Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen: What to know about IMSA's return to Watkins Glen
Watkins Glen International and IMSA will celebrate the opening weekend of summer with their traditional showcase of sports-car racing at the Schuyler County road course.
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen weekend will be capped by the title event Sunday, with the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race beginning at 10:40 a.m. Qualifying is set for 1:20 p.m. Saturday.
The weekend will include seven support races Friday and Saturday, highlighted by the Tioga Downs Casino Resort 120 at The Glen, an IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge event set for a 3:45 p.m. start Saturday. The Mazda MX-5 Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Lamborghini Trofeo series will each have two races Friday and Saturday.
This is the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series' seventh race of the season and round 3 of the four-round IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, which also includes the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and September's season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Nearly 200 cars at The Glen
The entry list for the Six Hours of The Glen includes 49 teams divided among five classes: Daytona Prototype international (DPi), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). GTD Pro was added to the series this year.
This will mark the largest field for the Six Hours of The Glen since the 2014 race included 53 cars. Last year's race showcased 38 cars after the 2020 event was moved to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta because of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact.
Total number of cars for the weekend is 194, including 44 in the Michelin Pilot Challenge.
New winning team guaranteed
Mazda fielded the winning overall and DPi team in the previous two WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races at Watkins Glen. But Mazda ended its IMSA Prototype program at the end of last year, shifting its focus to MX-5 Cup and grassroots racing.
Last year's winners at WGI were the trio of Oliver Jarvis, Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito. Of the three, Jarvis is the only one who will navigate a Prototype this weekend. He will join Tom Blomqvist in the Meyer Shank Racing W/Curb-Agajanian No. 60 Acura. Bomarito is teamed with Steven Thomas and Josh Pierson in the No. 11 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports LMP2. Tincknell is not competing.
Jarvis and Blomqvist have three consecutive second-place finishes this year after teaming with Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud to win the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona. They lead the series points race by 10 over the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor.
Along with Jarvis and Bomarito, other past top-class winners of the Six Hours of The Glen who are competing this weekend are Joao Barbosa (2012, 2013), Olivier Pla (2019) and Taylor (2011). Barbosa, Bill Auberlen and Andy Lally each have four class wins in the race.
Johnson, Montoya among familiar faces
Former NASCAR Cup Series standouts Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya are among those entered in the Six Hours of The Glen.
Johnson will join Mike Rockenfeller and Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi. Last year Johnson teamed with Kobayashi and Pagenauld for fifth place at WGI.
Johnson retired from the Cup Series after the 2020 season as a winner of seven series titles. He is racing a full IndyCar schedule this year, with a top finish of sixth at the Grand Prix of Texas.
"All in all, I have a lot of excitement to come back to Watkins Glen," Johnson said in an IMSA.com story. "It's a track and area that I really do enjoy. And to be on the track through the full loop ‒ the Boot ‒ I have not done that many times in all the trips that I've been there, so I'm excited to run the full-distance track."
Montoya is partnered with his son, Sebastian Montoya, and Henrik Hedman in the No. 81 DragonSpeed USA LMP2. Juan Pablo, the 2010 Cup winner at WGI, has competed in two IndyCar events this year, highlighted by an 11th-place finish at the Indianapolis 500.
TV Coverage
Peacock's streaming service will provide start-to-finish coverage of Sunday's Six Hours of The Glen, with USA Network showing the final three hours on cable starting at 2 p.m.
Tickets
Tickets are available at theglen.com. Weekend tickets are $110 for adults and $20 for ages 13-19. Sunday-only tickets are $100. Admission is free for those 12 and under.
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Watkins Glen International: Tickets, races, more for IMSA event
