The Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America makes its second appearance of the season with Rounds 3 and 4 to be held this weekend on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary circuit on the streets of Long Beach. This is the hometown race for the series with Porsche Motorsport North America based at the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles in nearby Carson.
Practice and qualifying for the one-make race series happen on Friday, with the first race Saturday and second race closing the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend on Sunday afternoon.
Capacity field: Thirty-five Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered at Long Beach. This is full capacity for the street event based on paddock and track space and is one greater than the debut event here in 2022. It is among the largest entry lists for any event ever held at Long Beach.
For full entry list, click here
Entries per Class: Pro 20, Pro-Am 10, Am 5.
Teams: 12 race teams are represented across all three classes.
Points Leaders
Pro: Riley Dickinson, Tom Sargent (-16), Will Martin (-25)
Pro-Am: Moisey Iretsky, Alan Metni (tied with 42), Marco Cirone (-8)
Am: Mark Kvamme, Scott Noble (-9), Jeff Majkrzak (-13)
Team: Kellymoss, McElrea Racing (-10), JDX Racing (-19), MDK Motorsports (-19)
Perfect Score: Riley Dickinson enters Long Beach with a perfect score of 56 points. The third- year Carrera Cup driver piloted his No. 53 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car to two overall victories, the pole position and fastest race lap in both rounds last month at Sebring International Raceway.
Team Leaders: Twelve teams have entered the 35 cars at Long Beach. Kellymoss has seven cars under its banner across the Pro and Pro-Am classes. MDK Motorsports brings six cars spread in all three classes. McCann Racing has three, two in Am and one in Pro-Am. JDX Racing enters three cars, all in Pro. Topp Racing has entered two cars in the Pro class and one in Pro-Am. ACI Motorsports, GMG Motorsports, McElrea Racing, Nolasport and Wright Motorsports each bring two cars. Accelerating Performance and Rearden Racing bring one machine apiece.
Golden State drivers: Three drivers call California their home: Thomas Merrill (Salinas), Kyle Washington (Indio) and Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley). GMG Racing is based in Santa Ana.
Junior class: Eight Porsche Junior Program North America drivers are entered: Elias De La Torre IV (JDX Racing), Riley Dickinson (Kellymoss), Jimmy Libre (MDK Motorsports), Will Martin (JDX), Thomas Nepveu (McElrea Racing), Thomas Sargent (McElrea), Sean Varwig (Kellymoss) and Travis Wiley (Topp Racing).
Command performance: Of the 2022 Long Beach winners, Alan Metni, who won the Pro-Am class for Race 1, John Goetz (Am class, Race 1) and Mark Kvamme (Am class, Race 2) are the only returning drivers. Kay van Berlo, who won both rounds overall last year, has moved up the pyramid and is co-driving the No. 91 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 R in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) class on Saturday with Metni.
Broadening the field: PT Autosport, which competes under the JDX Racing banner with driver Alex Sedgwick (No. 98, Pro), is providing opportunities for racers from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds. Earlier this month, the team opened online applications for its second annual Aspiring Driver Shootout, to be held at New Jersey Motorsports Park Aug. 1-3. The shootout winner will be granted a $100,000 racing partnership and begin his or her progression up the motorsports ladder. 2022 winner, Henry Drury, will begin his racing program this summer.
Broadcast: All races air on the Peacock streaming app, on IMSA.com/TVLIve and at PorscheCarreraCup.us, and are archived on Porsche Motorsport North America TV: (https://youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica).
On the Web: PorscheCarreraCup.us.
Schedule (All times Eastern)
Friday: Practice 1, 10:45–11:15 a.m.; Practice 2, 2:15-2:55 p.m.; Qualifying, 7:30-8 p.m.
Saturday: Race 1, 8:15-8:55 p.m.
Sunday: Race 2, 7:20-8 p.m.