Rebel Rock looks to strong finish in return to Road Atlanta for season finale
BRASELTON, GA (Nov. 8, 2021) – Coming off its second-best result of the season, Rebel Rock Racing is looking to finish the 2021 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign with a strong showing in the Fox Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Frank DePew led the first laps of his IMSA career in joining Robin Liddell in a fourth-place result in the most recent race at Virginia International Raceway, driving the No. 71 Urban Grid Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R. The pair combined to win at Sebring International Raceway earlier in the season.
“We’re looking to end the year on a high note,” DePew said. “We had a pretty good performance at VIR. If not for that long yellow once I cycled to the front, I think we would have ended up in better shape with a podium or even winning the race.”
A long caution bunched the field prior to Liddell taking over the car, ending his steady forward progress. He wound up fourth at the checkered flag, 4.611-seconds behind the winner.
“We had a good run at VIR, and it wasn’t a bad race, really,” Liddell said. “Of course, we would have liked to have finished on the podium. Frank drove very well at VIR and made good decisions. He was patient and made passes. It was quite fun that he got to lead the race, because he had a lot of family, friends and Urban Grid staff at VIR, so it was great to see him in the lead and getting a lot of coverage.”
Now, the team is looking to wrap up the campaign at a track where they have won and finished third in the closing months of the 2020 pandemic-jumbled season. Liddell and DePew were joined by Andrew Davis in winning the four-hour September race by more than 10 seconds, and came back a month later and DePew and Liddell took third in the 2 hour race, 0.982-seconds behind the winner.
“I think we’re very well prepared and looking forward to the race,” Liddell said. “If the team executes and Frank and I drive well, I see no reason why we can’t get on the podium. The Camaro should suit the track well and hopefully we will be a bit stronger.”
DePew agrees with Liddell’s optimism about the finale weekend.
“I think we’ve got a shot at Road Atlanta,” he said. “I just saw the Balance of Performance, and hopefully it looks like it’s a more level playing field. I think we’ve got a good shot. We’ve always performed well there. I feel my driving has come on, and I think I should apply some of those tools to Road Atlanta. Certainly I’d like to have a good qualifying effort. We’re looking forward to it and ending the season on a high. We haven’t tested there lately, so we’re a little rusty from the track standpoint, but I think we should get up to speed there pretty quickly.”
The Fox Factory 120 takes the green flag for two hours of racing at 1:10 p.m. ET on Friday.
