Sirois Masters the Glen: Fuel Savings and Canadian 1-2 Highlight Watkins Glen Battle

Watkins Glen, NY — The second round of the ISRA Retro Series took place at the legendary Watkins Glen International, returning the classic Lotus 79 to its natural road course environment. Precision and bravery were paramount as a 20-driver field tackled the high-speed twists, though only 19 took the green flag after Hunter Funderburke failed to start.

Alex Guyon secured the pole position, flanked on the front row by teammate David Sirois, with Michael Goodman and previous winner Richie Hearn lined up in the second row. The standing start immediately shook up the order; while Guyon launched from the pole, he fell back to fourth early, allowing Sirois to take the lead. The start was not without drama, as Lionel Calisto was involved in a collision and forced into an early pit stop for damage control. Meanwhile, Ryan O’Donoghue and David Dunwoody suffered contact in the opening laps, which eventually led to O’Donoghue’s retirement from the race.

As Sirois established a gap of approximately 2.2 seconds at the front, a tight battle for second place emerged between Hearn, Goodman, and Guyon. The trailing drivers initially avoided aggressive fighting to prevent Sirois from pulling further away. Further back, a fierce five-car battle for fifth place developed between Chris Stofer, Justin Kirby, Craig Forsythe, Matt Wagner, and a hard-charging Lionel Calisto. Mechanical issues also claimed early victims, with Jim Herrick suffering a loose wheel and contact with the wall, forcing him to limp into the pits and fall a lap down.

The 55-minute timed race required a one-stop strategy for the field. Justin Kirby was the first to blink, pitting on lap 14 in an attempt to perform an undercut. The lead pack—Sirois, Goodman, Hearn, and Guyon—answered the call for service around lap 18. However, the race was decided in the pit lane for two top contenders; both Richie Hearn and Michael Goodman were assessed stop-and-hold penalties for speeding upon exiting the pits, effectively removing them from podium contention.

As the race entered its final quarter, fuel mileage became the central narrative. David Sirois, who had built a massive lead, began to lose time as he was forced to nurse his car to ensure he could reach the finish, later admitting he was short on fuel for the last two laps of his first stint just to make it to his pit box. The tension peaked on the final lap when Rodrigo Munoz ran out of gas, surrendering his position in the top ten.

David Sirois crossed the finish line to take the victory, leading a French-Canadian 1-2 finish with teammate Alex Guyon in second place. Lionel Calisto surged from a 15th-place starting position to finish third and round out the podium, capitalizing on the mid-race pit lane chaos. Chris Stofer and Matt Wagner completed the top five. The series heads next to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for round three, where drivers will have to contend with the Magic Mile.