79 IMSA entries on the preliminary list for Lone Star Le Mans

The preliminary entry lists for the IMSA Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, shows 40 entries for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, and 39 for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

The race will be held September 17-19 on the 3.4-mile course, along with the FIA World Endurance Championship’s only U.S. appearance of the season. Also in action: The Porsche GT3 Cup USA series, and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series.

Saturday, September 19 will be a long day for dedicated fans: Racing starts at 8 a.m. for the TUDOR Championship warm-up, with the two-hour, 40-minite race starting at 11:35 a.m. CT. That race ends at 2:15 p.m., and the six-hour FIA WEC races starts at 5 p.m., and ends at 11 p.m. It could be an especially long day for TUDOR Championship GT Le Mans Porsche drivers Pierre Kaffer, Patrick Pilet and Earl Bamber, who are entered in the WEC race, too.

Flying Lizard back

In TUDOR Championship, Flying Lizard returns with Mike Vess and Jason Hart s the drivers, piloting an Audi R8 LMS. And the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Dodge Viper, with Dan Knox and Marc Goosens driving, is new to the field in a Viper GT3R.

In the Prototype class, Starworks has an entry, but it’s likely they won’t compete, instead running two cars in Prototype Challenge. Both Mazda SKYACTIV diesel Prototypes are entered, and we are told both are expected to run. Mazda has been running only one car.

Dwyer returns

In the Continental Tire series, there are 14 Grand Sport and 25 Street Tuner entries. Liam Dwyer, who had been leading the points in ST in the Mazda MX-5 he co-drives with Andrew Carbonell, is expected to return after missing the Virginia International Raceway event. Dwyer, the former Marine injured in the line of duty, lost a leg and drives with a prosthesis, and a skin disorder prevented him from using his prosthesis at VIR.

This is the first of four FIA WEC races that are outside Europe. There are 31 entries. American drivers include Scott Sharp, Ed Brown, Johannes van Overbeek and Jon Fogarty all racing for the Tequila Patron-sponsored Extreme Speed Motorsports team in LMP2.

In LMGTE Am actor-driver Patrick Dempsey and Porsche works driver Patrick Long have been enjoying success on the world stage after finishing on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.