Sebring earns shoutout for Danielle Shepherd, lead engineer on Ganassi’s No. 02 Cadillac

Associated PressMar 24, 2022, 8:00 AM EDT
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Exhausted after closing out the win in the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Earl Bamber gave the shoutout heard around racing when engineer Danielle Shepherd was one of the first he acknowledged.

Shepherd became just the second woman in at least two decades to lead an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team to victory last weekend. Leena Gade, also an engineer, led an Audi win in 2013.

Shepherd, 29, earned her victory at the prestigious endurance race at Sebring in just her second time leading her new team. She was promoted during the offseason from Alex Palou’s IndyCar championship-winning team to her dream job of lead engineer.

She is now in charge of the startup No. 02 Cadillac for Chip Ganassi Racing. A year ago, she became the first woman to go over the wall on pit stops.

Shepherd was atop the timing stand during an October test at Atlanta as Ganassi was building a crew for Bamber and co-driver Alex Lynn.

“I remember them asking at the time, `What do you think?’ And I said, `We have to have her,’ ” Bamber said this week. “For us inside the car, we’re an important part, but I’m a big believer in that if you don’t have the best people behind you, the best engineers, the best team, then you also can’t win the race. You need both to go hand in hand.

“I really believe that we’ve got one of the best in the paddock with Danielle on the timing stand. I was a big believer just from that first day.”

Danielle Shepherd Ganassi Sebring
Danielle Shepherd (Richard Prince/Cadillac Racing).

Shepherd, an Ohio native and engineering graduate of Wooster College, began her career at KV Racing working for childhood hero Jimmy Vasser, the driver she screamed for each year from her seats in the Keyhole section at Mid-Ohio Sports Course. At Sebring, they were side-by-side in the pits.

The full-circle moment was not lost on Shepherd after Saturday’s win.

“It’s interesting and weird emotionally because it’s like the thing you achieve for, the thing you’ve worked so hard for, is kind of there,” Shepherd said. “You can always strive for more, but it is exciting.”

She has had a successful career at Ganassi and was part of two IndyCar championships, her first coming in 2018 with Scott Dixon. Shepherd steadily moved through the ranks chasing the IndyCar job equivalent to a NASCAR crew chief. All those jobs are held by men.

The expansion to two IMSA cars this year opened an opportunity that Shepherd went for, even though it was in a different series.

“It’s always been my goal to be the lead engineer, so the opportunity came and I told them I was interested in doing it,” Shepherd said.

She was tested quite a bit at Sebring, on and off the track. Kevin Magnussen was the scheduled third driver but the team had to scramble for a replacement when he was unexpectedly offered his old job in Formula One and took it.

Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, and Neel Jani celebrate their victory in the No. 02 Cadillac at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (Richard Prince/Cadillac Photo).

Neel Jani had just about a week’s notice he was racing at Sebring with Bamber and Lynn. And then Bamber really tested the team’s nerves with an overly eventful final stint. He overcame two incidents and a penalty in his final 75-minute drive that could have cost the No. 02 team the victory.

Bamber, a former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner who also won the 2019 IMSA GTLM championship with Porsche, inherited a lead of more than 30 seconds, but he collided with another car exiting pit lane and was given a drive-through penalty. Seconds after making the pass he needed to reclaim the lead, Bamber spun in yet another collision.

He had to chase down Richard Westbrook for a second time to reclaim the lead, and he at last grabbed control of the race with 45 minutes remaining. Bamber joked about the stress his gaffes created, but Shepherd runs an aggressive program.

“She definitely likes to push the limits and I like that she’s not afraid of making some bold moves,” Bamber said.

“That’s what is important in racing is to test the extremes, and she doesn’t leave any stone unturned before going to the race to make sure she gives us the best car, and I think that’s what makes her strong.

“She wants to continuously improve, and that’s what I like about her character on that. And she does keep us on the straight and narrow.”

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).