Whether you’ve been following IMSA for its 50 years, or it’s
your first race, this is the refresher you need to enjoy a weekend of
multi-class sportscar racing at Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The exciting weekend
begins on Thursday, June 27 with the GT3 Cup and ends on Sunday, June 30 with the
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but don’t worry, there’s a lot of action in
between.
The first thing you’ll want to know about is the races
themselves, so you can be in your seat at the right times and so you can be the
one to explain what is happening on track to first time fans. Here’s a
breakdown of the races:
Porsche GT3 Cup
Challenge USA by Yokohama and Lamborghini Super Trofeo
Friday 2:00 PM, 4:45 PM & Saturday 9:20 AM, 10:25 AM
In the GT3 Cup, drivers range in skill from amateur to
professional and they drive Porsche 911s. This race isn’t long, so you’ll want
to stay close to your seat for the 45 minutes of excitement. The Lamborghini
Super Trofeo series is a 50 minute race and drivers are classified by “Pro”,
“Pro-Am” and “Am”. The classes describe
whether the teams are made of professional drivers, amateur drivers or both. They
race in the powerful Huracan Super Trofeo EVO.
Michelin Pilot
Challenge Tioga Downs Casino Resort 240 - Saturday 1:55 PM
The Tioga Downs Casino Resort 240 is separated into 2
classes (Grand Sport and TCR), differentiated by speed and modifications of
cars. The drivers are in teams of two for this race, each doing a few stints
for the four hour race. A stint could be 30 minutes to an hour. There are no
Prototypes in the Tioga Downs 240, so all of the cars are similar to what you
would see on the street. In this race, you’ll want to watch for Syracuse native
Brandon Kidd in the #97 Invisible Glass Aston Martin for Automatic Racing.
WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship - Sunday 9:45 AM
For the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, drivers race in
teams of two or three. One driver will start the race and be on the track for a
stint and then their teammate takes over. This pattern continues for the six
hours of the race. Similar to the Tioga Downs Casino Resort 240, there are
three classes within the WeatherTech Championship: Prototypes, GT Le Mans and
GT Daytona.
Some of the Prototypes you will see on track are made by
Acura, Cadillac, Mazda and Nissan. These cars are fast, reaching a top speed of
200 mph and generating 600 horsepower. BMW, Corvette, Ford, Porsche and Ferrari
are some of the featured manufacturers for GT Le Mans with speeds of 180 mph
and 525 horsepower and the GT Daytona class features Lexus, Acura, Audi,
Mercedes, Porsche, Lamborghini and BMW.
The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is split between
“Pro” and “Pro-Am”, similar to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series. To help
fans differentiate between the two, there is a color system for the cars. The
“Pro” series GT cars have red markings along the car and the “Pro-Am” series
cars are differentiated with green markings in the GTD class.
One team to keep an eye out for is the 2018 winner of Sahlen’s
Six Hours of The Glen, JDC-Miller Motorsports. This year they swapped out last
year’s #99 Red Dragon, for the #85 Banana Boat, so you’ll want to look for them
in yellow on race day. Other drivers to look for are Andy Lally and Joao Barbosa.
They are the winningest active drivers at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen
with four wins each.
Best Spots to Watch
From
One of the best aspects about the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The
Glen is the length of the race. This gives you the opportunity to make your way
around the track and get different views of these high speed sportscars. Below
are spots around the track you’ll want to make sure you watch from:
The Esses Party Deck
Sir Jackie Stewart Grandstand
Esses Grandstand
The Boot
The Bus Stop
Argetsinger Grandstand
A must for the weekend is visiting the open paddock for a
behind the scenes look of the cars and crews. You’ll also want to check out the
pre-race on Saturday and Sunday where there will be an open grid fan walk, a
great opportunity to get up close to the cars and drivers! When you are ready
for a mid-race break (six hours is a long time), head over to a concession
stand for $1 Sahlen’s hot dogs, because what better way to watch a race than
with a hot dog? And they will be good, Sahlen’s has had 150 years of practice.
There will be a lot happening at Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, on and off track, that you won't want to miss. For the full weekend schedule click here.
Buy your tickets now for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen
weekend, June 27th – June 30th. General admission tickets for the weekend
and Sunday are available for purchase at www.theglen.com or by phone at
1-866-461-RACE today.