Cut Tire 44 Minutes From the Finish Doesn’t Take Away From Top Team and Driver Performance in No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Dan Knox, Scott Andrews and Eric Filgueiras at the 73rd Running of The 12 Hours of Sebring
SEBRING, Florida (March 21, 2025) – “Deflated” but not down, the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 team and co-drivers Dan Knox, Scott Andrews and Eric Filgueiras left the 12 Hours of Sebring last Saturday motivated for the final three rounds of the 2025 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) at Watkins Glen, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (MRRA). The team and drivers turned in one of their best races since entering the IMEC GT Daytona (GTD) championship last year and missed out on a likely top-five or better finish only because the No. 80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 suffered a cut tire with just 44 minutes remaining in the 73rd running of America’s oldest major sports car race.
Lone Star Racing stepped up to join the lead pack in the final half of 12 hour race after co-drivers Dan Knox, Eric Filgueiras and Scott Andrews joined the team in a near-flawless performance that steadily moved the No. 80 into contention and in the top-five battle in the closing hours. Andrews and the Lone Star Racing team had just made their last pit stop and were beginning a run back into the lead pack as the rest of the GTD field cycled through its final pit stops only to have the rear tire go down.
In his first 12 Hours of Sebring race, Lone Star Racing team owner and driver Knox started the race in the No. 80 after a solid qualifying effort that placed him on the outside of row seven on the GTD grid. Knox took the green flag for a race-opening “triple stint” ahead of six other GTD cars, including the Rolex 24 At Daytona winners.
“This was one of our better performances,” Knox said. “It’s disappointing to not be able to fight to the finish after running with the leaders for so long, but I was happy with the effort of everybody on the team. We keep coming together as a team, and all of the pieces will hopefully fall into place to give us the chance to walk away with a result we have worked so hard to achieve in the year’s final races.”
After the puncture, Andrews slowly made it back to the pits where the Lone Star team quicky threw a new tire and wheel on to get the No. 80 back in the race.
“I think it was the top performance that we’ve had as a team, regardless of the finishing result,” said Lone Star Racing Team Manager and Technical Director AJ Petersen. “It started with Dan who drove an unplanned triple stint to open the race and did a great job keeping the car on the lead lap for nearly three hours. Everybody on the team, from driving to doing tires and fuel, to us on the timing stand, we were all going in the right direction. We executed the race without any mistakes, so that’s what takes the sting out of it for me. We were able to prove to ourselves that we could execute at this level and that we just need to back it up now and hopefully have some luck fall our way. Cut tires are cut tires. It’s Sebring at night and anything can happen.”
With the new tire on, Andrews kept the pressure on in the final 30 minutes and crossed the finish line in ninth place.
“I think we can all be really proud of ourselves collectively as a group for a really well executed race,” Andrews said. “There were pretty much no flaws by the team at all. That gave us a good shot at the top five and even potentially a podium. It’s unfortunate to get a puncture with such little time to go, but the only thing that took us out of the race was something out of our control. The team should be proud, and I’m happy with the job I did. I drove a good race with no mistakes and the pace was good. It’s good for the team to know that we can really have some good performance, solid pit stops, change the car for the better as the race progresses and still be competitive.”
Filgueiras raced on a circuit on which he has seen some winning success but joined Knox in making his 12 Hours of Sebring debut.
“It’s not the result we came for, but the team showed a really strong effort, and we had a great performance,” Filgueiras said. “Everybody worked really hard, and this was a huge improvement from Daytona. Not only did we finish, we were in the running for a really great outcome and the execution from the team side was just much, much better than Daytona. Dan Knox, our team owner and driver, did a fantastic job. Everybody was firing on all cylinders, and we were very close at the end. We’ve got three more of these races, and we’ve shown our ability to grow, our ability to progress and to learn from the mistakes that we’ve made and how we can make this program more efficient on all ends. This was my first 12 hours. I had a fantastic experience. I got to have some battles, fuel energy saving, gain more experience and helped put the team into a position for a good outcome. Our day is coming.”
While ninth at Sebring and 14th place in the Rolex 24 opener are not the results Lone Star wanted, the team and drivers still rank in the top-eight of the 22 cars that have earned points in the IMEC GTD standings. With the year’s final three races ahead, the Lone Star team and drivers are just five points out of first place in the GTD driver and team IMEC points race, 21 – 16.
Next up for Lone Star Racing on the 2025 IMEC schedule is Round 3 of the championship June 19 – 22 at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
About Lone Star Racing: Based at Motorsport Ranch within the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area in Cresson, Texas, Lone Star Racing is competing in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the 2025 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup in the GTD class. Lone Star Racing and its team members have won races across North America spanning sprint and endurance racing formats. The crew has worked together on many different teams and various types of cars, developing a strong bond and proven capability that gives them a competitive and winning advantage. Lone Star Racing competes with the support of primary partner ACS Manufacturing, Inc. (www.ACSManufacturing.com). Look for Lone Star Racing and team owner/driver Dan Knox on Facebook and follow the team on YouTube at Lone Star Racing, on Twitter and Instagram at @LSRTeam and on the official team web site at www.LoneStarRacingTeam.com.
