- Duo of Dan Knox and Scott Andrews Make Lone Star Racing’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Return Saturday in the No.79 Lone Star Racing/ACS Manufacturing Mercedes-AMG GT4
- Andrews, Salih Yoluç and Rui Andrade Resume 2024 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Campaign in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing/ACS Manufacturing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Sunday in the Inaugural Battle on The Bricks Six-Hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Race
INDIANAPOLIS (September 19, 2024) – Lone Star Racing and team drivers Dan Knox, Salih Yoluç, Rui Andrade and Scott Andrews combine to double up on the team’s IMSA Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing programs for the second-consecutive year this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) with dual GT Daytona (GTD) and Grand Sport (GS) campaigns at the Battle on The Bricks Weekend at the Racing Capital of the World.
Looking to build on the team’s race-winning and podium success at IMS in recent years, Lone Star Racing team owner and driver Knox makes his IMSA Pilot Challenge debut co-driving the No. 79 Lone Star Racing/ACS Manufacturing Mercedes-AMG GT4 with Andrews. Knox made history with Lone Star at Indy last October when they scored the first major North American victory for a Mercedes-AMG GT2 in a GT America sprint race. Andrews in turn nearly won the IMSA Pilot Challenge race last September in Lone Star’s Mercedes-AMG GT4, closing on the leader but settling for a second-place finish when the clock ran out in the timed race.
The renewed GT4 program runs alongside the team’s primary IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup (IMEC) GTD campaign in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing/ACS Manufacturing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The fourth round of this year’s five race IMEC series within overall IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, team drivers Salih Yoluç, Rui Andrade and Andrews come to Indy looking for a race result that reflects the team’s pace and performance in what has been a competitive but challenging opening three rounds. The Lone Star Mercedes-AMG GT3 program returns to Indy one year after Andrews and his co-driver made their IMSA GTD Indy debut in last year’s Battle on The Bricks weekend.
Knox has excelled on some of the biggest stages in North American motorsports in the last year’s time. In addition to the milestone Indy win last year, Knox swept the GT2 victories in this past April’s GT America doubleheader at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been a great track for Lone Star Racing the last few years,” Knox said. “I was fortunate to win a GT2 race there last year and our GT4 team almost won the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS race. That’s one of the reasons I want to come back and give the Pilot Challenge race another shot. Scott was flying at the end of last year’s race but we had to settle for second when the time ran out. It will be great to run not one but two Mercedes-AMG entries this weekend, and we are really working hard and looking forward to a pair of great results.”
Andrews is the only one of Lone Star’s four drivers competing in both of the weekend’s featured races. He runs in both the WeatherTech Championship and Pilot Challenge races again this year, and looks for a more competitive run than last year’s GTD debut at Indy in Sunday’s six-hour WeatherTech Championship race.
“It is two years in a row at Indy that we have done the double at Indy, and it is great to do both of them with Lone Star Racing,” Andrews said. “I am excited to run GS with Dan, and with our lineup in GTD, I think we can hopefully be fighting for a podium. Dan won on this track just last year and I know he will come out and do the job that I know that he can do. It’s always good to come back to the track with Lone Star Racing as this is my main program this year. It feels like coming home in a way, and I am excited to get the best results possible.”
Yoluç and Andrade make their Indianapolis debuts but join Knox in being at their best in big events on the greatest tracks. Yoluç made history in 2017 as the first Turkish driver to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and later the first driver from his country to win the prestigious French endurance race with a GTE Am class victory in 2020.
A native of Angola, Andrade first raced in the Rolex 24 in 2022 as part of a season-long IMEC LMP2 campaign with Tower Motorsports. A third-place finish in the Daytona opener set the tone for a competitive run for Andrade in the four endurance races that culminated with a victory in the season-ending Petit Le Mans and runner-up finish in the final IMEC P2 standings.
This weekend’s highlight Battle on The Bricks six-hour endurance race on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn IMS road course begins at 11:40 a.m. EDT this Sunday, September 22. Live coverage on the flagship NBC Network picks up at 3 p.m. EDT and extends straight through the finish at 5:40 p.m. EDT. Viewers can also watch the race in its entirety with live flag-to-flag coverage on NBC’s Peacock streaming network. International viewers outside the U.S. can view the action on IMSA.tv and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial.
The IMSA Pilot Challenge race is scheduled to go green this Saturday, September 21, at 1:05 p.m. EDT. Live streaming of the two-hour race starts five minutes earlier on Peacock with international coverage available outside the U.S. at IMSA.TV and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial.
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/ACS Manufacturing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the 2024 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.
