Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
6 p.m. EDT July 4, 2020
NBC Sports Network, NBC Trackpass and IMSATV.com
Radio Le Mans and IMSA.com
ACURA, HPD AT DAYTONA
- After a four-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will resume over the Independence Day holiday weekend with the WeatherTech 240 at Daytona.
- The two-hour, 40-minute contest, at the famed Daytona International Speedway’s road course, is an addition to the schedule, following the cancellation of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and Detroit Grand Prix as a result of COVID-19.
- Acura has two previous class wins at Daytona, both at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, and HPD/Honda won the 24-hour endurance race overall in 2016.
- Acura first took part in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1991, winning the Camel Lights class with Comptech Racing and drivers Parker Johnstone, Steve Cameron [uncle of Dane Cameron], Bob Lesnett and Doug Peterson, driving a Spice Acura SE90P. Acura went on to win eight of 14 races in 1991 to claim the Camel Lights Championship.
- Acura and Comptech repeated as Camel Lights winners at the 1992 Rolex 24, with drivers Johnstone, Cameron and Jimmy Vasser [who went on to win Honda’s first Indy car championship in 1996]. Acura won eight of 15 races in 1992 to successfully defend its Camel Lights title.
- Running a Honda engine developed by HPD, Extreme Speed Motorsports won the Rolex 24 in 2016 with Pipo Derani, Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek and Ed Brown driving a Ligier JSP2-Honda. This was HPD’s first overall victory at Daytona.
- Acura returned to IMSA Prototype competition in 2018, partnered with Team Penske. Acura Team Penske will field the #6 Acura ARX-05 DPi for defending series championship Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya; and the #7 ARX-05 driven by Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor.
- In GTD, Meyer Shank Racing recorded a second-place finish at the 2018 edition of the Rolex 24, and will also field a pair of Acura NSX GT3 Evo’s. Defending series champion Mario Farnbacher will drive the #86 Acura, partnered with Matt McMurry; while Alvaro Parente and Misha Goikhberg will share driving duties aboard the #57 NSX GT3 Evo.
ACURA TEAM PENSKE
- The combination of Acura Motorsports, Team Penske and the Acura ARX-05 DPi resulted in a sweep of IMSA’s season-long championships in 2019, claiming the Manufacturers’, Teams’ and Drivers’ championships.
- Cameron and Montoya combined for three race wins and four additional podium finishes to claim the 2019 Drivers’ Championship in the #6 Acura Team Penske entry. Teammates Castroneves and Taylor complied five podium finishes in their #7 ARX-05 to help Acura secure the Manufacturers’ title.
- The Acura ARX-05 is the latest in a line of prototype sports cars to be fielded by the company, dating to 1991, just five years after the launch of the Acura brand. Based on the successful ORECA 07 chassis, the ARX-05 DPi features Acura-specific bodywork and utilizes the production-based Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine.
ACURA NSX GT3 EVO TEAMS
- This year marks the fourth consecutive season MSR has led the Acura GTD effort in IMSA competition. The program debuted in 2017, with Katherine Legge and Andy Lally scoring a pair of victories, at Detroit and Watkins Glen, in the inaugural season for the new Acura NSX GT3.
- In 2018, MSR scored another brace of victories as Legge partnered with Farnbacher to repeat in Detroit, the Legge and Parente combined to win from the pole at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Legge and her rotating pair of co-drivers combined to complete every lap of the season – 2,374 in all – and lead 202 of them – to finish second in the 2018 GTD title fight.
- After knocking on the door in 2018, Meyer Shank Racing took the Drivers’ and Team championships in GTD, with Farnbacher, Hindman and Marks scoring one win at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, with Farnbacher and Hindman adding four second-place finishes in 10 races to claim the titles.
- Starting at Daytona, the MSR effort in the always competitive GTD field will be joined by an Acura NSX GT3 Evo entered by Gradient Racing for drivers Marc Miller and Till Bechtolsheimer. Both drivers and the Austin, Texas-based team come to IMSA from SRO GT World Challenge America competition, where they scored a victory at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in 2019.
WHERE TO WATCH
- Television coverage from Daytona begins at 6 p.m. EDT Saturday on the NBC Sports Network. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App and NBC Gold with NBCSN Trackpass authentication. Practice and qualifying action can be found at IMSATV.com.
- Fans can listen to audio commentary via com, RadioLeMans.comand Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.