After winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Michael Shank Racing continues his search for sponsorship in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Shank hoped to make an announcement in October, but that didn’t come together. If nothing is found soon, the team may not run the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 25th.
“We’ve got the car in the shop and the people we need to go run the car, but at this point we are still working to have the full budget in place to go racing,” Shank says. “I don’t want to be in a position to just go out and make up the numbers. We want to show up and have a competitive presence.”
Shank partnered with NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger and business man Brian Bailey to form the Indy portion of MSR.
“My main goal is to make this thing work, and if that means working with a technical partner to make it happen or just focusing on particular races then so be it,” he says. “Obviously, there are folks out there testing right now, and that is the best-case scenario to be in. We’ve got a little bit bigger hill to climb at the moment, but we are not giving up by any stretch.”
If sponsorship comes together, Shank is expected to compete in the IndyCar Series with Paul Tracy.