IMSA: 42 cars for repaved Watkins Glen

Fans of IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship can look forward to track records falling in each of the four classes when the series returns to race at Watkins Glen on June 30-July 4. Thanks to its newly repaved surface, grip is at an all-time high at Watkins Glen, which should allow new and creative passing opportunities from start to finish.

The third leg of the four-round Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup will serve as a featured aspect of the six-hour event, and with a wave of successful teams and drivers returning from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, momentum could favor some entries while others look to get up to speed after nearly one month of inactivity.

Among the Le Mans winners on the docket for Watkins Glen, the podium-sweeping GTE-Pro trio consisting of both Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs and Risi Competizione's Ferrari 488 will headline the 10 GT Le Mans entries.

Fresh off a ninth-place finish in P2 on its Le Mans debut, Michael Shank Racing will race its own Ligier JS P2-Honda as the Tequila Patron ESM team returns and uses the Ligier-Honda that propelled the team to wins at Daytona and Sebring – and was used by Shank in France – as ESM chases its third consecutive TPNAEC victory of 2016. 10 cars are entered for the Prototype class.

Prototype Challenge (PC) has seven cars fielded by six teams ready for Watkins Glen, and the WeatherTech Championship's most popular class, GT Daytona, completes the field with an additional 15 cars.