HSR readies for second running of the Classic 6 Hours of The Glen

The second running of the Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Classic 6 Hours of The Glen returns to the hallowed ground of the Grand Prix circuit at Watkins Glen International this weekend, June 6 – 9. The vintage and historic tribute race to Watkins Glen’s premier endurance event, which has run as the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen for more than 20 years, the Classic 6 Hours kicks off 2024’s three-race run of “HSR Classics” that also includes events later this year at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) and Sebring International Raceway,

The featured on-track component of the HSR Classic 6 is once again the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen tribute race on Saturday and Sunday. It begins with a symbolic six hours of non-stop competition Saturday before all three competing Run Groups contest a final round of races Sunday afternoon to determine the weekend’s overall winners.

The HSR Classic 6 Hours featured trio of Run Groups are each home to specific generations of sports cars, some from more than 50 years ago and others retired from contemporary competition as recently as five years ago. Each Run Group takes to the 3.377-miles Watkins Glen three different times in a rotation of nearly one-hour long races for each division over the course of Saturday and Sunday. The competitors covering the most combined distance in each Run Group will be crowned 2024 HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen champions.

Two entries to watch, with the cars split in age by nearly five decades, come to The Glen looking for repeat HSR Classics victories after closing out 2023 last December with Run Group victories in the Classic 12 at Sebring.

In Run Group C at Sebring, Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss put in a competitive and controlled drive for their first overall HSR Classics Run Group victory in just their second race in the Matador Motorsports 2017 No. 02 Cadillac DPi. Marshall and Foss prevailed in a race-long battle with an Acura ARX-05 DPi, and the Classic 6 will see even more modern prototype competitors step up to challenge Marshall and Foss.

Bob Neapole wheels the No. 60 Acura ARX-05 DPi at The Glen with his professional coach and co-driver Guy Cosmo while longtime HSR competitor Juan Gonzalez competes in a 2017 No. 81 Cadillac DPi similar to the Matador machine. Gonzalez co-drives his Cadillac with three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona race winner Butch Leitzinger.

In total, Group C is home to several more prototypes retired from contemporary competition. Travis Engen is entered in his jaw-dropping GMT Racing 2005 No. 2 Audi R8 LMP in addition to several LMP2 and LMP3 cars and earlier generation Daytona Prototypes.

The Run Group B Sebring race was won by a 24-year-old driver in a classic sports prototype machine more than twice his age. Kyle Collins never put a wheel wrong driving the same GMT Racing 1972 No. 8 Chevron B21 his grandfather John Delane drove to a Classic 12 victory in 2020. The Chevron is a full 45 years older than Marshall’s Sebring-winning Cadillac DPi, but both cars were driven in a similar quick and competitive manner to seal their respective victories.

Collins looks for his second consecutive HSR Classics win a row in the Classic 6 but a pair of equally quick Chevrons from the same generation are also entered.

Thomas Grudovich is set for the Classic 6 in a 1971 No. 5 Chevron B21/23 while Mitchell Eitel returns in his 1975 No. 62 Chevron B31. A non-Chevron from the same sports racer era that could intrude on the Chevron battle is the 1975 No. 205 Toj SC205 of multiple HSR Classics race winner David Porter and his professional teammate Richard Bradley, a former 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 race winner.

The Classic 6 Hours weekend also features the HSR Watkins Glen Historics that are points-paying races for HSR’s various season-long championships. In addition to a doubleheader lineup of HSR WeatherTech Sprints for all Run Groups, the Glen Historics feature race lineup includes the HSR Global GT race Saturday morning and the Sasco Sports International/American Challenge sprint that kicks off the weekend’s racing schedule on Friday afternoon.

The longest races on the Glen Historics schedule get things rolling both Saturday and Sunday. The third round of this year’s debuting HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA season begins Saturday’s schedule with a 90-minute race at 8 a.m. EDT. Twin B.R.M. Endurance Challenge one-hour races in turn launch Sunday’s final day of on-track competition with an 8 a.m. EDT green flag for the GT Classic (GTC) and Vintage classes. The Historic, Prototype and GT Modern (GTM) classes then take the green flag at 9:15 a.m. EDT for their 60-minute race.