Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian revealed their Rolex 24 at Daytona driver lineup Tuesday (Nov. 4). It is a mix of drivers that raced with the team in 2025 and a returning favorite in AJ Allmendinger.
The No. 60 Acura, as previously announced in October, will again be driven full-time by Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun. Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon will also be back for an endurance schedule.
For the Rolex 24, Allmendinger will return to the squad to race the Acura ARX-06 for the first time. Driving for MSR to Allmendinger is far more than just another move to go after a Rolex watch.
“Mike Shank is one of the most important people in my life,” Allmendinger stated. “He’s one of my best friends and a brother to me. I’ve missed driving for him at the Rolex 24 and feel so fortunate to get another opportunity. The race has always been one of my favorites and I can’t wait to get there!”
To team co-owner Mike Shank, the feeling is mutual.
“I can’t say enough about how happy it makes me to bring AJ back to the team for his 16th Rolex 24 with MSR,” Shank stated. “He is the definition of a professional race car driver and can do it all behind the wheel. Not only is he a great racer, he’s also like a brother to me, and to have his energy back on the team is really exciting. It’s a huge challenge for anyone to come in and learn to drive GTP cars, but I can’t wait to get him going!”
As Shank noted, the Acura ARX-06 will be the first race car with a hybrid powerplant for Allmendinger. While you can qualify the ARX-06 like any other prototype, racing it will likely be very different. There will be something of a learning curve for him.
Allmendinger’s history with MSR predates his time in the NASCAR Cup Series. His first race with MSR was the 2006 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Sharing a Lexus-powered Riley Mk. XI with Oswaldo Negri Jr., Mark Patterson and Justin Wilson, Allmendinger finished second overall.
Racing at the Rolex 24 became a yearly thing for Allmendinger with MSR. He has made 16 career starts in sports cars, 15 in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and one at Indianapolis. All of them have come with MSR.
In that time, Allmendinger has one career victory. That was the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona with Negri, Wilson and John Pew. He has finished on the overall podium three times (2006, 2012 and 2013). He also finished second in GTD in 2018 during the time in which MSR raced Acura NSX GT3s.
Allmendinger has not competed in IMSA since the 2021 Rolex 24 at Daytona. That was the only time that he got to race a DPi chassis, the Acura ARX-05.
Blomqvist and Braun finished seventh in GTP points in 2025 with an overall victory at Watkins Glen and a second-place run in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
MSR’s No. 93 will be headlined by full-timers Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly. They will be joined by four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou in a three-race schedule (Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta). Finally, Kakunoshin Ohta will race with the team at Daytona and Watkins Glen. That is a decrease from the three races Ohta had in the No. 93 in 2025.
Van der Zande and Yelloly finished fifth in points with a victory on the streets of Detroit. They also had third-place finishes at Sebring and Road America.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the Frontstretch email 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 Frontstretch 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.
Awesome! Always enjoy seeing the Dinger running sports cars.
And guess what? The 24 Hours will run at speed 24 hours, other than cautions for accidents or rain.
There won’t be random cautions for stages because “reasons”.
They won’t make it the 24 hours and 43 minutes, tearing up a ton of equipment, causing three more restarts, likely resulting in dumb luck determining the winner, because “races finish under green”.
They won’t arbitrarily name a champion at the end of the season, based upon who has the best final pit stop, because fans need “game 7 moments”.
The full time teams will race all season, and the best team will win a championship!
Madness I know, but I’m excited for it!!!