Pataskala, Ohio (15 September 2015) – Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian will be back in IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship competition at the iconic Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas this weekend. The Lone Star Le Mans event is the penultimate round of the 2014 championship and the Michael Shank Racing squad and its drivers John Pew and Ozz Negri have high hopes of another positive outing in the No. 60 Ford EcoBoost Riley.
The team is carrying momentum into the highly anticipated Austin event after taking the group’s best finish of the year with a run to second place in the previous round of Road America. Entering the inaugural TUDOR Championship this year with the new Ecoboost power plant, the 2014 season has been one that has seen the Michael Shank Racing team make great progress through the year.
There has been a six-week break in race action following the Road America event, but Michael Shank Racing has remained busy during that time off. Pew and Jim McGuire of team sponsor AERO paint spent time testing at the team’s home track of Mid-Ohio. Both Pew and McGuire got plenty of laps in and Michael Shank Racing collected valuable data during the test.
“We’ve just been focused on making the car better,” said Team Owner Mike Shank. “The test at Mid-Ohio with John (Pew) and Jim (McGuire) just helped us do that even more. There have been some rule changes ahead of the COTA event so it will be an interesting weekend. We’ve had several good outings and we were glad to finally get the result at Road America that we all knew this team is capable of.”
That work, combined with the data collected when Michael Shank Racing tested at Circuit of the Americas back in June, gives the team a good baseline heading into Saturday’s 2.75-hour Lone Star Le Mans event.
The No. 60 machine was taken out of contention in last year’s COTA debut when it sustained contact from another car. This year, Michael Shank Racing looks for redemption in the first TUDOR Championship event at the 3.4-mile Texas road course.
Michael Shank Racing will have three practice sessions in the No. 60 Ford Ecoboost powered Riley before qualifying on Friday at 6:35 PM (ET). The green flag for the Lone Star Le Mans event will fly Saturday at 12:35 PM (ET).
Tune into FOX on Sunday, September 21st (check your local listings) or catch the race LIVE on Saturday, September 20th on FOX Sports 2.
