Who to Follow: The 2018 IMSA Social Media Guide

 

1. The Series:

IMSA, the sanctioning body, does tweet quite a bit of information.  They can be found at @IMSA.  The feed is generally informative, but can also be quite light-hearted.  They also run the @IMSALive account.  That is a bit more factual in their in-race tweeting.  In addition, they are the place to go for updates during the Continential Tire SportsCar Challenge races.

2. The Teams:

You’ve got a lot of teams to choose from there.  I’m going to break them down into the individual classes of both the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (four classes) and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (two classes)

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship:

Prototype:

Tequila Patron ESM (Extreme Speed Motorsports) Nos. 2, 22: @PatronESM

Action Express Racing Nos. 5, 31: @AX_Racing

Acura Team Penske Nos. 6-7: @Team_Penske

Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10: @WayneTaylorRcng

BAR1 Motorsports No. 20: @BAR1Motorsports

United Autosports Nos. 23, 32: @UnitedAutosports

Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA Nos. 37, 78: @JotaSport

Performance Tech Motorsports No. 38: @Perf_Tech

AFS/PR1-Mathiasen Motorsports No. 52: @PR1Motorsports

CORE autosport No. 54: @COREautosport

Mazda Team Joest Nos. 55, 77: @MazdaTeamJoest (team), @MazdaRacing (manufacturer)

JDC/Miller MotorSports Nos. 85, 99: @JDCMotorsports

Spirit of Daytona Racing No. 90: @SpiritDaytona90

GT-LeMans:

Corvette Racing Nos. 3 and 4: @CorvetteRacing

BMW Team RLL Nos. 24-25: @RLLRacing (team), @BMWMotorsport (manufacturer)

Risi Competizione No. 62: @RisiComp

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Nos. 66-67: @CGRsportscar (team), @FordPerformance (manufacturer)

Porsche North America Nos. 911-912: @PorscheNAracing (team), @PorscheRaces (manufacturer)

GT-Daytona:

GRT Grasser Racing Team Nos. 11, 19 (Daytona only): Currently not on Twitter

3GT Racing Nos. 14-15: @3GT_Racing

Montaplast by Land-Motorsport No. 29: Not currently on Twitter

Riley Motorsports No. 33: Not currently on Twitter

CJ Wilson Racing No. 36 (part-time): @CJWilsonRacing

Magnus Racing No. 44: @MagnusRacing

Paul Miller Racing No. 48: @paulmilleracing

Spirit of Race No. 51 (Daytona only): Not currently on Twitter

Wright Motorsports No. 58: @WrightRac1ng

Manthey Racing No. 59 (Daytona only): @manthey_racing

Scuderia Corsa Nos. 63-64 (No. 64 is TPNAEC only): @Scuderia_Corsa, @RaceWeatherTech (sponsor)

Honda of America Racing Team (HART) No. 69 (TPNAEC only): @HARTracingteam

P1 Motorsports No. 71 (TPNAEC only): Currently not on Twitter

Park Place Motorsports No. 73 (TPNAEC only): @ParkPlaceRacing

SunEnergy1 Racing No. 75: @SunEnergy1Race

Lone Star Racing No. 80 (part-time): @LSRTeam

Risi Competizione No. 82: @risicomp

Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Nos. 86-93: @MichaelShankRac

Turner Motorsport No. 96: @Turnermotrsport

Continental SportsCar Challenge:

Grand Sport:

Automatic Racing Nos. 09 and 99: Currently not on Twitter

Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport Nos. 3, 33, 57: @WinwardRacing

Team TGM Nos. 4 and 46: @GoTeamTGM

Bodymotion Racing No. 5: @TeamBodymotion

Automatic Racing/VOLT Racing No. 7: Currently not on Twitter

Multimatic Motorsports Nos. 8, 15, 22: @MultimaticRace

Global Motorsports Group Racing Nos. 13-14, 50: @GMGRacing

Rennsport One (RS1) Nos. 18, 28: @rennsport_one

Classic BMW Nos. 26, 72: Currently not on Twitter

BGB Motorsports No. 38: Currently not on Twitter

Carbahn Motorsports No. 39: Currently not on Twitter

Murillo Racing Nos. 56, 65: @Murillo_Racing

KohR Motorsports Nos. 59-60: @KohR_MS

DXDT Racing No. 63: @DXDTRacing

Motorsport In Action Nos. 68 and 69: Currently not on Twitter

Compass360 Racing No. 76: @CompassRacing

Andrew Wojteczko Autosport No. 80: Currently not on Twitter

BimmerWorld Racing No. 82: @bimmerworld

TCR:

eEuroparts.com Racing No. 10: @eEuroparts

RS Werkes Racing No. 11: @RSWerkes

Rumcastle LLC No. 31: @RumcastleRacing

Murillo Racing No. 53: @Murillo_Racing

JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 54: @JDCMotorSports

Compass Racing Nos. 74-75, 77: @CompassRacing

Street Tuner:

Bodymotion Racing No. 21: @TeamBodymotion

MINI JCW Team Nos. 37, 52 and 73 (MINI JCW USA): @lapmotorsports

Murillo Racing No. 55 (Daytona only): @Murillo_Racing

BimmerWorld No. 81: @bimmerworld

3. The Drivers

In IMSA, drivers can tend to come and go from time to time.  In this case, we’ll list everyone in each car during the season.  There will be names you might not have heard of.  There will be regulars, and there will be well-known drivers from other series as well.  Drivers may switch cars during the season.  In those cases, we will list the cars they drive, but note where they drove each car.  Once again, we’ll split this up between the six classes.  Finally, there will be some drivers that will compete in both the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship:

Prototype:

Tequila Patron ESM No. 2: Ryan Dalziel– @ryan_dalziel, Scott Sharp– Not currently on Twitter, Olivier Pla – @olivierpla

Action Express Racing No. 5: Filipe Albuquerque– @AlbuquerqueFil, Joao Barbosa– @barbosaracing, Christian Fittipaldi– @fittitweet (TPNAEC only)

Acura Team Penske No. 6: Dane Cameron – @danecameron19, Juan Pablo Montoya – @jpmontoya, Simon Pagenaud – @simonpagenaud

Acura Team Penske No. 7: Helio Castroneves – @h3lio, Graham Rahal (TPNAEC only) – @GrahamRahal, Ricky Taylor – @RickyTaylorRace

Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10: Ryan Hunter-Reay (TPNAEC only) – @RyanHunterReay,  Jordan Taylor– @jordan10taylor, Renger van der Zande – @rengervdz

BAR1 Motorsports No. 20: Tomy Drissi (withdrew from Daytona) – @TomyDrissi, Marc Drumwright – @MarcDrumwright, Brendan Gaughan (Daytona only) – @Brendan62, Eric Lux – Currently not on Twitter, Alex Popow – @AlexPopow

Tequila Patron ESM No. 22: Pipo Derani – @PipoDerani, Nicolas Lapierre – @Nico_Lapierre,  Johannes van Overbeek– @Johannesvanover

United Autosports No. 23 (Daytona only): Fernando Alonso – @alo_oficial, Phil Hanson – @PhilHansonRace, Lando Norris – @LandoNorris

Action Express Racing No. 31: Mike Conway, @Mikeconway26 (TPNAEC only), Eric Curran– @ericcurran31, Stuart Middleton– @StuMiddleton75 (Daytona only), Felipe Nasr – @FelipeNasr

United Autosports No. 32 (Daytona and Sebring only): Hugo de Sadeleer – @hugodesadeleer, Paul Di Resta – @PaulDiResta, Phil Hanson – @PhilHansonRace, Bruno Senna – @BSenna, William Owen – @Wowen23

Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA No. 37 (Daytona only): Robin Frijns – @RFrijns, Daniel Juncadella – @dani_juncadella, Felix Rosenqvist – @FelixRosenqvist, Lance Stroll – @lance_stroll

Performance Tech Motorsports No. 38:  James French– @FrenchRacing38, Kyle Masson– @KyleMasson18, Joel Miller – @joelmilleracing, Patricio “Pato” O’Ward– @PatricioOWard

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports No. 52: Sebastian Saavedra – @SebSaavedra, Gustavo Yacaman – @GustavoYacaman

CORE autosport No. 54: Jon Bennett– @jonbenn54, Colin Braun– @ColinBraun, Romain Dumas – @RomainDumas, Loïc Duval – @loicduval

Mazda Team Joest No. 55: Jonathan Bomarito– @JBomarito,  Spencer Pigot– @SpencerPigot (TPNAEC only), Harry Tincknell – @HarryTincknell

Mazda Motorsports No. 77: Oliver Jarvis – @ollyjarvis, Tristan Nunez– @tristannunez, René Rast (TPNAEC only) – @ReneRastRacing

Jackie Chan DC Racing JOTA No. 78 (Daytona only): Alex Brundle – @AlexBrundle, Antonio Felix da Costa – @afelixdacosta, Ferdinand Habsburg – @Fhabsburg62, Ho-Pin Tung – @hopintung

D3+Transformers Racing No. 84 (Unknown debut): Robbie Kerr – @Robbie_Kerr

JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 85: Robert Alon – @AlonRacing, Austin Cindric (TPNAEC only) – @AustinCindric, Devlin DeFrancesco (Daytona only) – @DevlinDeFran, Simon Trummer – @s_trummer

Spirit of Daytona Racing No. 90: Eddie Cheever III (TPNAEC only) – @EddieCheeverIII, Matt McMurry – @mcmurrymatt, Tristan Vautier – @TristanVautier

JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 99: Mikhail Goikhberg – Currently not on Twitter, Gustavo Menezes (Daytona only) – @FollowGustavo, Chris Miller – Not currently on Twitter, Stephen Simpson – @StephenSimpson1

GT-Le Mans:

Corvette Racing No. 3: Antonio Garcia– @AntonioGarcia_3, Jan Magnussen– @janmagnussen, Mike Rockenfeller– @m_rockenfeller (TPNAEC only)

Corvette Racing No. 4: Marcel Fässler– Currently not on Twitter (TPNAEC only), Oliver Gavin– @olivergavin, Tommy Milner– @TommyMilner

BMW Team RLL No. 25: Bill Auberlen (TPNAEC only) – @Billauberlen,  Connor De Phillippi – @CDePhillippi, Philipp Eng – @Philipp_Eng, Alexander Sims– @AlexanderSims

BMW Team RLL No. 24: Nicky Catsburg– @nickcatsburg (TPNAEC only), John Edwards – @JEdwardsRacing, Augusto Farfus– @augustofarfus (Daytona only), Jesse Krohn– @Jessekrohn

Risi Competizione No. 62: James Calado– @CaladoJames (TPNAEC only), Alessandro Pier Guidi – Currently not on Twitter, Toni Vilander– @toni_vilander

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing No. 66: Sebastien Bourdais– @BourdaisOnTrack (Daytona and Sebring only), Joey Hand– @JoeyHandRacing, Dirk Müller– @muellerdirk

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing No. 67: Ryan Briscoe– @Ryan_Briscoe, Scott Dixon– @scottdixon9 (Daytona and Sebring only), Richard Westbrook– @RWestbrook1

Porsche North America No. 911: Frédéric Makowiecki– @FredMako1 (TPNAEC only), Patrick Pilet– @PatrickPilet, Nick Tandy – @NickTandyR

Porsche North America No. 912: Earl Bamber – @earlbamber, Gianmaria Bruni – @GianmariaBruni (TPNAEC only), Laurens Vanthoor– @LaurensVanthoor

GT-Daytona:

GRT Grasser Racing Team No. 11 (Daytona and Sebring only):  Rik Bruekers – Currently not on Twitter , Mirko Bortolotti– @M_Bortolotti, Rolf Ineichen– Currently not on Twitter, Franck Perera – @franck_perera

3GT Racing No. 14: Dominik Baumann – Currently not on Twitter, Philipp Frommenwiler – @PhFrommenwiler (Daytona only), Bruno Junqueira – @BJUNQUEIRA (TPNAEC only), Kyle Marcelli – @KyleMarcelli

3GT Racing No. 15: Dominik Farnbacher– @Dom_Farnbacher (Daytona only), Jack Hawksworth– @jackhawkrace, David Heinemeier Hansson – @dhh, Scott Pruett (Daytona only) – @scottpruett01, Sean Rayhall (Sebring and Road Atlanta only) – @seanrayhall

GRT Grasser Racing Team No. 19 (Daytona only):  Christian Engelhart– @EngelhartChris, Christoph Lenz – Currently not on Twitter, Louis Machiels – Currently not on Twitter , Ezequiel Perez Companc– Currently not on Twitter, Max van Splunteren – @maxsplunt

Montaplast by Land-Motorsport No. 29: Christopher Mies– @MiesChris, Jeffrey Schmidt– Currently not on Twitter (Daytona only), Kelvin van der Linde – @KelvinvdLinde, Sheldon van der Linde – @SheldonvdLinde

Riley Motorsports No. 33: Jeroen Bleekemolen– @jbleekemolen, Adam Christodoulou– @AdamChristo (Daytona only), Ben Keating– @keatingcarguy, Luca Stolz – @StolzLuca

CJ Wilson Racing No. 36 (part-time): Till Bechtolsheimer – Currently not on Twitter, Marc Miller – @marcmillershow

Magnus Racing No. 44: Andrew Davis (TPNAEC only) – @andrewdavis59, Andy Lally – @AndyLally, John Potter – @JohnPotter44, Markus Winkelhock – @m_winkelhock

Paul Miller Racing No. 48: Andrea Caldarelli– @andreacalda (Daytona only), Bryce Miller– @bryceracer (TPNAEC only), Bryan Sellers– @BryanSellers, Madison Snow– @MadSnow62

Spirit of Race No. 51 (Daytona only):  Paul Dalla Lana– Currently not on Twitter, Pedro Lamy– @PedroLamyRacing, Mathias Lauda– @MathiasLauda, Daniel Serra – @DanielSerra29

Wright Motorsports No. 58: Mathieu Jaminet – @Mathjaminet, Patrick Long – @pLmotorsport, Christina Nielsen – @ChristinaRacing, Robert Renauer – Currently not on Twitter

Manthey Racing No. 59 (Daytona only): Matteo Cairoli– @cairoli96, Sven Müller– @Sven_Mueller14, Harald Proczyk– Currently not on Twitter, Steve Smith– Currently not on Twitter, Randy Walls – Currently not on Twitter

Scuderia Corsa No. 63: Alessandro Balzan– @BalzanAle, Gunnar Jeannette (Daytona only) – @GunnarJeannette, Cooper MacNeil – @CooperMacNeil, Jeff Segal – @JeffSegal

Scuderia Corsa No. 64 (TPNAEC only): Townsend Bell – @TownsendBell,  Sam Bird– @sambirdracing (Daytona only), Frankie Montecalvo – , Bill Sweedler – @billsweedler

Honda of America Racing Team (HART) No. 69 (TPNAEC only): Tom Dyer – @TomDyer_ (Sebring only), Ryan Eversley – @RyanEversley, John Falb – @johnfalb (Daytona only), Chad Gilsinger – Currently not on Twitter, Sean Rayhall – @seanrayhall (Daytona only)

P1 Motorsports No. 71 (TPNAEC only): Robby Foley – @FoleyRacingRFR, Kenton Koch – @KentonKochRacin, JC Perez – , Loris Spinelli – @Lorislamborghin (inactive since 2016)

Park Place Motorsports No. 73 (TPNAEC only): Jörg Bergmeister– @JBergmeister, Patrick Lindsey– @plindsey73, Tim Pappas – @tpap54, Norbert Siedler– @NorbertSiedler (Daytona only)

SunEnergy1 Racing No. 75: Maro Engel– @MaroEngel (Daytona only), Mikaël Grenier – @MikaelGrenier (inactive since 2013), Kenny Habul– @kennyhabul, Thomas Jäger – @TJ_Racing (inactive since 2016), Tristan Vautier (Lime Rock and VIR)- @TristanVautier

Lone Star Racing No. 80 (part-time): Dan Knox– Currently not on Twitter, Mike Skeen– @MikeSkeenRacing

Risi Competizione No. 82: Santiago Creel – @screelg (inactive for over one year), Martin Fuentes – @MFT07, Matt Griffin – @MGriffinRacing, Miguel Molina – @MiguelMolinaM2, Ricardo Perez de Lara – Currently not on Twitter

Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian No. 86: AJ Allmendinger (Daytona only) – @AJDinger, Trent Hindman – @trenthindman, Katherine Legge – @katherinelegge, Àlvaro Parente – @alvaroparente

Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian No. 93: Lawson Aschenbach – @lawsonaracing, Mario Farnbacher – @MarioFarnbacher, Côme Ledogar – @ComeLedogar, Justin Marks – @JustinMarksDG,

Turner Motorsport No. 96:  Jens Klingmann– @JensKlingmann,  (TPNAEC only), Mark Kvamme – @mdkmoto, Cameron Lawrence – @CLawrenceRacing, Martin Tomczyk – @MartinTomczyk, Don Yount – Currently not on Twitter

Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge

Grand Sport:

Automatic Racing No. 09: Ramin Abdolvahabi– Currently not on Twitter, Rob Ecklin Jr. – Currently not on Twitter, Brandon Kidd – Currently not on Twitter

Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport No. 3: Craig Lyons– Currently not on Twitter, Kris Wilson– Currently not on Twitter

Team TGM No. 4: Guy Cosmo– @GuyCosmo, Ted Giovanis– Currently not on Twitter

Bodymotion Racing No. 5: Stevan McAleer – @StevanMcAleer, Joe Robillard – Currently not on Twitter

VOLT Racing No. 7: Alan Brynjolfsson– Currently not on Twitter, Trent Hindman – @trenthindman

Multimatic Motorsports No. 8: Patrick Gallagher – @PatGallagher00, Chad McCumbee – @chad_mccumbee

Global Motorsports Group Racing No. 13: Daren Jorgensen – Currently not on Twitter , Rick Parfitt Jr. (Daytona only) – @RickParfittJnr,

Global Motorsports Group Racing No. 14: Andrew Davis – @andrewdavis59, George Kurtz – @George_Kurtz, James Sofronas– @JamesSofronas

Multimatic Motorsports No. 15: Cole Custer – @colecuster00, Ty Majeski – @TyMajeski, Scott Maxwell– @smaxwell27

Rennsport One (RS1) No. 18: Daniel Morad – @DanielMorad, Spencer Pumpelly – @SpencerPumpelly

Stephen Cameron Racing No. 19: Ari Balogh– Currently not on Twitter, Greg Liefooghe– @gregliefooghe

Multimatic Motorsports No. 22: Austin Cindric – @AustinCindric, Chase Briscoe – @ChaseBriscoe5

Rennsport One (RS1) No. 28: Dillon Machavern– @MachavernRacing, Dylan Murcott– @dylanmurcott

Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport No. 33: Damien Faulkner– @DamienFaulkner, Russell Ward– @ruward92

BGB Motorsports No. 38: James Cox– Currently not on Twitter, David Murry – @davidmurry, Dylan Murry – @DylanKMurry

Carbahn Motorsports No. 39: Tyler McQuarrie (eight races) – @tylermcquarrie, Jeff Westphal – @WestphalRacing

Team TGM No. 46: Hugh Plumb – @HughPlumbRacing, Owen Trinkler – @owentrinkler

GMG Racing No. 50: Ashley Freiberg – @AshleyFreiberg, Gosia Rdest – @GosiaRdest

Murillo Racing No. 56: Eric Foss – @ericfossracing, Jeff Mosing – @JeffMosing

Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport No. 57: Indy Dontje – @IndyDontje, Bryce Ward – Currently not on Twitter

KohR Motorsports No. 59: Joey Atterbury – @Jatterbu (inactive since 2015), Jade Buford – @buforjm,  Jack Roush Jr.– @jackroushjr

KohR Motorsports No. 60: Kyle Marcelli – @KyleMarcelli, Nate Stacy – @NateStacyRacing

DXDT Racing No. 63: David Askew – Currently not on Twitter, Aaron Povoledo – @Povoledo

Motorsport In Action No. 68: Rod Randall– Currently not on Twitter, Kenny Wilden– @Kenwilden

Motorsport In Action No. 69: Corey Fergus – @coreyfergus00, Jesse Lazare– @Jesse_Lazare

Classic BMW No. 72: Toby Grahovec – @tobygrahovec, Jason Hart – @JasonHartRacing, Mike Vess – Currently not on Twitter,

Compass Racing No. 76: Paul Holton– @paulholton65, Matt Plumb– Currently not on Twitter

Andrew Wojteczko Autosport No. 80: Martin Barkey – @martinbarkey, Brett Sandberg – @Sandberg47

BimmerWorld No. 82:  James Clay– Currently not on Twitter, Tyler Cooke– @TylerCooke116

Ramsey Racing No. 92: Alexandre Premat – Currently not on Twitter, Mark Ramsey – Currently not on Twitter

Automatic Racing No. 99: Al Carter– @alcarter3, Steven Phillips – @Phillips1939, Aurora Straus – Currently not on Twitter

TCR:

eEuroparts.com Racing No. 10: Lee Carpentier – @LeeCarpentier (inactive since 2014), Kieron O’Rourke – Currently not on Twitter

RS Werkes Racing No. 11: JT Coupal – @CoupalJT, Don Istook – Currently not on Twitter

Rumcastle LLC No. 31: Jon Miller – @JonLeeMiller, Luke Rumberg – Currently not on Twitter, Tanner Rumberg – Currently not on Twitter

Murillo Racing No. 53: Matt Fassnacht – @MattFassnacht, Justin Piscitell– @sparky058

JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 54: Michael Johnson – @MikejRacing , Stephen Simpson – @StephenSimpson1

Compass Racing No. 74: Rodrigo Sales – Currently not on Twitter, Kuno Wittmer – @KunoWittmer

Compass360 Racing No. 75: Roy Block– Currently not on Twitter, Pierre Kleinubing– @PKleinubing

Compass Racing No. 77: Britt Casey Jr. – @BrittCaseyJr, Tom Long – @TomLongRacing

Street Tuner:

Bodymotion Racing No. 21: Max Faulkner – @maxfaulkner1, Jason Rabe – @JasonRabeRacing

LAP Motorsports (MINI JCW Team) No. 37: Derek Jones– @djoneser, Nate Norenberg– @natenorenberg

LAP Motorsports (MINI JCW Team) No. 52: Mark Pombo– @Mark_Pombo, Jared Salinsky– Currently not on Twitter, Tyler Stone – Currently not on Twitter

Murillo Racing No. 55 (Daytona only): Brent Mosing– Currently not on Twitter, Justin Piscitell- @sparky058, Tim Probert– Currently not on Twitter

LAP Motorsports (MINI JCW USA) No. 73: Mike LaMarra– @MLaMarra, Mat Pombo– @MatPombo

BimmerWorld No. 81: Nick Galante – @galanteracing, Devin Jones– @DevinJones35

 

4. The Tracks

The season is relatively short in IMSA.  Only 12 race weekends make up the season.  It is a mix of permanent road courses, street courses, and one roval (Daytona).  Regardless, it is a pretty good challenge for the assembled teams.  The races which compromise the four-race Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup will be marked in green (representing Tequila Patron’s colors).  Mid-Ohio, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport), Road America and Laguna Seca are regular sprint races with all four classes (Note: By the time IMSA gets to Laguna Seca, the naming rights deal with Mazda will have ended).  Lime Rock Park in July and VIR in August are rounds for only GT cars (GT Le Mans and GT Daytona).

Long Beach (for Prototypes and GT Le Mans) and Detroit (Prototypes and GT Daytona) are street races that are 100 minutes in length (denoted in yellow-green).  The BUBBA Burger SportsCar Grand Prix of Long Beach will air live on FOX at 4 p.m. on Apr. 14.

Daytona International Speedway: @DISUpdates

Sebring International Raceway: @SebringRaceway

Long Beach: @ToyotaGPLB

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: @Mid_Ohio

The Raceway at Belle Isle: @detroitgp

Watkins Glen International: @wgi

Canadian Tire Motorsports Park: @CTMPOfficial

Lime Rock Park: @limerockpark

Road America: @roadamerica

VIRginia International Raceway: @VIRnow

Laguna Seca Raceway: @MazdaRaceway

Road Atlanta: @RoadAtlanta

 

5. The Media

Media Members make the world go round in sports car racing, like any other series.  A close friend of mine told me once that without the media, everything is “kayfabe” (a wrestling term meant to describe the reality as it is being presented).  The media is naturally a check on that mentality.

Unfortunately, there really aren’t that many media members that exclusively cover sports car racing.  Many of the people who do cover sports cars either do it in addition to covering another form of racing, or are based out of Europe, where sports car racing is more popular.  Races at some of the smaller venues here in the states may have only a couple of writers covering it.  Having said that, there are some personalities that are exclusive to sports car racing as well.

John Dagys – @johndagys

Dagys is the owner/operator of SportsCar365.com, the site’s lead writer and a professional motorsports photographer.  Essentially a jack of all trades.  He travels the world, covering IMSA, WEC, ELMS, Blancpain Sprint Series and Blancpain Endurance Series races, in addition to standalone events such as the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour and the Dubai 24 Hours.

Midweek Motorsport – @specutainment

This is the official Twitter feed of Midweek Motorsport, a show on Radio Le Mans dedicated to sports car racing.  In practice, it’s a little more than that.  The feed is run by the show’s host, John Hindhaugh.

Hindhaugh is the rather excitable Scottish play-by-play commentator that here in the United States serves as the play-by-play commentator for IMSA Radio.  In addition, Hindhaugh does play-by-play for the ELMS, has previously done play-by-play for the FIA World Endurance Championship, done voiceover work for Mobil 1’s The Grid (airs on CBS Sports Network) and was the ESPN3 play-by-play man for the American Le Mans Series prior to the ALMS-Grand Am merger.

Shea Adam – @GearboxGirl

Adam is the daughter of retired sports car racer/TV personality Bill Adam.  She is currently a pit reporter for IMSA Radio for most IMSA races, but also does a little play-by-play for smaller series.  Very knowledgeable about the sport at large.

6. Interesting People to Follow

Sports car racing does have some interesting people to follow if you really want to get into IMSA, Pirelli World Challenge and more.  This is just a snippet of the people that you can follow.

Andy Lally– @AndyLally

Lally is the 2011 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year and a five-time class winner at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.  Currently racing for Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian in the GT Daytona class, he’s always good for an interesting outlook on things.

Ryan Eversley– @RyanEversley

Eversley is currently racing in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races for HART.  In addition, he’s racing for Flying Lizard Motorsports in Pirelli World Challenge’s GTS Sprint-X races.  Previously, he has competed in the Continential Tire SportsCar Challenge for Compass Racing and HART.  He has competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona for BAR1 Motorsports, TRG and Magnus Racing in the past.

Eversley is also co-host of the podcast Dinner With Racers along with Sean Heckman.  A close friend of Lally’s, Eversley is an interesting chap who goes to rather substantial lengths to draw people to sports car racing.  Also a big supporter of the Children’s Tumor Foundation and the quest to end NF (Neurofibromatosis).

Jordan Taylor– @jordan10taylor

The younger of the Taylor brothers, Jordan came up into the prototype ranks after competing for Autohaus Motorsports and Racer’s Edge Motorsports in the Grand-AM Rolex Sports Car Series’ GT glass.  He raised money for charity by sponsoring Andy Lally in the 2016 Mid-Ohio Challenge for the XFINITY Series at Mid-Ohio Sports-Car Course.

Jordan used to have a mullet, something that brought him great acclaim and random love on television.  He has since cut the mullet off, but has nostalgic memories of his “business in the front, party in the back” days.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPdkoougAoE/

In addition, Jordan is quite the jokester.  He has an alter-ego, “Rodney Sandstorm,” a sports car racing superfan.  Back in 2016, Sandstorm turned up at an IMSA test session at Daytona International Speedway.  Once there, the Altamonte Springs, Fla. native butted in on interviews and generally goofed off.  He tried the act again during the Roar Before the 24, but Jeff Gordon was wise to his act.

https://twitter.com/jordan10taylor/status/798660775355125761

7. TV Personalities

Greg Creamer – @GregCreamer13

Creamer is the play-by-play voice of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge for FOX Sports.  He also works as the play-by-play voice of Pirelli World Challenge as well.  Has decades of experience working on various race telecasts in the booth and on pit road.  Worked his way up from working corner stations as a regular member of his SCCA region.

Calvin Fish – @calvinfish

A retired professional racer with both open-wheel and sports car racing experience, Fish serves as the color commentator on both FOX Sports’ IMSA broadcasts and on CBS Sports Network’s Pirelli World Challenge broadcasts.  Quite knowledgeable and experienced.

Brian Till – @briantill19

A retired INDYCAR driver with 20 career starts, including the 1994 Indianapolis 500.  Today, he works in a number of roles.  For IMSA races, he serves as a pit reporter.  He has served as a backup play-by-play commentator for IMSA races, Verizon IndyCar Series events, and even Camping World Truck Series races in the past.

Justin Bell – @justinbelltv

Technically not retired, but focusing on his TV career.  Bell, the son of World Champion and former ESPN/FOX Sports Net Formula One commentator Derek Bell, serves as a pit reporter and feature host during IMSA races on FOX Sports.  Prior to his TV career, Bell was best known for his success with ORECA in the late 1990’s.  Bell won the FIA GT2 World Championship in 1997 in a Chrysler Viper GTS-R, then won the GT2 class at Le Mans in 1998 (Note: There is no Dodge in Europe, so Vipers were sold overseas as Chryslers).

Jamie Howe – @Reporterjamie

Howe is a part-time pit reporter that chips in during the endurance events, but has focused in recent years on NHRA coverage.  Has years of experience covering sports car racing and seems to be quite knowledgeable.  (Note: Howe protects her tweets.)

Matt Yocum – @MattYocum

Yes, if you’re here at Frontstretch, you’ve probably heard of Yocum from his work on NASCAR race broadcasts.  Yocum has been pit reporting on Cup Series broadcasts for the last 20 years.  However, he does chip in on IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship broadcasts for the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Petit Le Mans in October.  These events do not conflict with his NASCAR duties.  He generally brings the same skills to IMSA broadcasts that he brings to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series broadcasts.

Jamie Little – @JamieLittleTV

Little normally works as a pit reporter on FOX Sports’ broadcasts of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and XFINITY Series races.  However, she recently made her IMSA debut during the Rolex 24.

Andrew Marriott – @Pitlaneandy

Andrew Marriott brings decades of experience covering sports car racing to whatever broadcast he appears on.  He usually shows up on the big endurance broadcasts (Daytona, Sebring).