Jake Galstad/IMSA
IMSA support series in action this weekend at COTA, St. Pete
IMSA-sanctioned support series will be in action this weekend at two different venues, supplementing the first high-volume weekend of racing in 2025. The VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will be at Circuit of The Americas to support the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, while the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin will be in action on the streets of St. Petersburg.
VPRC will run two 45-minute sprint races around COTA on Saturday, March 1. Instead of the traditional 3.426-mile Grand Prix circuit, VPRC (and both NASCAR series) will run a modified version of the National Circuit which bypasses the east end of the Grand Prix track from Turns 7–11.
Twenty-five cars are on the provisional entry list for the COTA double-header: Six LMP3s, 10 GTDXs (GT3s), and nine GSXs (GT4s). Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports' Duqueine D08s currently sit 1-2 in the LMP3 standings, after the No.30 car of Valentino Catalano swept the opening doubleheader at Daytona International Speedway.
Catalano, teammate Markus Pommer, and MLT Motorsports' Jonathan Woolridge will be joined by a trio of bronze drivers: Brian Thienes (Forte Racing), Mirco Schultis (Mishumotors), and Matthew Dicken (RAFA Racing).
GTDX gets an additional entry as Austin-based Lone Star Racing and local driver Marc Austin are set to bring the No.11 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to the field. Austin has raced in the Trans Am TA2, XGT2, and SRO GT America series in recent years under his Mad Joker Racing label.
Wright Motorsports' Adam Adelson enters as the points leader following his sweep of the inaugural GTDX races at Daytona, and earlier this week he was confirmed to run the full VPRC season in his No.24 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Adelson leads the GTDX standings over AF Corse drivers AJ Muss in second, and Matias Perez Companc in third.
Many GTDX drivers including Adelson, Muss, Jake Walker (No.6 Turner Motorsport BMW), Kyle Washington (No.32 GMG Racing Porsche), and Samantha Tan (No.38 ST Racing BMW) have recent experience at COTA via either GT World Challenge America or Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.
In GSX, Kiko Porto in the No.8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 also swept the Daytona rounds and will look to do the same against a smaller GT4 field than last time out. And he too, brings recent COTA experience from his time in Super Trofeo.
BSI Racing's Steven Clemons is back to try and avenge his last-lap misfortune in Daytona Race 1, though. His No.76 Toyota led until it stopped on the final lap, handing the win to Porto.
On the same weekend, Whelen MX-5 Cup will bring 35 cars to St. Petersburg as part of IndyCar's opening round, the first time that the series has raced here since 2023. Thirty-five cars are on the entry list for the event, including 13 rookies.
JTR Motorsports Engineering's Jared Thomas (No.96) comes into the weekend as the MX-5 Cup points leader after winning the crash-strewn second race at Daytona International Speedway. Thomas won at St. Pete in 2022, and he'll look to this weekend to build his advantage over top rookie Ethan Goulart (No.29 Saito Motorsport Group), who's second in the standings, and fellow rookie Ren Messinger (No.3 McCumbee McAleer Racing), who's third in the standings.
Tyler Gonzalez (No.57 BSI Racing) won Race 1 at Daytona but crashed out in Race 2, so he'll be looking for better results at St. Pete. His BSI team-mate Jagger Jones, in the Chick Hicks-themed No.86 MX-5, is also one to watch after he swept the two VPRC races at this track last year driving an LMP3.
But after making a special appearance for McCumbee McAleer Racing in the Daytona round, reigning series champion Gresham Wagner is not on the entry list for St. Pete.
Wagner joined the Toyota Driver Development program earlier this month and will be moving up to GT4 America this year as a co-driver to Gonzalez at RAFA Racing.
MX-5 Cup's 45-minute races are on Saturday and Sunday, 1/2 March - with the Sunday race coming after the checkered flag for the IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
All of this weekend's races will air live on the IMSA official YouTube channel while the MX-Cup races will also stream live here at RACER.
RJ O’Connell
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