Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) co-owner Michael Shank confirmed to assembled media at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that his team will not be competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2027 following Acura’s withdrawal from the GTP category.
“We’re going to be pausing for I don’t know how long, to be honest,” Shank said. “Until the right opportunity comes to us or we find out about it or something like that. It’s just the way the world is right here.
“We can still pivot and do a program, if it comes to it as, early as ’28. We could, yeah, we could. Or that would be a bit difficult because of the third Indy Car. It wouldn’t be easy, but when, you know when opportunities come, you have to be prepared.”
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) announced back in April that they were pausing their involvement in the GTP class with the Acura brand and will redirect those efforts into their NTT IndyCar Series efforts, including their new HRC charter entry that MSR will run.
Budgets to run a GTP program in IMSA have become a concern for Shank.
“In GTP today, you know, we’re spending too much money,” Shank said. “We need to get that under control, and I know John [Doonan, IMSA President] and Mr. [Jim] France are working on that, but we’re outside of where we need to be financially. And I think a lot of companies, especially after taking EV charges, are thinking about every penny nowadays.
“So we need we need to get that our control. I think they’ve taken steps in the car that’s coming in 2030 could help a lot with John’s done with testing for next year is how it all helps, right? But we need relief now. And we talk about it all the time. I’m trying to be helpful on that with John.”
MSR’s history in sports car racing dates back to 2004 in the Grand Am Series. Other than a brief hiatus in 2024 following the tire pressure data scandal at the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Pataskala, Oh.-based team have been mainstays in sports car racing in America.
Despite the pausing in the program, all but two or three people from the IMSA side of the organization will be moved over to work for the IndyCar side of the shop to assist in Marcus Armstrong and Mick Schumacher‘s efforts in 2027.
Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.
A name and email address are required to post a comment. The email address is not publicly visible or shared. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated according to our comment policy.
Comments are listed in order from oldest to newest. Leave a comment