Carrera Cup Headlines Action at Sports Car Together Fest

For the second year, Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by the Cayman Islands will headline this weekend’s Porsche Sports Car Together Fest at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Rounds 13 and 14 of the 16-race second season of the world’s premier one-make race series will feature 35 entries across its three classes: Pro, Pro-Am and Am. Included on the list of Porsche racers is NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon, who grew up in nearby Pittsboro, Ind.

With only four races remaining in its sophomore season, championship battles are raging across all three classes.

A grid of 16 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars make up the Pro class, the top category. The most recent weekend at Road America tightened the battle at the sharp end of the series significantly when points leader Kay van Berlo finished off the podium in race one and failed to finish race two in the No. 3 Kelly-Moss Porsche.

Instead, his most heated rivals Trenton Estep piloting the No. 6 MDK Motorsports machine and Parker Thompson in the No. 9 JDX Racing 911 GT3 Cup car won the two rounds respectively.

While the three top the class points leaders are the only ones with wins on the season to date, just behind are Riley Dickinson in the No. 53 Kelly-Moss entered car and T.J. Fischer  in the No. 58 Topp Racing entry. Both are eager to take their first win in the hallowed halls of Indy.

Included in the Pro class is four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, who will briefly step out of retirement to race the No. 24 Hendrick Performance Group-entered Porsche.

The three-time Daytona 500 winner will be a reunited with longtime and storied crew chief Ray Evernham. It marks the first time the championship-winning combination has teamed together since 1999.

Gordon will race in the Pro class but will be technically considered an Invitational class driver and not eligible for points toward the Pro class championship.

At 13 entries, the Pro-Am class has one if its largest grids of the season. Like the Pro class, Road America threw more speculation into the mix of who would come out as champion at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta finale in just over a month.

Like last year, Alan Metni remains at the top of the standings coming into the weekend but with growing pressure from behind. The three-time winner in 2022 had a second-place finish in the first race at Road America but his Kelly-Moss No. 99 only scored five points in the second race after damage.

Behind him, after three straight wins, 2021 class champ Efrin Castro earned only a total of 14 points on the weekend with the No. 65 Kelly-Moss car.

This set the stage for Marco Cirone to add both Road America wins in the No. 84 Mark Motors Racing Porsche and closed to within 59 points of Metni. Curt Swearingin in the No. 17 ACI Motorsports Porsche sits in fourth-place with a surging Matt Halcome moving into the top five.

The Am class has been the most active in swapping points positions in the last several rounds.

While No. 43 MDK Motorsports Porsche of Mark Kvamme controlled the early season, missing rounds nine and ten pushed the motorsport veteran but Carrera Cup rookie out of the top spot.

Bill Smith’s two wins in the No. 42 Topp Racing Porsche moved the resident of Dallas to the lead. However, an at-home injury forced Smith to miss Road America.

By returning to form with two wins at Road America, Kvamme took over the top spot again and a second place finish by John Goetz moved the No. 57 Wright Motorsports Porsche into second-place entering Indy.

The event will see not only the Porsche one-make racing series, including four races of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama, but all things Porsche. The Labor Day weekend festival will celebrate the German sports car manufacturer’s long history of performance road and race cars, along with trackside activities for families and fans of all ages.

Carrera Cup Race 1 at The Brickyard will take the green flag on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. ET. Race 2 will start at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday as the final competition of Sports Car Together Fest.