IMSA: Mix of entry choices on 55-car Watkins Glen entry list - MotorSportsTalk

The entry list for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the June 29 round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, reveals a number of intriguing entry list news and notes. The race marks the first round where all four classes – Prototype, Prototype Challenge, GT Le Mans and GT Daytona – race together in the same race since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 15.

Additionally, the race is the third of four in this year’s Tequila Patron North American Endurance Championship.

Here’s the nuggets out of the entry list:

FULL ENTRY LIST

P/PC

Of the 13 P class entries, eight have gone for a three-driver lineup (Cars 2, 9, 10, 31, 42, 70, 01 and 07).
Ho-Pin Tung will make his first TUDOR Championship start in OAK Racing’s No. 42 Morgan Nissan alongside Gustavo Yacaman and Alex Brundle, the latter of whom fills in for Olivier Pla.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 01 may take on a third driver, per Mike Hull who tweeted Tuesday, “01 for WG 6-hours – slight twist will be announced.” That slight twist could be either Sage Karam or Marino Franchitti alongside Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas; both Karam and Franchitti have driven with CGR’s P program this year, Franchitti won at Sebring and Karam has impressed in his handful of starts in both the TUDOR Championship and the Indianapolis 500.
Oddly of the 10 PC cars, only one (No. 25 8Star Motorsports entry) features a three-driver lineup listed: Sean Rayhall will share with Tom Kimber-Smith and Eric Lux. You’d figure the Pro-Am class would take the opportunity to see teams add a paying third, but, all would need to be Silver-rated drivers. BAR1’s No. 88 car has all drivers TBA.

GTLM/GTD

In GTLM, Krohn Racing (No. 57 Ferrari F458 Italia) has a designated third driver listed, in the form of Jaime Melo. Meanwhile SRT Motorsports has listed Jonathan Bomarito (No. 91) and Marc Goossens (No. 93) as respective third drivers for its two SRT Viper GTS-Rs; both would be pulling double duty between entries if they actually race both.
Thus far only Cars 22, 27, 44, 51, 81 and 007 have three drivers in GT Daytona – or 6 of 21 cars.
“TBA” is a frequent part of the entry list, appearing with Cars 18, 19, 46, 63, 71 and 73.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”