News And Notes: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen
Fast Facts
TUDOR UNITED SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
The Race: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International; Watkins Glen, New York
The Track: 3.4-mile, 11-turn road circuit
Broadcast Schedule:
Qualifying (IMSA.com)
Saturday: 3:55 p.m. (ET)
Race (FOX Sports 1)
Sunday: 11 a.m. (ET)
CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTSCAR CHALLENGE
The Race: Continental Tire 150 At The Glen
The Place: Watkins Glen International; Watkins Glen, New York
The Track: 3.4-mile, 11-turn road circuit
Broadcast Schedule:
IMSA.com
Saturday, 11:35 a.m. (ET) – LIVE
FOX Sports 1
July 6, 10 a.m. (ET)
TUDOR Championship Makes First Visit To Watkins Glen
Patron Endurance Cup Adds To Track’s Heritage
Watkins Glen has been making North American racing history since 1948, when cars raced on the public roads of the picturesque village in the upstate New York Finger Lakes region. Sports cars, Formula One, even NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock cars – fans at Watkins Glen have seen it all.
This weekend will mark another red-letter date on the circuit’s historic timeline with a number of “firsts" for Watkins Glen International.
Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen will be the first visit of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The series is the result of the merger between the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron, bringing teams, competitors and cars that formerly raced in the ALMS to The Glen for the first time.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen also joins the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida and Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda under the same sanction for the first time. The Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup celebrates the union of America’s four endurance classics, and rewards teams that have accumulated the most points scored at various intervals in each race for all four TUDOR Championship classes.
Competitors in the Sahlen’s Six Hours will receive points based on their class standing at both the three-hour mark and the finish. With only one race remaining following the, points accumulated on Sunday will go a long way toward determining the winners of the $100,000 top prize in the Prototype (P) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) classes, and $50,000 to the winners in Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD).
Le Mans Winner Fisichella Looks Forward to First Watkins Glen Visit
Two weeks ago, TUDOR Championship regular Giancarlo Fisichella earned the GTE Pro class victory in the 82nd 24 Hours of Le Mans, co-driving the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia. This weekend, the native of Rome, Italy, is taking on a new challenge with his first visit to Watkins Glen International.
Fisichella was among more than a dozen IMSA regulars who raced in the French classic. IMSA fans had plenty of rooting interest in GTE Pro, with series regulars joining the lineups in the top five finishers in the class. In addition, three of the GTE Pro cars crossed the Atlantic following the event to compete at Watkins Glen in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class.
Finishing second and fourth in GTE Pro at Le Mans, Corvette Racing returns to the U.S. with both of its cars and driver lineups at The Glen. Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia will share the No. 3 Corvette C7.R that finished second at Le Mans (carrying No. 73), with co-driver Jordan Taylor driving with brother Ricky and Max Angelelli in their father’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP. Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner finished fourth at Le Mans, and will drive the No. 4 Corvette C7.R on Sunday. Richard Westbrook, rejoins Michael Valiante in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP.
Krohn Racing also crossed the Atlantic with its No. 57 Ferrari 458 Italia.
BMW-Engineered Gold Medal-Winning Bobsled Prototype To Be Displayed At Glen
Can going fast on a race course translate to speed on a bobsled run?
BMW took up that challenge, applying its engineering and design expertise to the redesign of a new two-man bobsled for use by Team USA at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
As part of a multi-year collaboration with the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation, BMW delivered a fleet of six new BMW U.S. two-man bobsleds to delivered to Team USA last October, marking the completion of a project that replaced a 20-year-old platform.
BMW has invited a special driver to be the Grand Marshal. Steven Holcomb, 2010 four-man Olympic gold medalist and 2014 two-man and four-man Olympic bronze medalist, will serve as the Grand Marshal of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and give the “Start Your Engines" command. In addition, BMW will pace the races with the all-new 2015 BMW M3 Sedan.
Team USA secured three medals in the two-man bobsled competition at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, with the men winning its first U.S. medal in the event since 1952 and the women stepping to the podium twice winning both the silver and bronze medals.
A prototype of the bobsled will be shown at the BMW USA Classic display in the paddock, along with three important BMW M3 racing machines spanning some 20 years of racing history in North America.
TUDOR Championship Brings Together Teams, Cars Unfamiliar To The Glen
Not only will Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen mark the debut of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship at Watkins Glen International, the merged series also results in the first appearance of teams, drivers and cars that formerly raced in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron at the circuit.
The unique DeltaWing DWC13 that competes in the Prototype class will be seen by WGI fans for the first time, along with drivers Katherine Legge and Gabby Chavez.
Ditto for the LMP2 Prototypes. OAK Racing will race the No. 42 Morgan/Nissan at the 3.4-mile circuit for the first time, with drivers Alex Brundle and Ho-Pin Tung. Team regular Gustavo Yacaman brings Daytona Prototype experience at the circuit.
While Extreme Speed Motorsports has raced in the GT class at WGI, this will be the team’s first race there with its two Tequila Patron HPD ARX-03b/Hondas. While Ed Brown is new to The Glen, drivers Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel, Johannes van Overbeek and Anthony Lazzaro are former winners at WGI.
Also new are the SpeedSource diesel-powered Mazda Prototypes, although team regulars Joel Miller and Tristan Nunez won the GX class in last year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours.
The GT Le Mans (GTLM) class will see the first WGI visit for Corvette Racing, BMW Team RLL, SRT Motorsports, Team Falken Tire and Porsche North America. While the Corvette C7.R is new in 2014, a factory-backed Corvette has not raced at The Glen since the 1990s. Ditto for the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R, which won a USRRC race in 1999 in the make’s last factory-backed appearance at WGI.
The Prototype Challenge (PC) class will mark the WGI debut for the ORECA FLM09, along with teams including CORE autosport, JDC/Miller Motorsports, BAR1 Motorsports, RSR Racing and Performance Tech Motorsports.
With the exception of Spirit of Race and GB Autosport, most of the teams competing in GTD have experience racing at Watkins Glen. For instance, the team that eventually became Flying Lizard Motorsports scored its first professional victory in the 2003 Sahlen’s Six Hours, when team principal Seth Neiman co-drove with current ESM driver Johannes van Overbeek.
If the former Rolex Series teams had a leg up on experience at Watkins Glen, the roles will be reversed in the next round on the TUDOR Championship schedule. The former ALMS teams have plenty of experience at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park – which hosts the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix Presented by Hawk Performance on Sunday, July 13 – while the Rolex Series never competed at the Canadian circuit.
Taming ‘The Mullet’: Jordan Taylor To Shear Locks For Charity
Jordan Taylor issued a challenge to his followers on Twitter in early 2013:
If he reached 10,000 followers before the start of the season, Taylor would grow out his hair into a style he once wore during his childhood days.
While he fell short of his Twitter goal, he decided to grow the mullet. As his hair grew, his racing fortunes also increased. The hairdo nearly overshadowed his outstanding season in 2013, where he won five races and the Rolex Series DP title with Max Angelelli.
This season, the mullet grabbed even more attention despite Taylor joining his brother Ricky in winning the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit in their father Wayne’s No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP. That attention even followed him across the Atlantic to Le Mans, where Taylor joined Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in finishing second in their class for Corvette Racing.
This weekend, Taylor and the mullet will part ways. He will cut “the greatest mullet in motorsports" prior to Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours. Taylor exceeded his fund-raising goal of $10,000, which will go to a pair of summer youth camps, Camp Boggy Creek and Camp Anokijig. Matt Edgar of Pennsylvania was the winner of the drawing. For his prize, he will have a go at Taylor’s hairdo with a pair of scissors in addition to a ride around WGI in a DP race car, a tour of the Wayne Taylor Racing paddock and a pair of paddock tickets for the race.
Prototype Teams Beef Up Lineups For Glen Endurance Classic
Expecting a demanding race in Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, many of the teams in the lead Prototype (P) class of the TUDOR Championship are beefing up their lineups for Round 3 of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.
To date, nine of the 13 Prototype teams have added third drivers. Recent private testing at the circuit saw the Daytona Prototypes entering the Inner Loop (chicane) at 15 mph faster than in the past, with increased aerodynamic downforce producing added G-forces that can take a toll at even the fittest drivers.
Following the test, Wayne Taylor Racing added five-time Watkins Glen winner Max Angelelli to its lineup, joining Ricky and Jordan Taylor in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP.
Other teams quickly followed suit. Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, a four-time winner of the Six Hours, added Sage Karam to the lineup of the No. 01 Telcel Ford EcoBoost/Riley, joining Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.
Action Express Racing and Joao Barbosa are seeking their third consecutive victory at The Glen. Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi return in the No. 5 Action Express Corvette DP, joined by Burt Frisselle. The team’s No. 9 Corvette DP, racing in the Patron Endurance Cup events, will have brothers Burt and Brian Frisselle joined by 2007 Six Hours winner Jon Fogarty.
Marsh Racing also will go with three drivers, with Guy Cosmo joining regulars Eric Curran and Boris Said in the No. 31 Corvette DP. The lone DPs going with two-drivers are Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian with Ozz Negri and John Pew in the No. 60 Dunn Tire Ford EcoBoost/Riley, and Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP.
TUDOR Championship, Etc.
Marco Bonanomi will make his TUDOR Championship debut when the Audi factory driver joins Charles Espenlaub and Charlie Putman in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports Audi R8…
Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper MacNeil made headlines as the only two-driver entry at Le Mans, where they finished fifth in GTE Pro. MacNeil will drive the No. 22 Alex Job Racing WeatherTech Porsche 911 GT America at the Glen, while Bleekemolen will drive the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R. …
Joe Foster rejoins Dempsey Racing, co-driving with Patrick Dempsey and Andrew Davis in the No. 27 Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 GT America. They will be coached by Hurley Haywood, The Glen’s all-time leading pro winner with nine victories. Foster, Dempsey and GTLM driver Patrick Long finished fifth in their class at Le Mans. …
Krohn Racing is a two-time winner of the Sahlen’s Six Hours. Winning overall in a DP in 2005, Tracy Krohn and Nic Jonsson will race the No. 57 Ferrari F458 Italia in the GTLM class. It’s the same car they recently drove to a 10th-place finish in the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Team Sahlen Returns To Roots At WGI
After running in both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes of the GRAND-AM Rolex Series, Team Sahlen is back in familiar surroundings when it returns to race in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Watkins Glen International.
Team owner Joe Sahlen will drive one of the team’s two Porsche Boxsters in Saturday’s two-hour, 30-minute race. He will be teamed with Joe Nonnamaker in the No. 43 Team Sahlen’s Cayman, while Nonnamaker’s sons Will and Wayne will co-drive the No. 42 Cayman in the Street Tuner (ST) class.
True to the “showroom to the racetrack" heritage of the Continental Tire Challenge, the team found both of its Caymans on used car lots.
Running under a variety of names (including HRPworld.com and Planet Earth Motorsports), Team Sahlen is the most successful team in the history of the Continental Tire Challenge. The team has 26 class victories and four championships in the series, with Will Nonnamaker is tied with Eric Curran for the all-time lead in ST victories with 13 each. Will and Wayne Nonnamaker shared the ST II championship in 2002 – their last year as co-drivers prior to the current season – while Wayne and his father were the GS II champions in 2003.
Rebel Rock Racing Looks To Maintain Kansas Momentum
After showing steady progress since its 2012 debut in Continental Tire Challenge competition, Rebel Rock Racing exploded with a breakthrough weekend in the most recent race at Kansas Speedway.
Corey Lewis brought the team its first pole position in qualifying, and then the team scored its first podium finishes in the race – taking third in both Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) competition. In addition, all four of the Rebel Rock Porsches placed in the top five, with two cars competing in each class.
The team has juggled the ST portion of its four-car lineup for this weekend. GS remains set with Al Carter and Brett Sandberg in the No. 7 Porsche 911, and Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli in the No. 07 Porsche 911. For ST, Jim Jonsin and Lewis will co-drive in the No. 88 Porsche Cayman, while drivers Jason Montgomery and Steve Tarpley will share the No. 87 Cayman.
Continental Tire Challenge, Etc.
Trent Hindman holds sole possession of the GS points lead. With co-driver John Edwards failing to drive the minimum 45 minutes in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3 at Kansas, Hindman leads Kansas winner Kris Wilson by five points, 142-137. Max Riddle is expected to return to join Wilson in the No. 07 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage, although Kansas winner James Davison is expected to be on hand if needed.
Tyler Cooke and Greg Liefooghe lead the ST standings by four points over Eric Foss, 127-123.
Local drivers include Corning native Rob Ecklin Jr. in the No. 99 Invisible Glass Aston Martin BMW M3, and Sam Schultz of Horseheads in the No. 40 Berg Racing Porsche Boxster. Schultz will co-drive with Dinah Weisberg, whose husband and team owner John Weisberg is co-driving the team’s No. 50 Boxster with Cody Ellsworth. Berg Racing is based in Webster, N.Y., in the Rochester suburbs.