August 19 2015
Tooele, Utah – Over 90 drivers across Pirelli World Challenge's seven classes are set to race at Miller Motorsports Park, August 21 to 23 at the Ford Grand Prix of Utah presented by VP Racing Fuels. With the 2015 season now in the homestretch, GT/GTA drivers will compete in Rounds 16 and 17, while GT Cup drivers will run Rounds 14 and 15. Drivers in the GTS class will race Rounds 13 and 14, while TC/TCA/TCB competitors will race Rounds 13, 14 and 15. The Pirelli World Challenge series makes its eighth appearance at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend. The series first raced at the Tooele, Utah track in 2006. With 2015 being the inaugural season for GT Cup, this is the first time the class will compete at Mid-Ohio.
Pirelli World Challenge GT: Dalziel Holds Slim Lead over Beretta. O'Connell, Estre and Davison Look to Close the Gap
Ryan Dalziel, of Windermere, Fla., swept the Mid-Ohio weekend scoring his first two wins of the season to take the lead in the GT Drivers' Championship with 1319 points. He will pilot the No. 31 EFFORT Racing/World PMO Porsche 911 GT3 R. Dalziel's teammate Michael Lewis, of Laguna Beach, Calif., was promoted from the GTA class to GT at Barber and sits 9th overall in the standings. He will drive the No. 41 EFFORT Racing/Curb-Agajanian Porsche 911 GT3 R.
After leading the drivers' championship for months, Olivier Beretta, of Monte Carlo, Monaco in the No. 61 Ferrari of Ontario/ Toronto/ Alberta Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia, comes into the Miller weekend second in points (1305) after scoring a third and a fourth at Mid-Ohio. Beretta has won three races this season and he makes his first PWC series start at Miller. The former F1 pilot has raced at Miller before in another sports car racing series.
Johnny O'Connell, of Flowery Branch, Ga., comes into the weekend third in GT Drivers' Championship points with 1174 and looks to close the gap with a good showing at Miller. O'Connell had a fourth and a fifth at Mid-Ohio to stay within striking distance of both Dalziel and Beretta. He'll pilot the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R. O'Connell's teammate, Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R, has had a hard luck 2015 season and sits 18th overall in GT.
Kevin Estre, of Lochau, Austria, in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing with Flying Lizard Motorsports McLaren 650S GT3, enters the weekend fourth in the drivers' standings with 1124 points. After winning at Detroit, Estre looks to get back into victory circle as he makes his first career start at Miller. Teammate Robert Thorne, of Littleton, Colo. will pilot the No. 6 K-PAX Racing McLaren 650S GT3. Thorne finished second to his teammate Estre in Round 7 at Barber (Thorne's best result thus far of the season).
JD Davison, of St. Petersburg, Fla., in the No. 33 AE/Replay XD Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 sits fifth overall coming into Miller after scoring a pair of second place finishes at Mid-Ohio. Davison makes his first career start at Miller. Davison's teammate Bryan Heitkotter, of Fresno, Calif., will pilot the No. 05 Nissan GT Academy GT-R AE Replay XD Nissan GT-R GT3. Heitkotter was promoted to GT from GTA after finishing third overall in Round 15 at Mid-Ohio.
Bentley Team Dyson Racing heads into the weekend with Guy Smith, of Beverley, England, piloting the No. 20 Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1 Bentley Continental GT3 and Chris Dyson, of Pleasant Valley, N.Y. behind the wheel of the No. 16 Bentley/Breitling/Mobil 1 Bentley Continental GT3. Smith replaces Butch Leitzinger in the seat of the No. 20 machine. Smith won last year's Round 15 race at Miller. Dyson sits 6th in the championship and won at Road America.
Mike Skeen, of Charlotte, N.C., piloting the No. 2 DeVilbiss/Hawk Performance Audi R8 LMS ultra, enters the weekend seventh in the championship with 946 points. Skeen looks to score his first win of the season at Miller.
Ryan Eversley, of Atlanta, Ga. in the No. 43 RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD Acura TLX-GT enters the weekend eighth in points. Eversley has one win on the season (St. Petersburg) and makes his first career Pirelli World Challenge start at Miller. Eversley's teammate Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis. in the No. 42 RealTime/Acura Motorsports/HPD Acura TLX-GT holds almost every statistical series record and sits 12th in the championship.
The 18-driver GT field is rounded out by series veteran James Sofronas, of Pound Ridge, N.Y., in the No. 14 GMG Audi R8 LMS ultra GMG Racing/Spyder/Mobil 1, Duncan Ende, of Los Angeles, Calif. in the No. 64 Merchant Services Ltd./Linospresso USA Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, Nicky Catsburg, of Kirchanschoring, Germany in the No. 25 Blancpain Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 REX, and Henry Hassid of Kirchanschoering, Germany in the No. 55 Blancpain Racing Lamborghini Gallardo REX. Ende has experience at Miller having raced at the track in another sports car racing series, while Sofronas has nine career PWC starts at Miller. Catsburg makes his first career start at Miller, while Hassid makes his first career Pirelli World Challenge start.
Pirelli World Challenge GTA: Cisneros and Montecalvo Set for Showdown at Miller
Henrique Cisneros, of Miami, Fla. in the No. 30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 enters the Miller weekend continuing to lead in the GTA Drivers' Championship after scoring a third and a 10th at Mid-Ohio. He enters the weekend with 1417 points. Cisneros has previous experience at Miller having raced at the track in another sports car series. Cisneros' brother Eduardo, of Miami, Fla. is also entered in GTA for Mid-Ohio piloting the No. 29 MOMO NGT Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia.
Frankie Montecalvo, of Highlands, N.J. has closed the gap on Cisneros to 28 points. Montecalvo has been on a roll since Road America where he scored his second and third wins of the season in Rounds 12 and 13 and then at Mid-Ohio where he scored his fourth win in Round 14. Montecalvo will pilot the No. 66 Bayshore Racing DragonSpeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.
Martin Fuentes, of Mexico City, Mexico in the No. 07 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 comes into the weekend third in class points with 1195. Fuentes won the Round 6 race at Barber.
Montecalvo's DragonSpeed teammate Eric Lux, of Buffalo, N.Y. will pilot the No. 08 Rembrandt Charms/Monticello Motor Club Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Lux comes into the weekend fourth in class.
Turner Motorsport teammates Bill Ziegler, of Ponte Vedra, Fla., in the No. 95 Swisher Racing BMW E89 Z4 GT3 and Bret Curtis, of Austin, Texas, in the No. 32 Turner Motorsport/SPECTRA Resources Corp/United Steel Supply/Valspar Paint BMW E89 Z4 GT3 are entered in GTA. Curtis sits seventh while Ziegler sits ninth.
Drew Regitz, of Denver, Colo. will be in the No. 19 WWW.IRACERCOACHING.COM Audi R8 LMS ultra. Regitz sits 11th.
Rounding out the 11-car GTA field are Jorge De La Torre, of Mexico City, Mexico, in the No. 4 De La Torre Racing Motor LLC Aston Martin Vantage V12, Christina Nielsen, of Aarhus, Denmark, in the No. 7 Royal Purple/Orion Energy/LaSalle Solutions/PassTime USA TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT3, and Brent Holden, of Newport Beach, Calif., in the No. 44 GMG RacingAudi R8 LMS Ultra.
Pirelli World Challenge GT Cup presented by MOMO: Can Thompson Continue His Dominance at Miller?
Colin Thompson, of Doylestown, Pa. continued his domination of the GT Cup class with his 10th win of the season in Round 13 at Mid-Ohio. Thompson will pilot the 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 class with 1672 points.
Salt Lake City, Utah native TruSpeed Autosport's Sloan Urry, sits second with 1139 points on the strength of five runner-up finishes, and three thirds on the season. He will pilot the No. 02 Security National/Engel & Volkers Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Teammate Phil Fogg Jr., of Portland, Ore. will pilot the No. 18 Zoro/TruSpeed Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Lorenzo Trefethen, of Napa, Calif., heads into the weekend third in points with 1125. Trefethen scored 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.
Preston Calvert, of Potomac, Md. in the No. 77 Phoenix Performance/Calvert Dynamics Porsche 911 GT3 Cup sits 4th in the championship – Calvert equaled his best result thus far with a fourth in Round 11 at Road America. Victor Gomez Jr., of San Juan, Puerto Rico in the No. 81 Porsche San Juan Porsche 911 GT3 Cup sits fifth in the drivers' championship.
Alec Udell, of The Woodlands, Texas will pilot the No. 17 Amsource Capital/Panther Pipeline GMG Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. He scored his first career Pirelli World Challenge win in Round 12 at Mid-Ohio.
Rounding out the field of eight GT Cup entries is Mitch Landry, of Lake Charles, La. in the No. 97 Landry Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Pirelli World Challenge GTS: Five-Way Battle for Championship Shaping Up
Andrew Aquilante, of Chester Springs, Pa., enters the Miller weekend leading in the GTS Drivers' Championship with 1074 points. He will pilot the No. 32 Calvert Dynamics Phoenix American Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302. Aquilante's teammate Kurt Rezzetano, of Phoenixville, Pa., in the No. 37 Calvert Dynamics/Phoenix American Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302 comes into Miller second in GTS Drivers' points only 24 behind Aquilante.
After a strong Mid-Ohio recording a second and a third, Dean Martin, of Westland, Mich., sits only 21 points behind Rezzetano. He will pilot the No. 50 Rehagen Racing/Picture Cars East Ford Mustang Boss 302. Teaming with Martin will be 15-year-old Nathan Stacy from Owesso, Okla. who has moved up from TC to GTS fulltime, in the No. 14 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang Boss 302.
With a win in Round 11, Michael Cooper, of Syosset, N.Y., in the No. 10 Blackdog Speedshop Chevrolet Camaro Z28, moved in fourth place in the GTS Drivers' Championship with 992 points. It was Cooper's second win of the season after winning at Circuit of the Americas in Round 2. Cooper's teammate is series veteran Tony Gaples, of Libertyville, Ill., who will pilot the No. 11 Blackdog Speedshop Chevrolet Camaro Z28.
Jack Baldwin, of Marietta, Ga., has clawed his way back into the championship and sits in fifth with 945 points. Baldwin pilots the No. 73 GTSport Racing Porsche Cayman. Buz McCall, of Boca Raton, Fla. will again team with Baldwin as the pilot of the No. 72 GTSport Racing/Umphrey's McGee Porsche Cayman.
Also campaigning the iconic Chevrolet Camaro Z28 in the series is Best IT Racing's talented driver Andy Lee, of Colorado Springs, Colo., in the No. 20 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. Lee scored his best result thus far of the season in Round 12 at Mid-Ohio scoring a 5th.
Mark Wilkins, of Toronto, Ont., comes into the weekend eighth in points with 829. He will pilot the No. 38 Kinetic Motorsports PutOnTheBrakes.Org Kia Optima. Partnered with him will be teammate Ben Clucas, of Northampton, England. Clucas pilots the No. 36 Kinetic Motorsports DonorsChoose.Org Kia Optima and comes into the weekend 7th in drivers' standings with 876 points.
Jack Roush Jr. of Livonia, Mich. will pilot the No. 60 ROUSH Performance Capaldi Racing Ford Boss 302. Roush Jr. enters Road America ninth overall in the class drivers' standings.
Three-time series champion and winner of Round 9 at Road America, Lou Gigliotti, of Dallas, Texas will drive the No. 28 LG Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4. Gigliotti sits 10th in class. Teaming with Gigliotti is Bryan Leonard, of Birmingham, Ala. in the No. 29 Speed South LG Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4.
Series veteran Nick Esayian, of San Diego, CA, 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. Esayian sits 12th in class.
Mark Klenin, of Lone Tree, Colo., 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.
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.
Rounding out the 19-car GTS field is John Allen, of Denver, Colo. in the No. 16 ITEC/Bilt Racing Services/CVA/Isringhausen/CSFLN/JRZ/Joe Gibbs Driven/Canine Partners of the Rockies/Canine Hope for Diabetics Porsche Cayman, and Vesko Kozarov, of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the No. 23 Nissan/Skullcandy/Stance Skullcandy Team Nissan 370Z.
Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car: Fergus Regains Points Lead Coming Out of Mid-Ohio, Can Poland Strike Back?
Columbus, Ohio's Corey Fergus, in the No. 00 USLED/Axis Roofing/AERO/RSS/Motul Motorsports Promotions Porsche Cayman enters the Miller weekend having regained top spot in the TC Drivers' Championship with 1166 points after recording a second in Round 10, a fourth in round 11 and a fifth in Round 12 at Mid-Ohio.
Adam Poland, of Mount Vernon, Texas, in the No. 33 Edge Addicts/Majestic Pet Eastex Motorsports Mazda MX-5 comes into the Miller weekend with 1112 points after an eighth in Round 10, an 11th in Round 11, and a third in Round 12. While Poland hasn't won a race yet this season, he's been a model of consistency having only finished out of the top 5 three times in 12 races.
Ernie Francis Jr. of Davie, Fla., piloting the No. 98 BreathlessPerformance/Time4Learning Breathless Racing Mazda MX-5 looks to stay in the hunt for the drivers' championship with a strong Miller weekend. Francis Jr. sits third overall in class with 964 points after winning Round 10 at Mid-Ohio.
The Webster, N.Y. husband and wife team behind Berg Racing will be campaigning a pair of cars, with Dinah Weisberg driving the No. 40 REDCOM Laboratories/Color Track/Red Line Berg Racing Porsche Cayman, and John Weisberg in the No. 50 REDCOM Laboratories/Color Track/Red Line BERG Racing Mazda MX-5. John Weisberg sits fifth overall with 759 points.
Jeff Altenburg, of Ellicott City, Md., the former series TC Drivers' Champion from 2007, will run the No. 15 HPA Motorsports VW Jetta GLI. Altenburg won the Round 8 race at Elkhart Lake. HPA will also campaign the No. 16 HPA Motorsports VW Jetta GLI for Alex Welch of Englewood, Colo. Welch has his best PWC career finish with a second in Round 12 at Mid-Ohio. Welch sits sixth overall in class with 680 points.
Completing the 12-car TC field entered for Miller are Steve Burns, of San Antonio, Texas, in the No. 43 VP Racing Fuels Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang V6; Austin Snader, of Sealy, Texas, in the No. 64 Encapsulite International, Inc. Snader Racing Mazda MX-5; Lara Tallman, of Salt Lake City, Utah, in the No. 3 Skullcandy Team Nissan Nissan Altima, teammate Nicolas Hammann, of Elkhart Lake, Wis., in the No. 35 Skullcandy Team Nissan Nissan 370Z, and Andrew Rains, of Auburn, Ala., in the No. 44 National Bank of Commerce Rains Racing VW Golf.
Pirelli World Challenge TCA: Wolfe Leads Class After Strong Result at Mid-Ohio, Seguin Looks to Close the Gap
Defending class champion Jason Wolfe of Mount Vernon, Ohio, moved back into the TCA Drivers' Championship lead after a strong Mid-Ohio, winning Rounds 10 and 11. Wolfe will drive the No. 36 Wolfe Trucking Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte Koup. Teaming with him is Kris Wright, of Pittsburgh, Pa., in the No. 34 Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte Koup and Canadian Samantha Tan, of Gormley, Ont. in the No. 38 Kinetic Motorsports Kia Forte Koup.
Fellow Canadian Patrick Seguin has quietly moved himself into contention for the class championship. Seguin has consistently finished in the top 5 and coming into Miller is second in points with 1102. Seguin, of Ottawa, Ont., will pilot the No. 39 helpkevinproject.com/buynutrimind.com Branden Peterson Racing Honda Civic Si.
Series stalwarts Compass360Racing bring three Honda Civic Sis to the battle at Miller with Emilee Tominovich, of Clarksville, Md., in the No. 72 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si, Ron Yarab, of Youngstown, Ohio, in the No. 71 Compass360 Racing Children's Tumor Foundation/HPD/Racing4Research.org Honda Civic Si and Paul Whiting Pahrump, Nev., in the No. 70 Honda Peformance Development Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si. Tominovich sits fourth overall in the championship standings with 909 points. Whiting makes his first career Pirelli World Challenge start.
Also competing in TCA at Miller are Chase Pelletier, of Brampton, Ont., in the No. 11 American Honda/Carsquare.com Garrett Racing Honda Civic Si; Kevin Anderson, of Huntington, Station, N.Y., in the No. 22 Techsportracing.com Tech Sport Racing Mazda RX-8 and teammate Jason Saini, of Chicago, Ill. in the No. 23 Tech Sport Racing Mazda RX-8.
Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B-Spec: Schwartz Sweeps at Mid-Ohio. Can Nixon Mount Response at Miller?
Johan Schwartz, of Huntersville, N.C., returned to his early season form winning all three TCB class at Mid-Ohio, recording his sixth, seventh and eighth wins of 2015. Coming into the Miller weekend, he leads the TCB class drivers' championship with 1525 points and will pilot the No. 25 Tech Sport Racing / Zero Cancer Chevy Sonic.
Schwartz holds a 125-point lead over Glenn Nixon, of Mission, B.C. who will pilot the No. 58 Racing.ca/LaptopScreen.com/Nixon Prosport Racing.ca Honda Fit. Nixon won all three races at Road America and scored three second place finishes at Mid-Ohio. He will need to repeat the form he had at Road America to overtake Schwartz. Racing.ca will campaign a total of three cars in TCB with Nixon's teammates Andrei Kisel, of North Vancouver, B.C. in the No. 57 Racing.ca/LaptopScreen.com Racing.ca MINI Cooper and Wei Lu, of Richmond, B.C., in the No. 59 Racing.ca/Nixon Prosports/LaptopScreen.com/Miniusa.com Racing.ca MINI Cooper.
Jason Fichter, of Jupiter, Fla., in the No. 7 Surf Fire & Security Breathless Racing MINI Cooper comes into the weekend third in points with 869 after scoring two top-10 finishes at Mid-Ohio.
The 13-car TCB field includes P.J. Groenke, of Toronto, Ont., 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, of Hyde Park, N.Y., in the No. 2 Hack Racing Chevrolet Sonic; Marc Sherrin, of Lucas, Texas, in the No. 27 Steadfast Funding Ford Fiesta; Tom Noble, of Medina, Minn., in the No. 48 BIR Performance Driving School/West Real Estate Shea Racing MINI Cooper; and Randy Smith, of Cold Water, Ont., in the No. 66 Fit IDLife/Race2IDLife.com Shea Racing Honda Fit.
Event/Circuit:
Miller Motorsports Park: 24-turn road course, 4.5 miles in length.
Qualifying:
Friday, Aug. 21
· 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM Pirelli World Challenge- TC-TCA-TCB Qualifying
Saturday, Aug. 22
· 9:35 AM - 10:25 AM Pirelli World Challenge GT-GTA-GT Cup Qualifying
· 11:15 AM - 11:45 AM Pirelli World Challenge - GTS Qualifying
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, Aug. 21
· 3:35 PM - 4:45 PM Race #1 TC-TCA-TCB race
Saturday, Aug. 22
· 8:30 AM - 9:20 AM #2 TC- TCA-TCB race
· 12:30 PM - 1:55 PM #1 GT-GTA-GT Cup race
· 3:05 PM - 4:10 PM #1 GTS race
· 4:20 PM - 5:30 PM #3 TC-TCA-TCB race
Sunday, Aug. 23
· 9:40 AM - 10:55 AM #2 GTS race
· 12:00 PM - 1:20 PM #2 GT-GTA-GT Cup race
All times listed above Mountain.
Television (on CBS Sports Network):
On CBS Sports Network Sunday, August 30, 4 PM Eastern: GT/GTA, GT Cup presented by MOMO. Tuesday, September 1, Time TBA: GTS. Wednesday, September 2, 8 PM Eastern: TC, TCA, TCB.
Canadian Teams & Drivers In Bold
Drivers on Canadian Teams In Italics