IMSA Petit Le Mans entry list will feature many IndyCar stars for 10-hour race at Road Atlanta

By Oct 14, 2020, 5:00 AM EDT
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The longest race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season since the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in January will draw many big names to the entry list at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta this weekend as teams expand their lineups for Saturday’s 10-hour Petit Le Mans.

Team Penske’s DPi teams will have Indianapolis 500 winners Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud back in the mix. Rossi will join the division’s hottest team, joining the duo of Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor on the No. 7 Acura that has won three consecutive races. Pagenaud will be paired with defending series champions Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya on the No. 6 Acura. Petit will mark the first IMSA starts for Rossi and Pagenaud since the Rolex 24.

Points leaders Renger van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe will be joined by five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, who helped the Wayne Taylor Racing duo win this year’s Rolex 24 in the No. 10 Cadillac.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner and 2012 IndyCar Series champion, will return to the No. 55 Mazda, joining Jonathan Bomarito and Harry Tincknell for the third time this season.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to see who is entered in the Petit Le Mans

Other third drivers in DPi entries:

–Loic Duval with Tristan Vautier (who replaced Joao Barbosa for the remainder of the season last week) and Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 5 Cadillac of Mustang Sampling Racing / JDC-Miller MotorSports;

–Filipe Albuquerque with Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing.

–Olivier Pia with Oliver Jarvis and Tristan Nunez in the No. 77 Mazda.

In the GTLM category, IndyCar winner Colton Herta will return to the BMW Team RLL (which he has driven for at the Rolex 24 and other endurance events).

There are 31 cars entered in the Petit Le Mans across four classes: eight in DPi, four in LPM2, six in GTLM, 13 in GTD.

This will mark the second race in six weeks at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, which also played host to a six-hour race Sept. 6 with IMSA.

Saturday’s coverage of the Petit Le Mans will begin from 12:30-6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, 6:30-9:30 p.m. on the NBC Sports App, NBCSports.com and TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold and concluding from 9:30-11 on NBCSN.

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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
Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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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.”