2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring entry list features 53 cars

The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring entry list has spiked with a car count increase of more than 40 percent for the second round of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series.

There are 53 cars entered for the 70th edition of the prestigious endurance race March 19 at Sebring International Raceway, up from 37 last season. The biggest class jump came in the realigned GT categories, which now race on the same GT3 platform specs and are separated by driver classifications.

Between GTD (17) and GTD Pro (11), there are a combined 28 cars, a double-digit increase over last year (when there were 5 in GTLM and 13 in GTD). There also were modest increases in LMP2 (eight cars, up from five last year) and LMP3 (10, up from six in 2021) with the premier DPi class remaining level at seven cars. Sebring continues the trend from the season-opening Rolex 24, which also enjoyed an influx in car count.

ENTRY LIST: Who will be racing in the 2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring

The three Frenchmen who were the overall winners of last year’s Twelve Hours of Sebring return but on two teams. Sebastien Bourdais, who drove a memorable closing stint on the 17-turn, 3.74-mile road course last year to put the No. 5 Cadillac in victory lane, will be in the No. 01 Cadillac of Chip Ganassi Racing while former teammates Tristan Vautier and Loic Duval will be back (with Richard Westbrook) in JDC Miller MotorSports’ defending winner entry.

Kicking off the 1️⃣2️⃣ days of #Sebring12 with last years overall winner, @JDCMotorSports 🏆🏁#IMSA / @sebringraceway pic.twitter.com/XiVXu59lSX

— #IMSA (@IMSA) March 7, 2022

Bourdais will be teamed with full-time teammate Renger van der Zande and 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, who will be making his first IMSA start since winning the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring with Mazda.

With the NTT IndyCar Series racing March 20 at Texas Motor Speedway, none of the 12 IndyCar drivers who raced the Rolex 24 will be driving at Sebring. Jimmie Johnson will be replaced on the No. 48 Ally Cadillac by Jose Maria Lopez, who also raced with Mike Rockenfeller and Kamui Kobayashi at Daytona International Speedway.

After winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona with IndyCar teammates Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud as co-drivers in the No. 60 Acura, Meyer Shank Racing’s Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist will be joined by Stoffel Vandoorne at Sebring.

In the GTD Pro class, Corvette Racing will enter only the No. 3 C8.R as its No. 64 will be racing in the FIA WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring that will be held Friday. Corvette drivers Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy are racing the full World Endurance Championship season, which will be opening its six-round season with its only U.S. stop.

The Twelve Hours of Sebring will begin at 10:10 a.m. ET on March 19 with live flag-to-flag coverage on Peacock starting at 10 a.m. The race will be broadcast from 3:30-10:30 p.m. on USA. Qualifying will begin at 9:15 a.m. ET on March 18.

Click here for the entry list in the 2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗪𝗔𝗦. 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗖.@EagleRaceway went above and beyond in their return to the main stage with the High Limit Sprint Car Series tonight!

pic.twitter.com/H3XKQEOpg6

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 7, 2023

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

Entry list for the 2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring

Kyle Larson wins third consecutive High Limit Sprint race at Eagle Raceway, Rico Abreu second again

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