Watkins Glen Weekend Notebook

Photo: Porsche

***Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands returns to action after nearly a two-month break, with Rounds 5 and 6 having been run at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in early May. The 34-car entry list features the same number of cars from the last event but with notable changes.

***Sean Varwig (Kelly-Moss, Pro), Moisey Uretsky (Accelerating Performance, Pro-Am) and Tom Balames (Kelly-Moss, Am) all make their returns to the series for the first time since the Sebring season-opener, while both Jeff Mosing and Kyle Washington, who contested the races at Laguna Seca, are absent from this weekend.

***Pro class points leader Kay van Berlo, who holds a 22-point lead over Parker Thompson, won both races at Watkins Glen last year. The Miami-based Dutchman is among several drivers pulling double duty this weekend, with van Berlo rejoining the Rolex 24 at Daytona LMP3 class-winning Riley Motorsports outfit for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

***Premier Racing is coming off recent victories in SRO America competition with Adam Adelson, who also took advantage of a two-day test at Watkins Glen prior to this weekend’s action. “The team has improved dramatically since the start of the season, and I feel the same way about my driving,” he said. “Coming into rounds seven and eight of Porsche Carrera Cup, I’m feeling quite confident that we can move further up the field.”

***Michael McCann will do double duty in the No. 8 McCann Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in the Michelin Pilot Challenge with Andrew Davis while Thomas Collingwood is in a similar arrangement with BGB Motorsports, sharing his GT4-spec Porsche with Spencer Pumpelly.

***Kelly-Moss will be racing in Pilot Challenge for the first time this season with the No. 66 Porsche for David Brule and Alec Udell, meanwhile.

***In addition to McCann, BGB and Kelly-Moss, Nolasport will also tackle both Carrera Cup and Pilot Challenge competition this weekend in Porsche machinery.

***A total of 47 Porsche-built race cars are competing at Watkins Glen this weekend across the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pilot Challenge and Carrera Cup.

***Nine drivers have won a class in the first six rounds: van Berlo has four wins overall, Thompson has two overall wins – both coming at Laguna Seca. Metni and Castro each have two Pro-Am victories while Oakes and Cirone each have one. Kvamme has four of the six Am class wins with Goetz and Hanley each enjoying one in the class.

***Kelly-Moss has earned eight of the possible 18 class wins this season. MDK has four, JDX has three while Mark Motors, Nolasport and Wright each enjoy one.

***Porsche and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have opened ticket sales for the Sports Car Together Fest. The family-oriented event will be held Sept. 2-4. The Labor Day weekend will celebrate the German sports car manufacturer’s long history of performance road and race cars, as well as sports car culture overall, along with trackside activities for families and fans of all ages.

***Qualifying gets underway at 8:45 a.m. ET with Race 1 of the weekend set for a 1:25 p.m. start, with live coverage on Peacock, IMSA.tv and PorscheCarreraCup.us, featuring commentary from the IMSA Radio team. Race 2 takes the green flag Saturday at 11:05 a.m. ET.

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