Thanks to the amazing technology of the interwebs fans of the SCCA’s World Challenge series no longer have to wait several weeks to watch a replay of the race on the official NASCAR network SPEED Channel. In fact, World Challenge races aren’t even on SPEED any more, but on Versus.

Regardless, so far this season the series has broadcast all of its races live online at www.world-challengeTV.com. That goes for today’s race too, which takes place at Long Beach.

Fans of the series won’t need any reason to check it out, or an explanation, but in case you’re not a World Challenge fan, the series is made up of three classes TC, GTS and GT, with sports cars of all shapes and sizes competing alongside each other, ranging from Honda Civics to Dodge Vipers. Plus, there’s a standing start, which is always good for some drama.

Qualifying has already taken place with all three winners from the last race taking the podium in their respective categories. These include Patrick Long in his Porsche GT3 in the GT Class, Jason von Kluge in his Ford Mustang Boss 302S in the GTS Class and Lawson Aschenbach in his Honda Civic Si in the TC Class.

Today’s race starts at 7 p.m. Eastern or 4 Pacific and we highly recommend you check it out at www.world-challengeTV.com. Plus, you can even catch up on the season so far with the previous two races available for your viewing pleasure.

After his dominating World-Challenge GTS performance at Long Beach in the LPL/DRS Lotus Exige 240 S, Tyler McQuarrie sent us a highly entertaining GoPro HD helmet cam clip from qualifying. Check it out after the jump.

We also noticed our friends over at The Octane Report just posted a full story on McQuarrie’s glorious Long Beach weekend (although things didn’t go quite so well for him in Formula D), including an informative video with interview footage of McQuarrie prior to the race (available after the jump).

Rumors are also now swirling over on LotusTalk.com that McQuarrie and the LPL/DRS Exige S will make another appearance at the next World-Challenge event coming up on May 21st to 23rd at Mosport International Raceway near Toronto, Canada. The online chatter also suggests that LPL may have up to three Lotus Exige S’s running at Mosport, giving McQuarrie some teammates to work with at this fastest road course in North America.

[Sources: Tyler McQuarrie; Octane Report]

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Tyler McQuarrie, best known for his sideways style in the Formula D professional drifting series, proved his versatility as a racing driver by dominating the Toyo Tires World Challenge GTS class at Long Beach throughout the weekend in the LPL/DRS/Switcars/LCS/Dayco/M&T Lotus Exige 240 S. McQuarrie’s win was made all the more impressive by the fact that this was the World Challenge debut for both the car and the driver.

Having out-qualified class points leader P.D. Cunningham and his famous Realtime Racing Acura TSX, McQuarrie started on pole and got a jump on the field on the first lap. Shortly after the green flag dropped, Cunningham made contact with another car and had his Acura’s hood open into the windshield on lap one, forcing him into the pits and ending any challenge the Series’ all-time wins leader could have given McQuarrie.

“I had a great start and actually got by a couple of GT cars,” McQuarrie said. “I didn’t have a working radio in the race, so I didn’t actually realize who was behind me. I looked up at the screen on the second lap and saw one of the Acuras head to the pits with the hood up. I dialed it back just a little bit when I felt I could.”

“I have to really thank the LPL and DRS team. They only got this car about five weeks ago and really did a fantastic job with it. To be able to run it here at Long Beach—to run both weekends, is really awesome. I think April in Long Beach is a little bit like May in Indy. It’s a special time and to win here is just awesome.”

The GTS win was the first time a Lotus had won a race of any kind at Long Beach since Mario Andretti won the 1977 Formula One event in a John Player Lotus.

Acura/RealTime Racing’s Esayian finished a distant second to McQuarrie in the No. 34 Acura TSX for his third podium finish in as many races and GTS points leader Cunningham finished 6th after the early incident with his hood.

[source: World Challenge]

Last year Chevrolet announced that it would retire its GT1 Corvette Racing team after dominating the class for close to a decade. In its place Chevy would run a lower-level GT2 team in a class that has become increasingly competitive.

This year the GT1s still ran in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) during the season opener at Sebring and then at Long Beach before heading off to France to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There the team did Corvette Racing justice, taking the top spot on the podium in the last race the GT1 C6Rs would ever see. It also marked an astounding six class wins at Le Mans for Corvette Racing.

Now Corvette Racing has announced plans to return to the series on August 6th at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Two cars will take to the field to battle it out with Ferraris, Porsches and Vipers. Both cars will be piloted by familiar drivers, with Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen forming one team and Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin forming the other.

“For several years now, the competition in GT2 has been the closest and most competitive among all our classes,” said ALMS CEO Scott Atherton. “With the news of Corvette Racing’s official entry into the category at Mid-Ohio, the class quite possibly becomes the most diverse and competitive ever. It also serves as another example of the continued growth and success of the American Le Mans Series. Corvette never truly left, but it’s safe to say that they were missed by the countless participants at our Corvette Corrals and fans worldwide. We would like to be the first to officially say, ‘Welcome back!’”

The two car Corvette Racing GT2 team will race for the first time at Mid-Ohio from August 6-8th.

[Source: American Le Mans Series]