At least eight Mustangs are on the entry list for this weekend’s SCCA World Challenge race through the streets of St. Petersburg, FL. Now called the Pirelli World Challenge Championships, the 2011 series starts with a double header event, leading into an eight-stop series which concludes at Road Atlanta in late fall.

Several well-known Mustang Challenge series drivers are on the roster, including Jason von Kluge, Ben Crosland and George Winkler. Von Kluge won 5 of 11 Mustang Challenge races in 2010 and took home the series points championship. Ben Crossland emerged as a Young Gun late in the series and could show the same serious speed he did last year. Look for Rich Golinello and George Winkler to be ever-present threats as they were last year in the Ford Racing/Larry Miller series.

According to WC Vision vice president, marketing and Communications, David Drimmie, the “… series is very healthy and growing.” Drimmie anticipates that the series will average 45 to 50 entrants per event in 2011, compared to around 35 last year. A good portion of that growth has come from the newly minted GTS class.

In addition to drawing in Mustang Challenge series survivors, new GTS cars are on the roster as well. Paul Brown, out of Covina, CA, built a Mustang Boss 302S specifically for this series and Chris DeSalvo, from Charlotte, NC, will show up with a Rehagen Racing-supported Mustang GT. Michigan-based Rehagen has been a long time participant in Grand Am racing.

Rounding out the domestic pony car presence in the GTS class for this weekend’s competition are a pair of 2010 Chevrolet Camaros, entered by Houston-based Momentum Motorsports.

Live coverage of the St. Petersburg races will be available online, via World-ChallengeTV.com. The feed for Round 1 of the World Challenge Sports Car Wars season is scheduled to start at 11:55 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 26, with Round 2 scheduled for Sunday, March 27 at 4:35 p.m. ET.