PWC: Over 100 drivers set to battle at Road America

The Pirelli World Challenge's GT/GTA, GT Cup presented by MOMO, GTS  and TC/TCA/TCB classes head to Road America, "America’s National Park of Speed," June 26-28. Over 100 drivers across the series' seven classes will compete in the DeVilbiss Grand Prix at Road America presented by Cadillac. GT/GTA drivers will compete in Rounds 11, 12, and 13 of the championships, while GT Cup competitors will race Rounds 10 and 11. GTS competitors will race Rounds 9 and 10 and TC, TCA and TCB competitors will compete in Rounds 7, 8 and 9. Of note, GT/GTA classes will make up the Round 11 race that had originally been scheduled for Detroit but that was canceled due to inclement weather.

This visit marks the 2nd consecutive season and 15th time Pirelli World Challenge competitors will race at the challenging 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course. With 2015 being the inaugural season for GT Cup, this is the first time the class will compete at Road America.

A number of former series Road America winners including Mike Skeen, Tim Pappas, Adam Poland, Shea Holbrook, Jason Wolfe, Paul Holton and Glenn Nixon are entered and look to get back on the top step.

Pirelli World Challenge GT: Beretta Continues to Lead in Class, with Estre Knocking on the Door

Olivier Beretta in the No. 61 Ferrari of Ontario/Toronto/Alberta Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia, comes into the Road America weekend continuing to lead in GT drivers’ points (918) after scoring a 2nd in Round 10 at Detroit. Beretta has recorded three wins on the season and has won previously at Road America in another sports car racing series.

Beretta holds a 45-point lead over Kevin Estre in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports McLaren 650S GT3, with 873. Estre recorded his third win of the season at Detroit and will make his first career start at Road America.

Johnny O'Connell comes into the weekend third in GT Drivers’ Championship points with 801. O’Connell finished 4th at Detroit and scored back-to-back wins at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in his No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R. O’Connell’s teammate, Andy Pilgrim in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R, has had a hard luck 2015 season and sits 17th overall in GT.

Ryan Dalziel returns to the series after a scheduling conflict kept him out of Detroit’s Round 10. Dalziel, in the No. 31 EFFORT Racing/World PMO Porsche 911 GT3 R sits 4th with 784 points. Dalziel has three runner-up finishes, two thirds and a fourth place finish in seven races. Dalziel's teammate Michael Lewis was promoted from the GTA class to GT at Barber and sits 7th overall in the standings. He will drive the No. 41 EFFORT Racing/Curb-Agajanian Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Ryan Eversley in the No. 43 RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD Acura TLX-GT enters the weekend 5th in points. He has previous experience at Road America in another sports car racing series.

Their respective teammates, Robert Thorne in the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3 and Peter Cunningham in the No. 42 RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD Acura TLX-GT, look for continued positive season results at Road America. Thorne finished second to Estre in Round 7 at Barber (his best result of the season), while Cunningham had a season best 8th in Round 6 at Barber. Of note, Road America is Cunningham’s home track and he has two Pirelli World Challenge wins at the track (Touring Car in 2003 and 2004).

Last year, Mike Skeen swept the Road America weekend with two wins in GT. Piloting the No. 2 DeVilbiss/Hawk Performance Audi R8 LMS ultra Skeen comes off a challenging Detroit weekend after a mechanical issue led to an early retirement from the race. Skeen sits 8th in the championship.

James Davison in the No. 33 AE/Replay XD Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 sits 9th overall in the GT Championship coming into Road America after scoring a 5th at Detroit. Davison will start his second career race at Road America.

Bentley Team Dyson Racing heads into the weekend with Butch Leitzinger piloting the No. 20 Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1 Bentley Continental GT3 and Chris Dyson behind the wheel of the No. 16 Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1 Bentley Continental GT3. Dyson finished 3rd at Detroit and sits sixth in the Championship. Leitzinger had a disappointing Detroit as a crash in one of the practice sessions damaged the No. 20 car beyond repair for the race and he was unable to compete in Round 10.

Of note, veteran sports car driver Tomas Enge returns to the series piloting the No. 25 Blancpain Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2. Enge won at St. Petersburg last year.

The 16-driver GT field is rounded out by series veteran James Sofronas in the No. 14 GMG Audi R8 LMS ultra GMG Racing/Spyder/Mobil 1, and Duncan Ende in the No. 64 Merchant Services Ltd./Linospresso USA Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. Ende has experience at Road America in another sports car racing series, while Sofronas has 12 career PWC starts at Road America.

Pirelli World Challenge GTA: Cisneros Continues to Lead Montecalvo and Fuentes

Henrique Cisneros in the No. 30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 enters Road America in first place after scoring his first career win at Detroit. He enters the weekend with 942 GTA points. Cisneros has previous experience at Road America another sports car series. Henrique’s brother Eduardo Cisneros moves up from GT Cup, to run the No. 29 MOMO NGT Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia.

Frankie Montecalvo enters the Road America weekend 74 points behind Cisneros (868). Montecalvo won Round 4 at St. Petersburg in the No. 66 Bayshore Racing DragonSpeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. He comes off a Detroit weekend where he finished seventh.

Mexican driver Martin Fuentes in the No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 comes into the weekend third in class points 84 behind the leader with 858. Fuentes won the Round 6 race at Barber and finished ninth at Detroit.

Montecalvo's DragonSpeed teammate Eric Lux recorded a season high third in Round 5 at Long Beach in the No. 08 Rembrandt Charms/Monticello Motor Club Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Lux comes into the weekend 6th in class.

Bryan Heitkotter comes into the Road America weekend sitting fourth in the class Drivers’ Championship after scoring a fifth at Detroit. Prior to Detroit, Heitkotter scored three straight GTA wins – back-to-back at CTMP after having scored his first career Pirelli World Challenge win in Round 7 at Barber. He will be in the No. 05 Nissan GT Academy Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

Christina Nielsen will drive the No. 7 Orion/Royal Purple/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. Nielsen equaled her previous best result (Circuit of The Americas) thus far this season with a third at Detroit. Nielsen sits 8th in GTA championship points.

Turner Motorsport’s Bill Ziegler will be in the No. 95 Swisher Racing BMW E89 Z4 GT3. Ziegler sits 14th in GTA.

Four Audis are entered in GTA for Road America. Drew Regitz will be in the No. 19 WWW.IRACERCOACHING.COM Audi R8 LMS ultra, Alex Welch will be in the No. 76 GMG Audi R8 LMS Ultra, Jeff Courtney will be in the No. 99 Kenda/RecStuff.com JCR Motorsports Audi R8 LMS Ultra, and Walt Bowlin will pilot the No. 23 Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery Center M1 Racing LLC, Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

Both Tim Pappas in the No. 54 Black Swan Racing Dodge Viper GT3-R and Dan Knox in the No. 80 ACS Manufacturing/Lone Star Racing Dodge Viper GT3-R, look for positive results at Road America. Pappas's best results were back-to-back thirds in Rounds 6 and 7 at Barber – he sits 10th in GTA, while Knox sits 9th overall in the championship.

Rounding out the 15-car GTA field is Jorge De La Torre in the No. 4 De La Torre Racing Motor LLC Aston Martin Vantage V12.

Pirelli World Challenge GT Cup presented by MOMO: Thompson Looks to Add to His Win Total

Colin Thompson continued his domination of the GT Cup class with a win and a second at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Thompson has scored seven wins on the season and will look for more at Road America behind the wheel of No. 11 Porsche of Bucks County/Penn Valley Constructors/Sherwin Williams Automotive Finishes/Austin Hatcher Foundation Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Thompson leads the GT Cup points race over Lorenzo Trefethen, who heads into the weekend second after scoring his first career Pirelli World Challenge win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He will drive the No. 13 Trefethen Family Vineyards Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

TruSpeed Autosport’s Sloan Urry sits third in points on the strength of four runner-up finishes, and two thirds on the season. He will pilot the No. 02 Security National/Engel & Volkers Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Teammate Phil Fogg Jr. won Round 3 at St. Petersburg in the No. 18 Zoro/TruSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and enters the weekend fourth in points.

Preston Calvert in the No. 77 Phoenix Performance/Calvert Dynamics Porsche 911 GT3 Cup sits fifth in the championship – Calvert’s best results thus far are a couple of fourth-places finishes ( St. Petersburg and Long Beach). Victor Gomez Jr. in the No. 81 Porsche San Juan Porsche 911 GT3 Cup scored his best finish of the year at Long Beach with a third in class and sits sixth overall in class.

Rounding out the field of eight GT Cup entries is Mitch Landry in the No. 97 Landry Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and Alec Udell in the No. 17 Amsource Capital/Panther Pipeline GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Pirelli World Challenge GTS: Rezzetano Looks to Hold Off Challengers at Road America

Kurt Rezzetano in the No. 37 Calvert Dynamics/Phoenix American Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302 comes into Road America leading in GTS Drivers’ points with 761. Rezzetano comes off an excellent CTMP weekend scoring his first career Pirelli World Challenge win to go along with a second. He leads a group of more than half a dozen Mustangs running in GTS.

Dean Martin comes into Rounds 9 & 10 second in the GTS Drivers' Championship with 675 points on the strength of four top 5 finishes and a win at St. Petersburg. All of Martin's five career Pirelli World Challenge wins have come on street courses. Martin gets another chance to break through this weekend and score his first series road course win. He will pilot the No. 50 Rehagen Racing/Picture Cars East Ford Mustang Boss 302. Teaming with Martin will be Dan Martinson in the No. 33 Gear Tie/Nite Ize Ford Mustang Boss 302 and 15-year-old Nathan Stacy who moves up from TC to GTS full time, in the No. 14 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302. Stacy finished second overall in the TCB class in 2014.

Rezzetano's teammate Andrew Aquilante sits in third overall with 674 points, and will pilot the No. 32 Calvert Dynamics Phoenix American Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302. Aquilante had a fourth and fifth at CTMP. Phoenix American Motorsports will also campaign the No. 35 Calvert Dynamics Phoenix American Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302 with Preston Calvert, Potomac, Md. behind the wheel. Calvert will do double duty over the weekend competing in both GT Cup and GTS.

Jack Roush Jr. will pilot the No. 60 ROUSH Performance Capaldi Racing Ford Boss 302. Roush Jr. enters CTMP 9th overall in the class drivers' standings.

TRG-AMR brings a single Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to the GTS battle with Canadian Max Riddle behind the wheel. Riddle will pilot the 07 Orion/Royal Purple/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA car. He scored a 2nd in Round 8 at CTMP in his first career Pirelli World Challenge start.

Michael Cooper in the No. 10 Blackdog Speedshop Chevrolet Camaro Z28, sits in fifth place in the GTS Drivers' Championship with 652 points. Cooper finished third in Round 8 at CTMP and he looks to continue that momentum at Road America. Cooper's teammate is Tony Gaples who will pilot the No. 11 Blackdog Speedshop Chevrolet Camaro Z28.

Also campaigning the iconic Chevrolet Camaro Z28 in the series is Best IT Racing’s talented driver Andy Lee in the No. 20 Chevrolet Camaro Z28.

Mark Wilkins comes into the weekend seventh in points with 571. He will pilot the No. 38 Kinetic Motorsports PutOnTheBrakes.Org Kia Optima. Partnered with him will be teammate Ben Clucas. Clucas pilots the No. 36 Kinetic Motorsports DonorsChoose.Org Kia Optima and comes into the weekend 6th in drivers' standings with 590 points.

After a tough start to the 2015 season, Jack Baldwin got back on track with a strong showing at CTMP, scoring his first win of the season. Baldwin pilots the No. 73 RESET-MD GTSport Racing Porsche Cayman. Buz McCall will again team with Baldwin as the pilot of the No. 72 RESET-MD GTSport Racing Porsche Cayman.

Series veteran Nick Esayian pilots the No. 34 Special Operations Warrior Foundation/Justap Stephen Cameron Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 after having been in a Ford Mustang Boss 302 to start the season.

Mark Klenin returns to GTS with his own team. Klenin will pilot the No. 62 Schomp Auto/Invisible Glass/Premier Copier Klenin Performance Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Rounding out the 19-car GTS field is three-time series champion and former Road America winner Lou Gigliotti driving the No. 28 LG Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4, Joey Atterbury in the No. 68 Wolverine Bronze Co/Roush Performance Capaldi Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302, and John Allen in the No. 16 SGV Motorsports/Bilt Racing Service Porsche Cayman.

Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car: Fergus, Ellsworth and Poland Look to Continue Battle at Road America

Corey Fergus in the No. 00 USLED/Axis Roofing/AERO/RSS/Motul Motorsports Promotions Porsche Cayman vaulted to the lead in the TC Drivers’ Championship coming out of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with back-to-back wins in Rounds 5 and 6.

Cody Ellsworth sits in second place in class with 625 points, 12 points behind Fergus. He will pilot the No. 04 Autometrics Motorsports Mac Papers/Hastings Fiberglass Porsche Cayman. Ellsworth won Rounds 1 and 2 and finished third in Round 3.

Adam Poland in the No. 33 Edge Addicts/Majestic Pet Eastex Motorsports Mazda MX-5 sits third overall in class with 593 points after a second and third in Rounds 5 and 6 at CTMP.

Another driver looking to make some noise this coming weekend is Ernie Francis Jr. Piloting the No. 98 Breathless Performance/Time4Learning Breathless Racing Mazda MX-5. Francis Jr. sits fourth overall in class with 483 points.

Up-and-coming driver Jason Cherry will be piloting the No. 13 Skullcandy Team Nissan Nissan Altima. Cherry enters the weekend fifth in class drivers' points.

Jeff Altenburg, the former series TC Drivers’ Champion from 2007, will run the No. 15 HPA Motorsports VW Jetta GL1. HPA will also campaign the No. 16 HPA Motorsports VW Jetta GL1 for Alex Welch.

The husband and wife team behind Berg Racing will be campaigning a pair of cars, with John Weisberg driving the No. 40 REDCOM Laboratories/Color Track/Red Line Berg Racing Porsche Cayman, and Dinah Weisberg in the No. 50 REDCOM Laboratories/Color Track/Red Line BERG Racing Mazda MX-5.

Completing the 20-car TC field entered for Road America are Steve Burns in the No. 43 VP Racing Fuels Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang V6; Austin Snader in the No. 64 Encapsulite International, Inc. Snader Racing Mazda MX-5; Randy Hale in the No. 17 TransAero/Hale Propeller Hale Motorsports Mazda MX-5, Cory Friedman in the No. 03 Mac Papers/Hastings Fiberglass Autometrics Motorsports Porsche Cayman, Andrew Rains in the No. 44 National Bank of Commerce Rains Racing VW Golf, Mikey Taylor in the No. 26 NBC Bank/AfriGIS Rains Racing VW Golf, Jeff Ricca in the No. 78 GenRacer/ Enthuspec Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T; Fred Emich in the No. 87 Emich Racing Volkswagen Jetta GLi; Kevin Krauss in the No. 88 Outlier Scion Group Porsche Cayman; and Paul Street in the No. 93 Honda Motorsports Alabama (HMA) Honda Accord.

Pirelli World Challenge TCA: Wolfe Continues to Lead in Class

Defending Class champion Jason Wolfe in the No. 36 Wolfe Trucking Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte Koup, enters the weekend first in class points (600) after a third and second in Rounds 4 and 5 at CTMP. Teaming with Wolfe is Canadian Samantha Tan in the No. 38 Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte Koup. Tam will be making her first start at Road America.

Fellow Canadian Patrick Seguin moved into 2nd overall in class with a third and a second in Round 5 and 6 at CTMP. Seguin will pilot the No. 49 helpkevinproject.com/buynutrimind.com Branden Peterson Racing Honda Civic Si.

Series stalwarts Compass360Racing bring two Honda Civic Sis to the battle at Road America with Emilee Tominovich in the No. 72 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si and Ron Yarab in the No. 71 Compass360 Racing Children's Tumor Foundation/HPD/Racing4Research.org Honda Civic Si

Chase Pelletier makes his first start of 2015 in the No. 11 American Honda/Carsquare.com Garrett Racing Honda Civic Si. Pelletier shares duties in the No. 11 car with Jon Miller.Also competing in TCA at Round America are Kevin Anderson in the No. 22 Techsportracing.com Tech Sport Racing Mazda RX-8; Kris Wright in the No. 34 Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte Koup; Gino Carini in the No. 23 Tech Sport Racing Mazda RX-8, and Toby Grahovec in the No. 24 Classic BMW Motorsports BMW Z4.

Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B-Spec: Schwartz Looks to Continue Success in TCB

Johan Schwartz has dominated so far this season in the TCB class having won all three races at COTA and Rounds 5 and 6 at CTMP. He leads in class drivers' championship points with 838 and will pilot the No. 25 Tech Sport Racing / Zero Cancer Chevy Sonic.

Racing.ca campaigns three cars in TCB with Glenn Nixon piloting the No. 58 Racing.ca/LaptopScreen.com/Nixon Prosport Racing.ca MINI Cooper along with teammates Andrei Kisel in the No. 57 Racing.ca/LaptopScreen.com Racing.ca MINI Cooper and newcomer Wei Lu in the No. 59 Racing.ca/Nixon Prosports/LaptopScreen.com/Miniusa.com Racing.ca MINI Cooper.Nixon comes into the weekend second in drivers' championship points with 633.

Jason Fichter in the No. 7 Surf Fire & Security Breathless Racing MINI Cooper comes into the weekend third in points with 468 after scoring a 4th and 5th in Rounds 5 and 6 at CTMP.

The 14-car TCB field includes Chris Holter in the No. 9 Fuel Clothing/Spy Optics/Go Puck Breathless Performance Mazda 2; Steve Kohli in the No. 12 Garrett Racing/Carsquare.com Honda Fit; James Wilson in the No. 55 Black Armor Helmets/Mazda Motorsports Mazda2; P.J. Groenke in the No. 8 Verax.ca/Tundra/Mulligan Gold/Clairhaven Ltd/Martinrea International Inc/Pelto Agri Investments/Warp Speed Computers Inc. P.J. Groenke Racing MINI Cooper; Van Svenson in the No. 2 Hack Racing Chevrolet Sonic; Marc Sherrin in the No. 27 GSpeed/Steadfast Funding Ford Fiesta; Tom Noble in the No. 48 BIR Performance Driving School/West Real Estate Shea Racing MINI Cooper; Travis W. Washay in the No. 30 Indian Summer Racing MINI Cooper; and Randy Smith in the No. 66 IDLife/Race2IDLife.com Shea Racing Honda Fit.

Event/Circuit:

Road America, 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course

Qualifying:

Friday, June 26, 2015, 10–10:45 a.m. GT-GTA-GT Cup; 3:45–4:15 p.m.TC/TCA/TCB. Saturday, June 27, 2015; 10:45 a.m.–11:15 a.m., GTS. All times listed Central.

Race Lengths:

50 minutes (GT/GTA/GT Cup, GTS), 40 minutes (TC/TCA/TCB)

Live Internet Telecast (on www.world-challengeTV.com and www.torque.tv):

Friday, June 26

• GT Race 1: 1:25 p.m.

Saturday, June 27

• TC Race 1: 7:55 a.m.

• Pre-race Show/GT Race 2: 1:10 p.m.

• GTS Race 1: 3:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 28

• TC Race 2: 8:50 a.m.

• GTS Race 2: 11 a.m.

• Pre-race Show/GT Race 3: 2 p.m.

• TC Race 3: 4:25 p.m.

All times listed above Central.

Television (on CBS Sports Network):

Sunday, July 5, 2 p.m. (GT/GTA, GT Cup presented by MOMO). Wednesday, July 8, 7 p.m. (TC, TCA, TCB). Wednesday, July 8, 9 p.m. (GTS). All times Eastern.