Entry List Notebook – Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama at Road America

July 31, 2020
Staff Report
IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The 2020 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama season finally gets underway this weekend at Road America.

After a near season start at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March, a weekend that was ultimately postponed to October, the Porsche one-make series will see its first two green flags of the year during the IMSA SportsCar Weekend on July 31-August 2.
Twenty-one Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars are ready for a doubleheader weekend in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The first race is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, with Race 2 set for Sunday at 10 a.m. Both races can be streamed live, flag-to-flag on IMSA.tv with IMSA Radio commentary covering each session throughout the weekend on IMSARadio.com.
Without further ado, here is a look at the entry list of drivers itching to go racing.
The field’s car count remains steady despite the racing hiatus. The Platinum Cup class will have 16 cars of current-generation models, while the Gold Cup class maintains the same five cars built between 2014 and 2016 and the same drivers originally slated at St. Pete.
For Riley Dickinson, it’s finally time to put that IMSA Hurley Haywood GT3 Cup Scholarship to use. It was announced the first weekend in January during the Roar Before the Rolex 24 that the Texan was the 2020 recipient of the annual scholarship. While Dickinson kept busy with iRacing events the last few months, he’ll be eager to get behind the real wheel of the No. 53 Moorespeed Porsche.
Alan Metni is seeking his third consecutive Platinum Masters championship for drivers who are 45 years and older in the No. 99 Kelly-Moss/AM Motorsports Porsche. Road America is a great place for him to start that campaign, as he scored his best career finish of second overall at Elkhart Lake just last year.
Canadian Jeff Kingsley makes his debut with Kelly Moss Road and Race this weekend at Road America. A former competitor in the GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series, Kingsley made the switch from JDX Racing to Kelly Moss for the 2020 season in the No. 16 Porsche.
Sebastian Carazo finally gets his turn in the Platinum class after dominating the Gold class with 12 victories in 2019 en route to the championship. The Puerto Rican moves into to the top class in the No. 27 Kelly Moss Porsche in the same stable as Metni, Kingsley, Tom Balames and David Brule.
Speaking of Gold Cup, it’ll be a new champion for 2020 with Carazo’s departure. All five drivers competed in the class last year, with less than 45 points separating four of them in the final standings. Curt Swearingin led the pack, finishing third in the championship hunt behind Carazo and Rob Ferriol, who now runs in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.