Premier Racing Knows Legendary Street Race Will be No Day at the Beach

by Thomas Moore

Long Beach, California | April 6, 2022 | When Premier Racing rolls off the trailer and onto the streets of Long Beach for the second weekend of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Presented by the Cayman Islands season on Friday, the Las Vegas-based team knows it will be no day at the beach. The 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary course twists and turns over the local roads of Long Beach, California – each corner outlined by cement walls – making it one of the most challenging courses the team will face all season. The task at hand for third-year driver Adam Adelson and team leader Kent Moore is enough to weaken the knees. However, Premier Racing is approaching the two, 40-minute races for the top level of Porsche one-make racing with an eye on detail. Practice and qualifying will take place Friday, April 8. Adelson will wheel the No. 24 Premier Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in Round 3 of the season on Saturday, April 9, and Round 4, Sunday, April 10.

Adelson, a graduate of the University of Southern California who lives and works in the Los Angeles-area, will be making his first Long Beach start this weekend. The magnitude of the legendary event is close to the heart for the performance-minded driver with an engineering degree. Like most young drivers, Adelson is eager to test his mettle against the track made famous by the greats of the sport.

At a track where millimeters make the difference between victory lane and an early exit, every detail is critical. With limited track time, getting those details right from the start is the key to success. As it is at each of the eight Porsche Carrera Cup North America weekends, track time is at a premium. Adelson will only have a 45-minute practice session on Friday morning (7:45 a.m. PT) and second, 30-minute session later that morning (11:05 a.m. PT) to prepare for a split qualifying session which will see the Pro class driver pilot the 500-horsepower Porsche in the final half of the 30-minute time trial that starts at 4:30 p.m. PT. The tight confines of the track make passing difficult, magnify the importance of qualifying in a series where each car is separated only by the talent of the driver and the crew.

Qualifying will not only grid the cars for the green flag at 10:45 a.m. PT (1:45 p.m. ET) on Saturday, but it could determine the starting position for Sunday’s 4:20 p.m. PT (7:20 pm. ET) race as well. The field for Race 2 is based on the second-fastest qualifying lap or, if quicker, the fastest lap by a driver in Race 1.

Live timing and scoring of all sessions as well as streaming of both races can be found at www.PorscheCarreraCup.us . The races also air live on the Peacock Streaming App.

Adam Adelson, No. 24 Premier Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |

“The fact that Porsche Carrera Cup North America is racing at Long Beach this year is extremely special for me. I've lived in Los Angeles since 2015 and having grown up only a couple hundred miles away, I always came to LA several times a year as a kid, so LA really does feel like a second home to me. To be able to race so close to all of my friends and family is a privilege, and I'm lucky enough to have many of them coming out this weekend to support myself and the team. While I'm incredibly grateful to be able to race so close to home, I'm equally as grateful that it's this particular street circuit. The history here is incredibly rich in the sports car racing world and I feel privileged to have the honor of racing on it, especially in a car as great as the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

With such a huge grid in PCCNA on such a tight and unforgiving circuit, we know qualifying is going to be more important than ever. I feel confident going into this one, and I'm excited to see what we can achieve out there."

Kent Moore, No. 24 Premier Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup |

“Porsche has given us a great car for Long Beach, but it is the same car they sold to 33 other drivers too. That is where we make up the difference as a team. We are here to give Adam the car and the confidence to thread the needle between the concrete out there. After watching this group come together as a team in Florida, after watching Adam gain on it in big chunks at Sebring, I am very confident going into Long Beach. It won’t be easy. Someone else’s mistake on street course can reach out and bite you, we know that firsthand. But that is why, when you get it right and everything clicks, you know you have done something special.”

|04-06-2022|

Image courtesy of Autosport Image.