IMSA will continue iRacing Pro Series next week at Laguna Seca

By Apr 6, 2020, 9:00 AM EDT
IMSA rescheduling 2021
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IMSA is the latest motorsports series to start its own iRacing Series.

Building off its “Sebring SuperSaturday” event last month, the sports car circuit will continue the IMSA iRacing Pro Series with an April 16 race at Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The six-race, biweekly series, which will be single-driver, 90-minute formats, also will race at Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen International and two tracks to be named. Fields will be open to IMSA drivers and capped at 50 entries.

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Drivers will have a choice of four GTLM cars: the BMW M8, Porsche 911 RSR, Ferrari 488 and Ford GT.

BMW driver Bruno Spengler led a sweep of the top three for the automaker in the Sebring SuperSaturday opener.

Here’s the release from IMSA on its iRacing Pro Series:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 3, 2020) – Following last month’s successful IMSA Sebring SuperSaturday on iRacing event, IMSA and iRacing have taken the next step in establishing a bi-weekly series of Thursday night races to be known as the “IMSA iRacing Pro Series.”

The series will follow the same format as Sebring SuperSaturday – 90-minute, single-driver races using recent IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) race cars: the BMW M8, Porsche 911 RSR, Ferrari 488 and Ford GT. With the Sebring event serving as the first round of an anticipated six-round championship, the series will resume on Thursday, April 16 on the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca iRacing circuit.

The full IMSA iRacing Pro Series Schedule is as follows:

March 21 – IMSA Sebring SuperSaturday

April 16 – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

April 30 – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

May 14 – IMSA venue to be determined

May 28 – IMSA venue to be determined

June 11 – Watkins Glen International

“Our Sebring SuperSaturday event and subsequent iRacing events held by other sanctioning bodies have proven to be popular with race fans,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We had a fantastic turnout of participating drivers and strong viewership, which ignited further discussions among our IMSA team, our partners at iRacing and many of our other partners.

“Together, we determined that a series of races that somewhat mirrors what our actual 2020 WeatherTech Championship schedule would have been prior to the COVID-19 stoppage was logical. With that, the IMSA iRacing Pro Series was born.”

The invitational series will be open to IMSA drivers. As was the case for Sebring SuperSaturday, the field will be capped at a maximum of 50 entries.

IMSA will establish a points system for drivers based on their finishing position – beginning with last month’s Sebring SuperSaturday. An IMSA iRacing driver champion will be crowned at season’s end.

All races will be streamed live on iRacing’s YouTube channel, Twitch channel and Facebook page, which will include commentary from IMSA Radio announcer John Hindhaugh. Pre- and post-race programming also is planned for The Torque Show, hosted by Justin Bell and Tommy Kendall.

Ryan Hunter-Reay hired as replacement for Conor Daly at Ed Carpenter Racing

By Jun 8, 2023, 9:05 AM EDT
Ryan Hunter-Reay Carpenter
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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”