| May 22, 2019 Staff Report IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Anytime you’re racing in the Motor City it’s a big deal. After all, Detroit is the automotive capital of the world. It’s an especially big deal for the 23 race cars – representing 12 different manufacturers – that will compete in the 100-minute Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at the 2.3-mile Belle Isle Park street circuit on Saturday, June 1. The entry list features 11 Daytona Prototype international (DPi) machines competing in what will be the fifth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. There also will be 12 entries in the GT Daytona (GTD) class, all vying for a new title in 2019, the WeatherTech Sprint Cup, which encompasses seven “sprint races” two hours and 40 minutes in length or shorter. The Chevrolet Sports Car Classic – a featured event of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear event weekend – will be televised live on NBCSN beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on June 1. IMSA Radio also will cover the action live on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio Channel 202 (Streaming 972). Tickets are available now on DetroitGP.com. Here’s a closer look at this year’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic field: · Of the 45 drivers on the entry list (one driver for the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi is listed as TBD), 10 have at least one victory. · Jordan Taylor is the winningest active driver at Belle Isle with five career IMSA victories. His first came in the GRAND-AM GT class in 2012, followed by the Daytona Prototype and overall victory in the final GRAND-AM appearance in 2013. He’s earned overall and Prototype class victories in 2014, 2016 and 2017. All of his victories came in General Motors race cars. Taylor’s wins came in a Chevrolet Camaro GT.R (2012), Chevrolet Corvette DP (2013, 2014, 2016) and Cadillac DPi-V.R (2017). · General Motors has earned at least one class victory in every IMSA race at Detroit dating back to the inaugural American Le Mans Series (ALMS) event on Belle Isle in 2007. Chevrolet, which does not have any cars competing in this event, is the winningest manufacturer at Detroit with nine victories. Cadillac has won in both of its DPi appearances to date. · Ricky Taylor is the second-winningest active IMSA driver in Detroit, co-driving to three victories (2014, 2016 and 2017) with his younger brother, Jordan. He will share the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi with Helio Castroneves. · Wayne Taylor Racing is the winningest IMSA team at Detroit, with four previous victories (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017). Action Express Racing picked up its third Detroit win last year with co-drivers Felipe Nasr and Eric Curran in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. Either WTR or AXR has won every race on Belle Isle dating back to 2012. · In the GTD ranks, Meyer Shank Racing will be going for its third consecutive Detroit victory. In 2017, Katherine Legge and Andy Lally brought home the first victory anywhere in the world for the Acura NSX GT3 race car. Legge scored a repeat win last year co-driving with Mario Farnbacher. This year, Legge is sharing the No. 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing Acura with Christina Nielsen, while Farnbacher is co-driving the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian NSX with Trent Hindman. · Bryan Sellers, driver of the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3, is the only driver on the entry list with multiple pole positions at Detroit. Sellers scored Motul Pole Awards for the GTD class in both 2016 and 2018, but will not go for a third this year as his co-driver, Ryan Hardwick, will handle qualifying duties. · Porsche and Acura are tied as the winningest active manufacturers in IMSA races at Detroit. Each has three previous victories. Previous Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Winning Drivers in 2019 Field (10) Jordan Taylor (5) – GRAND-AM GT – 2012, GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2013; P/Overall – 2014, 2016, 2017 Ricky Taylor (3) – P/Overall – 2014, 2016, 2017 Renger van der Zande (2) – Prototype Challenge (PC) – 2015, 2016 Mario Farnbacher (2) – GTD – 2015, 2018 Katherine Legge (2) – GTD – 2017, 2018 Joao Barbosa (1) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2012 Tristan Nunez (1) – GRAND-AM GX – 2013 Dane Cameron (1) – P/Overall – 2015 Andy Lally (1) – GTD – 2017 Felipe Nasr (1) – P/Overall – 2018 Previous Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Pole-Winning Drivers in 2019 Field (4) Bryan Sellers (2) – GTD – 2016, 2018 Jordan Taylor (1) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2013 Lawson Aschenbach (1) – GTD – 2017 Pipo Derani (1) – P/Overall – 2018 Previous Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Winning Teams in 2019 Field (6) Wayne Taylor Racing (4) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2013; P/Overall – 2014, 2016, 2017 Action Express Racing (3) – GRAND-AM DP/Overall – 2012; P/Overall – 2015, 2018 Starworks Motorsport (2) – PC – 2015, 2016 Meyer Shank Racing (2) – GTD – 2017, 2018 Penske (1) – ALMS P2/Overall – 2007 Scuderia Corsa (1) – GTD – 2014 Previous Chevrolet Sports Car Classic Winning Manufacturers in 2019 Field (6) Acura – 3 Porsche – 3 Cadillac – 2 Ferrari – 2 Audi – 1 Mazda – 1 |
