Record Pace and Intense Racing Highlight GRIDLIFE Summer Apex at Watkins Glen
Allen Patten leads Sasha Anis into turn 10 at Watkins Glen.
Watkins Glen, NY – GRIDLIFE’s Summer Apex Festival at Watkins Glen International delivered plenty of entertainment on and off the track last weekend, marking the series’ first return to Upstate New York since 2023. With first-time winners in Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup (GLTC), track records reset in every TrackBattle class, full-course drifting, a record-breaking RUSH field, and performances from T-Pain, BUNT, DJ Diesel, and more on the NOS Energy Main Stage, Summer Apex delivered an event to remember.
DeWitt, McGrew Continue TrackBattle Dominance
GRIDLIFE TrackBattle drivers wasted little time attacking the Watkins Glen records, with nearly every class record falling during Friday morning’s opening session. Many of the previous marks had been set during the series’ 2023 visit, when rain limited competitors to just a handful of dry heats.
Missing from Heat 1 was Street Mod championship leader Dewey DeWitt, who broke the input shaft in the sequential transmission of his 1995 Subaru Impreza, “Boogeyman.” Without time to source a replacement sequential gearset, the team found an OEM six-speed manual transmission and installed it in time for Saturday and Sunday’s sessions.
Allen Patten, Mike Dusold, and Sasha Anis arrived prepared for one of the most highly anticipated Unlimited battles in recent GRIDLIFE history. Patten’s Louis Gigliotti-built C7 Corvette was plagued by tire failures early in the weekend, and the discovery of rod-bearing material in the engine oil later prompted the team to replace the engine overnight.
Mike Dusold’s 1967 Chevrolet Camaro.
Allen Patten crests the hill into turn 8.
Anis’ 350z, nicknamed KELS, jumps the curbs through the Inner Loop.
Dusold and Patten traded the top spot twice throughout the weekend, but it was Dusold’s 1967 Chevrolet Camaro that ultimately set the benchmark. The Camaro screamed through the backstretch speed trap at 192 mph on its way to a blistering 1:43.839, putting Dusold just over four tenths ahead of Patten’s Corvette.
Anis faced his own mechanical drama when a broken transmission on Saturday forced an overnight replacement ahead of Sunday’s Podium Sprint. His hybrid 350Z was still slightly down on power following an electric motor replacement several weeks earlier, but the addition of a drag reduction system (DRS) to the rear wing helped offset some of the deficit. The car reached just over 160 mph on the backstretch, while its cornering performance helped Anis close the gap to the front. His best lap of the weekend was a 1:46.050, just over two seconds behind Patten.
Sunday’s Podium Sprint opened with Falken Club SC, where Mike Janssen again found his way to the top step after trading the class lead and record with Lennon Radcliffe throughout the weekend. Janssen’s 2:24.064 from Sunday morning established the new class record, while his 2:24.451 in the Sprint was enough for the win. Sam Deuling’s #370 Honda Fit finished just over half a second back in 2:24.976, with David Best’s #134 Fit completed the podium with a 2:25.092. All three drivers finished within seven-tenths of a second of one another in cars producing roughly 100 horsepower - a remarkably tight margin around Watkins Glen’s 3.45-mile circuit.
A flight of Fits and a Mini scoot up towards turn nine.
Peter Granberg attacks the Inner Loop in his #511 K-swapped BRZ.
The margins were similarly close in Falken Club TR, though the championship picture shifted with Mario Mirone notably absent from the Podium Sprint. He spent much of the weekend helping another competitor repair a broken transmission, sacrificing his weekend efforts along the way. Among the five remaining qualifiers, Peter Granberg’s K24-swapped BRZ entered the Sprint as the top seed with a record-setting 2:05.432, three-tenths ahead of Evan McLaren’s 2:05.779 FWD class record.
Granberg ultimately prevailed in the three-lap dash by just over a tenth of a second over Jerami Bailey, extending his championship lead to 10 points. McLaren, fighting axle issues, finished third ahead of Kevin Vue and Stan Fayngold.
In Street, Joshua Halka reset the track record to a 2:03.354 in the second heat of the weekend before following it up with a Podium Sprint victory. The result gave Halka enough points to secure the 2026 championship with multiple events still remaining. Willem Drees finished second, followed by Mike Coons, Giles Marciano, and Izak Ambrose, who entered the Sprint as the second seed before an incident at Turn 6 ended his run.
Street GT followed a similar script, with Luke McGrew and his #717 Corvette Z06 securing the championship with another record and Podium Sprint victory. McGrew’s 1:58.058 in Heat 2 established the class benchmark, while his 1:59.002 in the Sprint completed a perfect 104-point weekend and clinched the title. Ryan Mathews, Luie Zendejas, Brad Smith, and Nick Hendrix rounded out the top five.
Halka jumps curbs en route to a track record.
Luke McGrew climbs the esses at WGI.
Boogeyman goes for gold again at Watkins Glen!
DeWitt’s transmission problems ultimately proved to be little more than a temporary setback. After returning to competition, he reset the Street Mod record with a 1:58.357 in Podium Sprint and took the win, securing his third Street Mod championship. Kal Fortner finished second after setting a new RWD class record of 1:58.880 in his AMG GT-S, with Dai Yoshihara completing the podium.
Track Mod produced one of the most unpredictable Podium Sprints of the weekend. Adam Slowinski earned his third victory of the season and established a new AWD Track Mod record with a 1:54.261. Chris Boersma finished second with a weekend-best 1:58.628, good enough for the FWD class record.
The Sprint itself saw several dramatic changes to the running order. A blown oil line sidelined Chris Smith, while Igor Kesilyov’s Tesla Model S slid on the oil and struck the barriers. Brad Perkins had already established a new RWD Track Mod record with a 1:55.219 in Heat 7, but was unable to take the green for the Sprint.
The Unlimited battle never quite reached its anticipated three-way finish after Patten’s mechanical problems sidelined the Corvette. That left Dusold, Anis, Jake Ertel, and Ernestas Puzelis to fight for the remaining podium positions. Dusold topped the session with a 1:46.329, followed by Anis at 1:47.045 and Ertel at 1:53.126, just over a tenth ahead of Puzelis in the #338 Corvette.
Record RUSH Field Produces Championship Shakeup
The GRIDLIFE RUSH Series arrived at Watkins Glen with a record 56-car field, including IndyCar driver Spencer Pigot and professional driver and personality Randy Pobst.
The opening race of the weekend was interrupted by a full-course yellow following contact between Vilas Saldanha and Jake Sanders. On the restart, Ryan Leach, Bryce Mersberger, Blair Hosie, and James French formed a four-car battle at the front, with Leach ultimately pulling clear to claim his third victory of the season over teammate Mersberger and Hosie.
Saturday afternoon’s second race was again shortened by a caution, but a large group of drivers continued battling for position throughout the closing laps. Ellis Spiezia, Tony Barber, Andy Voelkel, and others moved into the top ten during the late-race scramble. Spencer Pigot, who finished 11th in Race 1, was disqualified for a jump start and was scored at the tail of the field.
This time, Mersberger came out on top, edging Leach by just three-tenths of a second.
Race 3 produced another intense fight at the front, with Aryton Grim, Jaylan Battley, and Anthony Magagnoli all moving into the top ten. Pigot charged forward to finish third, just behind Mersberger and Leach.
Mersberger’s championship advantage grew to nearly 50 points following the third race, but the championship leader would not get the opportunity to extend it further. A multi-car pileup on the opening lap of Race 4 in the Inner Loop forced the cancellation of the final race, leaving Mersberger with the championship advantage heading into the final two rounds.
Aranha, Patten Split GLGT Wins
GRIDLIFE GT saw another two-driver battle at the front, this time between Allen Patten in his Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo II and Christian Aranha in the #57 Chevrolet Corvette.
Chris DeLucia returned to competition after the BMW 3-Series was engulfed in a fireball during a frightening incident at GingerMan Raceway. The car was fully repaired, save for the charred bodywork, and DeLucia immediately returned to form with solid top-five finishes in every race, including third-place finishes in Races 1 and 3.
AJ Hartman also bounced back after discovering a power deficit at GingerMan, earning two podium finishes and third place in the weekend standings.
At the front, Aranha and Patten traded victories throughout the weekend, with Aranha taking Races 1 and 4 while Patten won Races 2 and 3. The tiebreaker ultimately came down to qualifying, where Aranha outperformed Patten by one position.
Championship leader Matan Rosenberg endured a difficult weekend by his standards, finishing seventh in the weekend standings after a series of issues. Even with the setback, Rosenberg retains the championship lead after drop races are applied, but his advantage over Aranha has shrunk to just three points heading into Circuit Legends at Lime Rock Park.
Magnussen Takes Control of GLTC
Eibach GRIDLIFE Touring Cup arrived at Watkins Glen with 46 cars on the provisional entry list, but the entire field spent much of the weekend chasing Eric Magnussen and the #3 LS-swapped BMW M3.
The BMW proved particularly well-suited to Watkins Glen, with a long fourth gear and custom differential allowing Magnussen to complete an entire lap without a single gearshift. The combination helped him collect three victories over the weekend, bringing his season total to five and triggering a 3% weight increase for the remainder of the season. That additional weight now brings Magnussen closer to the handicap Kutil carried into Watkins Glen.
Andy Smedegard emerged as the early challenger to Magnussen, but contact with Matthew Ibrahim in Turn 1 during Race 3 broke the suspension on the black #212 ASM Toyota 86. Ibrahim continued through the Esses before his right-front suspension collapsed in the braking zone, collecting Michael Hillo’s #224 Nissan 350Z and sending it hard into the Armco barrier.
After the race resumed, James Houghton charged around several top-five contenders to finish second behind Magnussen.
Kutil entered Watkins Glen with the championship lead and remained consistently near the front, finishing fourth, third, and third in the opening three races. The final race produced one of the most dramatic finishes of the weekend.
A late full-course yellow set up a restart with Magnussen, Kutil, Jake Rawson, and Joel Morrison battling for the lead down the backstretch at more than 130 mph. Kutil held the lead as the white flag waved, but Morrison closed the gap heading into the Inner Loop and completed the pass, holding on to score his first Eibach GLTC victory.
Kutil finished second, followed by Magnussen and Rawson. The result was Morrison’s first weekend podium in GLTC and moved him into third in the championship.
Despite losing the points lead, Kutil remains firmly in the fight. Magnussen now leads the championship, but his additional weight will bring the two BMW/Honda contenders closer to the balance they had during their epic Road Atlanta battles in May, where Kutil swept all four races. With Lime Rock Park next on the schedule - a circuit where Kutil’s car has historically been strong- the Eibach GLTC championship is far from decided.
Summer Apex Sets the Stage for the Final Stretch
With full-course drifting throughout the weekend, performances from T-Pain, BUNT, DJ Diesel, and more on the NOS Energy Main Stage, and some of the most competitive grassroots road racing in the country, GRIDLIFE Summer Apex delivered on the promise of its return to Watkins Glen International.
The championship battles now move into their final stages, with the penultimate round of the season coming August 21–23 at Lime Rock Park for GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends. Tickets are available now, with GRIDLIFE competition scheduled to be broadcast live throughout the weekend.
