Hyundai Win Streak and Driver Changes of Note in 39-Car Watkins Glen Entry List
By Tony DiZinno
Entry List (Click Here)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Changes to IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Touring Car (TCR) title-contending lineups highlight the notable shifts race-to-race from the O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio to this week’s LP Building Solutions 120 at Watkins Glen International.
The global endurance sports car racing calendar has had a historic run of races this year, with 24-hour races at Le Mans, the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps on three consecutive June weekends. As Hyundai Motorsport is also going for a TCR class win in Germany, it’s had a knock-on effect on two IMSA TCR title contenders.
Bryson Morris (No. 33 Hyundai Elantra N TCR) and Mason Filippi (No. 98 Hyundai) will head to the ‘Ring’ to race alongside Robert Wickens and Michael Lewis in the Hyundai Motorsport-entered car in TCR. A three-time Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR champion (2019, 2021, 2022), Lewis resumes racing for the first time after an injury sidelined him in late 2023.
At Watkins Glen, that means two IMSA veterans will be back in action filling their seats. Taylor Hagler, a two-time TCR champion (2021, 2022), shares the No. 33 Hyundai alongside Mark Wilkins. Additionally, Harry Gottsacker shares the No. 98 Hyundai with longtime friend Parker Chase. Both drivers make their season debut.
Team co-owner Bryan Herta will have a three-pronged weekend himself. His longtime business partner Sean Jones will be with the Hyundai effort at the Nürburgring while longtime BHA team manager Phil Howard will run the four-car armada at Watkins Glen; these four cars are the top four in the championship heading into the race. Herta won’t be at either; he’ll be working on the pit box as strategist for Kyle Kirkwood’s Andretti Global Indy Car at their Road America race.
The team’s No. 76 Hyundai of Denis Dupont and Preston Brown leads the No. 98 of Gottsacker and Filippi, the Mid-Ohio winners, by just 10 points – or essentially one position on-track – heading into Watkins Glen.
Elsewhere in the 17-car TCR field, the No. 55 Gou Racing Cupra Leon VZ TCR returns after missing Mid-Ohio, and Baker Racing adds a second car – the No. 56 Audi RS3 LMS TCR for Dean Baker and Bruno Junqueira – this race. The full-season No. 52 Baker Racing Audi driven mainly by James Vance along with Sam Baker has quietly leapt to fifth in TCR points this year as the best non-Herta Hyundai.
The 22-car GS field is a little more straightforward. The No. 4 CarBahn BMW M4 GT4 EVO and No. 54 Panam Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 are back for the first time since Sebring and Monterey, respectively. Mid-Ohio polesitters AR Motorsports, with its No. 14 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS and Bronze Cup winners Kingpin Racing, with its No. 53 Toyota, are among those that drop off.
Michelin Pilot Challenge has two one-hour practice sessions, one apiece on Thursday and Friday, before qualifying Friday afternoon and racing Saturday at 11:45 a.m. ET. Race coverage streams on Peacock and globally, ad-free courtesy of Michelin, on the IMSA Official YouTube channel.
Fast Facts
LP Building Solutions 120
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, New York
June 19-21, 2025
Race Day/Time: Saturday, June 21, 11:45 a.m. ET
Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 11:40 a.m. ET (available outside the U.S. on IMSA.tv and globally via IMSA Official YouTube channel)
Circuit Type: 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course
Classes Competing: Grand Sport (GS), Touring Car (TCR)
Race Length: Two hours
Michelin Pilot Challenge Track Records
- GS: Devin Jones, BMW M4 GT4, 1:54.077 / 107.295 mph, June 2019 (Race)
- TCR: Mat Pombo, Honda Civic FL5 TCR, 1:55.096 / 106.346 mph, June 2023 (Qualifying)
2024 LP Building Solutions 120 Winners
- GS: Matt Plumb/Paul Holton, No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4
- TCR: Mikey Taylor/Chris Miller, No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR
Storylines
- Who’s Stopping Hyundai?: The Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai team has been, by all measures, the pre-eminent squad in TCR this year. The team has won four of four TCR races this season and the last two of 2024, so enter Watkins Glen with a six-race win streak. Entries from Audi, Honda and the returning Cupra will look to put an end to that run of form at “The Glen,” and may have a good shot since a Herta Hyundai has not won there since 2022.
- GS Winner Parity: It hasn’t shown up on the point standings since the championship-leading No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS has four podiums in as many races. But GS is a perfect four-for-four of different winning entries in 2025, with the No. 44 Ibiza Farm McLaren, No. 39 CarBahn BMW, No. 28 RS1 Porsche and No. 95 Turner BMW having won the first four races of the year. Can another new winner get on the board, or will we see our first repeat winner in GS?
Who’s Hot?
- Turner Motorsport: Will Turner’s squad has five Watkins Glen Michelin Pilot Challenge wins, with four in GS going back 20 years to 2005. The team just won its record-setting 30th GS class race last time out at Mid-Ohio, its first Michelin Pilot Challenge win since Watkins Glen 2023.
- RS1 Porsche, Herta Hyundai: Both points leading teams have been off to excellent 2025 starts. The No. 28 RS1 Porsche has four podiums from four starts in GS and a 220-point lead. In TCR, the Herta Hyundai team has eight of a possible 12 podiums, including all four race wins and three of four poles.
Who’s Good Here?
- Stevan McAleer: The Scotsman has a pair of ST wins and a GS class win in the Finger Lakes region. He’ll go for another GS win as part of Auto Technic Racing’s lineup in its No. 27 BMW M4 GT4 EVO with Austin Krainz.
- Ryan Eversley: A two-time Watkins Glen IMSA winner, much of Eversley’s sports car success traces to this track across multiple classes. With IMSA 3D Scholarship recipient Celso Neto, the pair will be one to watch in the No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS3 LMS TCR.