Sports cars to star at Indianapolis, Spa this weekend - MotorSportsTalk

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps are known more for their open-wheel races than sports car ones. But it’ll be a fleet of prototype and GT cars gracing their hallowed grounds this weekend.

IMS plays host to GRAND-AM’s Rolex Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge on the track’s infield road course, formerly used for Formula One and still used by MotoGP. GRAND-AM was added to the docket last year as part of the inaugural IMS “Super Weekend.” Rolex will run a three-hour race to wrap its three-race North American Endurance Championship, with the Conti series a two-hour, 30-minute affair.

Sebastien Bourdais and Alex Popow (Starworks Motorsport, Daytona Prototype) and Andy Lally and John Potter (Magnus Racing, GT) were the initial Rolex winners, but the race was marred by the second Starworks’ car, driven by Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio, taken out by Juan Pablo Montoya in the race.

A year later, Potolicchio bolted from Starworks to start his own team, 8Star Motorsports. He’ll drive one of two Corvette DPs, and has just signed Bourdais to the second. They’re among a field of 16 DPs that also includes Tony Kanaan (Ganassi), Rubens Barrichello (Doran) and AJ Allmendinger (Shank) in one-off entries. Here’s the full Rolex and Conti entry lists.

Meanwhile at Spa, the Blancpain Endurance Series, a popular European championship that features FIA GT3-spec machinery and largely Pro-Am driver lineups, will race the Total 24 Hours of Spa. It’s less heralded than the 24 Hours of Le Mans but still regarded highly by the sports car community.

Consider you have Audi R8s, BMW Z4s, McLaren MP4-12Cs, Nissan GT-Rs, Porsche 911s, Ferrari 458s, Lamborghini LFPs, Mercedes SLS AMG 63s, and Aston Martin Vantages among those racing… and that’s just the first page of the entry list. You can see the full entry list here.

For more information, go to the official race website.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”