturday at 3:40 p.m. CDT. Race 2 takes the green Sunday at 11 a.m., with race coverage live on Peacock, IMSA.tv. and PorscheCarreraCup.us.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***Circuit of The Americas is the third weekend on the Carrera Cup North America calendar to race in support of the Formula 1 World Championship. The second and third race weekends of the season were also headlined by F1. Rounds three and four were held at the Miami International Autodrome in May where Hartog raced to the overall victory in Race 1 while Vanier earned his first career win in Race 2.

***Rounds 5 and 6 came in Montreal where Carrera Cup was a support event for the Grand Prix of Canada on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in June. While rain battered both rounds, it was Yves Baltas who came across the finish line first in Race 1, and Hartog who took the checkered flag first in the second race of the weekend.

***As was the case in both Miami and Montreal, the Carrera Cup North America standard schedule will be tweaked for the COTA Formula 1 weekend. Only a single practice session will be held, while the two races will each be 35 minutes in length, instead of the typical 40-minute race format.

***Two Texans will have an opportunity to celebrate their success with their hometown fans this weekend. Metni, 2022 Pro-Am class champion, is an Austin resident looking to capture his second Carrera Cup North America championship at his home track in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche. Jeff Mosing also lives in Austin and is targeting a victory at COTA in the No. 56 Topp Racing Performance Porsche.

***Porsche Motorsport North America will award the Al Holbert Cup for the fourth time on Sunday. For the second year, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Celebration of Champions will take place at Porsche Austin where the Pro, Pro-Am, and Masters classes, along with the Entrant champion, will be recognized.

***Since 2021, the Al Holbert Cup has been awarded to the overall champion of the Carrera Cup North America. The trophy was named in recognition of Holbert’s commitment, inspiration and leadership in the formation and organization of Porsche motorsports in North America.

***The silver cup carrying his name is crafted as a timeless and traditional trophy to commemorate each Pro class champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The Al Holbert Cup is engraved each year with the champion’s name and year of the championship. This award recognizes the true racing spirit of Al Holbert conveying his professional driving skill, engineering precision and a passion as a gentleman racer.

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