Ford and Honda lead the standings in their respective classes as the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge returns to action with Saturday’s Continental Tire 150 at Watkins Glen International.
Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson lead the Grand Sport (GS) standings by nine points entering the two-hour, 30-minute race on the historic 3.4-mile circuit. The drivers of the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Shelby GT350R-C opened the season with a victory at Daytona, and then finished second at Sebring.
“We’re always good at Watkins Glen, and it’s one of my favorite tracks,” Maxwell said. “I like the fast tracks, and the old tracks – like The Glen. Last year we were strong there with the debut of the new Shelby, and we won the pole. I think we should have a strong car when we return there this year.”
Porsche brings a two-race winning streak to The Glen. Cameron Cassels and Trent Hindman won at both Sebring and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the No. 12 Bodymotion Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. CJ Wilson Racing will field two cars, the No. 33 ONE Capital Management/MotorOilMatters.org Clubsport for Marc Miller and Daniel Burkett, and the No. 35 for Tyler McQuarrie and Till Bechtolscheimer. Miller and Burkett are second in the standings, trailing Maxwell and Johnson 95-86.
Ted Giovanis and David Murry return with two cars, the No. 46 and No. 64 JKTG Foundation/Camp Boggy Creek GT4 Clubsport entries.
Compass360 Racing also fields a Ford Shelby, with Paul Holton and Pierre Kleinubing in the No. 76 AERO Advanced Paint Technology/Children’s Tumor Foundation GT350R-C. They finished second at Sebring and are currently third in the standings, just one point behind second place.
Automatic Racing fields a pair of Aston Martins. Rob Ecklin – a native of Corning, N.Y. – and Al Carter share the No. 99 Invisible Glass/Rogue Engineering/Red Glare Records Aston Martin Vantage, while Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub will co-drive the No. 09 entry for the first time this season.
Honda’s Gilsinger Has New Co-Driver In ST Points-Leading Civic Si
Chad Gilsinger will have a new co-driver for Watkins Glen, with Ryan Eversley co-driving the No. 93 Honda of America Manufacturing Honda Civic Si. Gilsinger finished in the top seven in all three races this season, including a second-place finish at Sebring with Michael Valiante, to open a four-point lead atop the Street Tuner (ST) standings. Mazda and Porsche teams are tied for second in the ST championship, trailing 82-78.
“It’s going to be an interesting race, because last year both the Mazdas and Porsches were pretty good at The Glen, along with us,” Gilsinger said. “I think it’s going to be a pretty good battle for everybody.”
Stevan McAleer and Chad McCumbee won last year’s Continental Tire 150 for CJ Wilson Racing. For 2016, the pair moved to Freedom Autosport, and won the recent race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the No. 25 ModSpace Mazda MX-5 to move into second in the standings. They are joined on the three-car team by Liam Dwyer and Andrew Carbonell in the No. 26 SemperFiFund.org Mazda, and Danny Bender and Britt Casey Jr. in the No. 27 Trumpf/SemperFiFund.org/Bravo Trailers entry.
Nick Galante and Spencer Pumpelly have three top-10 finishes in the No. 17 RS1 Legistics/ RickieFowler.com Porsche Cayman to also share second in ST. RS1’s three-car entry includes the No. 18 SuperSeats/Romero Investment Advisors Cayman for Remo Ruscitti and Aaron Song, and the No. 19 Zero Lag Communications/Intervision Porsche for Greg Strelzoff and Connor Bloum.
The biggest change in the ST entry is the switch to Nissan by the CRG-I Do Borrow team. Sarah Cattaneo and Owen Trinkler – who won at Sebring in a Honda Civic Si – will now drive the No. 44 A&C Properties Nissan Altima Coupe.
After winning the Continental Tire 150 overall the past two years in a Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R, Robin Liddell now drives for Rebel Rock Racing in ST in addition to racing an Audi for Stevenson Motorsports in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Liddell joins Elliott Skeer in the No. 8 Borla/Urban Grid Porsche Cayman.
Other contenders include Daytona winners Eric Foss and Jeff Mosing in Murillo Racing’s No. 56 Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman; BimmerWorld Racing’s James Clay and Tyler Cooke, coming off the TOTAL Pole Award and third-place finish at Sebring and fourth at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the No. 84 OPTIMA Batteries BMW 328i; the two-car Compass360 Racing Audi S3 entry with Jim McGuire, Nico Rondet, Roy Block and Kyle Gimple; and the three-car MINI John Cooper Works team with drivers Ethan Low, Ramin Abdolvahabi, James Vance, Derek Jones and brothers Mark and Mat Pombo.
Continental Tire Challenge practice will begin on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, with qualifying Friday at 1:25 p.m. The two-hour, 30-minute Continental Tire 150 will take the green flag on Saturday at 12:25 p.m. ET. The race will be streamed live on the IMSA mobile app and IMSA.tv.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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