Daytona, Fla. (22 January 2023) – Jr III (“Junior-Three”) Racing finished fifth in Race 2 of the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge after taking the series first-ever pole and then finishing on the podium in Race 1 on Saturday, Bijoy Garg once again got back behind the wheel of the the No. 3 S2 Cyber Ligier JS P320 for the second 45-minute sprint race of the weekend.

The Saturday outing marked Garg’s first- ever sports car start, as he impressed with his speed to earn the pole award. The race didn’t start as hoped for, as the California native got loose going into turn one and spun. Rejoining the field last in the order, Garg quickly caught up to his fellow LMP3 class runners after just three laps as he pushed forward through the field to score a well-fought podium in his first IMSA start.

Looking to continue that momentum in Sunday’s race, Garg started on the front row once again based on his second-fastest qualifying lap. Garg kept the No. 3 LMP3 within podium contention until a bobble in the Le Mans Chicane on lap 14 looped him around. Returning to the race unscathed, Garg rejoined the field in fifth for the final 10 laps of the race. Once again he had good pace, focusing forward to net the second fastest lap of the race with a 1:46.22-second flyer around the fabled Daytona roval.

“Going into the race, I knew it was going to be a long one, and I had to keep my head down,” said Garg. “I feel like we accomplished a lot over the weekend. I learned a lot about the car and the track. Our results didn’t match our pace today; but overall I felt like the Jr III Racing crew guys gave me a fast car all weekend.”

Jr III Racing Team Owner, Billy Glavin was pleased with the effort and preparation from the team for their first VPSC weekend as they supported Garg’s IMSA debut.

“I think for the first weekend in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, it went pretty well, all things considered,” said Glavin. “I think Bijoy will be a bit more settled in the car for Sebring, and be a bit more comfortable with the format of the races. I believe we can translate our pace from Daytona to more races this season and we definitely have the potential to get some more wins.”

Round 2 of the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will be staged at Sebring International Raceway on March 11-12. Jr III Racing will also kick off its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign the following weekend with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti’s No. 93 Harrison Contracting Company Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 will Start Fourth for the 61st Running of the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA

(Daytona Beach, Fla.) January 22, 2023 — No. 93 Harrison Contracting Company Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 driver Kyle Marcelli clocked a scintillating lap around Daytona International Speedway’s legendary road course on Sunday afternoon, putting the Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 on the outside of the second row for the start of the 2023 Rolex 24 At DAYTONA. Teammates Ashton Harrison, Danny Formal and Ryan Briscoe will share the cockpit with Marcelli for the twice-around-the-clock endurance battle, with the green flag waving next Saturday.

“We’re at Daytona International Speedway for the 24-hour event weekend—the Super Bowl of sports car racing,” said Kyle Marcelli. “Qualifying is super important in our class and I’m thrilled that our No. 93 Harrison Contacting Company Acura NSX will start in fourth on the grid. All of us drivers—Ashton, Danny, Ryan, myself—we’re all getting along really well and looking for the same things out of the car. Acura, HPD and the Racers Edge with WTRAndretti crew have been fantastic. We’ve got good prep behind us and now we’ve got to focus-forward to the race.”

Practice for the Rolex 24 starts on January 26th, with the green flag for the legendary endurance race waving on the 28th at 1:40 p.m. Live coverage is available on Peacock for the full 24-hour cycle, alternate coverage on USA Network, and the final hours and victory celebrations available on NBC starting at 12:00 p.m. ET on the 29th.

GTD RESULTS:

1. No. 57 Winward Racing (Mercedes-AMG GT3) R. Ward, P. Ellis, I. Dontje & L. Auer (120.799 mph)
2. No. 75 Sun Energy 1 (Mercedes-AMG GT3) L. Stolz, K. Habul, F. Schiller & A. Jefferies (120.551 mph)
3. No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports (Mercedes-AMG GT3) M. Skeen, M. Grenier, K. Koch & M. Goetz (120.107 mph)
4. No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti Harrison Contracting Company Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 (Acura NSX GT3) A. Harrison, D. Formal, K. Marcelli & R. Briscoe (119.924 mph)
5. No. 66 Gradient Racing (Acura NSX GT3) S. Monk, K. Legge, M. Farnbacher & M. Miller (119.820 mph)

About Harrison Contracting
Harrison Contracting Company, Inc. (HCC) is a commercial painting and facility maintenance contracting company headquartered in Villa Rica, GA with divisional offices in Florida and Texas. HCC provides repainting/reimaging and facility maintenance services nationwide, and new construction painting across the southeastern US. At HCC, red is more than the company color, its culture. RED stands for Reliable, Experienced, and Diligent, and is the cornerstone for all we do. We are more than just your painter; we are your partner.

Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti is also proudly sponsored by Acura Motorsports and Honda Performance Development (HPD).

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Will Start the 61st Running of the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA in Third Position

(Daytona Beach, Fla.) January 22, 2023 — After setting the pace early in Sunday afternoon’s qualifying session, concluding the 2023 Roar Before the Rolex 24, Ricky Taylor piloted Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s (WTRAndretti) No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 to a starting position of third for the 61st Running of the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA.

A strategy decision by the team, opting to stay in the pits on used tires at the end of a red-flag-impacted session, was ultimately the deciding factor in the result. The team is confident in their ability to fight to the front over the 24 hours of hard GTP racing ahead.

“The session all came down to tires,” said two-time IMSA Champion Ricky Taylor. “It was an intentional decision by us to take one set, and MSR took two. Based on the risk of red flags with everyone running new cars, I still think that was the right decision. If the session had stayed red for 30 more seconds, we were on pole. As it turned out, the No. 60 got to use that second set properly. I thought the car was really, really good and if we couldn’t be on pole, it’s nice for the other Acura to finish first after all the work everyone has put in at HPD, Oreca, and WTRAndretti. We’ll see them in the race.”

Practice for the Rolex 24 starts on January 26th, with the green flag for the legendary endurance race waving on the 28th at 1:40 p.m. Live coverage is available on Peacock for the full 24-hour cycle, alternate coverage on USA Network, and the final hours and victory celebrations available on NBC starting at 12:00 p.m. ET on the 29th.

GTP STARTING GRID:

1. No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian (Acura ARX-06) T. Blomqvist, C. Braun, H. Castroneves & S. Pagenaud (136.295 mph)
2. No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports (Porsche 963) M. Campbell, F. Nasr & M. Christensen (136.175 mph)
3. No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 (Acura ARX-06) R. Taylor, F. Albuquerque, L. Delétraz & B. Hartley (136.054 mph)
4. No. 01 Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-LMDh) S. Bourdais, R. van der Zande & S. Dixon (135.961 mph)
5. No. 02 Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-LMDh) E. Bamber, A. Lynn & R. Westbrook (135.778 mph)

ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the workplace to achieve true connectivity through the Intelligent Connected Workplace. The company guides and supports its clients’ digital transformation through its expansive office technology portfolio, including IT Services (All Covered), intelligent information management, managed print services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been included on CRN’s MSP 500 list nine times and The World Technology Awards named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for fifteen consecutive years, and is proud to be ranked on the Forbes 2021 America’s Best-in-State employers list. The company received Keypoint Intelligence’s BLI 2021 A3 Line of The Year Award and BLI 2021-2023 Most Color Consistent A3 Brand Award for its bizhub i-Series. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent four years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. The company recognizes 150 years in global business in 2023. Konica Minolta partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and works to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit us online and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 effort and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport is supported by an outstanding lineup of partners including Harrison Contracting Company, Acura Motorsports, Honda Performance Development and Hammer Nutrition .

Florida-based team paced in the top three in every practice session at the Roar Before the Rolex 24

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (22 January 2023) – Jupiter, Florida-based Sean Creech Motorsport (SCM) scored its first pole position at the track it considers home, taking the top spot in the LMP3 class for next weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway (Saturday at 1:30 p.m., NBC) – race one of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Nico Pino powered the No. 33 SCM Exelixis/Focal One/Jerich International Ligier JS P320 to the front of the field as the team gave the 18-year-old Chilean a car that gave him the confidence to head right to the top of the charts.

Drivers João Barbosa, Lance Willsey, Danny Soufi and Pino, along with SCM engineers and mechanics, worked through balance issues in four test sessions (the team chose to sit out the very wet night practice Saturday evening), though they put the No. 33 into the top three in every session. The team also battled through the typically changing Florida weather – with a warm day Friday, rain on Saturday and wind on Sunday.

Pino, who set the team’s quickest lap of the weekend in the second test session on Saturday (with a lap at 1:42.961) held that position after the 15-minute qualifying session, culminating in the team’s second IMSA WeatherTech series pole (the first pole coming last season at Road America) with a lap at 1:43.197.

“This is so special,” said Pino. “To take my first ever pole position at Daytona is amazing. This is a special race for every driver, and it’s a great way to start the season. I had expected oversteer, given how green the track was, but we had a bit of understeer, so we have to work on that – but I think there were four or five tenths left in the car. Now, we need to work on strategy – but it’s good to know we have a clear track in front of us, in terms of LMP3 cars.

“It’s going to be challenging,” continued Pino. “You have to take extra precautions out there, especially with all the LMP2s and hybrid cars out there. If we can survive the first couple of hours when everything is so frantic, and be in a good position, we can go for the win. I’m looking forward to the best result possible – and hopefully taking the watch!”

Team principal Sean Creech has raced at Daytona countless times, but to take pole for the Rolex 24 is a very special moment.

“This is awesome for the entire team,” said Creech. “We struggled with the setup and got it sorted out for qualifying so it’s a good start. The track changes so much – it changed so much from the test last month to now and it will change again before next Saturday. We’ll prep the next two days, take a few hours off, then work on the car in practice next week. The key to the 24 is simple: no mistakes.”

“It’s been a challenging weekend,” said four-time Rolex 24 winner Barbosa. “That car didn’t unload off the truck like we expected but we were quick in every session, which is encouraging. It’s fast, no matter the conditions, and we’ve made good steps forward – and Nico just proved that. It’s a credit the whole team and the work they’ve done, and I’m confident we’ll have a good car for the race. Now it’s up to the Daytona gods to see what they’ll throw at us. Keep the car clean, fuel and tires the whole way, avoid mistakes and penalties and we’ll see what happens.”

“It means the world to the team to be starting on pole for the Rolex 24,” said Willsey, who will contest his 13th Rolex 24. “It means that Sean and the team have built a winning organization. We had a race win and a pole last year and this is sort of a continuation of the experience. We rolled off the trailer and we were far from in the zone with the car; it was a real struggle, but it all came together in qualifying. Now we can put our heads down and get ready for the race – and that’s a whole new ballgame”

“These were my first sessions at Daytona and my first time dealing with lots of traffic,” said Soufi. “Busy is an understatement! There are a lot of cars out there, but I think it’s just about learning to manage the traffic then finding pace. I have good pace, but there is still room to improve. I know a few things I need to do to pick up some time, but the car is very quick. Nico did a fantastic job in qualifying to put it on pole and hopefully we can replicate that next Sunday.”

VP Racing SportsCar Challenge

Willsey also competed in the series’ inaugural doubleheader. Unfortunately, he was hit in both races but battled back to take a seventh-place finish in race one, and fourth in race two.

“I strongly believe the VP series has a strong future in front of it and I think that it has a great format,” said Willsey. “I had my own challenges in the first couple of races with some incidental contact but I had a good car and I can’t complain, it was good fun out there. The racing was good, the two classes I feel intermingled and played well together, which I was very pleasantly surprised by. I think the series has a bright future and I would love to see the grids grow and see where it goes from there. I think it’s great racing.”

SCM thanks partners Exelixis, Focal One and Jerich International for their continued support.

The Rolex 24 At Daytona takes the green flag Saturday at 1:40 p.m. Eastern. The race will be broadcast live in the U.S. on the NBC family of networks, beginning and ending with network NBC. The race will also be live streamed in its entirety on Peacock TV. International viewers can watch via IMSA.tv, with IMSA Radio also available at IMSA.com.

About SCM

Team leader Sean Creech has competed in a multitude of sports car series from 1990 until the present day, including Group C, IMSA GTP, WSC, Grand-Am, SRO World Challenge, and IMSA. SCM will contest the full WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2023 with João Barbosa and Lance Willsey. http://seancreechmotorsport.com/

About Focal One

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime in the United States. The Focal One® HIFU Prostate treatment offers patients a non-invasive outpatient procedure to target prostate tissue while avoiding the common side effects such as loss of urinary continence and sexual function. The Focal One treatment uses high-performance, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to precisely target and ablate the prostate, allowing patients to quickly return to normal activities.

http://www.focalone.com/

About Jerich International

Jerich International is a family-owned global group of companies that offers large-scale trade and industry customers a holistic logistics approach to freight forwarding through global supply chain management. The company makes use of tailor made concepts, extensive know how and immeasurable experience to set industry-leading practices in logistics. https://www.jerich.com/

Sebastien Bourdais earns second-row start in qualifying for Rolex 24 At Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2023) — After two years of planning, design and development, Cadillac Racing is eagerly anticipating beginning the new era of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class with its three Cadillac V-LMDh race cars at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Qualifying for the 61st edition of the traditional season opener was conducted on a breezy, warm afternoon on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona International Speedway road course.

Sebastien Bourdais, driving the No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh, paced the Cadillac contingent with a best lap of 1 minute, 34.262 seconds and will start on the outside of Row 2. Teammate Alex Lynn qualified fifth at 1:34.389 in the No. 02 Cadillac V-LMDh and Pipo Derani posted a best lap of 1:34.608 to qualified sixth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh.

All three Cadillac entries were hampered by a red flag that interrupted the 20-minute qualifying session. Lynn registered only three laps, Bourdais turned four laps and Derani got in six. Tom Blomqvist earned the pole with a lap of 1:34.031 in his Acura AXR-06.

The three Cadillac V-LMDh entries combined to turn 366 laps in six free practice sessions without incident or protracted time on pit lane as they gathered data about mechanical and aerodynamic setups, tire wear and the hybrid system’s performance contributions among other items.

Cadillac Racing teams and drivers will have three free practice sessions Thursday, Jan. 26, and two the next day for final preparations and pit stop/driver change practice before they take the green flag for the race at 1:40 p.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 28.

The electrified Cadillac prototype features an all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan, with a seven-speed sequential gearbox. IMSA has specified the power output at 670 horsepower, including the hybrid system; weight at 1,030kg without fuel and driver; and a maximum of 8,800 RPM.

Cadillac, the only LMDh manufacturer with a naturally aspirated engine in the GTP class, will seek to build on its legacy of success in the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona with its fifth overall victory 2017. The list:

  2020 (Renger van der Zande, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Kamui Kobayashi)
  2019 (Renger van der Zande, Fernando Alonso; Jordan Taylor, Kamui Kobayashi)
  2018 (Christian Fittipaldi, Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa)
  2017 (Jeff Gordon, Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli)

Also since 2017, a Cadillac prototype has recorded 27 victories in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition – the most by any manufacturer — and three Manufacturer Championships.

A Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing will be among the Safety Cars for the race that will show the green flag at 1:40 p.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 28.

No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh (qualified fourth, 1:34.262)

Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon

Bourdais drove in qualifying: “I think that the track from the 15 minutes (extra free practice preceding qualifying) to the end of qualifying where we did our lap the grip on the track was up significantly and we’ve never run that fast and the car felt amazing. Really happy for the Cadillac team and I think it’s a strong start. Obviously, not the goal but as close as we can get without getting it. I think it bodes well for the race so now it’s just about executing and making no mistakes and hoping that the gods of electronics are with us for 24 hours.”

No. 02 Cadillac V-LMDh (qualified fifth, 1:34.389)

Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Richard Westbrook

Lynn drove in qualifying: “Pretty happy, to be honest. We made a lot of improvements on the car the last couple of days and I think where we ended up with the balance was great. We’ll see what next week brings.”

No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh (qualified sixth, 1:34.608)

Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims, Jack Aitken

Derani drove in qualifying: “It wasn’t the luckiest qualifying session for me. I had two tentative laps before the red flag, which doesn’t help because of tire wear. I tried it again one last time but by that time the car wasn’t perfect, and obviously without a reference it’s hard to know what to do. In general, I think the car is working well and the most important thig is we have a good car for the race. That’s our goal.”

About Cadillac

A leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com.

Notebook: Preparations for qualifying, race continue
Drivers of three Cadillac V-LMDh race cars aim for fourth Rolex 24 pole since ’17

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 21, 2023) — Every test session is a learning opportunity with the new Cadillac V-LMDh race car.

Full fuel runs and work on incremental performance gains were among the main points of the test program on the second day of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 as Cadillac Racing continued preparations for the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The three Cadillac V-LMDh race cars combined for 209 laps in the three test sessions totaling 270 minutes in changeable weather conditions on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona International Speedway road course. With a drying circuit under the lights, the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh was among the four cars in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class to venture onto the track in the two-hour session and turned 18 laps.

“We starting to get more and more prepared each run, each session with driver changes, refueling, getting used to all the cars around and test the car in the rain,” said Earl Bamber, co-driver of the No. 02 Cadillac V-LMDh. “I think session by session we feel better about qualifying on Sunday.”

The 20-minute qualifying session for the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class is scheduled for 2:40 p.m. ET Jan. 22. Peacock will provide streaming coverage of qualifying starting at 1:25 p.m. Cadillac earned the pole for the twice-around-the-clock race in 2017, 2018 and ’21 in the DPi era.

“We did a really long run. It was nice to do a full stint all the way through, then stop and fill up the tank and see that difference between the first fuel fill with a new set of tires and fuel fill and a used set,” said Alexander Sims, co-driver of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh after the late afternoon session. “Useful information. It’s just a test session but so many cars on track there is stuff happening all the time, which is useful for running in traffic during the race.”

Added Ranger van der Zande, co-driver of the No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh: “I think we made good steps to control the systems that we have on this car. It’s a complicated car and I think we have a good group from General Motors, Ganassi, Dallara and Bosch. We want to make sure everybody is facing the same way, so that’s a good base to move forward from. Today, we started to dial in our group more and more.”

The electrified Cadillac prototype features an all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan, with a seven-speed sequential gearbox. IMSA has specified the power output at 670 horsepower, including the hybrid system; weight at 1,030kg without fuel and driver; and a maximum of 8,800 RPM.

Cadillac, the only LMDh manufacturer with a naturally aspirated engine for the new prototype in the GTP class, will seek to build on its legacy of success in the 61st Rolex 24 At Daytona with its fifth overall victory 2017.

Sporting championship rings

Members of Action Express Racing were presented rings for their 2021 IMSA DPi team championship season by George “Sonny” Whelen and Christine Whelen – owners of Whelen Engineering, the primary sponsor on the No. 31 Cadillac V-LMDh.

Whelen Engineering first partnered with Action Express Racing in 2015.

“It’s a little emotional because we won the championship in 2021 and it shows that despite all the (medical) issues they’ve had they still consider us part of their family,” said Pipo Derani, the ’21 DPi driver champion. “To come back here and do this amazing gesture for all of us is fantastic. It shows what kind of people they are and it’s great to be part of a fantastic group like this.”

Since 1952, the Whelen Engineering Company has been a global leader in the design and manufacturing of reliable and powerful warning lights, white illumination lighting, sirens, controllers and high-powered warning systems for automotive, aviation and mass notification industries.

Collaboration from the start

From the outset, Cadillac Racing and its drivers have been instrumental in developing the Michelin GTP class tires for the 2023 season both on the Dallara and Chevrolet simulators and during on-track testing.

“The tire is probably the most critical component on the car in that it’s the only place that the entire car connects to the ground and the car itself is built around the tire,” GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser said. “The tire and the suspension need to work together or otherwise you’ll be fighting the car constantly.

“So, developing the tire with Michelin from the beginning was critical in making sure our car performed. Between the simulation that we’ve done, the many miles we’ve put on the car, the countless feedback sessions we’ve had with Michelin working together, that collaboration has given us a great package because ultimately the car is the sum of its parts.”

GTP teams have 33 sets of Michelin tires (12 soft “low temperature” and 21 soft “high temperature”) at their disposal for this weekend and the sessions leading into the twice-around-the-clock race. They will have 21 sets total for the race.

Did you know about the unicorn?

Jack Aitken, endurance driver of the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh incorporated a unicorn in his helmet design. “The core design on the side is my logo, so it’s a big JA. My painter is kind of a made genius who lives in The Netherlands and he made the initials out of geometry shapes, like a mosaic, and put some tartan in there for your Scottish heritage and some of the colors of the Korean flag. On the back is a unicorn in the same motif and that’s because the national animal of Scotland is a unicorn. Most people are shocked when I tell them. It’s like a cool conversation piece.” … Earl Bamber, co-driver of the No. 02 Cadillac V-LMDh, drove in the 24H Dubai last weekend. The Grove Motorsports team finished fourth in the GT3 class. “I treated it as a good warm-up for the Rolex 24,” he said.

About Cadillac

A leading luxury auto brand since 1902, Cadillac is growing globally, driven by an expanding product portfolio that features distinctive design and technology. More information on Cadillac appears at www.cadillac.com.

ST. LOUIS, MO., (January 21, 2023) – As a new sports car racing season begins this month, Mike Johnson will lead Archangel Motorsports into its 25th year of operations, in what is set up to be a busy year for the team. With programs in four professional sports car racing championships already confirmed, and a fifth under consideration, the championship-winning effort is open for business, ready to take on the 2023 season.

“I can’t believe we are starting our 25th year,” said Johnson. “I started this in the back of a shop in Orlando 25 years ago, moved it to Road Atlanta for our Grand-Am and American Le Mans Series years, and have been back home in St. Louis since 2020. We have been running programs for quite a few teams over the last year years, and it will be another busy year running races in three to four series this year.”

Johnson founded Archangel in 1998, beginning with formula racing before starting the transition to sports cars in 2000, earning back-to-back championships in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. The team has continued a championship and race-winning streak, celebrating victory at iconic races such as the Rolex 24 At Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

This year, the team will campaign programs in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge, International GT (IGT), GT America Powered by AWS, and Pirelli GT4 America, with the possibility of a few World Racing League (WRL) entries as well.

Johnson has partnered his company racing an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with Todd Coleman Racing, with Coleman making his debut this month in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona, and later participating in the Michelin Pilot Challenge. Coleman will also make appearances in the new IMSA VP Racing Series, GT America, and GT4 America.

The team will also partner with Scott Blind and Ruckus Racing, running a Porsche GT3 Cup Car in IGT, and select rounds of SRO America’s GT4 racing series.

“Scott is also considering racing in WRL, which would be a great opportunity for all,” said Johnson. “It’s a strong series with a competitive field. It’s great for customer racing, providing a strong product at a fair price. I look forward to the possibility of growing our footprint there. We’ve proven we can run a variety of cars and programs successfully, and we’re excited for what’s ahead.”

Archangel’s first race of the season takes place this month at Daytona International Speedway, with the BMW M Endurance Challenge at Daytona. Todd Coleman Racing with Archangel Motorsports will participate in the four-hour endurance event in the No. 69 Aston Martin Vantage GT4, on Friday, January 27 at 1:45 PM ET. The race will air live on Peacock, beginning at 1:35 PM ET.