On Wednesday, IMSA released the official entry list for the BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona, the season opener for the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Unlike the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, there is no mandate to participate in the Roar in order to enter this race. As a result, the entry list is actually a little bigger than the Roar was.
43 cars are entered between the three classes. If anything, the race is likely to be even more top-heavy than the Roar was. Nearly one-third of the entries (10 of 31) are new Mercedes-AMG GT4s.
The headlining Grand Sport class, which had 28 entries at the Roar, now has 30 for the race. Additional entries include a third Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport Mercedes for HTP Motorsport regular Indy Dontje and Winward Racing owner Bryce Ward. This team will compete in four races this season. Stephen Cameron Racing, which originally entered the Roar with a BMW M4 GT4 before withdrawing, has entered a Mercedes for Ari Balogh and Greg Liefooghe.
GMG Racing has expanded their effort from two Audi R8 LMS GT4s to three Audis. The new No. 50 will be driven by past Daytona winner Ashley Freiberg. She will be paired with 25-year old Gosia Rdest, a Polish racer who was part of the winning GT4 team two weeks ago at Dubai. Freiberg and Rdest will be the only all-female driving duo in the race. Finally, a new team, Ramsey Racing, has also entered a Mercedes. Alexandre Prémat and team owner Mark Ramsey will team up.
There are also some driver changes from the Roar. At Automatic Racing, Rob Ecklin Jr. has been added to the lineup for the No. 09 Aston Martin alongside Ramin Abdolvahabi and Brandon Kidd. Kidd was originally not listed on the roster, but was added back with an entry list revision. For the team’s No. 99, former Street Tuner racer Aurora Straus will replace Tanner Whitten.
At Rennsport One, the team has entered both of their Porsches that showed significant pace at the Roar. However, the team has paired Spencer Pumpelly and defending Grand Sport champion Dillon Machavern together in the No. 28. For the No. 18, last year”s Rolex 24 at Daytona GT class winner Daniel Morad confirmed himself as being part of the team.
https://twitter.com/DanielMorad/status/955922786878279680
Finally, KohR Motorsports has added a third driver to their No. 59 car, but he is a familiar face to the team. Jade Buford will join Joey Atterbury and Jack Roush Jr. in the car. Buford has won with the team as recently as Sebring last year.
In TCR, there are seven entries once again, but there are a couple of changes. The most notable change is that JDC-Miller MotorSports’ No. 54 Audi is not entered. During the Roar, Michael Johnson crashed hard and suffered a broken leg. He’s out of the hospital now, but he has a long road to recovery.
Finally headed home after spending a week at the hospital here in Daytona. I have some healing to do in my right leg but I’ll be back out on track soon! Thank you everyone for the support, I really appreciate it! pic.twitter.com/fkqJKa19UX
— Michael Johnson (@MikejRacing) January 15, 2018
There are a couple of other changes. First, C360R announced a third full-time TCR entry on Wednesday. That team will be the No. 77 Audi for Britt Casey Jr. and Tom Long. Casey brings his sponsorship from TRUMPF to the team. Previously, Casey drove for Freedom Autosport in the Street Tuner. Long comes to C360R after spending a number of years in the Mazda camp. Long has also previously raced as a teammate to Casey at Freedom Autosport.
Secondly, RS Werkes Racing has nominated JT Coupal to share the No. 11 Audi with Don Istook. Coupal raced full-time in Pirelli World Challenge’s TC class for BERG Racing last year in a similar Audi. Coupal finished eighth in TC points with a best finish of second in race No. 2 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in May.
Finally, the Street Tuner class is the smallest of all with just six entries. Murillo Racing’s No. 65 originally moved up to Grand Sport. However, the team has since dropped back down to ST. That necessitated a number change since the No. 65 has been locked in as a Grand Sport team. As a result, the team Brent Mosing and Tim Probert will run the No. 55 on their Cayman. Piscitell has also been listed as a driver for the team. This team participated in the Roar with their Street Tuner-class Porsche CaymanThat loss is offset by MINI JCW Team adding their No. 52 to the mix that did not run at the Roar. Still no Mazdas in the mix.
Entry List: 2018 BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona
| Class | Team | Drivers | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Sport | 09 - Automatic Racing | Ramin Abdolvahabi Rob Ecklin Jr. Brandon Kidd | Aston Martin Vantage GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 3 - Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport | Craig Lyons Kris Wilson | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 4 - TeamTGM | Guy Cosmo Ted Giovanis Owen Trinkler | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 5 - Bodymotion Racing | Stevan McAleer Joe Robillard | Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR |
| Grand Sport | 7 - VOLT Racing | Alan Brynjolfsson Trent Hindman | Ford Mustang GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 8 - Multimatic Motorsports | Patrick Gallagher Chad McCumbee | Ford Mustang GT4 |
| TCR | 10 - eEuroparts.com Racing | Lee Carpentier Kieron O'Rourke | Audi RS3 LMS Club Sport |
| TCR | 11 - RS Werkes Racing | JT Coupal Don Istook | Audi RS3 LMS Club Sport |
| Grand Sport | 13 - GMG Racing | Daren Jorgensen Cameron Lawrence Rick Parfitt Jr. | Audi R8 LMS GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 14 - GMG Racing | Andrew Davis George Kurtz James Sofronas | Audi R8 LMS GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 15 - Multimatic Motorspots | Cole Custer Ty Majeski Scott Maxwell | Ford Mustang GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 18 - Rennsport One | Daniel Morad Spencer Pumpelly | Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR |
| Grand Sport | 19 - Stephen Cameron Racing | Ari Balogh Greg Liefooghe | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Street Tuner | 21 - Bodymotion Racing | Max Faulkner Jason Rabe | Porsche Cayman |
| Grand Sport | 22 - Multimatic Motorsports | Chase Briscoe Austin Cindric | Ford Mustang GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 28 - Rennsport One | Dillon Machavern Spencer Pumpelly | Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR |
| TCR | 31 - Rumcastle LLC | Jon Miller Luke Rumberg Tanner Rumberg | Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR |
| Grand Sport | 33 - Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport | Damien Faulkner Russell Ward | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Street Tuner | 37 - MINI JCW Team | Derek Jones Nate Norenberg | MINI JCW |
| Grand Sport | 38 - BGB Motorsports | James Cox David Murry Dylan Murry | Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR |
| Grand Sport | 39 - Carbahn Motorsports | Tyler McQuarrie Mark Siegal Jeff Westphal | Audi R8 LMS GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 46 - TeamTGM | Hugh Plumb Owen Trinkler | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 50 - GMG Racing | Ashley Freiberg Gosia Rdest | Audi R8 LMS GT4 |
| Street Tuner | 52 - MINI JCW Team | Mark Pombo Jared Salinsky Tyler Stone | MINI JCW |
| TCR | 53 - Murillo Racing | Matt Fassnacht Justin Piscitell | Audi RS3 LMS Club Sport |
| Street Tuner | 55 - Murillo Racing | Brent Mosing Justin Piscitell Tim Probert | Porsche Cayman |
| Grand Sport | 56 - Murillo Racing | Eric Foss Jeff Mosing | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 57 - Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport | Indy Dontje Bryce Ward | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 59 - KohR Motorsports | Joey Atterbury Jade Buford Jack Roush Jr. | Ford Mustang GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 60 - KohR Motorsports | Kyle Marcelli Nate Stacy | Ford Mustang GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 63 - DXDT Racing | David Askew Aaron Povoledo | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 69 - Motorsport in Action | Corey Fergus Jesse Lazare | McLaren 570S GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 72 - Classic BMW | Toby Grahovec Jason Hart Mike Vess | BMW M4 GT4 |
| Street Tuner | 73 - MINI JCW Team | Mike LaMarra Mat Pombo | MINI JCW |
| TCR | 74 - C360R | Rodrigo Sales Kuno Wittmer | Audi RS3 LMS Club Sport |
| TCR | 75 - C360R | Roy Block Pierre Kleinubing | Audi RS3 LMS Club Sport |
| Grand Sport | 76 - C360R | Paul Holton Matt Plumb | McLaren 570S GT4 |
| TCR | 77 - C360R | Britt Casey Jr. Tom Long | Audi RS3 LMS Club Sport |
| Grand Sport | 80 - Andrew Wojteczko Autosport | Martin Barkey Brett Sandberg | Ford Mustang GT4 |
| Street Tuner | 81 - BimmerWorld Racing | Nick Galante Devin Jones | BMW 328i |
| Grand Sport | 82 - BimmerWorld Racing | James Clay Tyler Cooke | BMW M4 GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 92 - Ramsey Racing | Alexandre Premat Mark Ramsey | Mercedes-AMG GT4 |
| Grand Sport | 99 - Automatic Racing | Al Carter Steven Phillips Aurora Straus | Aston Martin Vantage GT4 |
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.