PWC, SCCA announce multi-year extension

By Mar 14, 2016, 11:15 AM EDT
Photo: PWC
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The Pirelli World Challenge and SCCA continue together with SCCA continuing as the sports car sprint racing series’ sanctioning body.

It’s news because World Challenge’s sanctioning entity has occasionally been rumored to change over the years. This may strengthen the relationship between the two entities going forward.

The full release from the series is below:

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WC Vision LLC, producers of the Pirelli World Challenge, today announced a multi-year extension agreement with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Pro Racing division to continue as the sanctioning body for North America’s most popular sports car production-based series.

Now in its 27th year, Pirelli World Challenge enjoyed one of its most successful and competitive seasons in 2015 with seven different auto manufacturers finishing in the top seven driver point positions (Cadillac, Ferrari, Porsche, Nissan, McLaren, Acura and Audi) in the GT division led by Johnny O’Connell’s fourth consecutive championship for Cadillac Racing.

In addition, PWC features six other categories throughout its 11-weekend season with GTA, GT Cup, GTS, TC, TCA and TC-B Spec classes.

SCCA Pro Racing Ltd., wholly owned subsidiary of Sports Car Club of America, Inc. – a 60,000-member organization dedicated to motorsports events. SCCA Pro Racing provides full-service organization, operation and sanction for numerous professional racing series, documented within this web site. Known for its operational expertise, SCCA Pro Racing has been the choice of privately-owned racing series, as well as those promoted by automobile manufacturers, to conduct all facets of their championships.

“I am pleased to announce a multi-year extension with our many year relationship with SCCA Pro Racing,” said Greg Gill, president and CEO of WC Vision. “We have watched the changes in the club and continued growth and we couldn’t be happier with this alliance. We look forward to a many year association.

“This is obviously good news for SCCA to be extending our agreement with the Pirelli World Challenge,” said Derrick Walker, president of SCCA Pro Racing. “I think the series is the right format. It is an exciting format with a lot of great competitors in the series. SCCA is so glad to be a part of it. We’re looking forward to the future with PWC.”

Pirelli World Challenge, which features an exciting 50-minute sprint race format, provides teams, manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers a competitive production-based race series in which to prove their products in 11 weekends starting in March and concluding in October.

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.”