Meyer Shank Racing will sit out the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech season. A seven-time winner in IMSA’s main endurance occasions, the workforce will deal with its NTT IndyCar Collection program subsequent yr and hopes to return to IMSA in 2025.
MSR has competed within the IMSA WeatherTech Championship and former North American sports activities automobile collection since 2004, turning into one of the profitable groups in endurance racing. On this yr’s debut season of GTP, MSR gained the Rolex 24 at Daytona with its Acura ARX-06 and backed up that victory with a win at Mosport.
The information that Meyer Shank Racing is sitting out the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech season means one much less driving alternative for Helio Castroneves. Icon Sportswire // Getty Pictures
However in between, IMSA was alerted by Honda Efficiency Improvement that MSR had manipulated its tire strain knowledge at Daytona to achieve a bonus. IMSA fined the workforce and drivers 200 factors within the WeatherTech Championship, issued a high quality of $50,000 and positioned the workforce on probation via June of this season.
Final yr’s champions of the ultimate DPi season after a victory on the Petit Le Mans, MSR enters this yr’s finale at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta out of the working for the title.
Subsequent season, HPD will add a second ARX-06 entry at Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, which left MSR with no manufacturing facility connection. It stays to be seen what choices Shank and his co-owner could have within the 2025 GTP season.
“Making the choice to take a yr away from IMSA was not a simple one by any means,” stated workforce co-owner Michael Shank. “Our guys dwell and breathe this workforce, and have dedicated most of their lives to engaged on these automobiles and touring to races—and plenty of of them have been with us for almost 20 years. For co-owner Jim Meyer and I, our principal focus was getting our guys set and ensuring they have been all going to be OK, which we have been capable of do.”
The workforce’s sports activities automobile operation started with a privateer effort earlier than it turned a full-fledged manufacturing facility workforce, incomes three IMSA championships with Acura in GTD and DPi. The WeatherTech spherical on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway final month marked MSR’s 350th begin in North American sports activities automobile competitors.
The workforce has scored three total prototypes victories in Daytona’s 24-hour (2012, 2022 and 2023) and has posted two Petit Le Mans wins (2016 and 2022) in addition to victories within the Six Hours of the Glen (2017 and 2019).
Adjustments on the IndyCar Facet, too Rosenqvist In, Pagenaud Out at Meyer Shank Racing
After a runner-up end within the 2018 IMSA GTD championship, MSR introduced Honda and the Acura NSX GT3 the automobile’s first championship in 2019. The workforce backed that title up in a 2020 season modified by the pandemic.
“There are a variety of tasks that we have now going on the store,” stated Shank, “and naturally a few of the guys will likely be serving to with our rising IndyCar program. The third Indianapolis 500 entry for Helio Castroneves (subsequent yr) is a really massive deal and I’m glad to have the appropriate individuals in place to assist us be as prepared as potential for him to go get that fifth (Indy 500 victory). After which when we have to put together for the IMSA program, we’ll nonetheless have this nice group collectively and able to go.”
