The first-ever weekend of racing for the Collegiate Racing Series (CRS) kicks off this Saturday, with a trio of races concluding the opening rounds of the season on Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Preliminarily, five drivers are entered to compete in the CRS A-Series, the championship’s top class, which features modern Mazda MX-5s similar to those used in IMSA’s Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup. Alongside the A-Series, the B-Series serves as the series’ open-development division. While the class does not feature a season-long championship, competitors will still be recognized with post-race podium ceremonies.
The five drivers initially entered in the A-Series, which will crown the series’ first season-long champion, are Sebastian Piloto, driving for the University of Cincinnati’s Queen City Racing; Jacob Mink, representing the University of Tennessee’s Rocky Top Racing; Riley Haig, driving for Virginia Tech’s Gobbler Racing; Ellis Vance, competing for Rice Motorsports Team; and series founder Jack Hobbs, who will drive for Clemson Tiger Racing.
While only five drivers are currently listed, teams are expected to field multi-driver lineups throughout the season, particularly for the endurance races.
The weekend begins on Saturday, August 1, with a pair of practice sessions lasting 25 and 20 minutes, respectively. Before the official sessions, competitors will also have the opportunity to participate in two 25-minute test-and-tune sessions. The day concludes with a 15-minute qualifying session.
On Sunday, August 2, CRS will host its first three races of the season, beginning with Race No. 1, a 20-minute sprint, at 9:40 a.m. ET. Race No. 2, a 25-minute sprint, follows at 2:10 p.m. ET before the weekend concludes with Race No. 3, an 80-minute endurance race, at 3:40 p.m. ET. All three races will be streamed live on the official Collegiate Racing Series YouTube channel.
