TUSC: Full Rolex 24 entry list revealed

By Jan 15, 2014, 6:22 PM EST
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IMSA has released the full, 67-car entry list for the Rolex 24 at Daytona next week. A handful of changes have occurred from our projections and confirmations we forecast earlier this week for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Of note:

  • Indy Lights runner-up Gabby Chaves has been added to the DeltaWing lineup (No. 0 DeltaWing DWC13) as a fourth driver with former Indy Lights driver Oliver Webb confirmed at OAK Racing (No. 42 Morgan Nissan) as its fourth driver.
  • SpeedSource has a pair of 2013 IndyCar drivers, James Hinchcliffe (No. 70) and Tristan Vautier (No. 07) officially listed as third drivers in its pair of Mazda SKYACTIV-D Coupes.
  • Starworks Motorsport has its P car, originally the second alternate, promoted to a race spot with drivers Alex Popow, Scott Mayer and Brendon Hartley (No. 78 Riley-Dinan). Its PC class lineups now are: Popow/Martin Fuentes/Isaac Tutumlu and Kyle Marcelli (No. 7 ORECA FLM09) with Renger van der Zande/Eric Lux/Sam Bird/Pierre Kaffer listed in the No. 8. Rob Huff, Mirco Schultis and ex-IndyCar driver Ana Beatriz have tested for the team, but are not listed.
  • 8Star, Performance Tech, PR1/Mathiasen and CORE have all confirmed their PC class lineups.
  • Announced earlier today, Aston Martin Racing will have the lone five-driver lineup in GTLM. Stefan Mucke, Darren Turner, Pedro Lamy, Richie Stanaway and Paul Dalla Lana will race the No. 97 Vantage; Dalla Lana will also race in the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GTD in the GTD class.
  • Porsche GTD teams Muehlner Motorsports America (Nos. 18/19) and Alex Job Racing (No. 22) have added drivers to their lineups.
  • The TRG-AMR lineups have James Davison/David Block/Al Carter/Brandon Davis in the No. 007 GT3-spec Vantage and Calum Lockie/Pete McIntosh/Robert Nimkroff/Max Riddle in the sister No. 009.
  • Ferrari’s lineups at Spirit of Race (Nos. 49/51) and SMP/ESM Racing (No. 72) have been set; the latter car includes IndyCar’s Mikhail Aleshin and ex-Formula One driver Mika Salo.
  • The BAR1 (No. 87, PC) and two Level 5 (Nos. 555/556, GTD) cars have TBA’s listed for lineups. The second BAR1 PC and Level 5’s two PCs, which were granted full-season entries on IMSA’s initial list, are not listed here.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”