No. 02 Cadillac Team Led by Shepherd Overcomes Late-Race Issues to Win
By Jeff Olson
SEBRING, Fla. – Danielle Shepherd knew the car she engineered was quick, but she didn’t know what was in store for it.
In the end, preparation – and adjustments in real time – overcame the unexpected.
Shepherd’s planning and ability to adjust the plan are the stories behind Chip Ganassi Racing’s victory Saturday night in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. In just her second race as a lead engineer for CGR’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship program, Shepherd led a team that put a fast car on track, then adapted to the unforeseen.
Here’s how it went down:
With 1 hour, 15 minutes left in the race, Earl Bamber jumped into the No. 02 CGR Cadillac DPi-V.R he co-drove with Neel Jani and Alex Lynn during a pit stop and exited the pits with the lead Lynn had built. Twice Bamber ran into trouble. First, he collided with another car on the out lap and received a drive-through penalty. Then, while charging back into the lead, he spun.
Despite the trouble, Bamber and Shepherd knew the car was fast enough – thanks to preparation and in-race adjustments – to regain the lead.
“It was just a balance,” Shepherd said. “I was adjusting things as we went through the race – adjusting tire pressures and everything and making sure we were trying to keep in the range and keep the car balance the way we were. So, it was slight adjustments from my side along with a good baseline car that we started with and just keeping it in the window the whole day.”
Bamber joked about the trouble afterward, calling it the best and worst driving of his career.
“I managed to give it away all again with a drive-through at the end there and I managed to spin myself again after I got back in the lead,” he said. “I think it gave Chip (Ganassi) and Danielle and everyone three more heart attacks than what they needed to win this one.”
In the middle of Women’s History Month in the U.S., Shepherd also amplified the growing list of women in leadership roles in professional motorsports. The win was particularly timely as the team and longtime partner PNC Bank launched a Women In Motorsports campaign earlier this month that showcases female industry leaders and offers internships to accelerate career pathways in motorsports for women.
“It shows the strength of the entire Chip Ganassi Racing team – the whole Indianapolis building and specifically the Cadillac cars themselves,” she said. “It shows the strength of the program that we have and where we can take it going forward. It’s obviously why we’re here and what we hope to accomplish.”
A graduate of The College of Wooster (Ohio), Shepherd started her career with KV Racing Technology’s IndyCar program. She joined CGR in 2016 and was part of two IndyCar Series championships with CGR – last year with Alex Palou and in 2018 with Scott Dixon.
After Palou’s championship, Shepherd moved to lead engineer for CGR’s WeatherTech Championship program.
“It’s always been my goal to be the lead engineer,” she said. “The opportunity came, and I told them I was interested in doing it. I think they thought I was hopefully the right person for the job.”
Right, indeed. While both of the team’s cars led during the first half of January’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, overnight issues relegated them to sixth and seventh in the race’s final Daytona Prototype international (DPi) standings. But Shepherd came into Sebring confident after solid test sessions at the 17-turn, 3.74-mile circuit.
Sebastien Bourdais won the pole position for the race in the team’s No. 01 Cadillac. After that car encountered mechanical issues at the start of the race, the No. 02 car became the sole focus. That’s when her calls came into play.
“Danielle did a great job and got us some track position,” Bamber said. “I remember after my first stint I said to her, ‘If you can get us in the lead or near the front, we’ll drive away.’ She managed to do that in my second stint.”
She also managed to achieve her first goal in her second race. Now it’s on to more accomplishments.
“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,” she said. “You can always strive for more, but it is exciting.”