The penultimate Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA® Super Tour (HST) of the year will take place June 2-4, 2023, at Watkins Glen International (WGI) in New York. This three-day event is hosted by SCCA’s Glen Region, and spectators are invited to catch all the action trackside Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A weekend pass is $30, or $25 for Sunday admission. Kids 12 years old and younger are admitted free.
For those who can’t make it to WGI for the weekend, follow all the racing online for free thanks to Hoosier Super Tour’s enhanced video package. The familiar voices of motorsport commentators Gregg Ginsberg and Larry MacLeod will provide play-by-play commentary, and DriversEye Live will present the video broadcast featuring up to 12 cameras – plus in-car video where possible.
Coverage is streamed live via the SCCA Official YouTube channel and SCCA Inc. Facebook page. Post-race video interviews with some winners, and victory podium celebrations, can also be viewed at the SCCA Road Racing Facebook page. As usual, Live Timing and Scoring can be monitored throughout the June 2-4 weekend at www.scca.com/live.
Live Timing/Scoring and Broadcast
Goings-On at The Glen
The HST event at WGI will be held on the full 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit – which includes use of The Boot and Inner Loop. However, this year’s schedule will be a bit different than that of previous years as organizers explore a different way to execute on-track activities over a weekend.
The first difference will be seen Friday morning. No longer will competitors open their Friday at WGI with a practice session. Instead, things start off Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET with 25-minute qualifying sessions for each of the eight run groups. That will be followed later in the day with a second 25-minute qualifying session for five of the eight run groups. The remaining three run groups will then have their second qualifying session starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
Once all groups have had two qualifying sessions, it’s time to go racing. The first contest is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. local time on Saturday, and all eight run groups will have 25-minute races on that day.
A full day of racing will take place Sunday starting at 8:30 a.m. local time. Races that day for each of the eight run groups will be 35-minutes or 14-laps in length, whichever comes first. The full weekend schedule for WGI can be reviewed by clicking the button below.
Competitors at WGI
The Super Tour at WGI sees its usual well-subscribed Spec Miata (SM) class with around 35 entries. Those drivers will make up the second run group, which includes several heavy hitters. Runoffs SM champion Nicholas Bruni will be there, as well as Travis Wiley and Chris Ciufo who split weekend wins at WGI last year.
Spec Racer® Ford Gen3 (SRF3) also has quite a number of entrants for its fifth run group. Those 30 drivers will undoubtedly put on a show, and keep an eye on Charles Russell Turner, who won Saturday’s SRF3 race at WGI last year. Of course, don’t count out Bobby Sak, Todd Vanacore, Denny Stripling, and a host of others capable of claiming victory.
Formula Enterprises®2 (FE2) will be a fantastic class to watch in the sixth run group. Charles Russell Turner – winner of an FE2 race at WGI last year – is in that nine-car, open-cockpit field, but this year, he’ll have just completed the SRF3 race before jumping into his FE2 car, potentially bringing in fatigue as a factor. Going back-to-back in events means he’ll see 50 consecutive minutes of racing on Saturday, and 70 consecutive minutes on Sunday.
The seventh run group will be made up of only the Super Touring® Lite (STL) and Super Touring Under (STU) classes. There are nearly a dozen entrants in STL, including Amy Mills and Christopher Childs, who split victories last year at the WGI HST stop. STU has another eight entrants that include Anthony Geraci and Darin Treakle, two drivers who split wins last year in the class. But as always, there are several other drivers in both STL and STU who could easily be running at the front of the pack.
The “big bore” cars in run group eight are always a joy to watch at WGI. There we’ll see 10 GT-2 cars, one of which is driven by Kevin Allen who won Saturday’s HST race at WGI last year. And Touring 1 (T1) has nine entries, with defending Runoffs T1 champion Andrew Aquilante being the one to watch in that class.
For an up-to-date entry list or other information, check out the Watkins Glen Hoosier Super Tour event webpage.
Photo by Jeff Loewe
