INDIANAPOLIS — Riley Dickinson closed out the second annual Porsche Sports Car Together Fest with his first win in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Presented by the Cayman Islands.
The native of New Braunfels, Texas, bested a field of 33 of the best Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car drivers in the world to earn his debut victory in the series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Included on that stout entry list was NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon who made his first two starts in the premier one-make racing series piloting the No. 24 Hendrick Performance Group machine. The four-time NASCAR Cup champion nearly had a top-10 finish in class on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course at “The World Capital of Racing”.
The 2021 class champion Efrin Castro won his seventh Pro-Am class race of the season in the No. 65 Kelly Moss Porsche while Mark Kvamme raced the No. 43 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to his fourth-straight Am class win.
The all-Porsche race series now travels to Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to decide the second recipient of the Al Holbert Cup, awarded to the overall champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
The final two 40-minute races of the season will decide the champions in each of the three classes.
Pro Class
In earning his inaugural victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Dickinson became the fifth driver to win in the two-year-old series. Despite being among the youngest drivers in the championship at age 20, Dickinson has been a threat for every Carrera Cup North America race since the series debuted in 2021.
The driver of the No. 53 earned his breakout win today at The Brickyard. He leapt into the lead from third-place on the opening laps and staved off his Kelly Moss teammate van Berlo for the remainder of the 40-minute race.
“I can’t thank everyone at Kelly Moss enough for everything they do. I am still out of breath. I am going to enjoy this one a little bit. I have always said: everything happens for a reason. It all makes sense today. Winning my first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is that reason. This is a surreal moment,” Dickinson said.
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain regular Matty Graham earned his first podium in North America after finishing fourth in his debut yesterday in the No. 91 MDK Motorsports Porsche. Today’s fourth-place went to TJ Fischer in the No. 58 Topp Racing Porsche while Leh Keen brought home fifth-place for the 311 RS Motorsports No. 12 program.
For the first time since the green flag for race one at Sebring International Raceway, Kay van Berlo entered a Carrera Cup North America race not as the points leader. That honor went to Parker Thompson who, by virtue of his win in Saturday’s Carrera Cup feature, entered round 14 with an 11-point lead.
However, that changed shortly into the race as the driver of the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche was out of the race with a damaged car. That same incident took out Trenton Estep who had to park the No. 6 MDK Motorsports Porsche with substantial damage as a result of contact with the road course’s first turn tire wall.
Estep, who entered the day in third-place, held on to the position despite finishing 33rd in the race.
Pro-Am Class
For the fourth time in five Porsche Carrera Cup races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2021 Pro-Am champion Efrin Castro stood on the top of the podium. The driver of the No. 65 bettered his main rival Alan Metni, who finished just behind his Kelly Moss teammate in second place.
“I want to give thanks to the Man Above for this victory. I also want to give thanks to my team at Kelly Moss for such an amazing job. All the Pro-Am drivers come, and they fight and they make me push my limits. This is one of the best series in Pro-Am. The field is full of talented drivers. I am blessed to be racing against them,” Castro said.
Third went to Curt Swearingin behind the wheel of the No. 17 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
Am Class
Kvamme continues to be a juggernaut at the front of the Am class charging to his ninth win of the season.
Despite the two Porsche Sports Car Together Fest class victories, his competition for the title are staying close. John Goetz raced to a second-place finish in the No. 55 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Third-place went to Bill Smith in the No. 42 Topp Racing Porsche.
The weekend had a dramatic impact on the points standings, tightening an already narrow gap between first and fourth. With van Berlo scoring no points on Saturday, Thompson and Estep scoring none on Sunday and Dickinson taking a win on Sunday, the four title contenders for the Pro class championship are now separated by only 47 points.