Road America Entry List Notebook

By IMSA Wire Service

After a brief respite during another busy summer of racing, all four classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship reunite next weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

While the GTLM and GTD teams are fresh off a GT-only showdown at Lime Rock Park last weekend, Road America marks the return of the Prototype classes – DPi and LMP2 – to the grid after last competing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 7. The entry list shows a total of 35 cars between the four classes competing next weekend.

The two-hour, 40-minute IMSA Road Race Showcase is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. ET (1:35 p.m. local time) on Sunday, August 4, and can be streamed live on the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. The NBCSN broadcast of the IMSA Road Race Showcase will air at 6 p.m. ET.

IMSA Radio will also have live commentary on RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio and fans are encouraged to join the conversation on social media using the hashtags #IMSA and #RoadAmerica.

As the WeatherTech Championship awaits a return to “America’s National Park of Speed,” here’s a look at some teams and drivers to keep an eye on next weekend, in addition to some familiar faces back on the scene.

Jeroen Bleekemolen has the most wins by a driver at Road America with five, and will team with Ben Keating in the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. Three drivers are tied with four wins – Jorg Bergmeister, Timo Bernhard and Oliver Gavin, the latter of whom will be co-driving next weekend in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.

Speaking of Corvette Racing, the longtime IMSA entrant is the winningest team at Road America with seven victories. The next closest is Audi with five and Ford Chip Ganassi Racing with four wins.

Only two manufacturers have a double-digit number of wins at Road America – Chevrolet and Porsche. Chevrolet leads Porsche by one, 13-12.

Ford, meanwhile, could hit its stride next weekend at Road America. Ford Chip Ganassi Racing earned its first victory of the season at Lime Rock last week with the No. 67 Ford GT duo of Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook. Elkhart Lake has been kind to Ganassi teams recently as they have won the last two years and earning the pole the last three years.

Several familiar faces from this season are back on the entry list at Road America after brief hiatuses. Tommy Milner rejoins the GTLM field in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R alongside Oliver Gavin after suffering a hand injury two races ago at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in June.

Starworks Motorsport’s No. 8 Audi R8 LMS GT3 entry with Parker Chase and Ryan Dalziel returns to the GTD field, after missing Rounds 7 and 8 at CTMP and Lime Rock. Patrick Lindsey is back behind the wheel of his No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R after forgoing Lime Rock due to a previous commitment with his company Mira Vista Aviation. Lindsey will be co-driving with last year’s GTD winner at Road America, Patrick Long.

Wisconsin’s own James French will represent his home state in Elkhart Lake, pairing up for the first time this year in the WeatherTech Championship with Performance Tech Motorsports in the No. 38 ORECA LMP2. French takes the place of Kyle Masson and will join his 2019 IMSA Prototype Challenge co-driver, Cameron Cassels, in the LMP2 class.

Previous IMSA Road Race Showcase Winning Drivers Since 2000 in 2019 Field (24)
Jeroen Bleekemolen (5) – ALMS GTC – 2010; ALMS GTC – 2011; ALMS GTC – 2012; GTD – 2015; GTD – 2016
Oliver Gavin (4) – ALMS GTS – 2004; ALMS GT1 – 2005; ALMS GT1 – 2007; GTLM – 2016
Bill Auberlen (3) – ALMS GT2 – 2009; ALMS GT – 2012; ROLEX GT – 2013
Dane Cameron (3) – GTD – 2014; P/Overall – 2015; P/Overall – 2016
Joey Hand (3) – ALMS GT2 – 2009; ALMS GT – 2010; GTLM – 2017
Patrick Long (3) – ALMS GT2 – 2005; ALMS GT2 – 2006; GTD – 2018
Jonathan Bennett (2) – ALMS LMPC – 2012; P/Overall – 2018
Ben Keating (2) – GTD – 2015; GTD – 2016
Jan Magnussen (2) – ALMS GTS – 2003; ALMS GT1 – 2008
Dirk Mueller (2) – ALMS GT – 2010; GTLM – 2017
Richard Westbrook (2) – ALMS GT2 – 2008; GTLM – 2018
Joao Barbosa (1) – P/Overall – 2014
Colin Braun (1) – P/Overall – 2018
Ryan Briscoe (1) – GTLM – 2018
Luis Felipe “Pipo” Derani (1) – P/Overall – 2017
James French (1) – PC – 2017
Jesse Krohn (1) – GTD – 2017
Cooper MacNeil (1) – ALMS GTC – 2012
Tommy Milner (1) – GTLM – 2016
Tristan Nunez (1) – ROLEX GX – 2013
Patrick Pilet (1) – GTLM – 2015
Nick Tandy (1) – GTLM – 2015
Renger Van Der Zande (1) – PC – 2014
Toni Vilander (1) – ALMS GT – 2011

Previous IMSA Road Race Showcase Pole-Winning Drivers Since 2000 in 2019 Field (15)
Dirk Mueller (5) – ALMS GT2 – 2008; ALMS GT – 2011; GTLM – 2016; GTLM – 2017; GTLM – 2018
Oliver Gavin (4) – ALMS GTS – 2003; ALMS GT1 – 2005; ALMS GT1 – 2008; ALMS GT – 2010
James French (3) – PC – 2015; PC – 2016; PC – 2017
Jeroen Bleekemolen (2) – ALMS GTC – 2010; ALMS GTC – 2012
Jonathan Bomarito (2) – ALMS GT – 2013; P/Overall – 2016
Joey Hand (2) – ALMS GT2 – 2009; P/Overall – 2015
Ricky Taylor (2) – ROLEX DP – 2011; P/Overall – 2017
Earl Bamber (1) – GTLM 2015
Colin Braun (1) – ALMS LMPC – 2013
Dane Cameron (1) – ROLEX DP – 2013
Ryan Dalziel (1) – P/Overall – 2014
John Edwards (1) – GTLM – 2014
Patrick Lindsey (1) – GTD – 2015
Patrick Long (1) – GTD – 2018
Jan Magnussen (1) – ALMS GT1 – 2007

Previous IMSA Road Race Showcase Winning Teams Since 2000 in 2019 Field (13)
Corvette Racing – 7
Chip Ganassi Racing – 4
Action Express – 3
CORE autosport – 3
Team RLL – 3
Turner Motorsport – 3
Team Penske – 2
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports – 2
Riley Motorsports – 2
Starworks Motorsport – 2
AIM Vasser Sullivan – 1
Performance Tech Motorsports – 1
Wright Motorsports – 1

Previous IMSA Road Race Showcase Winning Manufacturers Since 2000 in 2019 Field (9)
Chevrolet – 13
Porsche – 12
BMW – 9
Audi – 7
Ferrari – 5
Ford- 5
Nissan – 4
Acura – 3
Mazda – 2