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SCHLUTER SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA RE-UPS WITH LAJOIE, SPIRE MOTORSPORTS FOR 2022 NASCAR CUP SERIES CAMPAIGN

January 18, 2022

CONCORD, N.C. (January 18, 2022) – Spire Motorsports announced today Schluter Systems North America has renewed its partnership with the team and will serve as the primary sponsor of Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for seven NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) races in 2022.

The Schluter Systems livery will be showcased aboard LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevy beginning with the March 6 Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Meanwhile, the tile-industry specialist will also serve as LaJoie’s primary sponsor for the Echo Park Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, the Ally 400 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the Yellawood 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Additionally, Schluter Systems will be an associate sponsor of the No. 7 team across the balance of the 2022 season.

The Schluter Systems partnership has been a mainstay throughout LaJoie’s NCS career with the 30-year-old driver representing the organization both on and away from the racetrack dating back to 2017.

“After another season of partnering with Corey LaJoie and our first full season of working with Spire Motorsports, it is clear we’ve found a great home for Schluter Systems,” said Schluter Systems owner, Udo Schluter. “We’ve always had confidence in Corey’s ability and with the integration of the NextGen car, we are confident that we’ll see a big performance boost in 2022.”

Schluter Systems provides innovative, easy-to-use installation systems to support the durability, integrity and design of tile installations. With over 8,000 products within its growing portfolio, Schluter Systems is continuously improving the landscape of the tile industry. Educational workshops and intuitive approaches to product design champions Schluter’s position as an industry leader in quality and service.

“Schluter Systems has been a key partner of mine since I began my Cup career,” said LaJoie. “Without their commitment, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m profoundly grateful for the relationships we’ve created and grown with both their customers and employees across the world. We’re thrilled to welcome Schluter back for another great season at Spire Motorsports.”

LaJoie finished ninth in last year’s Daytona 500 and went on to earn three top-15 and nine top-20 finishes over 35 races in 2022.

“We’re proud that Schluter Systems has agreed to renew its partnership and continue building on what we started in 2021,” said Spire Motorsports co-owner T.J. Puchyr. “Corey, (crew chief) Ryan Sparks and the entire team did everything we asked of them, and really, a lot more. We’re building something that we know is going to take time but we like the direction we’re heading. The new car is going to help even the playing field so we’re ready to get going.”

The 2022 NCS season gets underway next month with the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway. The 64th running of the Daytona 500 will be televised live on FOX, Sunday, February 20 beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The first of 36 races on the 2022 NCS schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

About Schluter®-Systems …
Schluter Systems provides innovative, easy to use installation systems to support the durability, integrity and design of tile installations. With over 8,000 products within its growing portfolio, Schluter Systems is continuously improving the landscape of the tile industry. Their educational workshops and intuitive approach to product design supports Schluter’s position as an industry leader in quality and service. Schluter Systems services North America with multiple Training, Distribution and Manufacturing facilities in Plattsburgh, NY, Montreal, QC, Reno, NV, and Fort Worth, TX. For more information, visit www.schluter.com.

About Spire Motorsports …
Spire Motorsports was established in 2018 and is co-owned by longtime NASCAR industry executives Jeff Dickerson and Thaddeus “T.J.” Puchyr. Spire Motorsports earned an upset victory for the ages in its first full season when Justin Haley took the checkered flag in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2019.

Ford Performance NASCAR: Chase Briscoe and Hailie Deegan Preseason Preview

Official Release

January 18, 2022

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Preseason Media Availability | Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Ford NASCAR drivers Chase Briscoe and Hailie Deegan will be teaming up to drive a Mustang GT4 for PF Racing in the four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge event at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 28. After that, they will return to their full-time jobs with Briscoe entering his second season driving the No. 14 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series and Deegan driving her second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season with David Gilliland Racing.

Both drivers participated in a Q&A session with media members today to talk about their respective seasons.

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang – WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNED IN YOUR ROOKIE YEAR? “I think the biggest thing I learned my rookie year was it takes a lot of things in the Cup Series to have a good result. At the end of the day it takes every little detail, whether it’s getting off and on pit road under green, having a good pit stop – really every pit stop with no penalties, good restarts. It literally takes every single thing to even be in the hunt at the end of the day. There are days where you can do everything perfect and you’re still not in the hunt, so just trying to capitalize on those days where you have a good car and good speed and not make mistakes. I think that was the biggest thing is last year I made a lot of mistakes, whether it was penalties or just not maximizing pit road and things like that. So, I’m going to try and continue to do that next year and learn on those things and be able to capitalize when we do have a good car.”

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY NXS RACES YOU WILL DO THIS YEAR? “No, I don’t know that yet.”

WHAT SPECIFIC AREAS HAVE YOU AND THE TEAM BEEN WORKING ON TO IMPROVE YOUR OVAL PERFORMANCE AND HOW IMPORTANT WILL THE RETURN TO PRACTICE BE? “We haven’t really said anything just because everything we kind of learned last year has been thrown out the window to a certain extent. I kind of feel like we laid the groundwork and the foundation of what we need from a lingo standpoint. Johnny understands by the tone of my voice how serious I am about things – just all the little stuff. I feel like we have a good idea about those things, but what we’ve learned or what we need to improve on from last year from the car standpoint, all of that is irrelevant now because we’re going to this new car. For us, there was a lot of time in ovals last year when we had good speed, but we weren’t able to capitalize or something would go wrong at the end. We just need to do that more consistently. Last year, out of the 36 races I would say we were only in the hunt for maybe eight or nine of them, so we just need to be more consistent. For me, as a driver and as a team we just need to be better overall. I think with this new car it definitely creates a lot of opportunities and for us going back now, last year our best races typically were anywhere where we had practice or anywhere we went back for the second time. In some ways I feel like we didn’t get a fair shot at it our rookie year just because of the situation that we were in. I felt like we were always trying to dig out of a hole, whether it was things like our starting position. Hopefully, this year we’ll be in a way better spot just to even start these races.”

SHR WASN’T AT THE DAYTONA TEST LAST WEEK. WHAT WERE YOUR TAKEAWAYS FROM HOW THE NEXT GEN CAR PERFORMS IN A PACK SITUATION AND HOW WILL THAT BE DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR? “For me, I haven’t driven it so I was only watching. I honestly didn’t watch a ton just because I was at the Chili Bowl the whole time, but, to me at least, it looked fairly similar to kind of what he had from a pack standpoint. It didn’t look like it did a ton of things different. I know talking to a couple guys here from a driving standpoint it drove like Daytona. I was talking to McDowell and he had a good point. The Truck, Xfinity, Cup car all drive different at Daytona, but it’s still Daytona. They all drive the same in a sense, they just do things differently in the pack and how they react. So, he said it drove just like any other car. It’s still the same core Daytona. The same things will apply, just the car does it a little differently. That will be something we have to figure out whenever we get there and hopefully we can figure it out quickly and hopefully we can have a good car that will run. I think that’s the big thing. In the past you’ve seen teams that have a little bit of a car advantage when we go to Daytona or Talladega just with what they do with the body or things like that, where now it’s kind of going to be the same across the board I feel like. Everybody’s parts are the same. The bodies are the same. Everybody’s stuff is the same, so it’ll be interesting how that changes the race.”

WHAT IS YOUR COMFORT LEVEL WITH THE NEXT GEN CAR AND HOW DOES IT RELATE TO YOUR DRIVING STYLE? “To be honest with you, I’m probably not the best guy to ask. I haven’t even driven it with how it’s supposed to be. The last time I drove it we didn’t even have the package decided, so it’s hard for me to say one way or the other. I’ll have a way better understanding after next week. I’m gonna do the Phoenix test, so then I’ll finally get to drive the car how it’s gonna be. For me to say one way or the other, it’s really not my place to say because I haven’t driven how it’s actually gonna be once we start racing. I guess ask me next week and I’ll be able to give you a way better answer.”

HOW WAS YOUR CHILI BOWL EXPERIENCE? “For us it was a little bit of a rough week. I felt like that was probably the worst week I’ve had there in probably four or five years. We were pretty good on our preliminary night. I felt like we were gonna run fifth or sixth, which would have put us in the B Main on Saturday, but with 10 to go our bleeder stuck on the right-rear tire so it let all the air out. I think we had two-and-a-half pounds in the right-rear tire and the track laid rubber, so we dropped to 11th, which put us in the C Main on Saturday. And then in the C Main on lap one a guy spun out in front of me and it bent the shock and missed the transfer by one, so it wasn’t the week that I was necessarily hoping for. I felt like we definitely had more speed than where we finished on Saturday, but we still didn’t have the speed. We were probably middle of the pack as far as fast guys go, so we have a little bit of work to do on the midget stuff, but it’s always a fun time going to the Chili Bowl. It was great to see a lot of my friends and people I don’t necessarily get to see all year long.”

WHAT STANDS OUT TO YOU IN REGARDS TO HAILIE AS A DRIVER? “I think, for me, Hailie is a lot like myself in the sense she drives anything she can, whether it’s dirt stuff, pavement stuff, it’s neat for me to have another dirt person in the ring with Ford. Her dirt background is totally different than what my dirt background was, but we both grew up racing on dirt. Her lingo is pretty much the same, I feel like. We kind of look for the same thing in a car. so I’m excited to get to Daytona and be with her. This will be the second time I’ve done this with Hailie, so it will be fun to go down there. The last time we were there was the first time she’d ever ran anything on a road course, so now to go back with her, she’s probably ran three or four truck races now and has run some other IMSA stuff, so it’ll be fun to see her improvement as a race car driver. She does a really good job in a lot of different disciplines and it’ll be fun to go down there and do a totally fairly new discipline to both of us and go down there and just have a good time.”

HOW DOES DOING EVENTS LIKE THIS HELP YOU IN THE CUP CAR WITH ALL THE ROAD COURSES ON THE SCHEDULE? “In the past I felt like it was good just to learn the road racing technique and learn some of these road course racetracks. When NASCAR announced they were going to the Daytona Road Course and we were getting no practice, I had laps there because I had done this with Ford and IMSA before. Now, more than ever, I feel like it will be a huge gain because these IMSA cars are fairly similar to the GT4 with the suspension, the brakes. All of those things are relatively the same or at least more similar than ever before, so I’m excited to see how much it drives like a Next Gen car and see what I can take away from it this time. Whether that’s things I can do as a race car driver or even things the team might change for setups or adjustments that I can take back to the Cup side and tell our Cup team to maybe try on a road course weekend.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT DAYTONA AND HOW DOES IT DIFFER FOR THESE TWO EVENTS? “I think it’s neat. I’ve done this for a couple years now, but I’ve never really been able to do it for the 500. Just seeing the two differences. It’s two totally different atmospheres between the IMSA stuff and the 500. The fan base is totally different. The NASCAR stuff, the fans are more about the drivers, but the IMSA fans are into the car. The atmosphere is just so different between the two, so it’s neat for me to go to both. The Rolex 24 is one of the biggest weekends of the year and then you go to the Daytona 500 a couple weeks later and it’s the biggest for motorsports in the U.S., so it’s really cool to see the two and to see the differences. For me, to go from Chili Bowl and then go the IMSA garage and then the NASCAR garage, you just see three totally different types of fan bases and atmospheres and as a race fan it’s been really cool to be a part of and do that for a couple years and now to do it as a Daytona 500 driver instead of an Xfinity guy is gonna be really neat.”

HAILIE DEEGAN, No. 1 Monster Energy Ford F-150 – HOW WILL THIS IMSA RACE HELP YOU AS A DRIVER? “I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun, and I have raced at Daytona before in the truck and in the IMSA car, so I think it’s just gonna be a good experience to be able to get seat time. I feel that’s one thing that I’ve really buckled down and said for this 2022 year that I just need to get as much seat time as I can, whether it’s in dirt, circle track stuff, whatever I can drive. I just want to get in and get more experience and I feel like one thing I could improve on, I can improve on a lot of things, but I feel like one thing that really is coming up more in the NASCAR world is road course races. I feel like being able to race any type of road course it is, I think is just gonna better me as a driver.”

CHASE BRISCOE CONTINUED – IS THE IMSA STUFF MORE LAID BACK AND FUN FOR YOU THAN THE NASCAR SIDE? “You just go there and it’s not that you’re taking it serious, it’s still a job, but at the end of the day if we don’t run good there’s not as many implications. So, it’s definitely more of a low-key weekend, at least for me to go down there and just have fun and drive a race car. There are no points on the line. There are no implications when it comes to the playoffs or things like that, so, for sure, it’s definitely a little more low-key, but at the same time there’s still a lot to learn when you go down there. It’s not that you don’t take it seriously, but it’s a totally different atmosphere than the Daytona 500 and the kind of intensity you bring to a race like that.”

HOW WAS YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE TEAMING UP WITH HAILIE IN 2020? “I can’t remember what year it was. It was one or two years ago, but I think that was the first time Hailie had ever driven on a road course if I remember right. I guess I was probably on my fourth or fifth time in the IMSA stuff, so it was a lot of fun to see her progression from when we went down there to the Roar and when we came back for the race. Now, she’s continued to run more and more road course stuff, so it’ll be cool to go back this time and she’ll be a totally different race car driver than the first time on a road course. I know for me at least from the first time I went out there to the fourth or fifth time it was night and day, so I’m excited to see what she can do when we go down there. It’s been a lot of fun. Like I was telling somebody earlier, it was a lot of fun to go down there. Hailie comes from a different background than me, but we both grew up dirt racing, so I feel like our lingo and what we look for in a race car is pretty similar. Neither of us like a tight race car. We both like it kind of sliding around a little bit more on the loose side, but it’s gonna be fun to go down there and see how much she’s progressed over the last couple of years since we’ve done it and just go down there and have fun and hopefully compete and run up front.”

HAILIE DEEGAN CONTINUED – HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU RUN THIS IMSA RACE? “This will be my second time racing at Daytona in the IMSA car.”

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF THE ROAR WEEKEND? “I think what I want to get out of the Roar weekend is just as much seat time as possible, studying the data and looking over everything and figuring out where I can improve. I feel like having a driver like Chase with me helping out and to be able to see what he does on the track and actually being able to go over the data of it and figure out where I can improve helps me a lot. That’s something you can’t really do on the truck side. There’s not much resources you have on the truck side of things to be able to do that, so being able to do that on a road course and actually seeing every braking point just helps a lot.”

SO THIS TEST COMING UP IS INVALUABLE IN YOUR MIND? “Yeah, I feel like every time we get seat time and test I try to really maximize the information that I learn from it and just be able to get as much experience as possible and learn as much as I can as quick as possible.”

CHASE BRISCOE CONTINUED – HOW ARE YOU BETTER AS A DRIVER IN JANUARY 2022 COMPARED TO JANUARY 2021 AFTER ONE SEASON IN CUP AND WHAT SPECFIC AREAS OF YOUR SKILL SET ARE YOU MOST WANTING TO WORK ON OVER THE COURSE OF THIS SEASON? “Everybody at the Cup Series level has been a winner their entire career. They’ve won at some many different assets. Even the guys running 25th have won their entire career, so, for me, the Cup side really opened up a lot of eyes. In the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series, you’re only racing against seven, eight, nine, 10 guys and you can make mistakes and get away with it and still win. You can even make multiple mistakes and still win, where on the Cup side you can literally do everything perfect and still run 15th. So, just trying to figure out how to minimize those mistakes was probably the hardest thing for me. I was just looking the other day and there was a stat that I think I had more penalties on pit road than anybody in the whole field, so just trying to do less of that – maximize every little thing you can do on the racetrack, minimize mistakes, whether it’s a penalty on pit road or even on the racetrack. Those guys are so good. They’ve all been racing 15-20 years. They’ve been running 500 miles every weekend for 15-20 years. They’re just good. They have so much race craft. They know where to put their car to make it hard for you to pass. They’ve seen every situation, so, for me, getting that experience of racing around guys that are much, much better, much more experienced than me was huge I felt like the first year. Hopefully, I can use that to my advantage this coming year and really just maximize that. But then I would say the biggest area where I would like to improve is just short tracks. I feel like I’m probably the only guy in the entire field in the Cup Series that has never short track raced my entire life. I never ran a late model. I never ran anything. The first time I ever ran a short track was in the Truck Series at Martinsville, stuff like that. I feel like I really struggle when we go to places that have that short track feel – a Martinsville, a Richmond, a New Hampshire. Those have always been statistically my worst racetracks and just how you have to drive the car at those places I really struggle.”

HAILIE DEEGAN CONTINUED – CAN YOU MEASURE HOW VALUABLE GETTING PRACTICE IN THE TRUCK SERIES WILL BE FOR YOU THIS YEAR? “I would say last year it took me probably twice as long as it would normally just to get comfortable and to figure out the ropes in the Truck Series, just for the sole fact that there was no practice my first time. Being able to drive on that track was the green flag, so it just made it very difficult to learn as a rookie driver in the Truck Series, trying to figure out how the trucks handle, trying to figure out how these tracks are since most of the tracks we went to were new tracks for me, so when you don’t get that valuable seat time there, it does make it a lot tougher to learn, so I feel like that definitely took us a while to figure out the ropes and get a good base under us. It did take a lot longer, but I feel like we definitely did get that solid base last season even if it did take longer. To be able to go into this season, into 2022, and be better right off the bat, not have to work up to things and just the practice side of things this year will be able to help me now that I know the changes that we need to make to the truck and really know how to affect the truck, to be able to make those decisions during practice in the short amount of time span that we do have.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL YOU DID LAST YEAR IN ALL THE DIFFERENT SERIES YOU COMPETED IN? “I would say my main thing as a driver, I’d say as a whole, is being able to get experience in multiple types of racing. I feel like that makes you an overall better driver, just to be able to have those tools in your toolbox, just to be able to say, ‘Oh, I’ve driven that. I know how that feels.’ You learn something new from every single type of car and form of racing you participate in. Last year was crazy. We did race a lot and what’s crazier is that we’re racing even more races this year, so it’s gonna make it more of an interesting time and I feel like it’s also gonna make it a lot better for me just gaining that experience and education.”

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO IMPROVE IN THE TRUCK SERIES THIS YEAR? “It’s hard to say what we’re gonna see out of DGR this year. I know that we do have that new 2022 truck and I’m hoping that is gonna help out a lot. It seems like from the data that they have it looks to be a lot better, so I think we’re gonna go out there and be a lot more competitive as a whole team. From a team standpoint, we do have a lot of the same guys back on my program that were there last year and I felt like they were really good and I feel like we mesh really well and built a good relationship. I feel being able to take that relationship from last year with those crew guys and crew members and follow it with the next year I feel like it just makes as a whole a better group and more trust into each other. Them trusting me and me trusting them what they’re doing to the truck so I feel like we’re definitely gonna be a lot stronger as a team, but me personally as a driver I feel like my goal is just kind of to maximize and really – that little bit of those mistakes that I’m making in every area of where I could be a little bit better, just really maximizing that to make sure those mistakes are minimal, whether they’re pit road, whether it’s restarts, whatever it is – qualifying, down to the littlest things, just to be able to perfect everything and not make mistakes.”

ARE YOUR CREW CHIEF AND SPOTTER THE SAME FROM LAST YEAR? “Yes.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CHASE’S DRIVING STYLE AND LOOKING FORWARD THE MOST TO WORKING WITH HIM? “I would say that it’s kind of cool that we have some type of similar background. I didn’t grow up short track racing. That was totally new to me. I short tracked after a truck race, but that’s not the same. That’s something that definitely I feel like we find in common. I feel like that kind of dirt racer feel is to drive in a little bit harder, so I know that his braking points are definitely gonna be that maximum level, so there are some things you just know about other dirt racers and you have that feel and that certain driving style where you maybe overdrive it a little bit, but that’s kind of anticipated when you restart, so I think it’s just gonna make it a little bit easier to understand. Our lingo will be a lot similar as he said, but I feel like he’s a good person to look up to and kind of see as a mentor role of being able to be like, ‘Hey, I need help with us or I need help with that.’ I definitely trust his opinion and his experience with everything.”

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRIVE THAT YOU HAVEN’T HAD THE CHANCE TO DO YET? “Chili Bowl in a midget is something I haven’t driven before. That’s something I haven’t driven before. I do have a micro, but I think those are some bucket list items that would be cool to race eventually.”

HOW IS THE NEW TRUCK DIFFERENT? “I’d say it’s just gonna perform a lot better where air really matters. I would say the body style on it is definitely an improvement and I feel it’s gonna help us perform and just make more speed overall. There are some tracks that we could go to and be like, ‘Man, the truck feels good, but we just need a little more speed.’ I feel like that’s where they’ve really maximized on this new truck, just to be able to minimize everything we were missing out on and I feel like they’ve made so many great improvements. The wind tunnel testing looked great, so I’m hoping it performs as great as the data looks and I have a feeling it will.”

ANY RACES CIRCLED ON YOUR CALENDAR OR TRACKS YOU WANT TO REDEEM YOURSELF ON? “I’d say one I’m excited for is Sonoma, just because I’ve raced there before in the K&N Series and qualified on the pole, so I know it’s possible for me to do good there. I would say that’s one I’m excited for. As far as redeeming myself, I would say that would have to be the Bristol dirt track. I’d say that’s one. Now that I have race there I’m going to set my truck up a lot different than I did the last time. I feel like there are two ways to set up your truck for that race. You either have it really good at the beginning or really good at the end and I had mine really good at the beginning and we weren’t there at the end. Just going to those dirt races it’s a whole new world for NASCAR. Most dirt races are short. Most of them are around 30 laps, at least most of the ones I’ve race before – 30, 50 laps, whatever it is – they’re pretty short races. They happen quick. When you get to the NASCAR side of things they’re a lot longer and the track changes a lot. Dirt changes a lot quickly. You do see a lot of change on those shorter races that normal dirt cars are on, but I’d say that’s one major thing that when you get to these NASCAR dirt races is the track goes night and day different, so you’ve got to be there at the end and you’re there at the beginning.”

WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN MORE IMSA OPPORTUNITIES DEPENDING ON YOUR SCHEDULE? “For sure. I want to race as much as I can, whatever car it is. I would take any car out there to drive, whether it’s a go-kart, whatever, I’ll race pretty much anything, any opportunity that I get. On my schedule right now between all the racing, which some of it I haven’t released yet, I have about 50 races on my schedule so even though it’s not as many truck races as necessarily the Xfinity or Cup Series would be I’m definitely jam-packed with racing this year.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RETURN TO SRX THIS YEAR? “I would definitely love to return to the SRX Series. I don’t think they’ve released a schedule yet, so I’m just kind of waiting on their call. I know I talked to Ray and Tony last year and they said they would love to have me back, which is great to be able to hear that that opportunity is still there to come back and race in that series. That would be an awesome thing to do, so I’m kind of just waiting on their end, trying to figure out what the game plan is what races I’d be available to race.”

OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS AS YOU’VE MOVED UP IN DIFFERENT SERIES AND THE SPOTLIGHT HAS GOTTEN BRIGHTER WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME CHALLENGES YOU’VE FACED IN GETTING ACCUSTOMED TO THAT ATTENTION? “I would say that I was always around it because of my dad. I was always kind of on the outside of the circle looking in and seeing him experience it, it almost became normal in my family. My little brother is very popular too. He’s one of the most followed motor racers, so he’s definitely in the spotlight too. My dad is. There’s just a lot going on in our family when it comes to social media and having a large fan base. It almost become normal, but one end of the challenge I find with that is if another driver, say another driver in the Truck Series was to go race the Chili Bowl for the first time, they could stay pretty well under cover and kind of just go there and be able to get seat time and have fun, whereas if I went and race it, it would be a lot more in the spotlight, so if I’m gonna go there I want to go there and be ready to perform. I don’t want to go there and just kind of be lost, so that’s one thing – it makes me have to always be prepared for every race that I race, more so than anyone else would have to be.”

Kyle Kirkwood ready for Indy challenge

January 18, 2022

404304_416e9a6427a149feb689808db1fc36c3_mv2 — Photo Courtesy of A.J. Foyt Racing

After a successful campaign, the 2021 Indy Lights Series champion, Kyle Kirkwood, is gearing up for his first IndyCar season, which will come in the full-time No. 14 A.J. Foyt entry.

Kirkwood is coming off an Indy Light season where the Jupiter, Florida native scored 10 wins (half of the race schedule), had 14 podium finishes, and scored six pole positions to his credit. In doing so, Kirkwood is one of the hottest rookies entering the IndyCar schedule but knows the series will be a challenge through the first few races that begin on the Streets of St. Peterburg.

“Of course, it’s going to be a tougher crowd racing in INDYCAR,” Kirkwood said about the 2022 season. “I fully expect that. That’s what I’ve known coming up through all the ranks. Most of the drivers in Road to Indy are rookies. I’m coming into INDYCAR as a rookie where there are veteran drivers that have been here for 15 years I think some of them have been. It’s all new to me. Of course, I have to take a step back, know I need to learn some things. Most of the time, most of the categories, I came into it knowing I probably had the most knowledge. Now I’ve got probably the least.”

Before Kirkwood landed the ride with A.J. Foyt Racing, he was in talks with Andretti Autosport to replace one of the two drivers leaving the team and had there not been an open IndyCar ride, Kirkwood potentially could have ended up in Formula E instead where he participated in the rookie test at Marrakesh in February of 2020. However, the Andretti Autosport deal did not come to fruition. Fortunately for Kirkwood, he was able to land a ride with A.J. Foyt.

“I have to jog my memory how much I can talk about it,” the Florida native said about racing for Foyt. “I know Michael did come out at a press conference speaking about the F1 deal, and whatnot. Just bounced off of him. They did have the option for a period of time. Once they found out they couldn’t fill me into a seat, they opened up that option. We made some calls. A.J. Foyt Racing was the best fit for us.”

Kirkwood has won three Road to Indy championships (IndyCar’s version of a developmental system) and has given the system credit knowing that he might not be where he is today without winning three of the championships.

Kirkwood then spoke about the process of climbing his way up the ladder.

“It’s made it so much easier for me because as everyone knows finding sponsorships, funding, junior categories, is nearly impossible. The return on investment for sponsors is pretty much non-existent because there’s none of this broadcasting, being able to put things out. A lot of sponsorships aren’t visible.

“Having those scholarships from the Road to Indy has been absolutely crucial for my career. That all started from 2012. My first scholarship was with AJ Allmendinger, then a couple of years later, a Team USA scholarship. After I would be the (recipient of) the P4 scholarship, Honda had a scholarship to go to F3. Without All the Road to Indys, leading up now to what is INDYCAR, a 1.25 million dollars scholarship into INDYCAR. I don’t think I would have made it here this quick. I think there’s a possibility I would have still made it to INDYCAR without the scholarships, but this has obviously made it a much easier transition.”

CHEVROLET NTT INDYCAR SERIES – 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES MEDIA CONTENT DAYS

Official Release

January 18, 2022

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
2022 MEDIA CONTENT DAYS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
JANUARY 18,2022

ARROW MCLAREN RACING SP DRIVERS PATO O’WARD AND FELIX ROSENQVIST met with members of the media during 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series Media Content Days. Full transcripts:

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN RACING SP CHEVROLET:

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Felix just came in here and said there isn’t anything we don’t know about you because you give us everything you have. So let it roll.
PATO O’WARD: I’ll let it roll.

THE MODERATOR: Talk about your excitement for this season; you’ve got the McLaren organization that seems to be riding a big wave of momentum. Just talk about the excitement.
PATO O’WARD: It’s cool, man. It’s really cool to be a part of this new McLaren acquisition with the team, and we’re all one team, Extreme E, Formula 1, INDYCAR. It’s really, really cool to see, great to be a part of it. There’s been a lot of hard work in the off-season, a lot, a lot of hard work. I know we say that every year, but I sure hope that all these long hours and long days are going to be for something, and yeah, we’re ready to get rolling.

THE MODERATOR: What is your routine? You talk about long days. I assume that’s all in meetings and sim work and so forth?
PATO O’WARD: Thankfully I haven’t been in the sim yet. But specifically the engineers, I’m not taking all the credit on this because all I’ve had to do is just maintain myself in shape and as ready as I can mentally and physically, but in terms of actually having really long days and hours, trying to find little bits and pieces of time here and there. It’s all the engineers.
Hopefully the end of our championship last year lit a fire under their butts that hopefully pushes throughout this year.

Q. What has to change or improve this year for you to win the championship?
PATO O’WARD: I mean, in short, I just don’t think we’ve had a very consistent car. Where we’ve been strong, we’ve been very strong, but where we haven’t been strong, we’ve been very weak, and that’s where we’ve lost a lot of points. I feel like there’s no sugar coating it. It’s just not good enough.
I have to try and maximize what I can control, and I know the engineers are going to do their part. We’re not up to where Penske, Andretti and Ganassi are. We sure as hell are trying to and working hard for that, but they are Penske, Ganassi and Andretti for a reason.
Yeah, I think we’re definitely on the way. It’s been a path, but I think we keep getting better and we keep putting the bar higher and higher every year. This year we’ve got it pretty much as high as you want it to be. We were close to the 500 win. We were very close to the championship win. Yeah, there’s just — the big cookies are left.

Q. We’ve seen you do a lot of stuff this off-season with the McLaren Formula 1 team. It almost felt like you were a part of that crew already. Does it kind of feel the same to you?
PATO O’WARD: I mean, they’ve been so welcoming. Man, it was such a cool experience in Abu Dhabi and just all the preparation that I had before then, it was definitely just something very new. But I think it’s just going to make me better in every way, and definitely trying to learn as much as I can from that side and try and bring stuff over here to try and just boost everything up because I feel like the little bits and pieces we can get from here and there are just going to help our performance and make us all better.

Q. Is that an end goal for you to be able to drive those crazy fast cars around the world?
PATO O’WARD: For sure, yeah. That is definitely — I mean, my dream to be a race car driver started with that, so I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t.

Q. The fact that you got to drive that, does it almost kind of — it’s like here’s a new toy for you to try out, but now you’ve got to kind of focus on what your job at hand is. Is it almost like, do you see yourself sometimes sitting there thinking, man, I’d like to be back in that McLaren?
PATO O’WARD: Oh, man, it was so cool. You can tell that those cars are literally designed to go as fast as possible, within regulations, but it’s designed to be as quick as possible.
I think last year’s car was pretty much the fastest Formula 1 spec ever for a very long time. That was pretty cool that I got to test that and drive that. I can assure you it was ridiculously fast. Yeah, really cool feeling inside of the car.

Q. But for a driver who’s in a series where you basically have a chance to win almost any race that you’re entered in, how do you manage the expectation level that if you were in F1 you could be driving top of your game and maybe not winning?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I mean, I feel like honestly the motto that anyone can win in INDYCAR is — if you take the safety cars out of the equation, then that is not possible at all.
When you get safety cars that end up basically throwing away a leader’s race or many of the leaders’ race, then yeah, it turns into people from the back being able to win, but from outright pace, there is still a difference from top teams to smaller teams to medium teams. There is still significant differences. Maybe not so much in qualifying sometimes, but in terms of just so many things that are factors that play into the race, pit stop, in laps, out laps, strategy. There’s so many things that aren’t car pace that go into the race, which a lot of the times in F1 there’s just I think a lot less of that because the races are not as fast — sorry, not as long. There’s usually let pit stops, which makes the overcut and undercut windows less opportunity just because there’s less pit stops.
But there is obviously a lot bigger differences from teams to teams. Yeah, in F1 we’ve seen that if a strategy call that a yellow flag or a safety car really gets into the place where it really would send the leaders to the back, we’ve seen that that can happen and people that you would never expect to win will win in a car that people will never bet on because strategy — that’s what safety cars do. They mix everything up.
But we have a lot more of that in INDYCAR for sure.

Q. Also, this team is more McLaren than it’s ever been since they’ve taken more ownership stake into the team. You as a driver, it’s going to be the same guys you worked with when it was McLaren SP. They’re still there, but do you feel that sense of expectation level that basically it’s mostly McLaren now that owns the team?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, for sure you can see the push and you can see the objectives that McLaren is trying to achieve. I think what we’ve been able to achieve already is pretty stellar in terms of how much true development that has been going into it. But you can see the push that everybody wants to do what I want to do. We want to win. We want to win championships. We want to win 500s. That’s why we do this. We wouldn’t be doing this if it were for something else because it’s too much sacrifice and too much time away and too many hours for this to just be, oh, I just want to be on the podium. No, we want to win.

Q. I’m wondering how your neck is doing; was that what you worked on most since Abu Dhabi?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, this big boy is ready. I’ve been working on it since the day that I got back home. Yeah, for sure.

Q. Have you worked on everything else or was that your priority?
PATO O’WARD: No, everything else. I mean, I’ve stayed very active, just trying to stay as active as I can because weirdly that’s how I recharge, just being very busy and active, having fun with my cousins and family. Just staying home and doing nothing at home maybe is good for one or two days maximum, then I stir myself crazy.
Yeah, I’ve been working on everything. I’ve just bumped up the amount of hours that I’m training just because I have to sneak in quite a bit of that of neck, but I’m not taking away from anything else.

Q. I’m curious where you stand with the super license and what do you have to do to get one?
PATO O’WARD: I have no idea. That’s a great question. I mean, to me it’s ridiculous that someone that’s been fourth and third in the INDYCAR championship can’t get 40 points in the super license. To me that’s — yeah, I think many drivers agree with me.
But from what I understand, fourth would give you 10 points, third gives you 20, so I’m assuming I’m at 30 points of the super license. Yeah, I haven’t really stressed on that side because as much as I say, oh, maybe you can get a few points here, points there, at the end of the day you have to leave it to the people that want to give it to you. If they don’t want to give it to you, then sorry, bud, you’ve got to have another year and get 10 more points, I guess.

Q. You talked about the consistency that you felt like the No. 5 team is really needing to fight for that championship; is that something that in any testing or work in the shop this off-season, something you feel like you guys have pinpointed a couple items that you can come into 2022 a little better or are you guys still needing some races to either confirm anything or find any more data that you’re searching for?
PATO O’WARD: I mean, it’s hard to tell right now. I haven’t jumped in the car. I haven’t done any testing because testing is very limited. We’re going to have one day before St. Pete. It’s going to be in Sebring, which I mean, is not really enough time to fix all our issues, but it’s definitely at least one day to be able to test things out.
Yeah, I really don’t know. You look and analyze things here and there and you’re like, oh, this is going to help us and this is going to help us, but I think that’s just you being positive and trying to find what was going on, but until we actually test them on track and I get to feel them, I think that’s when we’ll truly know if all our work in the off-season is going to pay off or not.
It’s not going to be just from one race to another. It’s going to take all year to keep getting better and better and better. I sure hope we can roll off the trucks better than what we had last year at certain tracks.
I think that’s the biggest thing. If you roll off well, you’re in a pretty good position to have a good race.
Like I mentioned, there’s other times where you qualify on pole and you always get burned by yellow. There’s so many other factors that you can’t control, but what we can control is our car performance, what I do in the car and how we go about things and how we deal-with-them.
We’re trying to really maximize all of that, but it’s really hard to pinpoint and see what’s going to help us or not because we weren’t very far off.
I mean, we were whenever we didn’t have pace at all, but yeah, it’s really hard to tell if we found it or not. Just really have been testing different things here and there and hopefully two or three of those things give us what we need.

Q. I know Felix is really hopeful that this can be kind of a breakthrough season for him with this team in year two. With still kind of waiting to see what he can be for you as far as a teammate and this team already looking at adding a third full-time car for 2023, do you have any concern as someone who I know wants to be in this championship hunt just about the progression of the building of this team when you guys are still trying to hone in on that second car to be as competitive as you were last year?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I mean, I think he’s going to have a good season this year. I sure hope he does because we both need each other out there. We both want to be in the championship hunt. We both want to be winning races.
I really hope that it happens for both of us. I really want to — I’d really like to share a couple podiums with him. I feel like that would be really cool for all of us as a team.

Q. I know you’re someone who’s really aware of media and the global perception of INDYCAR moving forward. We’ve lost some big faces this off-season as far as guys that won’t be returning in full-time capacities, have a lot of young new guys that maybe a lot of casual fans don’t know. What do you feel like INDYCAR needs to do to take advantage of these 14 races they have on network TV to try and build some of these younger names and younger brands in this sport to start to rival a NASCAR, Formula 1 in the American racing series for fans?
PATO O’WARD: Man, it’s a tough one because with all these things that you can be doing marketing-wise, it all comes at a cost. It all comes at a price. The budgets are different. The budget that Formula 1 has is going to be stratospheric compared to what INDYCAR can do. Same with NASCAR. Every series has its own things.
But I think first off, we need to hop on the train of having a show because racing itself is not going to do enough. People need to see what’s behind that in order for them to get interested because it’s like any sport. Like for example, I didn’t watch golf at all. I didn’t watch NFL. But I met someone that plays in the NFL, and I met someone that plays in the PGA, and now I am interested in watching from time to time because I have a friend there and I have someone to cheer for.
I think that’s the biggest thing. People need to meet the faces behind the helmet, and for me that’s the biggest thing. Whatever the cost may be, that is, I think, the biggest return that they’ll ever get.
You’ve seen it in Formula 1. Formula 1 is growing insane, and it’s all because of the Netflix series. I think an important thing is that it has to be done in a platform that people have and people watch, not just spend it and have it somewhere where it’s not really reachable by many people.
There’s so many different factors, but to me that is the biggest thing. I have heard that it’s definitely in the plans of doing it. I haven’t heard any updates.
I feel like that would be a game changer for our series, and not just doing it, but it has — the bar has been set high where I think everybody within the series has to be willing to work together. Everybody has to be real and show the emotion, and it can’t be fake. It can’t be fake engineering meetings. Whatever you’re going to be showing, it has to be real.
Apart from INDYCAR doing their job, which is going to be getting the show, but I think us as teams and drivers, we need to be on board with just agreeing with the fact that this is going to pretty much be a reality show. There has to be some drama. There has to be something for people to watch.
Everybody has to try and be real, because if it’s not, it’s not going to be good enough, and people won’t watch. It has to be like it is, like just real.
But I know sometimes — not that teams want to make it fake, but teams don’t want to show certain aspects of the team. There’s many different factors that I feel like play into making this very successful, but in general just having a real show of real people, real emotions and just giving something to the people to just watch, and to entertain, I think that’s going to skyrocket the series.
The racing product is already there. I don’t think we need to focus a lot on the racing product. I think it’s what’s outside of it to bring people into the sport.

Q. Last year we saw you having a great year. This year what do you have in mind? We saw you in Formula 1 at Abu Dhabi, but do you like to go to that series or keep yourself in INDYCAR?
PATO O’WARD: Do I like to what?

Q. To stay in Indy, or do you prefer to go to Formula 1 in the future?
PATO O’WARD: I mean, right now I have one focus, and that one focus is in INDYCAR. I want to give these guys their first championship. I’d love to give them their first 500. This is what my focus is right now.
Who knows if F1 will be an option or won’t be an option. Obviously if it comes about, I will 100 percent take it and every single driver in my position would do it because it’s Formula 1. That’s what I grew up watching and that’s what I grew up dreaming of. That same dream that you have as a kid will never go away.
Right now, like I said, I have a challenge here, and I want people to enjoy. I want people to enjoy me in INDYCAR. I want them to know what INDYCAR has to offer, I want them to enjoy me in INDYCAR, the racing. There’s so many cool things about it that so many people — oh, Pato went to Formula 1. Well, I will tell you whenever I go to Formula 1 if I ever going to Formula 1, but for now enjoy me in INDYCAR.
It’s just cool. I’m just really enjoying myself, really enjoying with the team and enjoying that everything is pretty close by. It’s different, but yeah, the same mentality I’m going into it, I want everybody to have the same. Just enjoy it.

THE MODERATOR: Remind us, the football player, Kenny Moore. The golfer is…
PATO O’WARD: Abraham Ancer.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN RACING SP CHEVROLET:

THE MODERATOR: Driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Felix, a new season. I know it was not the season you wanted last year, but the team has upgraded the engineering staff. It’s a new year for you.
FELIX ROSENQVIST: It is. It’s nice to have a clean start. Obviously learned a lot last year. It was a tough one to go through. I’m not going to lie about that. I think those seasons are what — they make you stronger. When you’re winning, things are easy, but I think those really define you, if that makes sense. Yeah, it’s good to have a new start.
I think plenty of things have changed, but mainly everything is the same in the team. I mean, we’re growing as a team. We have some new people on board on my car and in the team in general, but the foundation is the same, which I think is good, because I got to know everyone really well over the last year.
It’s also good to keep doing what you’re doing because I think end of the year we definitely picked up the pace, and not exactly where we wanted to be, but it’s good to keep building on that where we ended last year.

THE MODERATOR: Talk about the optimism in the team.
FELIX ROSENQVIST: (Audio interruption.) There are going to be a lot of players in the mix in the front. So yeah, I’m excited to see what it’s going to be when we hit Sebring.

Q. Now the team is more McLaren than it’s ever been. Even though it’s the same guys at the shop putting everything together, it’s just kind of living up to the McLaren brand. How much do you feel that inside as a competitor?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I think you definitely feel it, especially after the announcement was made last year that they’re acquiring a bigger stake of the team. I think there’s a change in how we think and how we operate, but I think the good thing, what they’ve done well, is to keep what we had before, as well. It’s not like we’re just a completely new team. We kept our philosophies, which has worked. We’re a very competitive team. We’re a successful team.
I think McLaren has led us to just keep doing what we’re doing with added support both on the engineering side or financial backing. I think in every area there’s a lot of stones to be unturned during the off-season, and we’re just trying to improve a little bit everywhere.
I think that’s where INDYCAR is at this stage. You can’t just find a massive gain anywhere. You have to keep working at the little details. I think that’s what McLaren has allowed us to do.

Q. Because of what happened in Detroit, it really set you back to what you were hired at that team to do in the first place. How important is it for you to get off to a really fast start in 2022?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: It’s for sure important to start the year not in the way that I did last year. I think it’s also important to not try to overcomplicate and overachieve. I think we just need a solid start to the season to kind of get it going in a smooth way. That’s the way you want to do it in INDYCAR. You don’t want to risk it all in St. Pete and then have a lot of catch-up to do.
For sure we can’t have a season like we had last year. I don’t have to explain all the things that happened. I think Detroit was only a little part to be honest in everything that was going down.
We’re excited and we have no reason to think that’s going to happen again. As I say, if we can get off to a smooth start that’s going to help a lot, as well.

Q. With your new engineer Craig Hampson, does it give you a bigger confidence level than you had before this?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I’ve known Craig for quite some time now, and I think personally we get along. I think that’s what makes me most excited to work with him.
He was on my radio already last year. He was calling my races for the last bit of the season.
But I like to talk with him about the car, and in general we spend quite a lot of time just discussing different things about setups and life in general, which I think is good. You kind of need that almost like father-and-son relationship with your engineer, and we spend a lot of time together. I feel like we really get along on a personal level, so I’m excited about that.
His record speaks for itself. He’s been in this business for a long time, and INDYCAR is a category where you need that kind of hands-on experience. You can’t just win by being let’s say the most clever engineer. You have to kind of feel the sport and you know what’s going on and see it with your own eyes. I think that’s what Craig really has.

THE MODERATOR: To clarify, Craig was your strategist last year or he was just on the radio?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: Whatever you want to call it. He was in my ear. I don’t know the official term for it. It’s so different from what you see in Europe. In Europe you would say he was my engineer but here I guess you would say he was my strategist or calling the race.

Q. I wanted to know if you could explain in simple terms how different your car felt at the start of the year compared with how different it felt at the end of the year, and was it just a feel thing and a confidence building thing or was it simply actually making it faster?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I think a bit of both. I think it was never an easy car to drive for me or Pato for that matter. It was definitely something to get used to in the beginning, and somewhere along — we had a Portland test in the middle of the year and I think that’s where I actually found — we make some big grounds in the setup for my liking, and I think that gave me some confidence with the car, and it all kind of spiraled in the right direction, let’s say.
As I said before, it’s just details. It’s not — you’ll never find something that is like, oh, now we’re winning every race. It’s always the small things.
But I think that’s actually the time we found something that worked, and the results went a lot better from that point, so just that little added confidence just took me to another level really.
Those are the kind of things you want to find, and now we had an off-season to really look at things, and you sit back and go through all the data, go through all the races, and I’ve had some time to really work on myself and feel prepared in a different way compared to what it was at this time last year.

Q. Is it safe to say that your car is now set up so that you and Pato have diverged a lot more for 2022 in terms of car setups?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I mean, that’s a target at least, but with the amount of driving we get these days, nothing is for sure. I mean, we have one day of testing before we hit St. Pete, and there’s a lot of expectation and a lot of things we’re going to have to get done in that day at Sebring.
I’m not going to make any promises about what’s been done or what’s going to be done, but let’s say we’re pretty confident that we made some big grounds when it comes to drivability, which was the main issue for me last year.

Q. Just wanted to ask about Craig again. Wanted to ask how much of an initial impact you think he can have because obviously it’s been a big topic of conversation about him joining you and I wonder if people can overestimate the impact on what you’re going to be doing this year really.
FELIX ROSENQVIST: (Audio interruption.) Focus over the off-season. I’d say I have great hopes and expectations working with Craig, but I don’t think — that change alone is not going to change the world, but there’s much more in the background going on let’s say.

THE MODERATOR: What has been your off-season? Any big accomplishments or boxes checked or vacations taken?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: No vacations actually. There was quite a lot of time spent with family that I didn’t really get to do last year, so that was nice. That felt needed after a tough year.
I’ve been spending quite a lot of time on the simulator doing some virtual championships over the winter, so that’s been fun. It’s not really for nothing more than fun really, but that’s been eating up quite a lot of time.
Just kind of had some time to reflect on things and get some good old energy back into the system.

Q. Can you tell us something about Pato that people don’t know.
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I think everyone knows everything about him because he’s not really a closed person, is he.

Q. What is he like to have as a teammate?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: Great fun, man. I mean, you can see I’m smiling right now just thinking about it. I think we have a perfect combo because both of us are pretty open with each other. We’re not really hiding stuff. In general we have a good time. Like it makes the day go quicker when you have days like this or long days with filming or media or whatever. It just makes time pass quickly when you have fun with each other.
I guess that’s more than you can expect sometimes in racing. You can’t pick your teammates. Most of them are fast, but many of them are not maybe the guy you want to spend the day with.
No, it’s good fun. We spend quite a lot of time outside of our professional hours, as well, and dinners and just hanging out. It’s really good fun.

THE MODERATOR: Were you suggesting that today is a long day?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: Let’s see. Let’s see. It started early, that’s for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Era Motorsport Prepared to Defend Rolex 24 At Daytona Victory

Official Release

January 18, 2022

LMP2 class winners reveal new full-season livery

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (January 18, 2022) – IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team Era Motorsport captured hearts around the globe last year when the team secured their first series victory at the iconic Rolex 24 At Daytona. Sporting a livery designed by a six-year-old Canadian race fan, the LMP2 team proudly demonstrated they were a force to be reckoned with. The time has come for Era Motorsport to defend their unforgettable win. This week, the team arrives at Daytona International Speedway for a two-week stay to conduct the first series-wide test of the season, the Roar Before the 24, followed by the first race of 2022, the 60th Rolex 24 At Daytona.

As previously announced, the race-winning Rolex lineup will remain the same as the previous year, with Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, Kyle Tilley, and Paul-Loup Chatin commanding the No. 18 LMP2 Oreca. Merriman and Dalziel, who will make a bid for the full LMP2 championship, hold an additional win together from the 2021 SportsCar Weekend at Road America.

The team had a whirlwind 2021 season, participating in and winning the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship, running select NASCAR races, entering the world of Rally racing, and continuing the team’s vintage and historic racing programs. It has been extremely busy at Era’s Indianapolis base with a short off-season of fewer than two months to prepare for the approaching year ahead.

The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech entry will be identifiable by its light blue and grey livery, flaunting a new, flowing style with the team’s traditional colors.

The 2022 IMSA field has reached capacity, making the Era Motorsport group one of 60 entries competing in the back-to-back events. Currently, ten entries are slated to compete against Era Motorsport in the LMP2 class, with forty drivers from eleven different countries competing on Daytona’s seven-turn, 3.81-mile roval course.

IMSA 101
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Rolex 24 At Daytona will again feature five different classes competing in the same on-track event. The three prototype classes are to again be identified as DPi, LMP2, LMP3, and the two Grand Touring classes are GTD Pro, GTD. As the most technologically advanced cars on track, the DPi cars will be the fastest class and likely feature all-professional driver lineups. In the second prototype tier, the LMP2 class also runs purpose-built prototypes and provides a mixture of professional and amateur-ranked drivers. Stepping down into LMP3, these cars have slightly less power, in a class geared towards the development of amateur drivers, who share driving duties with professionals. The GTD Pro class is new this year following the departure of the GTLM class. GTD Pro will offer factory teams and all-pro-rated lineups. The GTD class will consist of the same class of cars, but the drivers will be a mixture of professional and amateur drivers.

The keys to successful strategy over the course of the 24-hour race will not only be acquiring the right combination of drivers, but the physical and mental endurance of the car, crew, and strategists in pit lane. The timing of pitstops and use of tire allocation will also be vital, along with the starting position.

Starting positions will be determined this week during the Roar Before the 24. After three unofficial test sessions, the field will qualify on Saturday afternoon for the starting grid of the Motul Pole Award 100, a 100-minute race that will determine the starting grid of the following weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Tune In
The 2022 race season brings a new TV and streaming package, with IMSA Racing coverage residing on NBC, the USA Network cable channel, and flag-to-flag streaming moving to Peacock. Most viewers outside of the USA can stream live on imsa.tv or visit IMSA’s International Coverage page for local listings. Fans worldwide can listen to IMSA Radio’s free coverage of all WeatherTech sessions by listening online or XM 202 or the Sirius XM Web or App at 992.

The Motul Pole Award 100 will air live on Sunday, January 23 at 2:00 pm Eastern on Peacock. The Rolex 24 At Daytona will begin television coverage on Saturday, January 29 1:30 pm eastern, then channel hop to Peacock and the USA Network. Fans who want flag-to-flag coverage can stream via a Peacock Premium Subscription, and international audiences can tune into imsa.tv.

Fans can follow Era Motorsport on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for live updates and behind-the-scenes action.

DRIVER QUOTES
Dwight Merriman
Like everyone, I’m excited to get back to racing. The Rolex 24 is always a special event, and after winning last year with such a hardworking group of people was unforgettable. We have a lot of strong competition this year, so we really have to execute well and make the most of our on-track testing at the Roar.

Ryan Dalziel
I’m looking forward to getting back into the Era LMP2 Oreca. It feels like forever since Petit Le Mans. Obviously, we are returning as the most recent Rolex 24 winners and with the same car, team, and drivers, but the field is massive for 2022, so it’s going to be a really tough one. We know we are prepared and ready to defend our crown.

Kyle Tilley
To return to Daytona after such an incredible win last year is really exciting. The competition this year is going to be extremely tough, but we have assembled a great group. We are keeping my the same driver lineup which proved to be really effective, and the crew is great, so I think we have a strong chance again. It’s a 24 hour sprint race. If we keep our noses clean, we will be right there at the end.

Paul-Loup Chatin
I am really happy to join back my teammates and all the Era Motorsport crew for Daytona. The Roar will give us the opportunity to work already for the Rolex 24, which is the most important. The average level this year is higher compared to 2021. Because of that, the challenge is bigger but I am really confident because the team worked a lot the previous 12 months. We will give everything to win a second time in a row.

About Era Motorsport
Era Motorsport was formed in 2018 with the idea of providing unmatched excellence in historic racing. Just two years later, the team expanded to the world of professional sports car racing, fielding an Oreca 07 in the prolific IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2021, the team went on to win at the iconic Rolex 24 At Daytona, in what was their second attempt competing in the event. Motorsport isn’t just a hobby, it is a way of life: a passion that is in the team’s blood. Whether you find us in the IMSA WeatherTech paddock with modern prototypes or chasing down lap records in our fully restored classic sports cars, or even globetrotting to experience historic F1 at some of the world’s most iconic circuits, Era Motorsport has something for everyone. In 2021, the team secured a prestigious victory at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and also became class champions in the Asian Le Mans Series.

S2 Cyber Joins Jr III Racing’s Expanding IMSA Programs

Official Release

January 18, 2022

Mooresville, N.C. (18 January 2022) – As the 2022 IMSA season prepares to launch at Daytona International Speedway this weekend, Jr III Racing is proud to announce a new partnership with S2 Cyber.

Founded by Scott Seese, S2 Cyber specializes in cyber security, giving small businesses a fighting chance against today’s cyber security threats.

The new partnership adds momentum for Jr III Racing as the Charlotte-based squad has grown its IMSA operation to make a full-season campaign in the WeatherTech SportsCar championship in the LMP3 class, starting with the Sebring 12 Hour in March.

In addition to the the No. 30 Airbnb Ligier JS P320 that will compete in WeatherTech, S2 Cyber will also be featured on the Jr III Racing LMP3 entries that are set to contest the 2022 IMSA Prototype Challenge season with a two car lineup – the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 that will be piloted by Terry Olson and Courtney Crone, and the No. 30 Airbnb Ligier JS P320 of Ari Balogh.

“Like in motorsports, having the right people on the right strategy executing well everyday can make all the difference when protecting small business against today’s cyber attacks,” said Seese. “Both S2 Cyber and Jr III Racing bring experience of large companies that have competed and won, enabling your team to thrive. Leveraging S2 Cyber as a strategic partner gives Jr III Racing one of the most important attributes both on the track and in business… speed. Speed is of critical importance when staying ahead of rapidly evolving threats and opportunities and is where the intersection of this partnership lives and performs.”

Seese is familiar with Jr III Racing’s focus on performance, having raced for the team in vintage competition.

“It is an honor to welcome S2 Cyber and Scott (Seese) on board as a partner this season,” said Team Owner Billy Glavin. “We have worked together in the past and he embodies everything we are as a team. His support of what we are doing and our IMSA endeavors opens up doors of growth that will help us get to the next level.”

Jr III Racing begins the 2022 season at Daytona International Speedway during the Roar Before the 24. IMSA Prototype Challenge will host a three-hour opening round on Saturday, January 22nd at 12:00pm ET.

Bronze Cup Target for Stoner Car Care Racing

Official Release

January 18, 2022

Florida-based team aims for the new Bronze Cup in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge GS Class

ORLANDO, Fla. (18 January 2022) – The Stoner Car Care Racing fielded by Automatic Racing team makes the short drive north on I-4 to Daytona International Speedway this week, as the Roar Before the Rolex 24 begins the 2022 season for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.

Team veterans Rob Ecklin, Jr. and Ramin Abdolvahabi return behind the wheel of the No. 09 Stoner Car Care Aston Martin Vantage GT4, committed to battle for the Bronze Cup title in the series’ Grand Sport (GS) Class.

The Bronze Cup award is new for IMSA this year, with podium and season-end recognition to the top Bronze-rated finishers. Every driver in each car’s lineup must be Bronze rated and while both Ecklin and Abdolvahabi know the competition will be tough, they’re excited for the prospect as preparations continue for next weekend’s season opener, the BMW M Endurance Challenge.

While the three-day Roar event offers teams the chance to blow off the off-season rust, business obligations will preclude Ecklin’s attendance at the Roar.

“I’m very disappointed that business will keep me away this weekend,” said Ecklin, president of Lancaster, Pa.-based Stoner, Inc. “It’s a holiday tradition, to head immediately to Daytona! It’s such an iconic track – we’ve been there so often but every time you go feels so special. It’s going to be stiff competition in the Bronze Cup this season, with some very fast drivers in that category, so it’s going to be fun. It’s one more challenge to go after.”

With Ecklin not on hand this weekend, the team’s former endurance driver, Brandon Kidd, will step in to test the Aston Martin on Friday and get the setup ready for Abdolvahabi.

Kidd was recently upgraded to a Silver ranked driver, taking him out of eligibility for the Bronze Cup and curtailing his race plans for the year.

Abdolvahabi will use the remainder of the sessions on Saturday and Sunday to continue setup work and to bring himself back up to speed on the high banks and tight corners at Daytona.

“2022 presents an entirely new challenge with the new Bronze Cup,” said Abdolvahabi, a neurosurgeon in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “It’s great that our efforts to get this Bronze Cup in the series have paid off. It’s a motivation – we know that at this stage in the game, it’s unlikely that two Bronze drivers, or even a Silver and a Bronze, can go up against two Gold drivers. This gives us a level playing field and a way to get recognized for that. But for the Roar, the goal is to get back into the groove. We haven’t been in this car since Road Atlanta, so we’ll do some data gathering at Daytona and get some strategy going on. It’s a great warm up for next weekend.”

It will be quite busy in the Automatic Racing garage this weekend, as team manager David Russell will also field an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Paul Kiebler and Jon Branam.

“We’re looking forward to the Bronze Cup,” said Russell. “Rob and Ramin will run the full season, gunning for that title, and I think they have a good shot. The Bronze Cup concept is very popular around the world. The Bronze drivers are really the backbone of the series so I think IMSA will be surprised at how positive the outcome will be. There are so many guys who are not full-time race car drivers who are super competent on the racetrack so it’s good to recognize them.

“For the team, it’s great to start off with a home race, just 45 minutes up the highway,” Russell continued. “It’s so much more efficient, especially with the Roar and the race being back-to-back – that was a good move by IMSA. The field is super strong this year, and it’s clear that the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will continue to break records so there are so many positives right now with the extent of manufacturer involvement and the caliber of teams.”

Part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, the BMW M Endurance Challenge takes the green flag Friday, January 22 at 1:35 p.m. Eastern. The race will be live streamed in the U.S. on Peacock TV, while international viewers can watch via IMSA.tv. IMSA Radio will also be available at IMSA.com.

About Invisible Glass

Automatic Racing sees their way to victory with Invisible Glass, the top-selling automotive glass cleaner in the United States. The Invisible Glass product line includes aerosol and spray bottle cleaner, Invisible Glass with rain repellent for windshields and wiper blades. Find more online at https://www.invisibleglass.com/

About Stoner Car Care

Stoner Car Care produces high-performance car washes, waxes, polishes, and dressings for auto enthusiasts and car care professionals. The Stoner Car Care line-up includes Invisible Glass, America’s #1 Automotive Glass Cleaner, along with many other appearance products. Whether driving, washing or waxing, Performance Matters! Stoner car care proudly formulates all of our product since 1942

About Automatic Racing

Based in Orlando, Automatic Racing is one of the longest-running teams in the paddock, forming in 2001 and competing in all but one of the 11 MICHELIN Pilot Challenge races at Daytona. The team has been developing, preparing and racing the prestigious Aston Martin Vantage GT4 since 2012. Automatic Racing won the 2017 MICHELIN Pilot Challenge title.

Day Chaser® Cocktails and Hendrick Motorsports launch new partnership with No. 48 team

Official Release

January 18, 2022

CANNED COCKTAIL BRAND ALIGNS WITH DRIVER ALEX BOWMAN

CONCORD, N.C. (Jan. 18, 2022) – Canned cocktail brand Day Chaser has joined Hendrick Motorsports as an official partner of Alex Bowman and the driver’s No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team in the NASCAR Cup Series.

With a three-year agreement through 2024, Day Chaser will be featured on the fire suits of Bowman and his No. 48 crew members. The brand will also receive prominent placement on the team’s transporter and other equipment used throughout race weekends.

In addition to Bowman and his No. 48 Chevy, Day Chaser will have rights to use the full Hendrick Motorsports stable of race cars and stylized car numbers in its advertising and promotion.

“It’s thrilling to align Day Chaser with Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful team in NASCAR history,” said David Mandler of Northeast Drinks Group, parent company of Day Chaser. “The multi-year partnership allows us to build the Day Chaser brand alongside the best in the sport. We look forward to utilizing all the touchpoints Hendrick Motorsports has to offer via its deep relationships in the auto and racing worlds, including live events, advertising, and social media.

“We couldn’t be more excited to team up with Alex and the No. 48 team and look forward to a successful first season in 2022. We expect to see Day Chaser in victory lane a lot this year.”

Bowman, 28, is coming off a banner 2021 season in which he delivered a career-best four points-paying race wins and secured his fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series playoff appearance. The Tucson, Arizona, native opened the year with his second DAYTONA 500 pole position and went on to achieve personal bests in top-five finishes (eight) and top-10s (16).

“The opportunity to introduce a cool new brand like Day Chaser to Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR is awesome for me,” Bowman said. “The product tastes great and really fits my personality and lifestyle. Our team has a lot we want to accomplish this year, so the goal is to have plenty of post-race celebrations featuring Day Chaser.”

Part of the Vermont Cider Company’s portfolio of award-winning brands, Day Chaser is a refreshing spirit-based canned cocktail made with real fruit juice and sparkling water. The easy drinking beverage is perfect for those living an active lifestyle full of adventure. All Day Chasers are 100 calories and certified gluten free with only 2 grams of carbs, 1 gram of sugar and no artificial ingredients.

“We’re pleased to welcome Day Chaser to our team,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “It’s a young and exciting brand that we’re able to pair with a young and exciting driver. Alex is a rising star in our sport and will be an excellent ambassador for Day Chaser. We look forward to growing this new relationship and developing a successful program together.”

ABOUT DAY CHASER® COCKTAILS:
Day Chaser is a ready-to-drink spirit-based canned cocktail made with real fruit juice and sparkling water. This easy drinking beverage is perfect for those living an active lifestyle full of adventure. All Day Chasers are 100 calories, certified gluten free, with only 2 grams of carbs, 1 gram of sugar and no artificial ingredients. Day Chaser features the perfect balance of spirit, fruit flavors and carbonation. Day Chaser launched first with two vodka and sparkling water styles, with two more vodka and four tequila styles available in Spring 2022. For additional information, to purchase online and find Day Chaser near you, please visit DayChaser.com. Be sure to follow @DayChaser on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Day Chaser is part of the Vermont Cider Company’s portfolio of award-winning brands, based in Middlebury, Vermont, owned by Northeast Drinks Group.

ABOUT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history. At the sport’s premier level, the organization holds the all-time records in every major statistical category, including championships (14), points-paying race victories (280) and laps led (nearly 75,000). It has earned at least one race win in a record 37 different seasons, including an active streak of 36 in a row (1986-2021). The team fields four full-time Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entries in the NASCAR Cup Series with drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Headquartered on more than 100 acres in Concord, North Carolina, Hendrick Motorsports employs approximately 600 people. For more information, please visit HendrickMotorsports.com or interact on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 Readies to Chase History at the 60th Rolex 24 at DAYTONA

Official Release

January 18, 2022

Brownsburg, Ind. (January 18, 2022) – Before the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team can chase a historic fourth consecutive Rolex 24 at DAYTONA victory, they must take to the banks of the Daytona International Speedway’s 3.6-mile road course at the 2022 Roar Before the Rolex 24. The Roar will be the first time that the returning trio of Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi will be joined by veteran grand prix and endurance driver Will Stevens in race conditions.

With the largest field in recent memory, the annual test weekend will consist of four testing sessions and will conclude on Sunday, January 23rd with a 100-minute sprint race to determine the starting grid for the 60th Running of the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA. As the ever-important qualifying session for the Rolex 24, the Roar will serve as the first opportunity to earn points for the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Six days later, on January 29-30, the green flag will drop at the iconic Rolex 24 at DAYTONA. A win for Wayne Taylor Racing would break the record for consecutive victories at the most prestigious endurance race on the continent, tie the record for overall victories, and mark the team’s fifth triumph in the last six years. Any advantage gained during the Roar weekend could prove vital in realizing this historic achievement.

Two-time winner of the Rolex 24 as a driver and five-time winner as a team owner, Wayne Taylor is keen to continue his unprecedented, career-long record of triumphs at the World Center of Racing. The South African native’s success has stretched across five decades as a race car driver and team owner and he is looking forward to the prospect of making history at this year’s 60th Running of the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA.

“We’re preparing to go to the Roar Before the 24,” commented Wayne Taylor. “It’s an all-new season with the same car, team and the same partners. We have Acura, HPD, Konica Minolta, Harrison Contracting and CIT back for the 2022 season. And we have one new driver, Will Stevens, who had a great test with us at Daytona in December. We’re expecting good things from him. It’s hard to speculate what is going to happen at the Roar because there are so many unknowns in terms of where everyone is going to stack up, so we’re just going into the race with open eyes and going to do what we normally do, which is to try to be the fastest car.”

After becoming the most prolific qualifier in IMSA history in 2021 and winning the Michelin Endurance Cup, veteran and two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champion Ricky Taylor returns for a full-time season with extreme focus on achieving a third Rolex 24 at DAYTONA victory and a second in row.

“Preparation for the Roar this year has been normal,” said Taylor. “It’s been nice with such a short off season so we all still feel relatively fresh. The Roar will be super important just from a testing perspective. There’s a lot to learn still and, being a mini-race weekend, it tends to feel a bit more rushed. Alex and Filipe are an awesome and proven pairing. Will has been superb in his limited time in our No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 and we can’t wait to see what he can do in the coming weeks.”

2021 Michelin Endurance Cup Champion Filipe Albuquerque, who has won at Daytona in GT machinery once and twice in DPi, looks to achieve victory with WTR for the second consecutive year. The Portuguese driver is back for a second full-time season with the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05.

“We’re arriving at the beginning of the year which is always nice because we get new suits, new gloves, new helmets and the car is always in great shape,” mentioned Filipe Albuquerque. “The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team heads in as the reigning winners of the 2021 Rolex 24 at DAYTONA. We are much more prepared than last year, and the question is if we can repeat the win. We are pumped. We have a new teammate, Will Stevens, and the rest is the same which is great. The entire team and I have more experience with the car, so we are one of the candidates for the win. We need to take it step by step, since there are going to be 61 cars on the grid. That means a lot of yellow and eventually reds will happen, but it will be awesome as well because 24-hour races are always awesome.”

As a current McLaren Test and Reserve Driver, Will Stevens boast an extensive formula and endurance resume in Europe and will be making his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut during the Roar Before the 24 weekend. He’ll look to carry a strong result into his endurance driver role, as he is also running at the 2022 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Motul Petit Le Mans for the team.

“Since our test back in December, which now feels like a long time ago, it’s been full focus on getting prepared for the Roar and the Rolex 24,” expressed Will Stevens. “It’s my first time there so I have been getting as prepared as I can not only physically but also in gathering as much information as I can to be fully ready. I know this race, this team and their partners have such a huge history here. We have only one goal and that’s to achieve even more success here, to get the season off to the best possible start and to get our hands on the Rolex. I can’t wait to have my first experience at this race and take in the atmosphere that I know Daytona brings. We are fully focused and ready for whatever comes our way!”

Driving for Acura and Honda (HPD), Alexander Rossi is a seven-time INDYCAR race winner, 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion, 2021 Baja 1000 Winner, 2021 Rolex 24 Champion and 2021 Endurance Cup Champion. The Roar and Rolex will be his first chance at another prestigious win with Wayne Taylor Racing in 2022.

“Excited to get back to Daytona,” commented Alexander Rossi. “And I know the whole team is fired up to defend the win from last year. Prep for the Rolex began after the finale last year, and of course, off-season training has been in high gear for the drivers. The Roar gets us back into a groove with the car and the crew. And Ricky, Filipe and I are really looking forward to getting Will more familiar with our Konica Minolta Acura rocket ship.”

The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship season officially begins on Friday, January 21st at Daytona International Speedway for the annual Roar Before the 24 with the first practice starting at 11:15 a.m. EST. Qualifying for the Qualifying Race for the WeatherTech Championship will begin on January 22nd at 4:15 p.m. EST. Green flag for the race will wave at 2:05 p.m. EST on Saturday, January 23rd with coverage on Peacock. Thursday, January 27th will mark the start of the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA weekend with a 1:40 pm EST start to the 24-hour battle on, January 29th.

ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future. 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 recently 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 fourteen consecutive years, and 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. 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-05 effort and Wayne Taylor Racing is supported by an outstanding lineup of partners including Harrison Contracting, Acura Motorsports, Hammer Nutrition and CIT.

CORVETTE RACING AT DAYTONA: New Year, New Challenge

Official Release

January 18, 2022

First weekend for team, Chevrolet and Corvette C8.R in GTD PRO category

· Three-day test ahead of Corvette Racing’s quest for repeat Rolex 24 wins
· 100-minute race Sunday to set grid for 2022 IMSA opener
· Pair of Corvette C8.Rs part of 13-car GTD PRO field

DETROIT (Jan. 18, 2022) – Corvette Racing starts a new year in a new classification this week with the annual Roar Before the 24 – a three-day test at Daytona International Speedway ahead of next weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

For the first time since 2014, Corvette Racing will participate in a new category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: GT Daytona PRO (GTD PRO). It serves as a successor to GT Le Mans (GTLM), a classification in which Corvette Racing won more races and championships than any other program since 2014. The next goal is to replicate that same success in a full season of GTD PRO competition, which will feature 13 entries at Daytona.

The team’s Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs for the Roar and Rolex will look similar to the GTLM trim. A revised wing profile will mean a slightly different level of downforce at the rear of the Corvette. The C8.R will run on customer Michelin tires, per GTD regulations.

Under the skin, the GTD-PRO Corvette will retain the same 5.5-liter, flat-plane V8 with a slightly decreased power output over the GTLM rules package. An anti-lock braking system (ABS), tested by Corvette Racing at Belle Isle’s race in June, also will be featured on the IMSA C8.R along with other driver aids that are mandated by the class regulations.

Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg won last year’s Rolex 24 in GTLM to lead a 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing. The trio in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is back for a chance at two in a row. Full-season teammates Garcia and Taylor won the last two GTLM Driver championships and seek to use Daytona as a springboard to another full-season championship run.

While Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy will contest the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2022, they will return to Daytona in the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette C8.R alongside new teammate Marco Sorensen. Milner and Tandy were second to their Corvette Racing teammates in the 2021 Rolex 24 with Sorensen set for his second Daytona start.

The learnings from the Roar and the Rolex 24 also will serve to further development of the customer Corvette Z06 GT3.R that will be available to independent teams beginning in 2024.

The Roar Before the 24 is set for Friday-Sunday with the 100-minute qualifying race set for 2:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. Live coverage will be available on Peacock in the United States and IMSA.com outside the U.S.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Every year, we see how important the Roar test is for race preparation. With the Rolex 24 being the first race for us in a new category, it will be difficult to learn and understand things that every other team that has raced in GTD already knows. We will have to play catch-up to be competitive. But I have a lot of faith in Corvette Racing. Our experience can help us achieve that.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m super excited to get back to Daytona. Even with it being a shorter offseason than usual, it feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been at the track. We’ve got a lot of new things to look forward to with the new GTD PRO class and a little different C8.R than we’ve raced before. It’ll be our first time having the car out on track with competition in this spec, so it’ll be interesting to see where we stack up. There’s going to be a long list of items we’ll be wanting to check off throughout the Roar test to give us confidence going into the Rolex 24.”

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “The Roar will be super important for us – maybe even more than the last couple of years. It’s an all new class and the field is much bigger and very diverse… simply bigger than years before. So it will be interesting in learning about who is strong where, which drivers are strong and where we fit in. It’s going to be interesting to find out where we are with our car compared to the other GTDs. We haven’t had an extreme amount of running in this spec so we are definitely going to use the Roar as a big learning tool. I’m excited to jump back in the car. It’s a little different now with ABS of course and some minor differences. It’s going to take some adjusting again. Coming off our Rolex win last year, it’s definitely a positive feeling coming into the Roar. I’m looking forward to it.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “At the end of last season, I didn’t think we would have the chance to race in IMSA this year. So this is a nice bonus to get us back into the groove of racing. Things will be a little different with some changes to our Corvette C8.R for the new GTD PRO category but they are items we’ve tested before in the simulator and on the track. So much of the success you have at Daytona is down to the preparation going into the race. I feel that’s where we are really strong. It looks like it’s going to be a deep and competitive field so let’s see how myself, Nick and our new teammate Marco pick up over these three days.”

NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “Daytona this year will be a challenge but it’s one we’re looking forward to. It’s looking like a very strong grid in GTD PRO, which should make great racing but also means getting a top result that much harder. It’s a brand new class to IMSA racing, however it shares many technical and sporting regulations with GTD and some of the teams transitioning from GTD to Pro might have a bit more experience and knowledge. One thing that Corvette Racing knows is how to win long endurance races so we go with high hopes, but we also know we still have work to do. For example the Roar test will be the first time the C8.R will run in GTD spec at Daytona. For me personally, it will be the first time I drive the car in GTD trim with the spec Michelin tires used for our class. The test days often don’t seem to last very long so we’ll need to be well prepared to make the most of all the on-track running we can get. I’m also personally excited to work with Marco for the first time. We first raced against each other back in 2007 in Formula Ford so I’ve known him a long time even though we’ve never shared a cockpit together. I’m sure he’ll fit in perfectly and be a big asset to our team alongside Tommy and myself.”

MARCO SORENSEN, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: Honestly, I can’t wait to meet and work with the full Corvette Racing team and get things going. To go racing with a team like this is going to be a real pleasure. I met some of the team at the race shop and got my first real look at the C8.R and spent some time in the simulator last week. It’s a really good setup and very useful to help me get ready for Daytona. The Roar and the qualifying event are obviously good opportunities to get some laps in the car and get comfortable with everything so we can get the job done in the real race.”

Corvette Racing at Daytona
1999
No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/John Paul Jr. – 3rd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Scott Sharp/John Heinricy – 12th in GTS

2000
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Chris Kneifel/Justin Bell – 2nd in GTS
No. 4 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon – 10th in GTS

2001
No. 2 Corvette C5-R: Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell/Chris Kneifel/Franck Freon – 1st in GTS (overall win)
No. 3 Corvette C5-R: Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Dale Earnhardt/Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2nd in GTS

2014
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 10th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Robin Liddell – 5th in GTLM

2015
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Ryan Briscoe – 1st in GTLM (Magnussen fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Simon Pagenaud – 3rd in GTLM (Gavin pole)

2016
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 2nd in GTLM (Garcia fastest race lap)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 1st in GTLM (Winner by 0.034 second)

2017
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 9th in GTLM

2018
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 3rd in GTLM (Magnussen pole)
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 4th in GTLM

2019
No. 3 Corvette C7.R: Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia/Mike Rockenfeller – 6th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C7.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 8th in GTLM

2020 (Rolex 24 – January)
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 4th in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner/Marcel Fässler – 7th in GTLM

2020 (WeatherTech 240 – July)
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor – 1st in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner – 5th in GTLM

2021
No. 3 Corvette C8.R: Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg – 1st in GTLM
No. 4 Corvette C8.R: Tommy Milner/Nick Tandy/Alexander Sims – 2nd in GTLM
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 80 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

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