Shift Up Now Athletes Sabré Cook and Ashley Freiberg competed in the round four of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by Solairus Aviation at Watkins Glen International on June 19-22, 2025, with Cook bringing home her third consecutive tenth-place finish.
Cook, a Hagerty-supported Athlete, piloted the No. 37 PenFed / privé entry for JDX Racing, while Freiberg drove the No. 22 “Be Your Own Hero” entry for Kellymoss.
Drivers had two rain interrupted/drying practice sessions on Thursday to prepare for Friday morning’s qualifying session on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn race track. Both Shift Up Now Athletes ran consistent lap times throughout both practice sessions, hovering around the 1:50-1:51 mark.
On Friday morning, the field was treated to cooler track temperatures, allowing them to run faster laps on their Yokohama tires than the previous day in practice. The session ran clean and uninterrupted. With just the slightest of margins, Cook qualified for the first race in 12th with a 1:48.944, and Freiberg in 14th with a 1:48.985.
Race one began on Friday at 2:00pm EST. Despite a break in the rain, drivers were now faced with 100°F track temperatures, and fans were warned to watch for heavy rain and flooding.
The field lined up for one formation lap, then went cleanly into turn one after the green flag. Freiberg immediately gained a position to move into 13th, then settled in for six laps of green- flag racing before the first caution flew.
After a short cleanup, green-flag racing resumed on lap nine. Cook ran 12th and Freiberg 13th, with a Pro Am car between them.
Another full-course caution emerged on lap 13 for debris on the track, which ate up two more laps. There were five minutes remaining in the 40-minute sprint race when the green reemerged.
Freiberg made a pass on the out-of-class car to run on Cook’s heels to the checkered flag. When they crossed the finish line, Cook finished in 10th - her third consecutive top-ten finish - and Freiberg finished 11th.
The following morning, race two began on Saturday at 8:00am EST. Once again, the track was dry, but light sprinkles loomed, and the heat and humidity created uncomfortable driving conditions.
Based on the second-fastest lap in qualifying, Cook was starting on the outside of row six in 12th place. Freiberg was lined up on the inside of row nine in 17th.
The field ran one formation lap and came to the green running two-by-two.
Near the front of the pack, the No. 91 car lost control and careened into the wall in turn one, causing a chain reaction. Further back, the No. 54 got up onto the wet curb, crashing into Freiberg and sending her into the wall in what she described on Instagram as a “next-level” incident. Fortunately, she was able to get out of the car under her own power, but the extensive damage to her car has put the remainder of her season in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, Cook narrowly missed the melee and continued on in 11th.
The full-course caution flew and the ensuing cleanup took up a significant part of the allotted race time. When the racing finally resumed, just over 20 minutes remained on the clock. There were spots of rain but no wind, and the entire field was still running on slick tires.
Cook held off the No. 11 car for most of the race. When he tried to pass in turn eight with approximately three minutes left, she stymied his effort. But on the last lap, he made the pass in turn one to get ahead of her. Despite contact between the two, race control determined no action would be taken, and Cook finished in 12th.
Next up, Freiberg and Cook head to Wisconsin for round five of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship, at Road America on July 31 - August 3, 2025.
