These Sports Car Racing Duos Rank Right There with Chocolate and Roses
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chocolate and roses. Steak and lobster. Champagne and caviar. Everyone loves a good Valentine’s Day pairing.
It’s a bit of a stretch, but with Valentine’s Day next week, it got us thinking about some great pairings in the history of IMSA.
For many, a logical starting point is Hurley Haywood and Peter Gregg, who won the first race they teamed up for (the 1969 Watkins Glen Six Hours) and many more throughout the 1970s, including the 1973 Twelve Hours of Sebring and two of Haywood’s five victories in the Rolex 24 At Daytona (1973 and ’75). The combination of Gregg, Haywood and a No. 59 Porsche fielded by Brumos Racing is iconic for longtime IMSA fans. (Photo above courtesy of ISC Archives)
Another legendary IMSA Porsche is the Lowenbrau-sponsored 962 fielded by Holbert Racing, driven by Derek Bell and Al Holbert. Bell co-drove the Lowenbrau Porsche to three consecutive IMSA GTP championships (two with Holbert, the last with Chip Robinson), as well as sharing the factory 962 that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1986 and ’87 with Holbert and Hans-Joachim Stuck.
Sticking with the Porsche theme, the Team Penske and Porsche relationship spans more than 60 years. Roger Penske achieved many of his important early race wins as a driver in Porsches, and in the 1970s, Penske and Porsche dominated the SCCA Can-Am Championship with the 917/10 and 917/30. The Penske/Porsche pairing achieved sports car success once more with the 718 Spyder from 2006-08, and they are reunited again for the current LMDh project in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Mark Martin and Jack Roush famously raced for Ford for many years in the NASCAR Cup Series, but Roush Racing was already an established winner in IMSA before breaking into NASCAR fulltime in 1988. On top of all they achieved in NASCAR, Martin and Roush had plenty to celebrate in IMSA competition – like five Rolex 24 class victories between 1989 and ’95. (Photo courtesy of Brian Cleary)
Like Martin, who raced for Roush from 1988 to 2006, Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship. Dixon has won six IndyCar championships, but he has also contributed to three of the team’s wins at the Rolex 24, including overall in 2006 and ’15.
Scott Pruett anchored Ganassi’s sports car effort for many years, the peak coming between 2008 and ’12 when Pruett and Memo Rojas teamed to win 24 IMSA races and the season championship in 2008, ’10, ’11 and ’12. Will the current Ganassi sports car pairing of Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande achieve the same level of success?
Ganassi’s chief competition during that era was GAINSCO Racing and the distinctive No. 99 “Red Dragon” prototype shared by Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney. Between 2007 and ’11, that duo won 15 races and never finished lower than third in the championship, claiming the prototype title in 2007 and ’09. (Photo courtesy of Brian Cleary)
Some relationships are brought together by family – like Wayne Taylor Racing, which fielded brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor as its driver lineup from 2014-17. Ricky, the elder, ran with WTR from 2010-12 and 2014-17, while Jordan enjoyed a seven-year stint from 2013-19. In their four years as co-drivers, the Taylor brothers won 12 races and the 2017 Prototype championship.
Finally, when talking about strong sports car pairings, how can you forget Bill Auberlen and BMW? Auberlen and BMW have now been associated for 28 years, including some 20 with Turner Motorsport. IMSA’s all-time most successful driver boasts 65 wins in IMSA’s top-tier series and 20 more in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. Auberlen made his 500th start for BMW at the 2022 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and shows no sign of slowing down at age 54.