Sonoma Thursday Notebook

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

***SRO America teams are at Sonoma Raceway this weekend for the season-opening rounds of GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, Pirelli GT4 America, GT America powered by AWS, McLaren Trophy America as well as TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School. Toyota GR Cup North America, meanwhile, embarks on its second weekend after starting its season as part of the Arlington Grand Prix earlier this month.

***GTWC America, GT4 America and GT America teams took part in testing on Wednesday, with McLaren Trophy and GR Cup having test sessions of its own on Thursday, alongside opening practice for Trophy America and two practice sessions for GT4 America.

***Sonoma marks the first event of SRO America’s new compressed three-day weekend format, which sees GT4 America run to a Thursday-Saturday event and GTWC America and GT America have official sessions on Friday-Sunday. This is why there was no track action for either of the GT3-based series on Thursday.

***The GTWC America field is down to 18 race entries, from the originally entered 20. An accident in testing on Wednesday by John Gilliland has ruled out the No. 88 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo from any further action this weekend, while the No. 50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which is on the entry list, is only taking part in the practice sessions according to team principal Aaron Povoledo.

***A total of 13 cars are expected to take part in the pair of GT America races, with the No. 16 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Rodin Younessi and No. 270 Gotham Motorsports Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO of Radu Muntean both no-shows. A final entry list was published on Thursday includes the two remaining Kellymoss Porsches, which have been entered for participation in the practice sessions only according to team co-owner Andy Kilcoyne.

***The McLaren Trophy America entry, however, has expanded from 14 to 16 cars with two additional RWE Motorsport entries for Tommy Pintos/Spencer Schmidt (No. 11) and Alex Pollard (No. 47), along with six driver rating derogations to Bronze*.

***A total of seven drivers, meanwhile, are eligible for the Papaya Cup: Deniz Teoman, Randy Highland, Philip Ploskas, Stephen Sorbaro, Neil Langberg, Keegan Massey and Michael Steeves.

***In GTWC America, Chicago Performance & Tuning Co.’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 entry for Mads Siljehaug and Nicolai Elghanayan has been reclassified from Pro to Pro-Am, thanks to Elghanayan’s derogation to Bronze*.

***The GT4 America grid sees six additional drivers that are racing as Bronze* this weekend: Michael and Alex Garcia, Kevin Clifford, Lucas Catania, Zach Lumsden and Chris Spada.

***Justin Rothberg, who won the GTWC America Pro-Am and GT America powered by AWS titles in 2025 as a Bronze*, will run under his official FIA grading (Silver) this year. Additionally, SRO America has eliminated Bronze* eligibility in GTA.

***Jack Parriott, the son of Carrera Cup veteran Todd Parriott, was initially granted Bronze* status for this weekend but has seen it revoked, resulting in the No. 73 Kellymoss Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport he shares with Erika Hoffmann being moved from Pro-Am to the Silver class.

***Other updates to the GT4 America entry list include the No. 30 TechSport Ford Mustang GT4 of Tyler Stone and Frankie Muniz being confirmed for the Am class and the No. 40 Off Leash Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Clifford and Harry Gottsacker set to race in Pro-Am. The pre-event entry list listed both entries with to-be-confirmed class designations.

***Porsche is the best-represented manufacturer on the grid this weekend, outside of Toyota and McLaren, which have single-make series. The German manufacturer has no fewer than 22 entries across three series.

***According to Porsche Motorsport North America President and CEO Volker Holzmeyer, the influx of Porsches, amid GTWC America’s format switch to three-hour headline races, is a sheer coincidence.

***Holzmeyer told Sportscar365: “As much as I’d like to say ‘great job SRO’ I think it’s mixed. I get mixed feedback on the format. Some say yes they prefer it and others say we’ll see. I think it’s just a coincidence that we have multiple drivers from Carrera Cup or Sprint Challenge, all wanting to step up into GT3 racing at the same time.”

***Kellymoss’ Kilcoyne added: “There’s a lot of drivers wanting the growth and they ultimately want to get to Daytona but they need to find a good progression and a logical way to get there and I think SRO offers that. It’s a good platform.”

***Holzmeyer, meanwhile, praised SRO America for its newly compacted weekend format for each series. “For sure what’s a noticeable benefit to everybody is that the days on the ground are cut by one or two days, with how they’ve compressed the weekend. I was very supportive on that,” he said.

***Four of the seven drivers in Porsche’s Mobil 1 Female Driver Program are competing in SRO America this year: Loni Unser, Ashley Freiberg, Erika Hoffmann (GT4 America) and Therese Lahlough (GTWA America).

***Sportscar365 understands that all Porsche 911 GT3 Rs competing this weekend are in Evo spec, either being brand-new cars or chassis that have been updated via an upgrade kit.

***The BMW M4 GT3 EVO for Slade Stewart and Andy Lee, under the Riley Technologies banner, is being run by a group led by Jarett Andretti this season. It’s the same team that operated Riley’s McLaren Trophy America effort last year.

***Kellymoss’ Porsche GT3 entires are being run out of Riley’s shop in Mooresville, N.C., with the trio of Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports based in the team’s Madison, Wis. headquarters. Kilcoyne said they have a total of five 911 GT3 R Evos, having purchased three brand-new cars and upgraded its two existing cars to Evo spec.

***The two other chassis are on-site as backup cars, along with a spare Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. The team is pulling double duty this weekend, with Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama in action at Barber Motorsports Park, where co-owner Victoria Thomas leading efforts.

***Both Riley and Kellymoss are considered sister teams, following last year’s formation of parent company VICCI, which is owned by Thomas and Kilcoyne as well as other investors, including Bill Riley, who holds a minority stake.

***VICCI purchased Riley Technologies/Motorsports in early 2025 and has used the team’s branding for non-Porsche programs, with Kellymoss strictly tied to customer efforts with the German manufacturer.

***Kilcoyne estimates the Kellymoss/Riley effort has north of 170 crew, counting fly-in contractors. “We certainly had pretty robust staff with assisting with the Lamborghini GTP last year,” he said. “It was nice to be able to find work, and then some. We still had to hire additional people to be able to pull it all off.”

***Kellymoss makes its return to SRO America competition after most recently contesting the GT4 America SprintX East series in 2019 with a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport and Audi R8 LMS GT4.

***Muniz, best known for his acting career in the television sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” is making his GT4 America debut in TechSport’s Ford Mustang GT4. It comes in parallel to his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series commitments with Team Reaume. The 40-year-old has previous Mustang road racing experience with the Dark Horse R in both last year’s Mustang Challenge Le Mans Invitational and the 2024 round at Circuit of The Americas.

***He said: “I spent a lot of time on the simulator at Ford Racing Concord in preparation for this. The racing is going to be a little different than what I’m used to in NASCAR, but I am up for the challenge. I’m grateful to Ford Racing for giving me the opportunity. I can’t wait to deliver a Mustang podium sometime this year.”

***Forte Racing, which recently put its Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 up for sale, has expanded into a four-car McLaren Trophy America program this year after running a pair of McLaren Artura Trophy EVOs in the inaugural season last year.

***Team manager David Cozart said: “With this expansion, we bring additional engineering talent and technicians that really round out the team. All that being said, we are looking forward to a great season and hopefully we get rewarded with some podiums.”

***As was the case with GR Cup’s season opener at Arlington earlier this month, Trophy America will also have a standalone race from the SRO America weekends this year, racing at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Miami in May.

***SRO America held its first ever ‘GT Opening Drive’ event at the Miami International Autodrome in February, which attracted a large number of Trophy America entrants to get their first laps of the circuit built around the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins NFL team.

***This weekend marks the first ‘double duty’ event for Blackdog Racing, which expanded to field a Toyota GR86 Cup car for team owner/driver Tony Gaples nephew, Liam Harrison, in GR Cup North America competition this year.

***Blackdog team manager Ray Sorenson said: “It’s something we are prepared for. We have a much better understanding of the McLaren than when we arrived at Sonoma last year, and we also had a good experience in our first race with Liam in GR Cup at Arlington. It will be a big effort from our group, but every person on the team is ready to do what we need to do in order to be successful in both championships.”

***Michael Cooper, who teams with Gaples in their McLaren Artura GT4 entry in GT4 America, is fresh off victory in last week’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Sebring International Raceway, also at the wheel of a Artura GT4 with Ibiza Farm Motorsports.

***Cooper said: “I’m happy to start another season with Tony, Ray and everyone at Blackdog Racing. That we get to do it again at Sonoma makes it even better. I’ve had a ton of success there, and so has the team. Looking at the entry list in Pro-Am this year, it will be important to get off to a good start. Tony and I were able to do that last year and I see no reason we can’t do it again.”

***Friday’s action will include qualifying and Race 1 for Pirelli GT4 America (1:55 p.m. PST/4:55 p.m. EST), as well as first practice for GTWC America and two practice sessions for GT America.

***The opening GT4 America race of the season will be streamed live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and on Twitch, led by the returning commentary team of Ryan Myrehn, Calvin Fish and Amanda Busick.

***In a new deal for this year, FOX Sports 1 will air highlights of the GTWC America and GT4 America races from Sonoma on Sun. April 5 at 12 p.m. EST.

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