Kingsley Beats Points Lead Pursuer Dickinson to Race 2 Win

Jeff Kingsley won the second Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama race of the weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after muscling past his nearest championship rival Riley Dickinson at the start of Friday afternoon’s contest.

Dickinson, who triumphed in Race 1 on Friday morning, led the 20-car field to the green flag from pole position in the No. 53 Moorespeed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Also starting on the first row in the No. 16 Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche, Kingsley went into Turn 1 alongside Dickinson and held strong into Turn 2, where his inside line pushed him into the lead.

From there, Kingsley pulled away and went on to win by 5.023 seconds for his seventh victory of the GT3 Cup Challenge season.

The victory allowed Kingsley to negate the points Dickinson gained by winning the first race Friday.

The Canadian, who made his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut a week ago on the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, maintained a 22-point advantage on Dickinson heading into the final race of the Michelin Raceway tripleheader on Saturday.

While Kingsley controlled the scene up front on Friday afternoon, there was plenty of action and battling for wins in the Platinum Masters and Gold Cup classes.

Platinum Masters points leader Alan Metni and Race 1 winner Charlie Luck put on a frenetic battle for the class lead for several laps before Luck passed Metni with 13 minutes remaining in the 45-minute race.

Soon after, Metni pulled off course with a mechanical issue and Luck cruised to the class victory in the No. 45 Wright Motorsports Porsche for the second time Friday.

Luck finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of Platinum Masters runner-up Michael Mennella in the No. 4 MCR Racing Porsche.

Gold Cup class contenders Curt Swearingin and Efrin Castro had their own tussle for the class lead early in Race 2.

Castro spun in the No. 65 TPC Racing Porsche while challenging Swearingin for first place less than 15 minutes into the race.

Swearingin went on to win in the No. 17 ACI Motorsports entry as Castro battled back to finish second in class in a reversal of how they finished in Friday’s first race.

RESULTS: Race 2