IMSA Category

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer IMSA and the ACO have announced a preliminary set of rules that will see sports car teams be able to compete in both 24 hour races at Daytona and Le Mans in the same prototype car. The new category, called LMDh (Le Mans, Daytona, yet to be identified h), is built around both IMSA’s DPi and the ACO’s Hypercar formula. From the IMSA release, the new LMDh car: “Based on a new chassis common to both ACO and IMSA, using elements of the Le Mans HypercarRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA — Late nights, hard work and uncertainty were the storylines on the first official day of track activity ahead of the Rolex 24 at Daytona as the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship roars to life. Acura on top, then rebuild Each of the two pre-qualifying practice sessions were led by one of the Acura Team Penske ARX-05 machines, with the No. 6 entry leading the morning session and the No. 7 entry leading the afternoon session. However, the No. 7 crew were faced with aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA — Different year, same result for Oliver Jarvis and Mazda Team Joest as the British racer captured pole position for the second year in a row for Saturday’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Jarvis turned a fastest lap of 1 minute, 33.711 seconds around the 3.56 mile road course to average 136.760 mph. Jarvis’s lap was .026 seconds slower than his track record lap set last year. “This year feels different, this year feels business like,” said Jarvis. “Last year, huge amount [of] emotion, it wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer (Editor’s note: This story originally indicated that Black Swan Racing would be withdrawing from the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The team subsequently acquired a chassis and as such, updates have been made.) DAYTONA — After an incident in Thursday’s morning practice session for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Black Swan Racing was ready to withdraw from the first race of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. However, Wright Motorsports has stepped in and the Black Swan Racing team is pulling an all-nighter to build a carRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA — A light morning rain could do little to slow Juan Pablo Montoya as the 2019 co-champion in the DPi class set the fastest lap in opening practice for the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 went around the 3.56 mile road course in 1 minute, 49.917 seconds to average 116.597 mph. Olivier Pla was second fastest in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24P DPi with a lap time of 1 minute, 49.956 seconds while Tristan Vautier wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona kicks off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s seventh season since the sports car merger of 2014 and there are quite a few changes throughout the paddock. In Daytona Prototype International (DPi), the standard entry list from last season had 11 cars competing. This year, there are eight. Gone are the Juncos Racing Cadillac, the No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac and the Nissan from CORE Autosport. With CORE Autosport’s departure, only Cadillac, Mazda and Acura are represented in IMSA’s topRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Mazda Team Joest confirmed its 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship lineup Thursday with former NTT IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay being among the headlining drivers. Hunter-Reay will participate in the Michelin Endurance Cup, piloting the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P. He’ll be joining co-pilots Jonathan Bomarito and Harry Tincknell, who’ll be sharing the ride together for the third straight year. The INDYCAR veteran drove the No. 55 entry at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last year, finishing third overall. Hunter-Reay said that the moment he strapped himselfRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Through triumph and shortcomings, the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship soldiered through 2019 to finish their campaigns with solid champions crowned and the rest of the respective fields picking up the pieces ahead of a new year and a new decade. From Daytona and St. Petersburg to Road Atlanta and WeatherTech Raceway, IMSA and IndyCar had some very good, and at times, tumultuous dealings both on and off track. Let’s take a look back at some of the best and worst of 2019.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Rising star Hailie Deegan has jumped ship from Toyota to Ford after signing a multi-year developmental contract Tuesday. The 18-year-old will run the entire ARCA Menards Series campaign for DGR-Crosley, unveiling her brand new black No. 4 Monster Energy Fusion at the Ford Performance Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina. Tuesday’s announcement further bounds the racing family as Hailie’s father, Brian Deegan, drove a Ford in the Global Rallycross Championship, the Lucas Oil Off-Road Series and was a gold medalist in the Rallycross category at theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The latest twist to the NTT IndyCar Series off-season involves four-time Indy car champion Sebastien Bourdais as Dale Coyne Racing released him Friday. First broken by RACER and later confirmed by the team, they’ll be eyeing for another driver heading into the 2020 season, leaving Bourdais out of a ride. Coyne thanked Bourdais for his tremendous contributions, highlighted with back-to-back victories at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2017 and 2018. “I want to thank Sebastien for having the confidence to come back fromRead More