Peregrine Racing Announces Three-Series Program for 2023
Peregrine to Compete in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and Firestone INDY NXT
Denver, Colorado. (Jan, 12, 2023) - Peregrine Racing is excited to announce their full-season return to IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (IMPC) with Carbahn Motorsports in 2023! This year's campaign features veteran drivers Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister behind the wheel of the #39 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport entry for Peregrine Racing. Kicking off in Daytona with the first of two four-hour races this season, the series will also debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with a four-hour race in September. Both Westphal and McAlister are tenured in the IMSA paddock and have their sights set on contending for the IMPC GS championship title in 2023. Nolan Siegel, who finished second in the LMP3 class at the 2022 Motul Petit Le Mans, will accompany the two in the four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge At Daytona.
“As we embark on the sixth year of Carbahn with Peregrine Racing in IMSA, I am particularly looking forward to the new challenge of getting acquainted with our Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport and diving back into the depths of the IMPC GS field,” said Westphal, the 2019 GS Champion. “The series has stellar car counts, and has created some of my more fond memories behind the wheel due to the proximity of the cars at all times during the race. This team is, and has proven to be, a force in any championship we compete in and I credit that to our owners and engineers for demanding excellence!”
“I'm extremely excited to be joining Peregrine Racing for a full season of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge!” McAlister said. “I'm also thrilled to be joining Jeff Westphal, my coach for the first 6 years of my career and good friend, in this effort for a run at the championship. We've had success in the past when we first drove together in an endurance race, the California 8 Hours at Laguna Seca, and he's helped develop my driving to what it is today.”
Peregrine Racing will complement their IMPC campaign with an entry in the newly-announced IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, where Mark Siegel and Sameer Gandhi will pilot the #93 Porsche 718 Cayman Clubsport GT4 RS. The new series, comprised of GT4 and LMP3 single-driver entries, supports the IMPC schedule alongside the IMSA schedule. Team founders Siegel and Gandhi, who will share driving duties throughout the season, have a history of racing together under the Peregrine Racing banner and are ready to bring a new chapter to the team’s portfolio of competition.
“We are looking forward to another season of partnership with Steve Dinan and the team at Carbahn Motorsports,” said Siegel. “We’re taking on a new challenge this season, running the Porsche in two different series. Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister will have their eyes on the IMPC Championship, which we hope to reclaim after our win in 2019, and Sameer and myself will be driving in the VP Series against a competitive field of other gentleman drivers. We had last season to learn the new car, and I'm confident that this year we'll be able to keep it at the pointy end of the field.”
“After a year of the Carbahn with Peregrine crew learning this Porsche GT4 car,” Gandhi said, “I’m excited at the possibilities this season holds. Even though we won’t be driving on the same weekends, Mark and I have been driving together since the beginning of this team and I’m very comfortable sharing the car with him in the VP Racing sprint series this year. On the IMPC side, I expect us to compete for the title this year. Jeff won it back in 2019, so he knows what it takes, and the addition of a driver like Sean to the team only strengthens our chances!”
The green and black of Peregrine Racing will be on display in a new series in 2023, as Nolan Siegel will be racing in the Firestone INDY NXT Series with reigning champions HMD Motorsports. Coming off a strong fourth-place finish in the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 season, which included six podiums and two wins, the 18-year-old Californian is ready to take on INDY NXT, the final step on the ladder to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Siegel has already had a chance to compete in the category, driving with HMD in last season’s final round at Laguna Seca. During that doubleheader weekend, Siegel finished practice in the second position and placed inside the top ten in both races, despite minimal time behind the wheel prior to the weekend. Siegel’s entry means that Peregrine Racing will have a presence in both the IMSA and INDYCAR paddocks in 2023.
“I am very excited to be joining HMD Motorsports in the INDY NXT championship for 2023 in the #39 Carbahn with Peregrine car,” said Siegel. “We’ve gotten some good offseason testing in and we’re feeling strong and ready to get going in St. Pete! I’ll have a couple more days in the car to test the new Firestone tire, but I can’t wait for the racing action to start in March. Let’s go!”
Peregrine Racing’s 2023 season will kick off with the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and VP Racing Fuels Sportscar Challenge at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway on January 21-22, 2023. The Firestone INDY NXT Series kicks off on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on March 5, 2023. Follow along on Peregrine Racing’s social media channels for team announcements and race weekend coverage.
