NORWALK, Ohio – American Endurance Racing has released its Summit Racing Endurance Championship Series schedule.
The six-race season begins Feb. 14-16 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga. Additional events are scheduled for PittRace on April 3-5, Watkins Glen Int’l on May 8-10, New Jersey Motorsports Park on June 26-28, Summit Point Motorsports Park on Sept. 11-13 and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Oct. 23-25.
The Endurance Championship Series is designed for amateur drivers who want to try their hand at endurance racing. Every race in the series has multiple classes with cars grouped based on their qualifying times, creating an even playing field. Competition is intense, but not at the expense of having fun.
Any production-based car built for road racing qualifies. You’ll see everything from BMWs and Porsches to Subaru WRXs, Mustangs, Mazda Miatas, and even the odd Honda Civic.
Classes are set based on the cars that compete at each race. AER looks for groups of cars based on each car’s fastest qualifying lap time plotted on a timeline. AER has developed its own software to monitor lap times. If a car is running considerably faster or slower than the rest of the class it is in, AER has the option to move it to a more appropriate class during the race.
Most events run from Friday to Sunday. Qualifying is on Friday afternoon where every driver runs at least five laps in the car they will be driving. There is a seven- to nine-hour race on both Saturday and Sunday, with mandatory stops based on the length of the race to give teams a reasonable and safe amount of time to change drivers, fuel and service the car, etc. If your team is organized, you can fill your car with five gallon fuel jugs in three minutes and be competitive.
Anyone with a racing license with a major sanctioning body, a driver who has competed in five 24 Hours of LeMons or Champ Car races or a driver with a proven record of substantial track time or has previously done other types of racing are allowed to compete.
Cars that are eligible to race include any production-based race car built to compete in sanctioned road racing with the SCCA, NASA, IMSA, World Challenge or similar organizations, top Champ Cars, including EC, or Class A LeMons cars.