Detroit Set to Welcome IMSA Sprint Cup

While iconic endurance events like the Daytona 24, Sebring 12, and 6 Hours of the Glen have a well-established place on the calendar, the IMSA schedule also features races that bring the intensity of sprint racing. For 2019, IMSA launched a new championship within a championship called the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Championship comprised of seven races that are less than three hours long. Scuderia Corsa will hope to add another title to Ferrari’s long legacy by taking the inaugural Sprint Cup, which will stage the next round of competition this weekend in Detroit.  Sharing the No. 63 WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3, Cooper MacNeil and Toni Vilander will head to the streets of Belle Isle Park in the Sports Car Classic on Saturday, June 1. Ferrari will be represented in the 15-car entry for the GTD class, with the Detroit race not awarding points for the season GTD championship. “I’m looking forward to running Detroit,” MacNeil said. “It’s always a fun race track to go to, and there’s always good, hard racing there on the street course. It’s pretty interesting.” MacNeil and Vilander are seventh in the Sprint Cup points after the opening round at Mid-Ohio, 11 points behind the leader. “I think having the Sprint Cup as an additional championship makes a pretty deep field even deeper,” MacNeil said. “It’s a positive step.” Saturday’s 100-minute event will run with the DPi class on the 14-turn, 2.3-mile temporary circuit at Belle Isle Park. GTD on-track activity opens with Friday practice at 8:45 a.m. and 12:40 p.m. (all times ET), followed by qualifying at 5:20 p.m. Saturday’s schedule begins with a 20-minute warm-up at 8:20 a.m. The race will be televised live on NBCSN, beginning Saturday at 12:30 p.m.