The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Cayman Interseries - Gleason Family Wins At The Lake


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)

ELKHART LAKE, May 22, 2012: Kevin Gleason of Johnstown, Pa. won the featured sprint race at the Spring Vintage Weekend for the Pirelli Cayman Interseries Endurance Cup Championship Sunday at Road America.

He and his father, Chris Gleason, also of Johnstown, combined forces to win the pro class in the Badger 200 enduro on the 4.048-mile road course on Friday night too.

And to make the weekend even more memorable, Chris Gleason also won Saturday’s sprint race.

"What a great weekend! The Porsche Cayman Interseries car combined with the Pirelli tires is the most fun I have ever had on a track,” said Kevin Gleason. “Add in Road America to the mix and that is one solid weekend!"

“Kevin drove 80 percent of Friday night’s endurance race and we won, and he set a new course record for the car too,” said Chris Gleason. “Sharing the winners’ podium with my son is so special. I feel very blessed.”

“I turned my fastest lap of the weekend within 10 laps of the end of the 200-mile enduro,” Kevin Gleason noted. “That just shows how awesome the Pirelli tires’ performance is."

The pro division victory gave Kevin Gleason a perfect record in the series’ Friday night enduros, as he won a similar race in his series debut at Palm Beach International Raceway in West Palm Beach, Fla., in February.

On Saturday his father led every lap of the sprint race.

“I had an altercation with another driver in the Canada Corner on the next-to-last lap, but I won the race,” he said.

"I had just about as much fun off the track as I did on it! Watching my dad win the sprint race was a lot of fun,” Kevin Gleason said. “The other drivers were putting a lot of pressure on him but he was able to hold them off in the end, even after trading some paint!"

“I was wondering if I’d ever see a checkered flag again,” said his father, who was inducted into the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. “It’s a terrific feeling.”

Kevin Gleason then went on to win Sunday morning’s sprint race in a non-points capacity. He also competes in Grand-Am’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series so he’s considered a true pro race car driver in the Pirelli Cayman series, which is sanctioned by Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR).

The Gleasons drove a red-and-white No. 14 Cayman S that pays tribute to a Richard Lloyd Racing Canon Porsche 956.