LMP2 Ups And Downs: With IMSA’s pro-am prototype class struggling to attract entries last season, the series took a knife to LMP2’s 2020 calendar, trimmed a number of races to help bring operating budgets down, and team owners have responded. Two full-time cars in 2019 should float between 5-6 throughout the year, and if the experiment ends up working as well as it should, the cost-cutting LMP2 blueprint could be worth considering in some of the other WeatherTech Championship classes where budgets are teetering on untenable.
Where’s Joey And Westy And Dirk? With the shuttering of Ford’s GT project, three of its factory drivers have struggled to penetrate an overflowing market and find work in IMSA. Joey Hand, Richard Westbrook, and Dirk Muller — a trio who will be future first-ballot inductees in domestic and international racing hall of fames — epitomize the crazy economy at play in the sport. With too few paying opportunities to fill, the Ford trio will be spectators this weekend. It makes zero sense.
Good Messaging: One of the mightiest little teams you’ve likely never heard of is found deep within the paddock as IMSA’s tiny communications team, led by Gregg Elkin, continues to punch well above its weight. With Elkin leading, veteran journalist and
PR man Nate Siebens at his side, and the young and multi-talented Jennifer Klein looking after the series, IMSA’s comms department has become a powerful source of messaging and information in ways that humble rival series with bigger budgets and staffs. Outside of the few specialist racing outlets like RACER who report on the series, a significant amount of the compelling stories you read about IMSA on the web comes from Elkin’s group.
Will Mazda Survive The Witching Hour? It’s two poles in a row for Mazda Team Joest at the Rolex 24, and the lingering question of whether the Japanese brand can get to the finish line without significant interruption. Since Mazda arrived at Daytona in 2014 with its diesel-powered prototypes, and upgraded to the gas-fueled RT24-P DPis in 2017, some form of mechanical or electrical malady has ruined its plans to capture a major 10-, 12-, or 24-hour IMSA victory. Will 2020 be the year where the cartoon anvil misses its favorite target?
Heinricher Racing’s New Plan: Jackie Heinricher’s introduction to IMSA in 2019 came with an all-female driving squad and initiative to foster more participation by women in the sport. Her drivers moved laterally in the GT Daytona paddock to a different team, and with the change, Heinricher has returned to Meyer Shank Racing with a new sponsor and an all-male driving squad. Heinricher will embark on her second season as a co-entrant adjusting to those differences while continuing her efforts to inspire women to take a variety of roles in the series.
Similar but different: Heinricher Racing w/MSR Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3 and Mustang Sampling Cadillac. Image by Jake Galstad/LAT
Risi As Marauders: Giuseppe Risi’s privateer Ferrari GTLM team continues to corner the market on upsetting the full-fledged factory programs, and it never gets old, and never fails to delight. Winners of the most recent endurance race at Petit Le Mans, the Houston-based giant killers are an instant favorite whenever the red No. 62 entry is on the grid.
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No Juncos: Ricardo Juncos made waves during his debut as an IMSA team owner last year using a Cadillac DPi-V.R, but a lack of budget has kept the spirited Argentinian from returning.
GEAR/Grasser: Katherine Legge and Christina Nielsen continue to work they started with Heinricher Racing with Austria’s Grasser group and, more importantly, as the full-time drivers and leaders of Mark Ruggieri’s GEAR project — Girl Empowerment Around Racing — in 2020. The amazing pop-art livery for their car will make it the most unmistakable entry at every round.
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No. 5 Is Still Alive: It looks the same and sounds the same, but the No. 5 Cadillac DPi-V.R is no longer being run by the Action Express Racing team. In fact, the car number, primary sponsor, colors and liver, and one of AXR’s drivers have made one giant move to the burgeoning JDC-Miller Motorsports team. With AXR running out of funding to keep the No. 5 in motion, its champion driver Joao Barbosa, the passionate folks at Mustang Sampling, AXR sporting director Christian Fittipaldi and former AXR endurance driver Sebastien Bourdais — who lost his seat in IndyCar and has gone full-time in IMSA — are now at JDC, where they’ll look to make the team a regular contender for podiums.
Heart of Racing and Aston Martin: Gaming company founder and legend Gabe Newell, whose benevolence has generated millions of dollars in donations to help sick and afflicted children, partnered with a few colleagues to bring The Heart of Racing back to IMSA in GTD with former drivers Ian James, Alex Riberas, in a new partnership with Aston Martin Racing. They’ve also drafted in rising IMSA star Roman De Angelis, a Canadian teenager, to make an impact on and off the track. If you know me, you know I love those who try and use their platform to help others, and with THoR, it’s the central inspiration behind everything they’ll do in IMSA.
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And there’s plenty more that’s changed to document, but it’s time to go endurance racing. Enjoy all that lies ahead.