California Dreaming Sonoma and Laguna Seca Race Recap
It was clean sweeps at Sonoma and Laguna Seca for overall honors – different drivers and cars. For all three Sonoma races SCOTT BLIND#45 Ruckus Racing/Archangel Motorsports took the wins which he repeated in the 4 liter category at Laguna Seca in sprint race 2 and the enduro however overall race victories at Laguna Seca went to ALAN METNI #91 Kelly Moss Racing with Riley Motorsports who swept the weekend winning all three races.
JUAN GONZALEZ #81 Car Amigo (red Mission Foods car) raced at both California events and was a huge supporter of International GT going to the West Coast. Juan was the winner of Sprint race 1 in Sonoma and took a pair of seconds in the sprint races at Laguna Seca. His son JUAN GONZALEZ JR #81X Car Amigo (blue Mission Foods car) also raced at Sonoma but ran into car woes early on and wasn’t able to run the entire event.
TOM MCGLYNN #84 901 Shop got a new race car stepping up to the GT 3.8 category and won his first sprint race at Sonoma! He then had a few growing pains with the new car at Sonoma but he came back strong the next week at Laguna Seca. He won both sprint races in his category and partnered with 901 Shop boss Brady Refenning to place second in the enduro.
Speaking of new cars, a disappointing run/not run at Sonoma had Quirt Racing sourcing a new car for MICHAEL WILLIAMS #77 to compete at Laguna Seca. In exceptional Quirt fashion, he got the job done and Michael had a new car in Monterey.
Going from loading dock to grid is a big challenging – Michael made it!
There is more to learn with the new car but Michael had a great weekend at Laguna!
We saw the return of PAT HEPTIG Quirt Racing to International GT competition in California. He swept the GT 3.6 category #71 in his blue and orange liveried Porsche.
Also enjoying both International GT West Coast events from Quirt Racing were MARIA MEJIA #11 and QUIRT SMITH #111. Maria swept the wins at Sonoma in the Stuttgart Cup category and took a second and third in the sprint races at Laguna. More importantly Maria left California with the championship points lead for Stuttgart Cup. Our thanks go to Quirt for his support of the California races. Obviously from this report he was a big part of the success of the two events.
Laguna Seca Corkscrew
One of the most iconic shots in all of motorsports racing – the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. KEVIN MAXIM #18 capped off his Laguna Seca weekend in style with a win in the Stuttgart Cup Cayman 3.8 category in Sunday’s enduro.
STEVEN THOMAS #711 Pinnacle Racing repeated his winning ways from the International GT season opener at Sebring, winning all three races at Laguna Seca. DAVID HAMPTON #14 was part of a strong Cayman field at Laguna Seca.
Racing a pair of similar liveried cars, the ISRINGHAUSENs, GEOFF in #811 and GEOFF JR. #181 were on the podium for all three Laguna Seca races. Geoff won the second sprint in the Mission Foods GT Cup 4.0 liter category and was second in sprint race 1 and the enduro. While Geoff Jr racing in a 3.8 Stuttgart Cup Cayman finished second in both sprint races and third in the enduro.
BILL EARON #95 joined us at Laguna Seca in his Mission Foods and stood on the podium in sprint race 2 and the enduro.
We welcomed back SCOTT DAIGER #47 to International GT competition at Laguna Seca. We’ve missed West Coaster (Seattle) but sure that he was glad to have a race closer to home. Scott had an outstanding weekend taking a pair of seconds in the sprint races and winning the enduro!
International GT had a couple Lamborghinis join us for the Laguna Seca round and leading the pack was TOM CAPRIZZI #49.
What they are saying about the California Events #Racecation
Stuttgart Cup Championship points leader MARIA MEJIA had just one thing to say after a successful run in California… #RACECATION
“Beautiful setting, amazing views, fast & technical tracks… and some good California wines to relax after trying to learn these amazing tracks! Looking forward to 2024 #RACECATION”
Maria Mejia
JUAN GONZALEZ, a veteran of the series and long time sponsor and marketing partner plus one of the competitors who raced International GT events at Sonoma and Laguna Seca said, “I enjoyed racing at both race tracks. I look forward to IGT continuing to promote these two events so we can have our footprint in the West Coast.”
Juan Gonzalez
SCOTT BLIND, Mission Foods GT3 Cup Championship points leader said, “The West Coast race trip was fantastic, so happy that IGT put Sonoma and Laguna on the calendar. It was my first time racing on the West Coast and I couldn’t be happier that the crew and I made the trip. The tracks speak for themselves. Both iconic tracks rated in the top ten, in many cases top 5, road courses in the US, so that put them on my bucket list. I want to thank IGT as well as our IGT competitors for making the trip!”
Scott Blind
Mid Ohio June 22-25, 2023
We are coming up on one of our most popular races of the year at Mid Ohio.
Click on the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course logo to link to registration and see the event schedule.
If you have any questions regarding registration contact Julie@InternationalGT or call 770-380-7770.
Chris Green Photography
Chris Green is the official series photographer for International GT.
Click on the COTA photo to link to Chris’s site.
Chris was not able to be at the California races however if you contact him, he can assist in getting photography for those two events.
Market Place
Do you have something to sell, looking for something to purchase? Use our Marketplace to promote your race car, transporter or equipment. It’s free to International GT participants.
Pirelli Tire Orders
We are proud to partner with Pirelli Tires as the exclusive provider to all International GT events. All Pirelli tire orders for IGT events must be placed with Frisby Tires. Frisby is at track at all IGT events to service our participants.
Click on the tire photo to link to the Frisby site for IGT orders or call (800)373-7390.
2023 Schedule
