The Single-Make Series Joins a Full Slate of IMSA Competition at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS – The Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America has raced each of its three seasons at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). This is the first time the one-make race series will race at the famed Brickyard road course alongside the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In each of its two prior visits, Porsche Carrera Cup North America headlined at Porsche Sports Car Together Fest at the world’s most famous race course.
Joining IMSA’s Battle on the Bricks, the twin 40-minute races for the all-Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car series will act as Rounds 11 and 12 of the 16-race title fight. Riley Dickinson enters the final three race weekends of the 2023 season focused on victory in the No. 53 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with seven wins and six perfect race weekends (dual race wins, pole positions and fastest race laps). Thirty entries across the three classes – Pro, Pro-Am and Am – will have their shot at the Texan at the 2.49-mile, 14-turn road course this weekend.
- Full Field: 30 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for competition at IMS, 18 in Pro class, seven in Pro-Am and five in 7 Am.
- Teams: 13 race teams are represented across all three classes.
- Track Record: 1:25.092, Parker Thompson, No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, 2022.
Point Leaders
- Pro: Riley Dickinson is 102 points ahead of Tom Sargent in the Pro championship after 10 races of the 16-race season. Fifty-six points are possible for a driver accomplishing a perfect weekend: 25 points per win, two points for each pole position and one marker each for fastest race lap. Dickinson opened the year with three victories before his lowest finish of the season to date, a third place, in Round 4. Two second-place finishes at Watkins Glen are the only times this year that the three-year veteran has not won at least one round during a weekend. Will Martin has earned two wins on the season and sits third in the Pro class chase, 114 points behind Dickinson. Jason Hart is the only other driver to take a race victory (Race 1 at The Glen). The veteran Porsche is in fifth place in the driver standings.
- Pro-Am: Efrin Castro is chasing his second Pro-Am championship in three years. The Kellymoss driver holds a 41-point lead over Marco Cirone in the ACI Motorsports Porsche. Castro started the season slowly but has won four times, including both races in the most recent round at Road America. He has stood on the podium every race since Long Beach and leads Cirone by 41 points.
- Am: Once believed to be a forgone title for 2022 class champion Mark Kvamme, this class battle has tightened considerably in recent rounds. His MDK Motorsports teammate Scott Noble has pushed Kvamme in recent rounds, outscoring the Ohioan in three of the last four races, including twin wins at Road America. Kvamme holds a 34-point lead over Noble coming to the Brickyard.
- Entrants: Kellymoss continues to gain momentum toward its third straight entrant championship. The Wisconsin-based operation holds a 65-point lead on McElrea Racing and another three points ahead of JDX Racing in third place.
Special Place: Indianapolis is a special place to racers but for points leader Riley Dickinson, the Brickyard holds an even more special place in his heart. It is where the Texan earned his first career Porsche Carrera Cup North America victory, coming in the second of two races at Porsche Sports Car Together Fest in 2022.
Supporting Role: This weekend marks the final time that Porsche Carrera Cup North America will race with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this season. To date, the series has raced with IMSA three times. PDCCNA ran as support to Formula 1 at Miami and NASCAR Xfinity at Road America. Remaining races will see it as the headliner during Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Sept. 28-Oct. 1, and the season finale with F1 at Circuit of The Americas, Oct. 20-22.
Legacy Tracks: Like Sebring, Watkins Glen International and Road America, Indy is one of four tracks to host a Carrera Cup event each season since the series debuted in 2021.
Double Time: Two Pro-Am drivers will do double duty with Carrera Cup alums this weekend in Indianapolis. PJ Hyett will race the No. 23 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for Kellymoss in Carrera Cup while sharing the AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R with 2021 Carrera Cup North America champion Seb Priaulx in the GT Daytona (GTD) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Alan Metni will also compete in both series, driving the No.99 for Kellymoss in the Pro-Am category for the Carrera Cup rounds and sharing the No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R with 2021 and 2022 Carrera Cup North America runner-up Kay van Berlo (Netherlands) in the GTD class of the WeatherTech Championship.
Porsche customer competitors will also split time between two support series. Kyle Washington will pilot the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche in the Pro-Am category of Carrera Cup while joining with Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 32 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in the Grand Sport (GS) class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Rearden Racing enters Porsche race cars for Jake Pedersen in both Carrera Cup (No. 85 in the Pro class) and the No. 21 Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport with co-driver Vesko Kozarov in the Michelin Pilot Challenge. NOLASPORT will also enter machines in both series.
Homefield Advantage: While Indianapolis is the “Racing Capital of the World,” surprisingly few drivers in Porsche Carrera Cup North America call it home. Sabré Cook was born in Grand Junction, Colorado, but now calls Indy homebase. Veteran open-wheeler Dan Clarke now lives in the Indiana capital.
Broadcast: All races air on the Peacock streaming app, IMSA.com and PorscheCarreraCup.us, and are archived at: www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.
On the web: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us .
Schedule (all times ET):
- Friday: 10-10:30 a.m., Practice 1; 1:45-2:25 p.m., Practice 2; 5:30-6 p.m., Qualifying (all classes)
- Saturday: 2:30-3:10 p.m., Race 1
- Sunday: 9:40-10:20 a.m., Race 2