Yardley Wins Race 2; Hartog Crowned Provisional Champion

Ryan Yardley won Race 2 of the weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta ahead of Loek Hartog, who provisionally clinched the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro class championship with two races remaining.

A second-place finish for Hartog on the 2.54-mile road course was enough to wrap up the Kellymoss driver’s championship campaign with a now insurmountable 308 points total, despite the season officially ending next weekend at the Circuit of The Americas.

Yardley led the 26-car field to green in his No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and was immediately forced to defend from Hartog behind on the opening lap.

An action-packed first ten minutes saw Race 1 winner Zachary Vanier move up to second past the points leading Hartog, who then came under pressure for third from title rival Alex Sedgwick’s No. 98 JDX Racing Porsche.

Hartog found his footing as the 40-minute race neared its halfway point, dispatching JDX’s Vanier for second place, setting his sights on closing down Yardley’s two-second lead.

A heart-stopping moment for Hartog saw the Dutchman run wide into the grass along the front straight while chasing down Yardley, collecting grass and Georgia clay in the front radiators of his GT3 Cup race car.

Vanier finished on the final step of the podium with Sedwick in fourth, with ACI Motorsports’ Yves Baltas rounding out the overall top-five.

Efrin Castro gave Kellymoss the Pro-Am win after leading aboard his No. 65 entry from start to finish and holding a charging Alan Metni behind. Metni made up ground for fourth to finish runner-up in class.

Ruckus Racin’s Scott Blind lost ground at the start after initially holding the Masters class pole position, plummeting to fourth after the first laps were turned.

Kellymoss’ Chris Bellomo inherited the class lead in his No. 68 entry, holding his advantage until the checkered flag to take the class win, despite late pressure from Richard Edge behind.

Madeline Stewart and Sabre Cook did not take the green flag after both cars sustained damage in yesterday’s race after contact, dropping the car count to 26 for Race 2.

RESULTS: Race 2